Category Archives: Environment

UK weather: Storm Henk triggers more than 300 flood warnings in England

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Train operators say services face delays and cancellations after rain and strong winds batter UK

More than 300 flood warnings are in place across England as travellers face transport delays, with train services struggling to get back on track after rain and strong winds from Storm Henk lashed large parts of the UK.

The Environment Agency said on Wednesday there were 368 active alerts in England for possible flooding, 322 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected and, in Northampton, one danger-to-life severe flood warning.

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East coast weather: Victoria and NSW brace for heavy rain as more storms forecast for Queensland

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Dozens rescued from flood waters and thousands remain without power as BoM warns of wild weather in Melbourne, south-east NSW and Queensland

The first week of 2024 is off to a wild start, with storms continuing to lash Australia’s east coast and a heatwave baking the north of the continent.

Thunderstorms were headed for central Victoria on Wednesday and were forecast to become widespread over the eastern half of the state.

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Polar bear dies from bird flu as H5N1 spreads across globe

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Highly contagious virus could bring “one of largest ecological disasters of modern times” say scientists

A polar bear has been killed by bird flu as the highly contagious H5N1 virus spreads into the most remote parts of the planet.

The death was confirmed in December by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “This is the first polar bear case reported, for anywhere,” Dr Bob Gerlach, Alaska’s state veterinarian, told the Alaska Beacon.

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Climate crisis: 2023 was UK’s second-hottest year on record

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Such a warm year would have occurred once in 500 years without global heating, Met Office scientists say

The UK had its second-hottest year on record in 2023, according to provisional data from the Met Office, as the climate crisis continued to deliver elevated temperatures.

Such a warm year would have occurred only once in 500 years without human-caused global heating, the scientists said. The heat peaked in June and September, both record hot months in a series dating back to 1884. The UK’s 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2003.

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Federal Labor under pressure to ‘stop idling’ on car fuel efficiency standards

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Australia, along with Russia, remains one of the few countries in OECD without fuel efficiency standard

The federal government is facing pressure to “stop idling” and swiftly introduce new laws that will encourage carmakers to produce cleaner vehicles as Australia eyes its 2030 emissions reduction targets.

Automotive industry bodies and environment advocates say the European-style fuel efficiency standards would offer consumers greater choice of cleaner cars that are cheaper to run amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

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WA bans commercial native logging in move state says could save 20,000 sq km of forest

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New plan bans selling of native timbers and includes transition payouts to sawmills and towns to diversify industry

The end of unsustainable commercial logging in Western Australia could save almost 20,000 square kilometres of forest, the state government says.

Chopping down native karri, jarrah and wandoo hardwood in the state’s south-west and selling it is banned from Monday. The state’s environment minister, Reece Whitby, said it was a historic moment for WA.

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‘It’s beautiful’: bioluminescence lights up ocean in Tasmania and parts of NSW in glowing end to 2023

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‘Sea sparkles’ appeared at Hobart’s waterfront, the NSW mid-north coast and Sydney’s Manly, with hundreds delighting in the natural phenomenon

Revellers along the Hobart waterfront welcomed in the new year with the glow of fireworks in the sky – and bright, blue bioluminescence lighting up the ocean.

With an easterly wind bringing the “sea sparkle” to the east coast, onlookers were treated to a truly glowing end to 2023.

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Alleged spearing of beloved blue groper in Sydney sparks outrage

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Department of primary industries investigating after protected fish species allegedly killed in Cronulla

The alleged spearing and killing of a protected fish species in Sydney over the weekend is being investigated.

According to local reports, onlookers were left outraged after an endangered blue groper (Achoerodus viridis) was allegedly speared and killed at Oak Park in Cronulla on Saturday.

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Great Ormond Street to look at home air pollution when diagnosing illnesses

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Pioneering initiative to consider children’s addresses after coroner ruled air pollution a factor in death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, nine

Doctors at Great Ormond Street are being encouraged to consider air pollution levels at their patients’ home addresses when assessing the causes of their illnesses, under an innovative pilot scheme.

Data showing the average annual air pollution rates at patients’ postcodes has been embedded in patients’ electronic files, so that clinicians can help families understand whether their child has been exposed to elevated risk.

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California dazzled by ‘extremely rare’ killer whale sightings off southern coast

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A group of 10 orcas has been seen leaping into the air to catch prey, delighting watchers and experts for the past two weeks

Experts and whale watchers have been dazzled by a series of orca sightings off the southern California coast that are being described as “extremely rare”.

A group of 10 whales – including a calf just a few months old – has been spotted for the past two weeks off the coast of southern California, between Oxnard and San Diego. Images from social media show the giant creatures leaping into the air to catch dolphins and coming within feet of boats full of eager viewers.

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‘There’s been some tears’: storm and flood-hit Queensland town battles heatwave as more wild weather forecast

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Many homes in Jimboomba are still without power. Now temperatures are nearing 40C, and more storms are forecast

Inside an unassuming hall in Jimboomba, north-west of Queensland’s Gold Coast, Sarah Weir is offering a reprieve from the heat, cool drinks and food, wifi, and even her shoulder to cry on.

“There’s been some tears,” she says.

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Weather tracker: rain batters Argentina and DRC as fog shrouds India and Pakistan

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Turkey also affected by fog, with 10 killed and 57 injured in serious road crash involving three buses

During the Christmas period, parts of South America experienced intense showers and thunderstorms, resulting in substantial rainfall in various regions. On Monday, more than 100mm of rain fell in the Catamarca province in Argentina, which led to flash floods. A sudden surge in river water levels then caused the collapse of a pedestrian bridge, which was the only link between the towns of Rincón and Pomán. While many other roads in the region were damaged and houses were flooded, no casualties were reported.

The unique topography of Catamarca aided the formation of a near-stationary convective shower over Pomán, unleashing several hours of torrential rain and causing catastrophic flooding.

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Berlin’s plan for driverless magnetic trains derided by climate groups

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Local government proposal to revive 1980s M-Bahn described as energy-hogging and vain fantasy project

Plans for a driverless magnetic train that would swoop through Berlin and carry passengers and goods are under way as part of the local government’s attempts to boost the German capital’s green credentials.

The project, put forward by the city’s new conservative-led government, is said to have sufficient political backing and, say its backers, would help Berlin achieve its goal to become net zero by 2045.

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Two people dead and a dozen injured after multi-car crash in NSW – as it happened

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Tasmanian yacht Alive is in the box seat to take out Sydney to Hobart yacht race’s overall honours, with skipper Duncan Hine confident the 66-footer has a winning time on the board.

Hine and his crew finished the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic yesterday afternoon as clubhouse leaders on handicap time.

It’s a waiting game. We’re looking good, though. I believe we could do it again, but the reality may be different. Now we wait with bated breath to see if anyone can beat our time.

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South Australian shark attack: tributes flow for ‘talented and dearly loved’ teenage surfer

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Khai Cowley, 15, was killed by a suspected great white shark off Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia has been remembered as a talented and dearly loved member of the surfing community.

The 15-year-old, identified by friends and a family member as Khai Cowley, was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide about 1.30pm on Thursday.

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‘Queen of trash’ and employees arrested over Sweden’s ‘largest environmental crime’

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Bella Nilsson’s company NMT Think Pink accused of illegally dumping tens of thousands of tonnes of waste

Eleven people have been charged by a Swedish court in what is being billed as potentially the country’s worst environmental crime in half a century.

NMT Think Pink – a previously celebrated waste management company known for its trademark pink rubbish bags – is accused of illegally burying and dumping tens of thousands of tonnes of waste at 21 sites across 15 municipalities around Sweden, in what prosecutors described as a “very serious crime”.

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Queensland weather: state braces for heatwave as thousands face prospect of days without power

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Some households could go without electricity into the new year as state endures high temperatures following extreme weather

Areas of Queensland affected by “unprecedented” storms now face the prospect of days without electricity amid extreme heat.

Storms and flash flooding across south-east Queensland have claimed the lives of seven people since Christmas but households have now been warned to prepare for a heatwave.

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Retailers to pay for consumers’ e-waste recycling from 2026 under UK plans

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Households will be able to drop off cables and other electrical waste in-store or have home collections, says Defra

British households will benefit from improved routes for recycling electronic goods from 2026, under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for household and in-store collections.

Consumers would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) – from cables to toasters and power tools – collected from their homes or drop items off during a weekly shop, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a consultation published on Thursday. The ambition is for retailers, rather than the taxpayer, to pick up the tab for these new ways of disposing of defunct, often toxic products safely. The measures are due to come into force in two years’ time.

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Illegal mining on rise again in Amazon, says Yanomami leader

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Activist Davi Kopenawa says miners are returning after eviction operations were scaled back, and others never left

Thousands of illegal miners are resisting government attempts to evict them from Brazil’s largest Indigenous territory, the renowned activist and shaman Davi Kopenawa has said, nearly a year after operations to displace them began.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made expelling an estimated 20,000 illegal gold and tin ore miners from the Yanomami Indigenous territory one of his top tasks after taking power last January.

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‘We have a responsibility’: the older women suing Switzerland to demand climate action

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Switzerland’s KlimaSeniorinnen are taking the government to the European court of human rights for doing too little to tackle the climate crisis

The women, mostly in their 70s, strode up the mountain with dogged grace. Clacking their hiking poles against sun-cooked rocks, they set sure feet on shaky stones and held hands to cross slippery streams. They knew the heat and strain were a threat to their health – they were perhaps uniquely aware of the risks – but they did not plan to let it limit their lives.

“I’m a mountain climber,” said 73-year-old Pia Hollenstein, brushing away the hand I offered to help her down a big rock. “I can manage.”

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