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Researchers find capacity stunted by pollution was restored after introduction of ultra-low emission zone
Children’s lungs grew bigger and stronger after the most polluting vehicles were restricted from entering London, a study has found.
Examinations of London schoolchildren before and after the introduction of the city’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) found a restoration of lung capacity that had been stunted by exposure to pollution.
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Food Foundation sounds alarm over supply risks and price shocks as about 40% of Britain’s food is imported
The UK is vulnerable to food price shocks because of its dependence on imports of fruit and vegetable from countries even more exposed to the climate crisis, researchers say.
Much of Britain has sweltered under a record five heatwaves this year and endured drought and wildfires, with the hot, dry conditions damaging crops and reducing yields of domestic produce.
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Greens say analysis shows government failure to take bold climate action could lead to big gains for party at election
Labour could lose dozens of seats to the Green party if the government allows new drilling in the North Sea, according to internal research shared with the Guardian.
Green party analysis suggests up to 50 Labour MPs, including Andy Burnham’s key ally Louise Haigh, could lose their seats at the next election if the government fails to make urgent climate action a priority or allows new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
The Guardian’s climate forum 2026: On Tuesday 20 October, join Damian Carrington and our panel of experts, including Prof Andy Haines, Katie White, Asad Rehman, Shruti Suresh, Gareth Thomas and Amy Fairman, for a hopeful and solutions-focused evening. Book tickets here or at guardian.live
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Hottest periods this year in most sea regions would have been ‘virtually impossible’ in a preindustrial climate
Carbon pollution has fuelled a “massive expansion” of marine heatwaves in Europe this summer, research has found, with some waters recording temperatures 6C higher than normal.
The hottest fortnights of this year would have been “virtually impossible” in a preindustrial climate in three of the four sea regions studied, according to analysis by World Weather Attribution, while in the Celtic region, which covers much of the water around the British Isles, heat hit levels that used to strike just once a century.
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Nooks and crannies in urban areas provide a welcome alternative to intensive farming and other rural pressures
Wildflowers are having a rough time in the countryside, mostly from the onslaught of intensive farming with fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides and less grazing. On top of that, there are building developments, competition from invasive plant species and the climate crisis to contend with.
The UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows over the last century and over half of the country’s native flowers have been in decline for 70 years.
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Study finds older adults could face harmful heat stress at just 1.5C of warming above preindustrial levels
People aged 60 and over face dangers to their health from exposure to heat at much lower temperatures than previously thought, research has found.
Older adults will bear the brunt of increasingly frequent sustained spells of extreme heat globally as the world continues to warm up, according to a study in The Lancet Planetary Health.
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Madley, Herefordshire: The cool of our churches has been welcome to many, but my polyester robes are not made for the heat
Every summer, while roasting in my robes, I say to myself: “I must get a lighter set.” If I had a cotton cassock instead of a polyester cassock and alb, swaying to the singing of hymns might not raise my core temperature as much. In that regard, this year hasn’t been without its challenges.
Even so, our churches have become “cool spaces”. In Madley towards the end of term I received a call from Mr Batstone, headteacher of the primary school, wondering if classes could be held in church. Madley parish church is huge, with room in the nave for each class and a cool, subterranean crypt. I headed over later that week to find the church buzzing with children.
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If elected, Guyanese politician, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett wants to prioritise climate issues and ensure the United Nations remains a force for good
As the Guardian’s Caribbean correspondent, I sometimes encounter stories that everyone is talking about in the region, but are not on the radar of the international media. Today, I’m taking over the Long Wave to bring you one of those stories. This summer, Guyanese ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett has made history as the first Caribbean candidate for the prestigious post of United Nations secretary general. If successful, she will be the first woman to hold the position too. I spoke to her about the value of the UN, and what a Caribbean leader could bring to the role.
Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett started life in the remote Indigenous village of Santa Rosa, in the interior of the Caribbean and South American nation of Guyana.
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Scientists surprised to find all but two of 12 grizzlies were dead within a year of ‘feelgood’ release, unable to sustain their high-calorie diet and inclined to approach humans
The orphaned grizzly bear cubs were bulked up with a generous diet of roadkill, watermelon, dog food and snacks donated by the public. Their contact with carers was limited to two people. Then, after up to a year in rehabilitation, they returned home to the wilds of British Columbia.
“It’s a feelgood thing – people feel good when the cage opens,” says Dr Lana M Ciarniello, a bear specialist who tracked the Canadian yearlings in a recent study. There is a perception that bears will thrive in their natural habitat, she says. “The reality is they’re not followed up on.”
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Officials have had to remove thousands of tons of sargassum from Florida’s beaches amid the climate crisis
Dealing with seaweed is the bulk of Chris Bumpus’s job during the summer. As chief of conservation for Miami-Dade county’s parks, recreation and open spaces department, Bumpus is in charge of cleaning sargassum off 17 miles (27km) of county beaches. But some days, the odds are stacked against him and his team.
More and more sargassum, a kind of floating brown algae, has been washing up on the beaches of south Florida, west Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
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