The Guardian

Campaigners say potential energy plan would leave consumers bearing cost of building hydrogen economy

Blending hydrogen into the UK’s gas heating systems could raise consumer bills by almost £200 for an average household, analysis suggests.

The blending of natural gas with about 20% hydrogen, for use in home heating systems, is one of the key recommendations by the government’s hydrogen champion, Jane Toogood, in a report to ministers on how to produce and use hydrogen in the UK.

The climate crisis can seem overwhelming, but there are radical, pragmatic solutions – and they all begin with an idea

Is there any hope? Are we all doomed? I write books about the climate crisis, so I am often asked fearful questions like these. But I’m being asked them more and more often and by younger people, an alarming trend not unconnected to the number of scientific reports detailing how humans are pushing the Earth’s systems to dangerous extremes.

I write about planetary-scale ecosystem destruction but, importantly, I also focus on our species’ extraordinary capacity to adapt; this has been key to our success in the past – and it is key to surviving our future. There are radical, yet pragmatic, solutions to our crises. But fear of what will happen if we don’t act is imprisoning people in a mindset that makes alternatives seem unthinkable. I am frequently told my solutions are unrealistic and will never happen; that people would rather fight each other in wars than adapt to share food and land, for instance. We make our own future, even if it’s hard to see the process. So let me try to make the case for hope.

Gaia Vince is an author, journalist and broadcaster. Her latest book is Nomad Century: How To Survive The Climate Upheaval

They say the first step to recovery is recognising you have a problem, so it is with preserving our precious wildlife

You wouldn’t think there would be much to celebrate when a threatened species has its status uplisted because the risk of it becoming extinct has increased. To have nine Australian birds uplisted on a single day as happened last week may at first seem very bleak indeed.

These listings have not come out of the blue, sparked by a single catastrophic event. The nine uplistings follow the recommendations of the 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds produced by BirdLife Australia and Charles Darwin University, drawing on the expertise of hundreds of researchers who have studied and catalogued both the threats facing Australia’s birds and the actions needed to recover those teetering on the edge of extinction.

Pools and well-watered gardens cause at least as damaging as climate emergency or population growth

The swimming pools, well-watered gardens and clean cars of the rich are driving water crises in cities at least as much as the climate emergency or population growth, according to an analysis.

The researchers said the vast difference in water use between rich and poor citizens had been largely overlooked in seeking solutions to water shortages, with the focus instead on attempts to increase supply and higher prices for water. They said the only way to protect water supplies was by redistributing water resources more equally.

As toll on public health and global economy rises, radical action is needed on greenhouse gas emissions

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is a grim, yet unsurprising reminder of the catastrophic effect global heating is having on our planet. The message from leading climate scientists is clear: action is needed now. Not tomorrow, not next year, not by the end of the decade.

Even drastic carbon reduction today that limits temperature increases to the 1.5C agreed in Paris will alter the world we live in for ever. The IPCC concludes that every fraction of a degree more will edge us towards tipping points that will leave deep scars on our planet.

Twin studies reveal that ‘acceleration’ of sea-level rise under way, leaving southern US cities in even greater peril

Coastal cities in the southern US, including Miami, Houston and New Orleans, are in even greater peril from sea-level rise than scientists already feared, according to new analysis.

What experts are calling a dramatic surge in ocean levels has taken place along the US south-eastern and Gulf of Mexico coastline since 2010, one study suggests, an increase of almost 5in (12.7cm).

I was hoping for a film that would wake people up to the dismal state of British nature. This charming episode won’t do that

It was with some trepidation that I began viewing the online-only episode of David Attenborough’s latest documentary series, Wild Isles. The episode, Saving Our Wild Isles, focuses on the threats facing British wildlife and those fighting to save it.

Rumours had abounded that the BBC dared not broadcast this final episode on television because it was too hard-hitting, with some suggesting it was too critical of government action or inaction. I braced myself, expecting images of rivers polluted with plastics, sewage and pesticides, tales of dwindling numbers of insects, birds and mammals, of ancient woodlands destroyed, overfished seas, mature urban trees felled, meadows ploughed, raptors such as golden eagles poisoned, the climate crisis running amok.

Dave Goulson is a professor of biology at the University of Sussex, where he specialises in bee ecology

Tropical cyclone brews off the Kimberley while freezing rain causes chaos in Quebec and Ontario

At the weekend a tropical low that was situated in the Timor Sea moved west-south-west into waters north of the Kimberley, Western Australia. Deepening as it moved, the low developed into a tropical cyclone on Sunday night that brought gale-force winds of up to 56 mph (90km/h) to the coast. Squally thunderstorms across northern parts of the region produced strong winds and heavy rain.

The tropical cyclone is forecast to reach category 3 by Tuesday. From Wednesday it is expected to turn south, prompting the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to warn that a significant risk of further instability could steer the storm south-east into central or eastern Pilbara, or western Kimberley. Given sea surface temperatures will be 30-32C (86-90F), the cyclone is expected to deepen to a category 4, with some models forecasting central pressure as low as 910hPa.

The din of Britain’s conurbations affects poorer people disproportionately, blighting lives in cheaply built homes

Two years ago, my most lovingly overbearing and melodramatic auntie came to stay at my flat on an east London high road. Each morning she would emerge, fully dressed except for the eye mask left on her forehead like Chekhov’s gun, taking a few moments to chitchat before erupting: “Aren’t you going to ask how I slept? Just terrible! Sirens! Buses all night, driving sinners around. This noise will kill me. You’ll be sorry when I’m dead!”

Her exclamations may sound over the top. But it turns out that not even the most hyperbolic of relatives could overstate the dangers of this threat, which has lurked unrecognised for too long. Noise in our towns and cities is killing us – and the evidence is piling up.

Coco Khan is commissioning editor for Guardian B2B, and a columnist and feature writer

Exclusive: National Energy Action says progress on energy efficiency is too slow and not well targeted at fuel-poor households

The government’s home insulation scheme would take 190 years to upgrade the energy efficiency of the UK’s draughty housing stock, and 300 years to meet the government’s own targets to reduce fuel poverty, according to industry calculations.

Critics of the Great British Insulation Scheme, which aims to insulate 300,000 homes a year over the next three years, have raised concerns that the plan does not go far enough to reach the 19m UK homes that need better insulation.

The 188-year-old coastguard’s tower in Cornwall is to be moved 100m inland to save it from coastal erosion

Perched on an exposed clifftop above the Atlantic, which gnaws ominously at the sandstone and shale foundations below, Bude storm tower in Cornwall has helped to save many mariners from strife over the past two centuries. But now this cherished coastguard’s lookout is to be rescued itself.

The 188-year-old Grade II-listed tower at Compass Point, affectionately known as the Pepperpot, will be carefully deconstructed and rebuilt 100 metres inland later this month to avoid its otherwise inevitable loss over the cliffs to coastal erosion.

Light pollution is everywhere, obscuring stars, bewildering bats and making insect decline worse. Is finding dark corner becoming a luxury?

Here’s a prediction for the next few years (possibly the only prediction not best expressed by a melting smiley emoji and a guttural wail): dark will become the new luxury. For once, I’ll be ahead of the curve. I love the dark, it’s one of my fussy mid-life obsessions. I’m moderately insomniac and obsessed with eliminating every sliver of light from the bedroom. My curtains have thicker linings than a radiographer’s apron, so heavy they regularly fall off the rail. I want to spend my nights like a troll in a hole; a bear in a burrow. Unfortunately, my husband is intent on filling our house with home-optimising gadgetry; you could night-land a 737 in our hallway with all the flashing and blinking digital displays. I’ve banned them from the bedroom, but they bleed in through the gap under the door, disturbing me: I’m the princess and the pea, but for pea read LED. I might have to resort to a rolled-up towel under the door: I already use that hack in hotels, and travel with Blu Tack to cover up impossible to extinguish TV, AC or fire alarm lights, red, white and blue pinpricks of irritation. Don’t suggest a sleep mask: I’d need a Vantablack balaclava.

It’s not, traditionally, seen as a Good Thing, the dark. Scripture and literature have told us for centuries that light is what we’re after: “the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light”, the Enlightenment, “Juliet is the sun” and all that. There are solid evolutionary reasons. Light has been fairly useful for our survival as a species – photosynthesis served us well for not starving to death, for a start – and we associate it with warmth. Then in the dark we were vulnerable: bad things happened there, so fearing it was rational and useful. Women still feel vulnerable in the dark as we walk towards the safety of brighter, busier places. Figures from 2016 suggested half of women felt unsafe in the dark on quiet streets.

Scientists warn of more marine heatwaves, leading to increased risk of extreme weather

The temperature of the world’s ocean surface has hit an all-time high since satellite records began, leading to marine heatwaves around the globe, according to US government data.

Climate scientists said preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) showed the average temperature at the ocean’s surface has been at 21.1C since the start of April – beating the previous high of 21C set in 2016.

Distressed mammal was reported at lunchtime on Friday, but marine rescue service arrived too late to save it

A sperm whale is feared to have died after it washed up on the Lincolnshire coast.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was called at about 12.15pm on Good Friday to help with a “large stranded whale” on the beach at Cleethorpes. The charity said the whale had been spotted “upright in the water” at about midday, but by the time it reached the beach, it was stranded on its side.

Increasing number of trees draw large crowds as National Trust plans 4m blossoming trees across England

Tourists have long travelled to Japan to see its famous cherry blossom in spring.

But the UK could soon have its own industry as the increasing number of the trees in the country draw large crowds each year when in bloom.

Hormone-disrupting chemicals are entering our bodies. We eat 44lbs of plastic in our lifetimes

When it comes to keeping off extra pounds, watching what we eat may not be enough – we have to keep an eye on our food’s packaging, too.

Rates of obesity among US adults have increased from 14% in 1980 to 42% today, and half the world is expected to be overweight or obese by 2035, with children and teens facing the sharpest increase in obesity and its consequences. Because data doesn’t support the idea that overeating and lack of exercise are squarely to blame, the scientific community is exploring other factors that may contribute – including metabolic disruption caused by eating products packaged in plastic.

Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalist

Data from 100,000 US Major League games reveals higher temperatures lead to more balls hit out of park

Steroids once gave many of baseball’s sluggers a power boost. Now research suggests that today’s home run hitters are seeing their shots turbocharged by the climate crisis.

A study by researchers at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire used data from 100,000 Major League Baseball games and 220,000 individually hit balls to show that higher temperatures increase the number of balls hit out of the park.

Exclusive: Sultan Al Jaber aims to use UN talks to set out how private sector can limit greenhouse gas emissions

The world needs a “business mindset” to tackle the climate crisis, the president of the next UN climate summit has said.

Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of the Cop28 summit to be hosted in the United Arab Emirates later this year, said he aimed to use the UN talks to set out how the private sector can limit greenhouse gas emissions and give businesses and governments a clear set of tasks and targets.

Research found that ‘forever chemicals’ had ‘no practical benefit’ in repelling water and stains as compared with untreated fabric

A new peer-reviewed study calls into question how well PFAS-based products repel water and stains in furniture, shoes, clothing, carpeting, outdoor gear and other consumer goods made of fabric.

Most water and stain repellents applied to fabrics worldwide use toxic PFAS as a main ingredient, and though the controversial chemicals are in thousands of products, water and stain repellency are two of their main consumer functions.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including a rare leopard, very deep-swimming fish and baby ducks