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Boy, four, dies of heatstroke in Rome as scientists say high temperatures and fires are reminder of climate emergency
The deadly heatwave fanning wildfires across the Mediterranean region has claimed at least three lives and forced thousands of people from their homes.
Firefighters continued to battle blazes on Tuesday and authorities braced for further damage as temperatures in some areas surged well past 40C. In Spain, a Romanian man in his 50s died after suffering 98% burns while trying to rescue horses from a burning stable near Madrid on Monday night.
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Experts say many new homes being built in the UK not designed to withstand extreme summer temperatures
The sweltering conditions inside Leaside Lock, a new-build development in east London, are hardly a secret. Last June, a warning written in big, capital letters was stuck to the window of one flat. “DO NOT BUY THESE FLATS. TOO HOT,” it read.
It was hard to miss for those walking past the looming high-rises and, after being snapped and posted on social media, the placard has garnered more than 500,000 views. More than a year on, during a summer when the UK recorded its second-warmest June and fifth-hottest July since 1884, residents in the tallest, south-facing block say heat is still an issue.
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FTI Consulting seen as frontrunner to advise on placing the utility into a special administration regime
UK ministers have appointed insolvency advisers to make contingency plans for the potential collapse of Thames Water.
The company, which supplies 16 million customers, has been racing to pull together a deal to avoid financial collapse.
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Millions of the tiny plastic pellets are being washed up on the coast of Kerala in India in the latest in a series of global spills, as plastic treaty talks continue in Geneva
When a Liberian-flagged container ship, the MSC Elsa 3, capsized and sank 13 miles off the coast of Kerala, in India, on 25 May, a state-wide disaster was quickly declared. A long oil slick from the 184-metre vessel, which was carrying hazardous cargo, was partially tackled by aircraft-borne dispersants, while a salvage operation sealed tanks to prevent leaks.
But almost three months later, a more insidious and persistent environmental catastrophe is continuing along the ecologically fragile coast of the Arabian Sea. Among the 643 containers onboard were 71,500 sacks of tiny plastic pellets known as nurdles. By July, only 7,920 were reportedly recovered.
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Ministers say online vendors of electrical goods such as microwaves will also have to contribute to recycling fees
Vape sellers will have to pay for the disposal of the devices under plans announced by the government.
Ministers said they would “end the UK’s throwaway culture” as they revealed measures to fund the recycling of electrical waste.
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Government analysis finds 10 times more locations used for recreation than previously identified
Thousands more waterways are being used for swimming and boating in England than previously recorded, new data reveals.
A wide-ranging government analysis of the ways that England’s waterways are used for recreation has found 3,347 “water recreation locations” in rivers, lakes and seas around the country. These are places where people take part in activities including swimming, rowing and paddleboarding. The Environment Agency had previously identified 342.
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National Drought Group meets and water companies prepare to take drastic action as supplies dwindle
A nationally significant water shortfall is gripping England, the government has warned, as experts say the conditions could last until mid-autumn.
The National Drought Group met to discuss actions to save water across the country, and Steve Reed, the environment secretary, briefed the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, about the risks posed by the dry weather.
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Families in Tres Cantos and Soto de Viñuelas take in scene of destruction after blaze and pay tribute to man who died
Adolfo López plunged his head and hands into his parents’ swimming pool early on Tuesday afternoon, keen to wash off the soot and dirt he had acquired from the gutted house his mother and father had called home for the past 25 years.
The wildfire that would devour 1,000 hectares of land, consume their house, destroy some neighbouring properties and kill a man trying to rescue horses from a local stables was just a column of smoke when López saw it approaching Soto de Viñuelas at 7.45pm on Monday.
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Built to tackle 18m tonnes of rising excrement, the Tideway project has also generated dramatic new public spaces dotted with giant artworks. Our writer takes the ‘stink tower’ tour of the capital
A group of colossal black tombstones has landed on the north bank of the Thames in London, looking like mysterious monoliths from another civilisation. They stand near Blackfriars Bridge as imposing bookends, rising almost 10 metres, folded in places to form platforms and benches, slipping down in others to become one with the pavement. Water trickles from the summit of one huge slab, running down ridges and splashing into a sunken pool. Another pair rise straight out of the river wall, hoisting wooden fenders with them from the swirling brown waters below.
“I wanted to make something that comes from nowhere,” says Scottish artist Nathan Coley, as he clambers on to one of his concrete blocks, which form part of the most prominent new public artwork in Britain’s capital, set to be unveiled next month. “They are chunky, abstract, brooding objects that don’t reference anyone or anything. They can be joyful, beautiful and brutal at the same time.”
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This new documentary sees children voice their fears about the future of the planet – but its director argues ‘they’re not here to save the world’
Ruby Rodgers didn’t expect to cry. The 14-year-old singer-songwriter and granddaughter of Australian rock great Jimmy Barnes had promised herself she’d be strong. But when she found herself surrounded by other young people voicing their fears about the climate crisis, she let the tears fall.
“I was really worried people were going to see that and think I was overly sensitive,” she says. “But I was a child. I am a child. And I realised how important it was for other kids to see that it’s OK to feel deeply.”
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