Category Archives: Environment

Major incident declared in Suffolk as 90 firefighters tackle wildfire on heathland

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Several people evacuated after ‘large-scale, wind-driven’ fire breaks out at Dunwich Heath near Leiston

A major incident has been declared as firefighters battle a large heathland fire on the Suffolk coast.

Suffolk fire and rescue service was called to reports of a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday, and crews remained at the scene on Thursday morning. About 90 firefighters were tackling the blaze, while several people had been evacuated. Leiston is about 5km away from Sizewell B, but firefighters have said there is not thought to be any danger to the nuclear power station at this time.

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‘Grey lump with orange wings’: migrating moth descends on UK gardens

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Boom in hummingbird hawk-moth sightings put down to hot weather, strong winds and food scarcity in Europe

He had just sat down to dinner in the garden when a speedy visitor whizzed by – a “grey lump with orange wings”, recalled Luke Burstow, from Sussex. It was a hummingbird hawk-moth, a flying insect that migrates to the UK from continental Europe and north Africa.

“I was like: ‘Wow!’,” said the software project manager. “I didn’t even know they existed.”

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PM urged to uphold climate pledges made as mayor and ban new North Sea oil drilling

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Experts who helped Burnham draw up Manchester carbon neutral pledge say backtracking would send wrong message amid wildfires and heatwaves

Leading climate scientists who created Greater Manchester’s carbon neutral by 2038 commitment are urging Andy Burnham to unequivocally reject new drilling in the North Sea.

In a letter to the prime minister they said he, as mayor of Greater Manchester, had unveiled one of the UK’s most ambitious local climate programmes that tackled housing, green growth and public transport.

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Uganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hunger

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Government move follows months of drought and crop failures in Karamoja, with 1.5m people facing malnutrition

Uganda has launched emergency food relief distribution after at least 19 deaths from hunger were reported in an area of prolonged drought in the east of the country.

A crisis has been building in the Karamoja region of Uganda as crops have failed without the season’s expected rains, leaving the region’s 1.5 million people facing acute food shortages and rising malnutrition.

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‘Scandalous, irrational and irresponsible’: French beekeepers’ fury at lifting of pesticides ban

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Allowing use of two neonicotinoids to combat crop-ruining disease will kill bees and reduce harvests, union says

Beekeepers and environmentalists in France have reacted furiously after parliament approved a bill reauthorising two banned pesticides scientists say can poison bees.

“There are no words to describe the frustration,” said Carolyn Bouguet, a beekeeper in Essonne, greater Paris. “Bee populations have already been badly compromised by climate change, new parasites and loss of habitat. And now this.”

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Scorching US heatwave to hit 70 million people with third ‘heat dome’ in month

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Temperatures of 95-105F (35-40C) are expected, spanning Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest

About 70 million people in the US are set to face excessive heat advisories as dangerously hot temperatures scorch much of the country’s southern and central states.

The third major “heat dome” event to hit the US in the past month is gathering strength over the weekend, spanning a vast swathe of the country, from the Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest.

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Herbicide banned in 70 countries to be pulled from sale in Australia by chemical maker

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Syngenta says it will stop selling paraquat in Australia after new regulations on chemical linked to Parkinson’s disease

Syngenta, the producer of a herbicide banned in more than 70 countries and which has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, will stop selling paraquat in Australia, saying new regulations has made it “commercially unviable”.

The decision to pull the product follows new restrictions on the highly poisonous chemical announced by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority in June.

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Water bosses’ pay rises despite bonus ban and public fury over bills and pollution

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Exclusive: Eight companies expect to be covered by the ban for 2025-26, the Guardian can reveal

Water company bosses’ total pay rose over the past year despite a government bonus ban and public outrage over pollution and bills, the Guardian can reveal.

One chief executive, Mark Thurston of Anglian Water, received £1.9m – including a £500,000 “retention payment”, despite the bonus ban.

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More than 200,000 people flee or lock down as wildfires sweep France and Spain

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‘Highly unpredictable’ blaze forces evacuation of Cap Ferret on French coast and Spain declares national emergency

More than 200,000 people have fled or been ordered to lock down as huge wildfires swept Spain and France on Friday, prompting Madrid to declare a national emergency and the French authorities to order the total evacuation, by land and sea, of one of the country’s best-known holiday spots.

Authorities in south-west France ordered the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast to be evacuated “village by village” in the face of an “intense, highly unpredictable” wildfire that has burned through more than 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) of forest.

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Adelaide airport pulls ads from conservation groups but keeps gas and mining ads during ALP conference

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Digital billboards from environmental groups, targeting Labor MPs attending national conference, cancelled with airport stating they are ‘too political’

Conservation groups have questioned why their advertisements targeting Labor politicians were pulled by Adelaide airport for breaking rules on political advertising while others promoting gas and mining kept running.

Labor politicians including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, have been arriving through the airport for this week’s ALP national conference from Thursday to Saturday.

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Trump says nearly 200 firms have signed pledge to protect Americans from costs arising from datacenters

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‘Ratepayer Protection Pledge’ president has touted is non-binding as people continue to struggle with rising bills

Donald Trump has announced that about 200 entities have signed on to his non-binding “Ratepayer Protection Pledge”, expanding a voluntary commitment which claims to ensure US consumers will not bear the cost of the AI datacenter build-out.

Trump delivered remarks on Thursday at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, alongside Lee Zeldin, the agency’s administrator, and Chris Wright, the energy secretary. Other attenders included governors who signed on to the pledge, including Brian Kemp of Georgia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Spencer Cox of Utah and Jeff Landry of Louisiana.

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Great Barrier Reef microbiome mapped as researchers discover 500 bacterial species previously unknown to science

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Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different viruses

More than a decade after the human microbiome was comprehensively mapped, scientists have now identified the vast communities of microbes that make up the Great Barrier Reef.

Analysing DNA from seawater samples of 48 reefs, researchers have mapped the microbiome of the Great Barrier Reef, documenting more than 360,000 distinct viruses as well as more than 500 new bacterial species not previously known to science.

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Food price fears after Europe’s heatwave destroys estimated €2bn of crops

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Record June temperatures expected to cut grain harvest by 9m tonnes to its lowest level since 2018

The heatwave that swept across Europe in June is estimated to have cost the continent’s grain farmers €2bn (£1.7bn) in lost revenue and destroyed 9m tonnes of crops, sparking concern about the impact on the price of food.

Coceral, the European cereals and oilseeds trade association, made the estimate for the harvest of crops such as wheat, barley, maize and oats following the heatwave.

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​World largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

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Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rights

The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.

Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” as well as its own publicly stated commitments.

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‘A great thrill’: baby puffin is first one seen on Dorset coast in three decades

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Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern England

For years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.

Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades.

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Millions face long-term coastal flooding risk in UK without climate action, scientists warn

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A ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ suggests need for large-scale movement of populations away from reshaped coast

Up to 13 million people in the UK face the long-term risk of coastal flooding due to the climate crisis, scientists have warned, with a “reasonable worst-case scenario” suggesting the need for the large-scale movement of populations away from a dramatically reshaped coast.

Even if today’s global pledges to cut carbon pollution are met, about 1.4 million more people will be exposed to coastal floods in 2200 and 1.7 million in 2300 due to the sea level rise driven by melting ice caps and warming oceans.

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Stand still, make eye contact: Denmark tells tourists how to behave in a wolf encounter

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Government urges visitors not to approach or feed wolves as it manages safety amid growing population

Danish authorities have advised tourists to stand still, make eye contact and put up “maximum resistance” in the event of attack if they encounter a wolf while on holiday.

After a 200-year absence, wolves started returning to Denmark in 2012. There are now estimated to be 49 wolves on the Danish peninsula of Jutland.

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We received no alert, say leaders of First Nations communities razed by Canadian wildfires

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Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat

Fast-moving wildfires have burned two First Nations communities in Canada to the ground, as members said they were left to self-evacuate without government help or emergency alerts.

Thirteen communities in Ontario province have been ordered to evacuate because of wildfires, most of them First Nations. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told reporters on Monday that close to 2,000 people had been evacuated so far to cities including Toronto and Niagara Falls.

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Australian ski resorts smash July climate records with temperatures 12C above average

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Resorts in New South Wales and Victoria face a warm and dry start to the season with only sporadic falls of natural snow in many alpine areas

Alpine ski resorts in New South Wales and Victoria saw climate records shattered at the weekend with maximum temperatures up to 12C above average.

Ski areas of Mount Hotham and Falls Creek set July records for their hottest daytime and night-time temperatures and Thredbo also set a new hottest July day, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

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Five family members found dead after flash flood in Utah canyon, police say

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Victims were Provo’s fire captain, his wife and their three sons, who were hiking in Bicknell amid heavy rains

Five family members who had set out for a day of hiking were killed after a flash flood swept through canyons of southern Utah on Friday, law enforcement officials said.

The victims were a captain in the Provo fire department, his wife and their sons, according to fire officials. A daughter who was not on the trip survived.

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