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Prof Gustaf Hugelius warns wildfires could accelerate release of methane and carbon as vast regions approach irreversible thresholds
Heatwaves and wildfires are not just scorching forests, they are adding to the tipping point risks in the world’s vast permafrost regions, which contain three times more carbon than all the living vegetation on Earth.
This is a major concern for Gustaf Hugelius, a professor at the Bolin Centre of Climate Research at Stockholm University, Sweden, and a leading authority on the risks from thawing tundra and peatlands. In this Q&A, he explains why the world should pay attention.
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Most allotment holders say the heat has meant more work for smaller crops, although some have found a silver lining
After a summer of repeated heatwaves and exceptionally dry weather in the UK, rain has brought some relief this week, but drought remains widespread and experts warn it will take weeks of sustained rainfall for water supplies to recover.
For people growing their own fruit and vegetables, it has been a challenging and sometimes surprising season. The Guardian spoke to growers across England about how they are adapting to a hotter, drier climate.
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This punishingly hot and dry summer will probably be followed by another wet winter. But it’s nothing compared with what Britain will endure in years to come
This summer could be the hottest, driest and deadliest in English history. Successive heatwaves have so far claimed almost 3,000 lives. Nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales is in drought, while key reservoirs are parched. Across this brown and stickily unpleasant land, from Grimsby down to St Ives, hosepipe bans are in force, while music festivals are staged not on green fields but in giant dust bowls.
Just how bad is it? I asked a leading climate scientist.
Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist
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Andy Burnham promises drive to tackle toxic waste, raise fines and use AI-powered drones to detect illegal activity
Illegal dumps in West Yorkshire, Surrey and Kent will be cleared up using taxpayer money, Andy Burnham has announced, as the prime minister promises a new drive to tackle toxic waste.
Ministers have identified dumps in Bradford, Runnymede and the Isle of Sheppey, which collectively contain about 22,000 tonnes of illegal waste, to be cleared in the next phase of the government’s national clear-up effort.
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Researchers laud return of giant tuna to North Sea after being fished almost to point of extinction
Researchers have lauded two giant bluefin tunas being caught off the coast of Yorkshire for the first time in more than six decades as a “success story” for marine conservation.
The tunas, which were caught a day apart off the coast of Whitby earlier this week, have mostly been absent along the north-east coast of Britain since the 1960s.
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People told they and their pets should keep out of river at Ham amid anger over Thames Water’s treated sewage plan
Swimmers are being warned not to enter the water at the first official bathing site on the River Thames, in south-west London, because of toxic blue-green algae in the water.
The blue-green algal blooms are rare in moving water but are likely to be caused by the extreme heat, low river flow, and nutrient pollution from sewage waste.
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Newton Flotman, Norfolk: It looks like a toilet brush yet predates the dinosaurs. I can’t help but give it a stroke by the roadside, even if I get strange looks
The rural road is flanked with a bank of green fuzz. It’s jungly and verdant – lush in a landscape that has turned brown and yellow from drought. I run my hand over the green bristles erupting from a bamboo-like stem.
Equisetum arvense, or field horsetail, looks fluffy, but it is wiry and rough. One could serve effectively as a toilet brush. The bristles are rich in abrasive silicon, which gives the texture of sandpaper. This explains another of equisetum’s common names, scouring rush, from when it was used to clean wood and polish metal. If you are careful, a hollow jointed stem can be separated at its junction and then rejoined like children’s tubular pipes for building, slotting back in a satisfying way.
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Five hundred people turn up to adopt plants from conservatory that will reopen in 2030 after renovation project
Above the waxy monstera leaves and bright pink hibiscus flowers in the Barbican conservatory hangs a giant net to catch the panes of glass that are at risk of falling from the ceiling on the unwitting plant lovers below.
This precarious situation has caused the estate to shutter its greenhouse on the third and fourth floors for three years so a full refurbishment can take place. But the hiatus has a silver lining for many of those who visited on Wednesday to give the plants from the conservatory a new home.
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Many species under threat use the African-Eurasian flyway, one of the planet’s largest mass-migration systems
It may still feel like summer, but in the world of birds, autumn migration is already well under way. Cuckoos and swifts have already left us, and while swallows and many species of warbler will not depart our shores until September, many species of Arctic-breeding waders have begun to stop off at our coastal marshes to refuel for their long journey south.
This year, however, there could be fewer than usual. A review by the British Trust for Ornithology, working with other international conservation organisations, has found that more than half of these global travellers are suffering major declines in numbers – a worrying downward trend. Many of those under threat use the African-Eurasian flyway, one of the largest mass-migration systems on the planet.
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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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