Environment news

• How fossil fuel burning nearly wiped out life on Earth – 250m years ago

  27-05-2015 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  New evidence shows that catastrophic climate change probably destroyed 96% of species at the end of the Permian period. It could happen againDo you want to know the real reason for the advances by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria? Changing lightbulbs in America. This is the explanation given by John McCain, Republican chair of the Senate armed services committee. At the weekend he blamed Barack Obama’s inability to magic away Isis on the president’s belief that climate change is “the bigges
  
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• As the world burns, young Australians are feeling disbelief – and looking for answers | Anjali Sharma

  13-01-2025 01:25 via theguardian.com
  My generation feels trapped in a political system not built for us. Why wouldn’t we be disillusioned?I’m scrolling on TikTok after work when I get a text that would have sent 12-year-old Anjali into a spiral, a frenzy of extreme climate anxiety. The text is from a friend letting me know that it’s official – 2024 is the hottest year on record. Not just that, it’s the first year to exceed 1.5C of warming over preindustrial levels.The news comes as my entire feed is fl
  
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• Fire tornado spotted in Palisades blaze in California – video

  12-01-2025 13:17 via theguardian.com
  A fire tornado was spotted as the Palisades fire continued to blaze through the San Fernando valley in CaliforniaLA fires: international crews arrive to battle raging wildfires as evacuations spreadPoliticians quibbling as LA burns: Gavin Newsom’s latest beef with TrumpCalifornia fires live: latest news updates Continue reading...
  
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• One of four lynx captured in Scottish Highlands dies

  11-01-2025 18:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Postmortem will be carried out on wild cat, one of four humanely captured in Cairngorms after illegal releaseOne of the four lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands this week has died. The animal, which had been illegally released, was caught on Friday near Kingussie in the Cairngorms national park.The Eurasian lynx was one of four that had been discovered running wild in the Dell of Killiehuntly area. Two were captured on Thursday and are being kept in quarantine at Edinburgh zoo. The other pai
  
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• In utterly unsurprising news, Maga blames diversity for the Los Angeles wildfires | Arwa Mahdawi

  11-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation, is saying it, so it must be trueWomen, eh? They’re simply not to be trusted. Eve ate that apple; Pandora opened that horrible little box; and now women are to blame for the devastating wildfires in California. I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s what Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation – and one of the most powerful people on Earth – is saying, so it must be true. Continue
  
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• In utterly unsurprising news, Maga blames diversity for the Los Angeles wildfires

  11-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation, is saying it, so it must be trueWomen, eh? They’re simply not to be trusted. Eve ate that apple; Pandora opened that horrible little box; and now women are to blame for the devastating wildfires in California. I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s what Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation – and one of the most powerful people on Earth – is saying, so it must be true. Continue
  
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• How the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires: ‘We have tweaked nature and pissed it off’

  11-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, explains why fires such as those in Los Angeles are different from those beforeWhen writing about the hot, dry Santa Ana winds and how they affect the behavior and imaginations of southern Californians, Joan Didion once said: “The winds show us how close to the edge we are.”I’ve lived here my entire life. I evacuated my family’s hillside home as a teenager. I’ve experienced the surrealism of watching ash rain down from the
  
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• We built our world with fire. Now heat is destroying our lives | John Vallant

  11-01-2025 14:43 via theguardian.com
  We fell in love with the power and speed that fossil fuels brought us. But the price being paid in California, and around the world, has become too highZero per cent contained. In layperson’s terms, that means “out of control and burning at will”. It’s a common designation for a wildfire – in the wild. But when a fire like this enters an urban area such as Los Angeles County, the most highly populated metropolitan area in the US, it becomes an exploding bomb, and th
  
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• We built our world with fire. Now heat is destroying our lives | John Vaillant

  11-01-2025 14:43 via theguardian.com
  
  We fell in love with the power and speed that fossil fuels brought us. But the price being paid in California, and around the world, has become too highZero per cent contained. In layperson’s terms, that means “out of control and burning at will”. It’s a common designation for a wildfire – in the wild. But when a fire like this enters an urban area such as Los Angeles County, the most highly populated metropolitan area in the US, it becomes an exploding bomb, and th
  
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• Temperature falls to -18.9C in north Scotland, a 15-year low for UK

  11-01-2025 12:27 via theguardian.com
  Altnaharra in Highlands recorded -18.9C on Friday night, the coldest January overnight temperature since 2010Friday was the coldest January night in the UK in 15 years after temperatures plummeted to -18.9C in a hamlet in northern Scotland, the Met Office said.Altnaharra, in the Highlands, recorded the temperature on Saturday morning, the Met Office said. Continue reading...
  
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• Los Angeles is on fire and big oil are the arsonists | Tzeporah Berman

  11-01-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Every barrel of oil, every cubic meter of gas, and every ton of coal burned brings us closer to environmental catastropheApocalyptic flames and smoke are raging through southern California in the worst fire in Los Angeles county’s history. At least seven people have died. Thousands of structures have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. The private forecaster AccuWeather estimates initial damage and economic loss at more than $50bn and has the potential to
  
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• Temperature falls to -18.7C in north Scotland, a 15-year low for UK

  11-01-2025 09:20 via theguardian.com
  Altnaharra in Highlands recorded -18.7C on Friday night, the coldest January overnight temperature since 2010Temperatures in a hamlet in northern Scotland fell to -18.7C on Friday – the coldest January overnight temperature in the UK in 15 years, the Met Office said.Altnaharra, in the Highlands, first recorded the temperature at 10pm Friday night, with the freezing conditions lasting well into Saturday morning. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: A winter holiday for the cows | Andrea Meanwell

  11-01-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Tebay, Cumbria: At many farms, the cattle will be in their sheds by now, and stay there till spring. We’re trying something a bit differentThe tussocky grass is frozen solid and it is difficult to walk up the fell this morning. I am also slow today as I am recovering from flu. Now that cattle have been grazing here instead of sheep for a couple of years, the vegetation is adapting, growing longer and tougher. What may be great for biodiversity can be more challenging to walk across.Things
  
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• California wildfire victims pick up pieces as blazes rage on – in photos

  10-01-2025 21:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Firefighters battle on as people across Los Angeles struggle to find a way forward on Friday Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on the LA fires: Donald Trump’s denial and division fuel climate inaction | Editorial

  10-01-2025 19:06 via theguardian.com
  Events in California reveal how political obstruction is deepening a climate crisis that needs urgent action to prevent it becoming an irreversible disasterThe wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have killed at least 10 people, displaced 180,000 and scorched about 40 square miles – an inferno driven by fierce winds and severe drought in what should be California’s wet season. It is a sobering reminder that the climate crisis is driving wildfires to become more frequent, intense and destru
  
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• Who should get an air purifier and can it help with wildfire smoke?

  10-01-2025 18:27 via theguardian.com
  As historic fires burn in California, the CDC has urged residents to set up air purifiers – here’s what to know if you want to buy oneAs historic wildfires burn across the Los Angeles area, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged residents to protect themselves from the smoke by staying indoors when possible and setting up portable air filters and purifiers.For several decades, air quality in the US was trending up by many measures. Data indicated that fine, in
  
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• Fears of ‘rogue rewilding’ in Scottish Highlands after further Lynx sightings

  10-01-2025 16:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmentalists condemn unauthorised releases as ‘reckless’ and ‘highly irresponsible’For a brief moment this week, lynx roamed the Scottish Highlands once again. But this was not the way conservationists had hoped to end their 1,000-year absence.On Wednesday, Police Scotland received reports of two lynx in a forest in the Cairngorms national park, sparking a frantic search. That episode ended in less than a day. Both animals were quickly captured by experts from the Ro
  
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• To resist the climate crisis, we must resist the billionaire class | Peter Kalmus

  10-01-2025 15:49 via theguardian.com
  
  To solve the climate crisis, power must flow away from the billionaire classWhen I feel uncertain, I find it’s helpful to write down things I know to be true. Fossil fuels are causing irreversible planetary overheating. Overheating threatens essentially all life on Earth. Oil and gas executives knew this but they chose to systematically lie and block a climate transition. They continue to make this choice.I choose to focus my energy on the climate crisis because a habitable planet is a pre
  
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• UK’s first glyphosate-resistant weed found on Kent farm

  10-01-2025 15:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientist says case is warning for farmers to reduce reliance on controversial and common herbicideScientists have identified a glyphosate-resistant weed on a farm in the UK for the first time, raising concerns about the controversial herbicide.Scientists at the agricultural consultancy ADAS, said that, after reports from agronomists and screening of seed samples from a farm in Kent, they had confirmed glyphosate resistance in Italian ryegrass, an annual grass weed that particularly affects whea
  
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• Electric v hybrid: which vehicle should you buy in 2025?

  10-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hybrid cars remain popular due to lower sticker prices and range anxiety – but tax breaks and lower running costs mean EV buyers save in the long runChange by Degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] wasn’t long ago that electric cars were the darlings of the showroom.Buyers were queueing to own vehicles
  
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• Coordinated effort needed to stop whales getting tangled in ropes and nets, scientists say – video

  10-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  At least 45 whales were entangled by fishing ropes and line on the east coast in 2024. 'There’s a lot of times when we’ll get out to an entanglement where we just think, this animal should just probably be put to sleep,' says Sea World’s head of marine sciences, Wayne Phillips. The constant drag of rope and floats slowly causes a whale to succumb to exhaustion. 'It’s probably the worst way of dying for any marine … animal,' marine scientist Olaf Meynecke, says. 'It
  
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• Early ‘forever chemicals’ exposure could impact economic success in adulthood – study

  10-01-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Those who lived in regions with firefighting training areas earned about 1.7% less later in life, research showsEarly life exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” could impact economic success in adulthood, new first-of-its-kind research suggests.The Iowa State University and US Census Bureau working paper compared the earnings, college graduation rates, and birth weights of two groups of children – those raised around military installations that had firefighting training ar
  
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• Early ‘forever chemicals’ exposure could affect economic success in adulthood – study

  10-01-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Those who lived in regions with firefighting training areas earned about 1.7% less later in life, research showsEarly life exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” could affect economic success in adulthood, new first-of-its-kind research suggests.The Iowa State University and US Census Bureau working paper compared the earnings, college graduation rates and birth weights of two groups of children – those raised around military installations that had firefighting training are
  
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• Two more lynx spotted in Scottish Highland woods after pair captured

  10-01-2025 11:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Police urge public not to approach illegally released animals understood to have been spotted by cameras in CairngormsTwo more lynx have been seen in the Scottish Highlands, close to the site where two of the illegally released animals were captured on Thursday.It is understood the pair were spotted on camera traps set by staff from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) in woods near Kingussie in the Cairngorms, close to where the first two were trapped. Continue reading...
  
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• Week in wildlife in pictures: an entangled elk, a grieving whale and a tortoise on the run

  10-01-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Warmer homes and healthier people: what’s not to like about a low-carbon future?

  10-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Challenges of hitting net zero emissions are often discussed, but little focus is given to the gains of living in a low-carbon worldThe challenges of reaching net zero emissions are often discussed, but little attention is given to the gains from living in a low-carbon future. Less fossil-fuel combustion means less air pollution, and if the changes are done correctly, net zero could result in homes that are easier to keep warm and a healthier population from walking and cycling every day.A study
  
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• Country diary: Agitation in the air as the River Spey burst its banks | Amanda Thomson

  10-01-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Broomhill, Strathspey, Cairngorms: The fields became lochs, trees stand as islands. Everything felt restless and out of placeBefore the Cairngorms became the focus of the news, with two lynx on the loose in the area, we had other things to think about. I was alerted to the situation by the burn near to us, which was in spate with the torrential rain, churning and roiling along its course and threatening to spill over the little wooden bridge across the track. As it subsided, I headed down to the
  
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• National Trust to restore nature across area bigger than Greater London

  10-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Charity reveals plans to create 250,000 hectares of nature-rich landscape as it marks 130th anniversaryIn past decades the focus has been on protecting beautiful landscapes such as the Lake District, trying to save the crumbling coast or breathing life into historic country houses.Now the National Trust is marking its 130th anniversary by unveiling “moonshot” plans to address what it regards as the current national need – the climate and nature crises. Continue reading...
  
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• 2024 first year to pass 1.5C global warming limit

  10-01-2025 05:13 via bbc.com
  
  Last year was the world's warmest on record, bringing temperatures above a politically symbolic milestone.
  
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• Hottest year on record sent planet past 1.5C of heating for first time in 2024

  10-01-2025 04:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Highest recorded temperatures supercharged extreme weather – with worse to come, EU data showsClimate breakdown drove the annual global temperature above the internationally agreed 1.5C target for the first time last year, supercharging extreme weather and causing “misery to millions of people”.The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows. That is a jump of 0.1C from 2023, which was a
  
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