The Guardian

Devastation in Brazil wetlands was made at least four times more likely by fossil fuel use and deforestation, scientists say

The devastating wildfires that tore through the world’s biggest tropical wetland, Brazil’s Pantanal, in June were made at least four times more likely and 40% more intense by human-caused climate disruption, a study has found.

Charred corpses of monkeys, caimans and snakes have been left in the aftermath of the blaze, which burned 440,000 hectares (1.1m acres) and is thought to have killed millions of animals and countless more plants, insects and fungi.

The wind hovering behaviour of the bird of prey is the ‘closest representation in the avian world to fixed wing aircraft’, researcher says

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When researchers were hunting for a way to make drones fly more smoothly as they delivered food and packages, they turned to an unusual source for inspiration: the common kestrel.

RMIT and the University of Bristol researchers began tracking the flight motions of two Australian kestrels. They attached reflective markers to the birds and analysed their motion using a motion tracking system – the same technology used to create CGI effects.

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Climate adviser says world leaders must show ‘maximum ambition’ to prevent people being harmed by climate crisis

Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said.

Selwin Hart, the assistant secretary general of the UN, said that talk of a global “backlash” against climate action was being stoked by the fossil fuel industry, in an effort to persuade world leaders to delay emissions-cutting policies. The perception among many political observers of a rejection of climate policies was a result of this campaign, rather than reflecting the reality of what people think, he added.

A new study is mapping the secrets to the remarkably steady flight of kestrels, which could inform future drone designs and help achieve steadier flight in fixed wing aircraft. Scientists later hope to adapt the data so it can be applied to larger aircraft

Experts say booming demand for holidays afloat mean ocean liners’ burden on the environment is growing

The huge passenger vessels sometimes known as “cruisezillas” are getting bigger than ever, according to new research which has found that the world’s biggest cruise ships have doubled in size since 2000.

If the industry’s growth does not slow, the biggest ships in 2050 will be eight times larger, in terms of tonnage, than the Titanic – the largest ship on the seas before it sank a century ago, according to the campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E). The group also found that the number of cruise ships has risen 20-fold since 1970.

Even those who are concerned about climate crisis were influenced by false claims, showing how ‘insidious’ repetition is, researcher says

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Repeating false and sceptical claims about climate science makes them seem more credible – including to people who accept the science and are alarmed by the climate crisis – new research has found.

The study’s lead author, Mary Jiang, from the Australian National University, said: “The findings show how powerful and insidious repetition is and how it can influence people’s assessment of truth.”

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Only 40% of birds survive collisions with windows, researchers say, suggesting that mortality rates are far higher than previously thought

Less than half of stunned or injured birds survive a collision with a window, research has found, pushing up estimates that more than 1 billion birds may die each year from flying into buildings in the US.

In a new study published on Wednesday in Plos One, researchers examined how many birds recovered in rehabilitative care after a building collision. Older estimates had assumed that most stunned birds would recover, but researchers found about 60% died, meaning the number killed by building strikes may be far higher than previously thought.

Researchers say coral analysis shows recent extreme temperatures would not have happened without greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels

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Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural wonder, according to new scientific research.

Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a record of temperature hidden in their skeleton and matched them to modern observations.

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This has been a summer of extreme heat around the world. The Guardian is investigating how it harms our planet and leaves the world’s most vulnerable people exposed to its impact

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A staple of dystopian science fictions is an inner sanctum of privilege and an outer world – chemical desert/airless waste/District 12 – peopled by the desperate poor. The insiders, living off the exploited labour of the outlands, are indifferent to the horrors beyond their walls. Well, here we are.

Even as extreme heat raged across the southern United States this summer, the governors of Florida and Texas struck down heat protections for outdoor workers. Construction companies and agricultural firms lobbied against the rights of workers to water, shade and rest breaks when temperatures soar – and Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, two men also lavishly funded by the fossil fuel industry, gave them what they wanted.

Our former environment correspondent had solar panels installed in 2010 and later added a heat pump. He’s totted up the energy generated and cash saved over the years

An abiding memory of a day in August 2010, the first time my solar panels were connected to the grid, was of the builders downing tools and watching the electricity meter whiz round backwards.

It was a sunny day and they were supposed to be finishing the plastering and insulation, but the novel sight of the old-style electricity meter in reverse was too entertaining.

Eight Australian sea lions were enlisted to map the ocean floor by sticking cameras with satellite tracking to their backs. Almost 90 hours of footage and 500km later, conservationists hope to have much clearer ideas on how to protect the sea lions.  “I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”

• NSW shark nets to be removed a month early as more turtles head south in summer

Eight females from two seal colonies have filmed almost 90 hours across more than 500km, helping scientists map 5,000 sq km of habitat

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The Australian sea lions glide and dart through underwater tunnels, over seagrass beds and rocky reefs, searching for a meal and dancing with dolphins around a giant bait ball of fish – all the action captured by a camera stuck on their back.

“I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”

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Gardeners and pest controllers say wasps, important predators and pollinators, appear to be in sharp decline

The UK is not doing enough to track wasp populations as numbers appear to plummet, a leading expert has warned.

While there were national monitoring schemes for some invertebrates, including bees and butterflies, there was no such programme in place for wasps, said Dr Gavin Broad, principal curator of wasps at the Natural History Museum.

The number of species recognised as threatened with extinction in Australia now stands at 2,224

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Another 13 animals and plants have been added to Australia’s list of threatened species, sparking renewed calls for the federal government to quickly overhaul the country’s nature laws.

The species newly listed as at risk include the pig-nosed turtle (listed as vulnerable), the Dalhousie catfish (critically endangered), Pugh’s sphagnum frog (endangered) and the Coffs Harbour Fontainea, a rainforest tree (critically endangered). Other species are freshwater fish, lizards, flowering shrubs, a daisy and an orchid species.

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More than half classed as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, with 20 categorised as ‘substances of very high concern’

Almost 500 different chemicals, some of which are banned, have been found in various mixtures across all 171 river and groundwater catchments tested in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency, analysed by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations.

More than half of them are classified as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, according to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and a banned, carcinogenic “forever chemical” was among 20 “substances of very high concern” found.

The penalties reflect the failings of the Environment Agency and Ofwat as much as the water companies

Behind the record fines announced by Ofwat for the routine dumping of sewage into rivers and seas by three water companies, there is a voiceless victim, one that does not sit in boardrooms, or get a chance to count dividends. It is our rivers and coastal waters, subjected to years of continuous pollution under the noses of the regulators, which are suffering.

In all likelihood the £168m penalties for the already struggling Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water will be followed by fines for the remaining eight water and sewerage companies, all of whom Ofwat is investigating over failure to treat sewage according to the law.

Firm moves ore through land without telling tribal leaders as mine resurfaces painful legacy of nuclear development

A coalition of hundreds of environmental activists, Navajo and Havasupai tribal members are protesting the transportation of uranium ore through the Navajo Nation, as a newly opened mine near the Grand Canyon resurfaces a painful legacy of nuclear development.

Located just seven miles south of the famous national park, the controversial Pinyon Plain mine is one of the first uranium mines to open in years as the United States works to boost its nuclear arsenal and energy supply.

The environmental regulator has a history of backing fossil fuels – that is why its preliminary view on Woodside’s Browse project is extraordinary

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The news that the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is likely to recommend that a massive gas export development off the state’s north-west shouldn’t go ahead is remarkable, but shouldn’t be.

We don’t know much about what the EPA told Woodside Energy in February about its Browse project off the state’s Kimberley coast. All we have is a line that WAtoday extracted from the EPA – that it had formed a “preliminary view” that the proposal was “unacceptable”.

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Decade of austerity blamed for impending closure of inner-city spaces that provide meals and outdoor activities

All nine of Leicester’s remaining adventure playgrounds are to lose all their council funding and are beginning the process of shutting down.

Three are already handing out redundancy notices and setting dates for closure in September with playworkers at another warning they are “just a few months behind”.

Percentage of badgers with bTB fell to zero in Cornish study, raising hopes of end to cull of 210,000 badgers since 2013

A large-scale vaccination programme could help eradicate bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in badgers, according to a first-of-its-kind study with “really promising” results for cattle farmers, whose herds have been devastated by the disease.

Over four years, researchers vaccinated 265 badgers across 12 farms in Cornwall. They found the percentage of badgers testing positive for bTB fell from 16% to zero.