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PM urges people not to risk lives and homes by starting fires as military brought in to help deal with wildfires
Downing Street has issued a temporary GB-wide ban on the sale of disposable barbecue and brought in the military to help deal with wildfires as Andy Burnham urged people not to risk lives in “tinderbox” Britain this weekend.
The prime minister spoke from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where at least 19 people have been taken to hospital during eight fires that have ripped through several homes.
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More than 50 organisations say PM urgently needs to show leadership and prepare British people for scale of change needed as UK struggles through another heatwave
The UK’s leading climate organisations have accused the prime minister, Andy Burnham, of “remaining silent” on the climate crisis as the country struggles to cope with its fifth heatwave of the year.
As widespread droughts and devastating wildfires grip the country, green groups have written to Burnham urging him to “show leadership” and be honest with workers and the public that the climate crisis is driving the extreme conditions they are facing.
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Possible cut from 80% down to as little as 50% could add millions of tonnes of CO2 to emissions and comes amid UK heatwaves
Andy Burnham’s government has said it will look at cutting electric vehicle sales targets, in proposals that could add millions of tonnes a year to the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions.
The government launched a consultation on Friday on cutting the target for new EVs to as little as 50% of all new cars in 2030, down from 80% under existing rules. The consultation will include several options, including leaving the headline target unchanged, or cutting it to 70%, 60% or 50%.
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We learn what to fear and reject from those around us. But if disgust can be learned, it can also be unlearned
Vote for your favourite invertebrate of the year
It was the summer of 2021 and I was standing in Hyde Park, London, trying to persuade passing tourists to come bug hunting with me. I was working on a campaign to increase public appreciation of invertebrates and, while I adore bugs, this job was teaching me how differently other people see them.
A woman and her young daughter stopped to chat. Grateful for a few minutes of respite, the woman turned to her phone while the child followed me to a nearby log. We lifted it to reveal one of the largest earthworms I’ve ever seen.
Voting is open for invertebrate of the year and will close at midnight BST on Sunday 16 August; vote here
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From chefs to paramedics, workers tell the Guardian how they are coping and unions outline the changes needed in the workplace
In the sweltering kitchen of the Plimsoll pub in north London, the head chef, Joshua Swinney, has a frozen tea towel wrapped around his neck to combat the heat.
As temperatures exceeded 35C (95F) in the capital, workers who were not lucky enough to be in air-conditioned offices sweltered in the heat.
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Hit by heatwaves and low rainfall, food producers are finding novel solutions to help crops and cattle survive
Ponds and collection tanks, drought-resistant crops and a certain rodent. As the climate crisis brings more extreme weather to Britain, farmers are experimenting with new tactics to tackle drought – and flooding.
The string of heatwaves and drought conditions experienced across vast swathes of Britain this summer has brought a series of challenges for food producers, particularly those growing crops more suited to the UK’s traditional climate.
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Twenty-one birds released on Bodmin Moor where it is hoped they will one day return to produce their own young
They took a little coaxing at first – after all, they had got used to a safe, comfortable aviary tucked away in woodland on the edge of Bodmin Moor. But after a few minutes, the birds stepped out into freedom and the bolder ones were soon soaring into the blue, the first white storks to be released into the wilds of Cornwall.
Yan Swiderski, the founder of the Cornwall Stork Project, had tears in his eyes. “I do feel a bit emotional,” he said. He sounded a little like a proud father wanting to play down the achievements of his offspring – and failing. “They’re a little bit clumsy at the moment. They aren’t used to flying free … but they do look majestic, don’t they?”
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Experts say the H5N1 bird flu virus’s risk to humans is low, but fear an impeding decimation of seal populations after tens of thousands of deaths in South America and Antarctica
In 1996, geese in poultry farms in the Guangdong province of southern China started to get sick with a virus causing “bleeding and neurological dysfunction” and then death.
A strain of avian influenza had likely arrived as a relatively harmless virus in migrating wild birds but had morphed into something “highly pathogenic”, killing about 40% of infected geese.
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Of the 1.3m spineless wonders in the world, you told us your favourites. Now it’s time to pick the winner
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It’s raining in Melbourne as I write this, and on my way to work I saw pale pink earthworms everywhere, scattered and exposed all over the footpath like soft-bodied streamers.
It was a visible reminder, as I dodged to avoid squishing the inaugural winners, in 2024, of the invertebrate of the year contest, of the magnificent array of 1.7m invertebrate species we share the planet with.
Could England and Wales ever run out of water?
The return of the caspian tiger: how a species feared extinct has come back to Kazakhstan
‘Unprecedented, dangerous territory’: US north-west reckons with a summer of historic wildfires
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Wildfire smoke and ash can reshape aquatic ecosystems long after the flames have been extinguished
Wildfires are an increasing problem in Europe and elsewhere. While their immediate effect on air quality is obvious, they can also trigger less visible but significant environmental effects, including algal blooms.
An algal bloom is the rapid growth of algae and other plant-like microorganisms. These blooms can become so dense that they change the colour of the lake and seas. Although most are harmless, some produce dangerous toxins. When their blooms die, their decomposition depletes oxygen in the water, creating so-called dead zones.
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