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Analysis of 800,000 European cars found real-world pollution from plug-in hybrids nearly five times greater than lab tests
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) pump out nearly five times more planet-heating pollution than official figures show, a report has found.
The cars, which can run on electric batteries as well as combustion engines, have been promoted by European carmakers as a way to cover long distances in a single drive – unlike fully electric cars – while still reducing emissions.
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Bird migrations rank as one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Thanks to GPS tracking, scientists are uncovering extraordinary insights into ancient and mysterious journeys – and new threats that are reshaping them.
Bird migrations rank as one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Thanks to GPS tracking, scientists are uncovering extraordinary insights into ancient and mysterious journeys – and new threats that are reshaping them.
As storm-chasing seabirds, Desertas petrels seek out hurricanes that draw deep-sea creatures to the surface. Only about 200 pairs remain, although the population is stable.
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Researchers say carbon emissions change in Queensland tropical rainforests may have global climate implications
Australian tropical rainforest trees have become the first in the world to switch from being a carbon sink to an emissions source due to increasingly extreme temperatures and drier conditions.
The change, which applies to the trees’ trunks and branches but not the roots system, began about 25 years ago, according to new research published in Nature.
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Determined to find a solution to the discarded plastic nets, Ian Falconer found a way to convert them into filament for 3D printing, for use in products from motorbikes to sunglasses
Ian Falconer kept thinking about the heaps of discarded plastic fishing nets he saw at Newlyn harbour near his home in Cornwall. “I thought ‘it’s such a waste’,” he says. “There has to be a better solution than it all going into landfill.”
Falconer, 52, who studied environmental and mining geology at university, came up with a plan: shredding and cleaning the worn out nets, melting the plastic down and converting it into filament to be used in 3D printing. He then built a “micro-factory” so that the filament could be made into useful stuff.
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CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere soared by a record amount in 2024 to hit another high, UN data shows, deepening the climate crisis that is already taking lives and livelihoods across the world.
Scientists are worried that the natural land and ocean “sinks” that remove CO2 from the air are weakening as a result of global heating, which could form a vicious circle and drive temperatures up even faster.
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Langstone, Hampshire: A singing skylark isn’t unusual this time of year, and is testament to its adaptability in a changing landscape
Southmoor nature reserve has always belonged to water. Historically a mosaic of marsh and grazing, crisscrossed by narrow watercourses and used for watercress cultivation in the 19th century, it is now returning to the sea. In September 2020, the crumbling sea defences succumbed to a series of storms, flooding the reserve. At high tide, the sea now slips across the breached seawall, reclaiming the land, and over the past five years, the coastal plain has surrendered to saltwater and seaweed. The marsh isn’t vanishing – it’s becoming something else, something wilder.
It’s low tide when we set out to walk the perimeter path. In the shelter of the harbour, a flock of brent geese, newly arrived from the tundra of northern Siberia, call softly as they graze alongside teal and wigeon. Along the waterline, dunlin scurry at the feet of oystercatchers and redshanks, the waders’ bills stitching the intertidal mud in search of molluscs, worms and tiny crustaceans.
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The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is an annual competition hosted by the Natural History Museum in London, which awards top honours in various categories for outstanding photography
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Sabine’s gulls and phalaropes among species that found themselves venturing unexpectedly close to land
A warm, dry year, followed by what feels like a final hurrah of summer as September gives way to October, has become the norm in recent years, at least where I live in Somerset. That’s usually good news for migrating birds, as they can head south safely, without the risk of sudden storms derailing their journey.
But autumn can still have a bite, weather-wise. Strong westerly gales during late August and the first two weeks of September meant that several pelagic seabirds – those that usually spend the autumn and winter months well out to sea – found themselves venturing unexpectedly close to land.
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Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia proudly present this year’s free downloadable poster featuring the art of Pete Cromer
After well over 300,000 votes, the winner of the 2025 Australian bird of the year poll has been announced.
You can now download our aviary of fame poster featuring this and previous winners and runners up in the signature art of Pete Cromer.
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Only two female northern white rhinos are left – but neither can carry a pregnancy. So a surrogate was used. Tragically, the foetus didn’t reach full term
This photograph captures a moment of fragile hope: the world’s first IVF rhino pregnancy, a tiny foetus that reignited optimism among scientists fighting to save the northern white rhino from extinction. There are only two female northern white rhinos left on the planet – Najin and her daughter Fatu. Neither can carry a pregnancy due to health complications. The last male died in 2018 and that makes the species functionally extinct.
For the past 15 years, the BioRescue Project – an international consortium dedicated to saving the species – has been collecting and preserving sperm from deceased males. Using this genetic material and egg cells from Fatu, they’ve created 38 embryos. It may sound like a lot, but it’s not. Since Najin and Fatu cannot carry a pregnancy, surrogate mothers are essential and it was decided to use southern white rhinos, a less endangered subspecies. The team also needed to prove that their technique would work with southern white rhino embryos before transferring any of the northern white rhino embryos into a surrogate.
After 13 attempts to transfer an embryo they achieved the first viable IVF pregnancy in a southern white rhino. The foetus in this image is the result after transfer. Tragically, the pregnancy didn’t reach full term (16-18 months), as the surrogate mother died from a bacterial infection at 70 days. But the pregnancy demonstrated that the technique is viable – a critical milestone.
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