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Exclusive: PM, who is facing pressure over whether to approve North Sea oil and gasfields, makes strongest comments yet on issue
The UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050, Andy Burnham has argued in his strongest comments yet on the issue, saying it is no longer possible for Britons to believe they are not already affected by a changing climate.
Writing for the Guardian about new plans for a mass of community-led local green energy projects, the prime minister said the UK must “believe in itself”, and set out his determination to reach net zero targets, which have been rejected by the Conservatives and Reform UK.
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Global heating contributes to record, with a warmer atmosphere able to hold more water, scientists say
The planet’s atmosphere held more water vapour in August than any other month on record, further increasing the risk of extreme heat and rainfall around the world, according to Europe’s climate change service.
Climate scientists said global heating was a contributor to the record because a warmer atmosphere can hold more water, and the historic El Niño in the Pacific Ocean was also likely pushing water vapour levels up.
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Nearly half a million more of the insects are being released in California – they’re all male and carry abacterium
The box arrived in the San Gabriel Valley, just east of Los Angeles, filled with more than two dozen paper tubes about the size of toilet paper rolls.
“All 25 tubes are here,” said Tristan Hallum, who oversees scientific programs for the San Gabriel Valley mosquito and vector control district.
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Scientists say global heating was a destabilising factor in collapse of 200,000 sq metre glacier in August
Climate breakdown probably weakened the glacier that collapsed causing catastrophic floods and killing over a thousand people in Nepal and Tibet last month, the first scientific study of the disaster has found.
Researchers identified unusually warm conditions before the glacier’s collapse, which sent an avalanche of 110m cubic metres (3.885bn cu ft) of snow and ice into the valley below. This triggered flash floods on an almost unprecedented scale, hitting communities downstream without warning.
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Research finds many in England lack proximity to green and blue spaces as Labour urged to speed up manifesto pledge
Nearly half of all parliamentary constituencies in England have low access to nature despite a government target to ensure everyone is within a 15-minute walk from a green or blue space, new research reveals.
The analysis by the Wildlife Trusts comes as the charity presents a green paper to ministers in an attempt to speed up Labour’s manifesto promise to improve access to nature and promote biodiversity.
Make it more affordable for local authorities to use compulsory purchase powers for land purchase.
Establish a community right to buy land for nature access.
Treat nature as essential infrastructure, and free up capital funds to pay for the ongoing maintenance of natural spaces.
Make it mandatory for developers to create climate- and nature-friendly housing estates.
Make access to major rivers, especially those in urban areas, a statutory right.
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Sewage, dog carcasses and industrial waste clog Argentina’s second most-polluted river. Meet the activists cleaning it up
Twenty-three years ago, María Monges looked around her flooded neighbourhood and knew something had to be done.
Founded in 1998 in Buenos Aires province’s San Martín district, the community of Costa Esperanza sits on the banks of the Reconquista, Argentina’s second most-polluted river and owes its name to the fictional location of a hit Argentine youth telenovela of the time, Verano del 98. But the real place is very different from the idyllic coastal city where the protagonists of Argentina’s answer to Dawson’s Creek met their first loves or sang around bonfires.
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Climate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions
Heathrow airport should be allowed to expand only if airlines pay for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the government’s climate advisers have said.
Building a third runway and new terminals, as some in government want to do, would breach the UK’s carbon budgets and make reaching net zero by 2050 impossible, on current policies, according to the Climate Change Committee.
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In this week’s newsletter: As the Guardian launches a year-long project, Our Rivers, we take stock of the issues facing waterways around the world
The nicknames of the world’s biggest rivers give a sense of how we feel about them: “the great river”, “the river that swallows all rivers”, “Mother Ganga” and “Old father Thames”. They feed and water us, and many other animal species. They carry our trade but also give us cool relief on a hot day. They’re nerve endings, elders and sources of comfort, but also of awe and respect.
And yet many of the world’s rivers are suffering, hit by multiple environmental challenges. A new report out today from the World Meteorological Organization finds that rivers across the world experienced one of the driest years in more than three decades during 2025.
Climate crisis probably weakened glacier that caused devastating Nepal-Tibet floods, first study finds
Who are the 514 people accused of starting French wildfires and what motivates them?
Benedict Cumberbatch on his Earth-saving eco film: ‘We are in the last grab of the extraction era’
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Long-term research in New York shows efforts to reduce air pollution associated with higher cognitive test scores
Improvements in air pollution are leading to brighter, smarter toddlers, according to a new study from Columbia University in New York.
For more than two decades, Prof Frederica Perera and a team from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health measured the air pollution exposure of pregnant women and the development of their children in the disadvantaged communities of northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. More than 1,100 children were assessed when they were one, two and three years old.
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From Sri Lanka to South Korea, governments are preparing for droughts, wildfires, typhoons and floods – with climate plans facing their biggest challenge to date
Asian governments are rushing preparations for the most severe El Niño weather event on record, with hundreds of millions of people bracing for multiple crises at once as extreme heat, heavy rain and food shortages hit the region.
Fuelled by exceptionally warm ocean conditions across the tropical Pacific – and developing alongside the human-driven climate crisis – El Niño is virtually guaranteed to grow to a very strong intensity towards the end of this year and into 2027.
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