Researchers from Imperial College London say 16,500 deaths caused by hot weather brought on by greenhouse gases
Human-made global heating caused two in every three heat deaths in Europe during this year’s scorching summer, an early analysis of mortality in 854 big cities has found.
Epidemiologists and climate scientists attributed 16,500 out of 24,400 heat deaths from June to August to the extra hot weather brought on by greenhouse gases.
Continue reading...Julia Chuñil is one of 146 land defenders who were killed or went missing last year, a third of them from Indigenous communities
One day last November, Julia Chuñil called for her dog, Cholito, and they set off into the woods around her home to search for lost livestock. The animals returned but Chuñil, who was 72 at the time, and Cholito did not.
More than 100 people joined her family in a search lasting weeks in the steep, wet and densely overgrown terrain of Chile’s ancient Valdivian forest. After a month, they even kept an eye on vultures for any grim signs. But they found no trace of Chuñil.
Continue reading...Accommodation costs at climate summit in Belem are pricing out some developing countries and media outlets
The United Nations has urged its staff to limit attendance at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil in November due to high accommodation prices, while government delegations are still scrambling to find rooms within their budgets.
The move comes as delegations grow increasingly concerned about the cost of accommodation in the coastal Amazon city of Belem hosting Cop30. Brazil said it is working to increase the number of available hotel beds, but soaring prices for accommodation have stoked calls from some governments to relocate the conference, which Brazilian officials have rejected.
Continue reading...Campaigners crowdfund £26,000 to seek judicial review of move to construct pitches in wildlife-rich area
Campaigners are mounting another legal challenge to the building of a women’s football academy by Tottenham Hotspur on wildlife-rich parkland in north London.
The Guardians of Whitewebbs group has successfully crowdfunded £26,000 to seek a judicial review of Enfield council’s granting of planning permission for the Spurs academy, which will include all-weather pitches, floodlights and a turf academy built on 53 hectares (130 acres) of Whitewebbs Park. Enfield council’s planning committee approved the proposals in February, despite local protests, on greenbelt parkland rich in bats, newts and mature trees.
Continue reading...Greatest damage from heat, drought and flooding done in Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Bulgaria
The violent weather that battered Europe this summer caused short-term economic losses of at least €43bn, according to an EU-wide estimate, with costs expected to rise to €126bn by 2029.
The immediate hit to the economy from a single brutal summer of heat, drought and flooding amounted to 0.26% of the EU’s economic output in 2024, according to the rapid analysis, which has not been submitted for peer review but is based on relationships between weather and economic data that were published in an academic study this month.
Continue reading...Quantum sensing, satellite tracking and AI are part of an accelerating arms race in detection that should prompt a re-evaluation of Australia’s defence strategy
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Military history is littered with the corpses of apex predators.
The Gatling gun, the battleship, the tank. All once possessed unassailable power – then were undermined, in some cases wiped out, by the march of new technology.
Continue reading...Authorities revoke building licence for cascading hotel complex on one of Greece’s most photographed shorelines
Environmental campaigners have welcomed a decision to halt construction of a disputed five-star hotel on a Greek beach known for its outstanding natural beauty.
Local authorities on the Cycladic island of Milos said a building licence for the resort on the world-renowned “moon beach” had been revoked by the municipality’s planning department after falling short of inspection standards.
Continue reading...DNA analysis of endemic specimens in museums finds 79% of ant populations in Pacific archipelago are shrinking
Island-dwelling insects have not been spared the ravages of humanity that have pushed so many of their invertebrate kin into freefall around the world, new research on Fijian ant populations has found.
Hundreds of thousands of insect species have been lost over the past 150 years and it is believed the world is now losing between 1% and 2.5% a year of its remaining insect biomass – a decline so steep that many entomologists say we are living through an “insect apocalypse”. Yet long-term data for individual insect populations is sparse and patchy.
Continue reading...Torrential rains cause flooding and landslides in East Nusa Tenggara province and on the tourist island of Bali
Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 15 people who have died in flash flooding in two Indonesian provinces, while authorities said 10 others were missing.
Torrential rains beginning on Monday caused flooding and landslides in East Nusa Tenggara province and on the island of Bali.
Continue reading...Raids by rival hives aren’t rare after a dry, hot summer, but Christine McDonald was surprised to find her store besieged
A Canadian beekeeper has described fending off thousands of “robber bees” as they raided her shop in a brazen attempt to steal honey.
Christine McDonald, who owns Rushing River Apiaries in the British Columbia city of Terrace, said she entered her shop to find it overrun by the swarm.
Continue reading...Ethiopian PM says dam will electrify entire region but Egypt fears it could restrict water supply during droughts
Ethiopia has inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, a project that could transform the country’s energy sector but may also aggravate tensions with neighbouring Egypt.
State media showed the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, touring the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba district with the Kenyan president, William Ruto, the Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the African Union chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
Continue reading...An estimated 129bn were being used every month around the world at height of pandemic, with no recycling stream
The surge in the use of disposable face masks during the Covid pandemic has left a chemical timebomb that could harm humans, animals and the environment, research suggests.
Billions of tonnes of plastic face masks created to protect people from the spread of the virus are now breaking down, releasing microplastics and chemical additives including endocrine disruptors, the research found.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Experts decry lack of nationally determined contributions in negotiating document with weeks to go before UN-set deadline
EU member states are still wrangling over crucial commitments on the climate crisis with no sign of agreement, according to a leaked draft text seen by the Guardian.
With just weeks to go before a UN-set deadline, the European Commission and key member states remain at loggerheads over targets on greenhouse gas emissions, with the prospect of a strong outcome looking increasingly imperilled.
Continue reading...Renewables are thriving, with Africa breaking solar energy records – but action is needed to plug financing gap
The first signs of a takeoff of Africa’s green economy are raising hopes that a transformation of the continent’s fortunes may be under way, driven by solar power and an increase in low-carbon investment.
African leaders are meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the Africa Climate Summit, a precursor to the global UN Cop30 in November. They will call for an increase in support from rich countries for Africa’s green resurgence, without which they will warn it could be fragile and spread unevenly.
Continue reading...Labor’s koala strategy doesn’t go far enough, Coalition says, but environmentalists hail park a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ decision
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The long-awaited great koala national park in the north of New South Wales, celebrated by wildlife groups, has drawn a mixed reaction from the state’s Coalition.
The opposition leader, Mark Speakman has hedged his party’s support, saying while he “supports the ambition of protecting koalas”, he was concerned about job losses and the cost of the park.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Climate advocates reject CEO’s claim he is ‘not qualified’ to comment on risks of gas firm’s plan to extend production to 2070
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The head of the Western Australian Museum has told staff that burning fossil fuels is something “almost all of us are guilty of in one way or another” in an email defending the institution’s renewed research partnership with Woodside.
The museum’s chief executive, Alec Coles, sent the email to staff before a Woodside-sponsored August open day at the Maritime Museum – one of WA Museum’s seven locations. It came amid public criticism of the extension of the “longstanding collaboration”, in which the gas company supports the museum’s biodiversity research along the WA coastline.
Continue reading...Minns government to create one of the largest national parks in the state as forest advocates welcome ‘historic’ victory
Loss of koala habitat shows ‘total failure’ of nature laws, conservationists say
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The Minns government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park, announcing it will add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves in mid-north New South Wales to create one of the largest national parks in the state and protect more than 12,000 koalas.
The premier, Chris Minns, and environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the government would put an immediate moratorium on logging within the park’s boundaries and roll out a jobkeeper style support package for workers at affected timber mills in the region.
Continue reading...More habitat has been given up legally in 2025 so far than any other year since the animals were listed as threatened, analysis shows
NSW locks in great koala national park and brings in immediate ban on logging
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More clearing of koala habitat has been approved under Australia’s nature laws in 2025 so far than in any other year since the marsupial was listed as a threatened species, according to an analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The destruction of 3,958 ha of bush approved across eight projects, including a coalmine in Queensland, equates to about four Sydney airports’ worth of clearing.
Continue reading...Livestream of voyage to bottom of one of country’s deepest lakes draws thousands – but no sign of Tahoe Tessie yet
The cobalt waters of Lake Tahoe have long captivated the public, helping drive the area’s massive tourism industry and even attracting urban legends about what lies in the cold, shadowy depths.
Theories have ranged from an aquatic creature named Tessie to perfectly preserved bodies dumped by the mafia decades ago.
Continue reading...Kokichi Akuzawa climbed with 70-year-old daughter to break record for oldest person to make ascent – a second time
Kokichi Akuzawa has become the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Fuji at the age of 102 – despite almost giving up during his trek.
“I was really tempted to give up halfway through,” Akuzawa said. “Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me.”
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