The Guardian Environment

Islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau are under hurricane warning, while Oahu is under a tropical storm warningDamaging winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Lowell were pelting Hawaii’s western islands on Tuesday, bringing the threat of floods, mudslides and tornadoes.The islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau are under a hurricane warning, while Oahu, the state’s most populated island with close to 1 million residents, was under a tropical storm warning. Continue reading...

More than 140 clubs breached licences, with a third caught taking water illegally, analysis shows – but no fines issuedMore than 140 golf clubs in England have breached their water extraction licences in the past five years, according to data analysis by the Guardian.More than a third of these clubs were caught taking water illegally from the environment, either by taking more than permitted or by removing it outside the permitted period. Continue reading...

Man, who had arrived in Turin from Miami via Istanbul, under investigation for smuggling and faces fine or prisonAn Italian man is facing a hefty fine or possible prison term after the dried head of a critically endangered crocodile was found in his luggage at Turin’s Caselle airport.The man had arrived at the airport in the northern Italian city on a flight from Miami via Istanbul, the Turin unit of Italy’s financial police squad said in a statement. Continue reading...

From rare bacteria to ‘forever chemicals’, a series of cases of violations or alleged pollution has prompted alarmWhen officials in Wyoming conducted a routine test on the water that was being discharged from a massive under-construction Meta datacenter, it was a shock to find it contained a rare and potentially hazardous bacterium.While the wastewater flushed into sewers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was never destined for the public drinking supply, the presence of Cupriavidus gilardii bacterium in 80

Anglers will help scientists investigate the porbeagle, tope and blue shark to boost knowledge and conservation‘We have really cool sharks,” says Dr Lucy Hawkes. She is not referring to animals in the rich coastal waters of South Africa or Mexico, but instead talking about the species that live around Britain. Hawkes, an associate professor at the University of Exeter, is co-leading a new three-year project to investigate the lives of three of England’s most vulnerable shark species.“I like the

Foreign minister Shisir Khanal tells the Guardian the world’s biggest economies need to help Nepal, which contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions Nepal is demanding $20m in climate compensation for the recent devastating floods, as a senior minister called on the world’s most polluting countries to “wake up” and accept shared responsibility for a disaster that led to the death or disappearance of more than 6,000 people.Scientists believe the climate crisis had a role to pla

Researchers urge governments to help worst afflicted countries, such as Nigeria and Algeria, which rely on oil revenues for public servicesConflict, migration and economic upheaval will accompany the global move away from oil, unless governments act urgently to help the worst afflicted countries to cope, research has found.Nigeria, Iran, Angola and Algeria are among the countries that will be severely affected, as they rely strongly on oil revenues for their government and provision of public se

Our three cities are learning from each other about how to protect residents. These climate policies are also public health measuresThis summer, mayors met in London during the heatwave that ironically threatened to derail London Climate Action Week.As temperatures broke records across the UK and Europe, leading some climate talks to be suspended or cancelled, we found ourselves seeking shelter and comparing how our cities prepare for extreme heat: how we protect vulnerable residents, communicat

Indonesian authorities intensify operations as fires continue to burn across Sumatra and Kalimantan, with haze spreading to Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines Continue reading...

Interior department given three months to decide whether wolves can be removed from endangered species listDonald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the interior department to consider de-listing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act and to contemplate whether the agency could make it easier to authorize killing them.The order gives interior secretary Doug Burgum three months to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves have recovered enough for the federal gov

A mysterious island has emerged in Williston Lake in Canada. A local resident shared a video of a floating 'island' with trees growing from it – which has appeared, disappeared and appeared again within two months. Satellite imagery has confirmed its existence and disappearance, and experts say the rising water level has set free trees that have been growing on woody debris on the shore Continue reading...

Opposition mounts as at least 20 projects proposed, including one in Fife billed as second largest in worldKat Jones might be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthur’s seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. “Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? What about Aberdeen?” she calls to the crowd.On Thursday, hundreds traveled to Edinburgh to call for an immediate moratorium on Scotland’s datacentre b

Huge rollout of fish farms could harm ecosystems and threaten vulnerable communities’ food sources, say expertsNearly half of the world’s wild fish catch will be ground into animal feed for farmed fish if plans to expand aquaculture go ahead, a report has found.The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is aiming to increase aquaculture – where fish are farmed rather than caught in the wild – production by 75% by 2040. Continue reading...

Although it's scientific consensus that the climate crisis is happening, climate change denialists have found support in the highest office during the second Trump administration and significantly influenced current climate and environment policies. The Guardian's fossil fuel and climate reporter Dharna Noor explains why such rhetorics could be dangerous for our planet Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology suggests El Niño has already broken records, with Pacific ocean temperature change exceeding 2C in six monthsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe growing El Niño weather phenomenon to Australia’s east is already breaking heat records, with forecasts showing it will likely easily surpass previous events, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, as seperate resea

Wildfire victims rebuilt their homes in Lahaina only to find USPS had ‘eliminated’ their addresses – while houses that didn’t burn receive mail as normalTwo months after a devastating wildfire whipped through Lahaina in August 2023, Pam Reader was allowed back to see what was left of her home. With a heavy heart, she returned to the Hawaiian oceanside town now filled with endless blocks of burned houses. As she rounded her corner, she saw the only thing remaining was her bright turquoise mailbox

From New York to Quebec, photographer Bryan Anselm spent months capturing spaces overrun with plastic and the actions individuals and groups are taking to reduce wasteIn New York City, the plastic we discard has a way of remaining in plain sight. There are few alleys to hide residents’ refuse, and the clear recycling bags leave their contents on full display. In a city built on a dense grid, lightweight wrappers, bags and bottles spill from overflowing bins and skitter down sidewalks, collecting

The race to study the North Water between Canada and Greenland before it changes has led to a bold plan for an Inuit-run protected areaElectric-blue meltwater sprays up under Terry Noah’s snowmobile as he races across sea ice extending out from Canada’s northernmost public community: Grise Fiord in Nunavut, a hamlet of 144 people closer to Murmansk in Russia than the Canadian city of Toronto. The bay’s cliffs loom higher and higher like stone icebergs as he approaches his destination across the

President’s order strips nearly 3m acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, sacred tribal sites, of safeguardsPatagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, has joined a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s decision to significantly reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, removing protections from nearly 3m acres.In July, the president approved the reduction of the sites by 90%, clearing the way to open the land to oil and gas companies. He argu

Climate experts warn that US Kalshi and Polymarket users are ‘gamifying disasters’ as they bet on events like heatwaves and daily temperaturesOnline prediction markets, saturated by money staked on sport, crypto and politics, have now set their sights on a promising new area of growth: betting on the future livability of the planet itself.The rise of gamified predictions on the unfolding climate crisis, and shorter-term weather forecasts, has been underscored by a new deal that allows Kalshi, a