The Guardian

Satellite data analysis suggests climate-induced algal blooms could be behind hundreds of deaths in Botswana that sparked flurry of theories in 2020

More than 350 elephants that died in mysterious circumstances probably drank toxic water, according to a new paper that warns of an “alarming trend” in climate-induced poisoning.

The deaths in Botswana’s Okavango delta were described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”. Elephants of all ages were seen walking in circles before collapsing and dying. Carcasses were first spotted in north-eastern Botswana in May and June 2020, with many theories circulating about the cause of death, including cyanide poisoning or an unknown disease.

Early deaths from air pollution in US could be reduced by between 4,000 and 15,000 a year by 2035, study shows

The burning of fossil fuels that harms our climate also produces air pollution that damages ecosystems and harms our health. But we fail to tally up the benefits of reduced air pollution in our climate policies, and overlook opportunities to tackle these problems together.

A reminder of this failure is illustrated in a new study which has found that reduced air pollution from net zero policies in the US could result in a health gain of between $65bn (£51bn) and $128bn in 2035 alone.

Lord Howe Island is thriving, and so are the raucous local woodhens

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‘Trees of hope’ will be planted across the UK, including at a prison and a children’s hospital, in National Trust scheme

Saplings from the felled Sycamore Gap tree are to be planted across the UK, including next to one of London’s most famous roads, at a rural category C prison and at a motor neurone disease centre opening in the name of the late rugby league star Rob Burrow.

The National Trust on Friday announced the recipients of 49 saplings it has called “trees of hope”.

Researchers say supermarket customers are more likely to buy a piece of fruit labelled as a ‘sad single’

If seeing a lone, desolate banana on a supermarket shelf leaves you feeling a little blue, you are not alone.

Researchers have found that labelling unsold loose fruits as “sad singles” tugs on shoppers’ heartstrings and increases the likelihood that they’ll be sold.

Scientists warn Fifa’s current ‘wet bulb’ temperature policy underestimates strain athletes undergo during matches

Footballers face a “very high risk of experiencing extreme heat stress” at 10 of the 16 stadiums that will host the next World Cup, researchers have warned, as they urge sports authorities to rethink the timing of sports events.

Hot weather and heavy exercise could force footballers to endure scorching temperatures that feel higher than 49.5C (121.1F) when they play in three North American countries in summer 2026, according to the study. It found they are most at risk of “unacceptable thermal stress” in the stadiums in Arlington and Houston, in the US, and in Monterrey, in Mexico.

As Australia’s natural environment declines, Labor appears to cave to vested interests, writes Felicity Wade

On Thursday we were hoping to be celebrating the Australian parliament passing legislation to create a federal Environmental Protection Agency, an expert watchdog to oversee our country’s natural bounty. This was going to be a major moment for which my organisation, the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) and many others had worked for years. Promised on the eve of the 2022 election, it was the centre-piece of the Labor’s commitment to the environment. But late on Tuesday afternoon the legislation was moth-balled.

It is a sad and sorry tale.

Felicity Wade is national co-convener of the Labor Environment Action Network

Structures thousands of times narrower than a human hair suggest future uses for nanobot technology

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Australian researchers have created building blocks out of DNA to construct a series of nano-scale objects and shapes, from a rod and a square to an infinitesimally small dinosaur.

The approach turns DNA into a modular material for building nanostructures – thousands of times narrower than a human hair. Developed by researchers from the University of Sydney Nano Institute and published in the journal Science Robotics, it suggests exciting possibilities for future use of nanobot technology.

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Oldest Carnaby’s cockatoo in wild lived to 35, with eight recorded living beyond 21, researchers find

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Western Australia’s endangered Carnaby’s cockatoos can live up to 35 years in the wild, making them one of the longest-lived bird species, according to a study that began in 1969.

Eight Carnaby’s cockatoos aged between 21 and 35 years have been recorded, according to research published in Pacific Conservation Biology.

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Fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives outnumber those of the EU or host country South Korea

Record numbers of plastic industry lobbyists are attending global talks that are the last chance to hammer out a treaty to cut plastic pollution around the world.

The key issue at the conference will be whether caps on global plastic production will be included in the final UN treaty. Lobbyists and leading national producers are furiously arguing against any attempt to restrain the amount that can be produced, leaving the talks on a knife-edge.

Loyalists selected for important roles have offered staunch support to fossil fuels and downplayed climate crisis

Donald Trump’s cabinet picks have been eclectic and often controversial but a unifying theme is emerging, experts say, with the US president-elect’s nominees offering staunch support to fossil fuels and either downplaying or denying the climate crisis caused by the burning of these fuels.

Trump ran on promises to eviscerate “green new scam” climate policies and to “drill, baby, drill” for more oil and gas, and his choices to run the major organs of the US government echo such sentiments, particularly his picks relating to the environment, with Lee Zeldin chosen as the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Chris Wright as energy secretary and Doug Burgum as interior secretary.

We’ve cared for our farm through war, pandemic and money worries. The inheritance tax row shows how little the government respects that

• Clare Wise is a farmer based in County Durham

If you are familiar with the pangs of parental guilt, then you can relate to owning a farm. Take that gut-wrenching, often irrational feeling, amplify it, and welcome to being a farmer. From the moment you’re born into a family farm, there’s a weight of expectation on you to look after it, to put it before yourself, to uphold your family’s pride. All farm kids know they don’t open presents on Christmas morning until the animals are fed, that parents miss special occasions because cows are calving, and that hopes of a foreign holiday are almost nil, at least on a livestock farm such as mine.

Owning a farm is like playing a game of pass the parcel with a valuable gift, but the one who unwraps the present is very much the loser of the bunch. From an early age, it’s drilled into you that the farm, the land and its legacy are things you carry and pass on to your children. We don’t see the farms we inhabit as truly ours: they’re generational assets that produce food for the masses. That is why farmers are putting up a huge fight against the government’s new inheritance tax changes. It’s hard not to feel as though this policy is a land grab by ministers who have no idea about how farming works.

Clare Wise is a farmer based in County Durham

Ed Miliband argues the UK should race towards becoming a ‘clean energy superpower’, but costs to the consumer shouldn’t be ignored

The government’s plan to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030 is a vast undertaking. Energy companies will throw £40bn-plus annually at the effort, backed by financing that ultimately affects consumers’ bills. So it is extraordinary that no official body seems able to answer this question: will it cost more to complete the job by 2030 rather than by the old 2035 timetable? Is it more expensive to go faster?

That is not to dispute the necessity of generating electricity from clean domestic sources, an ambition shared widely across the political spectrum for reasons of security of supply and climate emergency. But the pace of decarbonisation can clearly also affect the cost for consumers, a point Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, tends to skip over too breezily when he argues that security, sustainability and affordability are now perfectly aligned.

The environmental harm caused by this shapeshifting, underregulated industry must be tackled

Local pushback against cruise ships in the world’s top tourist destinations is nothing new. More than three years ago, these vast vessels were barred from Venice’s lagoon on grounds of the risk they posed to the city’s historic buildings. This summer, cruise ships in Amsterdam and Barcelona were targeted by protesters, on grounds of chemical pollution but also as part of a wider movement against overtourism (as the negative impacts of huge influxes of visitors have become known). But – as revealed this week in a series of Guardian articles, The real cost of cruises – the environmental and social impact of this fast-growing industry goes way beyond individual cities, and requires action on a global scale.

The carbon emissions of a cruise are roughly double that of the equivalent flights plus a hotel stay. The industry is also responsible for a vast quantity of waste discharged directly into the sea, as well as high levels of toxic air pollution in the ports where ships are docked – usually with their engines running. Once seen as the exclusive pursuit of a minority of wealthy retired people, these holidays are now mainstream, with vast floating resorts designed and marketed for families and young adults. The largest ships have up to 20 floors and room for several thousand people.

Welsh first minister to ask UK government for more money to make coal tips safe after Cwmtillery landslip

More than 500 homes and businesses were flooded across Wales and England during Storm Bert, it has emerged, as forecasters issued another severe weather warning for rain in parts of southern Britain.

In Wales, the first minister, Eluned Morgan, said 400 homes had been damaged as well as businesses and infrastructure, and reviews were being done to find out why some householders appeared not to have received warnings in time.

Scheme to fund activities such as hedge-planting paused owing to budget constraints, sources say

Grants promised to farmers in England for planting hedges and cleaning up waterways have been frozen by the government.

The capital grants scheme, which was opened by the government to allow farmers to invest in infrastructure such as slurry storage so animal excrement does not go into rivers, has been abruptly paused. Farmers have said this will make it difficult for them to run their businesses in an environmentally friendly way.

Ofwat CEO says rules must be changed so that customers left without water get compensation automatically

Water companies in England are using loopholes in order to not pay people who are left for days without running water, the CEO of the regulator has said.

Tens of thousands of homes across the country have been left without water for days this year as ageing pipes burst.

It is only a matter of time before a mountainside is brought down. We need climate adaptation help – and we need it now

• Aaron Thierry is an Earth-system scientist and environmental campaigner

It’s “raining old ladies and sticks” is the Welsh equivalent of cats and dogs, and boy did those old ladies mean business when Storm Bert poured out nearly a month’s worth of rain on the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) over Saturday night. By Sunday, the deluge was surging into the River Taff and through the Welsh valleys, forcing the Taff to burst its banks, bringing misery to communities along its length – including mine in Taff’s Well.

Neighbours, who had been devastated by Storm Dennis in February 2020, were shocked to find that everything they had done to rebuild was undone. Replastered front rooms were submerged yet again. New cars were bobbing once more in the streets.

River water quality distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites, results from tests for harmful bacteria found

Water quality has been designated as poor in a record number of bathing areas this year after 16 rivers were included in summer testing for harmful bacteria, figures reveal.

The push to clean up England’s rivers has led to an increase in demand for bathing water status at river locations across the country. Rivers suffer from water company sewage pollution and agricultural pollution, and the results show river water quality is distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites. The results come after sewage pollution into rivers by water companies reached record levels last year.

Warnings remain in England and Wales as ex Environment Agency chair says not enough is spent on flood defences

More flooding is likely this week after Storm Bert brought torrential rain over the weekend, the environment secretary has said.

Steve Reed said the impact “should be less severe” than it was on Sunday and Monday morning, as communities in England and Wales start a massive clean-up after the widespread flooding.