Constitutional expert says Tory leader’s break from political consensus over target for greenhouse gasses will require monarch to choose his words carefully
King Charles will have to temper his public support for net zero after Kemi Badenoch broke the political consensus over the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Senior royal sources have conceded that the 76-year-old monarch, who has spent more than half a century highlighting environmental challenges, will have to choose his words more carefully now that the Conservatives under Badenoch have said it will be impossible for the UK to hit net zero by 2050.
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Many of the suburbs and cities hit hardest in recent years were caught off-guard, and key stakeholders are racing to understand the dynamics that drive these fires
Communities across the US that were once considered beyond the reach of wildfires are now vulnerable to disaster. As fires increasingly spread deep into neighborhoods, researchers estimate roughly 115 million people – more than a third of the US population – live in areas that could host the next fire catastrophe.
The understanding that many more Americans are at risk of losing their homes to wildfires comes as the climate crisis turns up the dial on extreme weather, drought and heat. But it’s also the result of new research that has exposed deep and dangerous gaps in our understanding of the threat.
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Anglers who campaigned for protected area off Oban and Mull are providing key data on critically endangered species
Sea anglers will tell you that catching and landing a large flapper skate is the equivalent of running a four-minute mile. The fish can weigh 100kg and stretch the length of a dinner table.
The first thing anglers will reach for when they land one is their camera or mobile phone, to capture the unique pattern of white spots ranged across each skate’s mottled brown back.
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‘Groundbreaking’ tool aims to help tree-planting efforts and identify areas to create nature-rich habitats
England’s non-woodland trees have been mapped for the first time, using cutting-edge methods of laser detection and satellite imagery.
Tree scientists at the UK’s Forest Research agency have built a comprehensive picture of trees in urban and rural areas in a “groundbreaking” map that goes live on Saturday.
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After three years, thousands of arrests and a state crackdown on protests, the group is ending direct action after a polarising campaign
On the morning of Valentine’s Day 2022, Hannah Hunt stood at the gates of Downing Street to announce the start of a new kind of climate campaign, one that would eschew mere protest and instead move into “civil resistance”.
Last week, three years and thousands of arrests later, in a neat tie-up exemplary of Just Stop Oil’s (JSO) love of media-savvy stunts, Hunt went to the same spot again – this time to announce the group would be “hanging up the hi-vis”.
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Government also considering blocking more profitable farmers from a revised future scheme
Farmers fear they will no longer be able to afford to restore nature in England and reduce their carbon footprint after government funding for doing this was frozen.
The environment secretary, Steve Reed, recently announced that the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers for making space for nature on their land, would be paused and overhauled before June’s spending review. The scope of the scheme – and its budget – are being reassessed.
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A wildlife crossing across the 101 freeway will connect two parts of the Santa Monica mountains for animals
Above the whirring of 300,000 cars each day on Los Angeles’s 101 freeway, an ambitious project is taking shape. The Wallis Annenberg wildlife crossing is the largest wildlife bridge in the world at 210ft long and 174ft wide, and this week it’s had help taking shape: soil.
“This is the soul of the project,” says Beth Pratt, regional executive director, California, at the National Wildlife Federation, who has worked on making the crossing become a reality over the last 13 years. She says she’s seen many milestones, like the 26m pounds of concrete poured to create the structure, but this one is special.
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The Guardian joins a pest controller on the city’s streets as residents fear a rise in rodents during bin workers’ strikes
“They’re not fussy,” said Martin Curry, describing the far from epicurean appetites of the scurrying rodents that the residents of Birmingham fear could flood the streets of their city.
“Rats all have their own personal tastes but if food is scarce they’ll eat anything,” he said. Curry, who has been called the “rat king” locally, runs MC Environmental Pest Control. He has been on the frontline of stamping out the rodent threat amid a weeks-long bin strike that has caused bins to pile up on Birmingham’s streets.
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As the £2.2bn tunnel prepares to open, opinions are divided: will it reduce congestion, or is it a relic of transport planning that worsens pollution?
From high above the Thames, the distinctive portals of the new Silvertown tunnel are clearly visible: a black arch on the North Greenwich peninsula, a green conical building a mile across the water in Newham.
On Monday, tens of thousands of cars and lorries will start passing between them, almost directly below the cable car built by Boris Johnson, as if on a mysterious ley line that induces London mayors to embark on unloved transport projects.
This is a 1990s project that’s coming to fruition 30 years later
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Only a fraction gets resold on the domestic secondhand market, but there are ways consumers can help reduce waste
Every year, Australians donate the equivalent of 250m pairs of jeans to charity (around 200,000 tonnes of textiles) and send another 200,000 tonnes to landfill.
But only a fraction of donated clothes get resold in Australia. So what happens to your old jeans when you donate them? And how can consumers play their part to minimise waste in the process?
Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email
Continue reading...Men are more likely to die prematurely than women - and worse at seeking care when they need it.
Louise Gleadell died aged 38 after she was wrongly told her cervical screening tests were negative.
An NHS trust has paid compensation after a woman, now in her 70s, discovered she had been swapped at birth.
BBC News reports on assisted dying in Canada, where some say it's now easier to choose to die than get support to live
Drinks such as sugar-free squash are off the menu for young children, say health advisers.
The ONS also projects women will continue having smaller families than previous generations.
A Macclesfield woman fears she will have to leave Australia due to her medical condition.
Research suggests the synthetic hair used for braiding could be bad for you - but will that stop women using it?
Wayne Hawkins believes terminally ill people should be able to die when they choose, but others in the state disagree.
Tony Summers' son Paul was diagnosed with HIV and Hepatitis C and died in 2008 aged 44.
Human health, animal health and environmental health are interconnected. A new article published in the Lancet argues for an approach to pandemic threats that embraces this idea.
A new short film follows a boy as he seeks comfort in the Indigenous traditions, prayers and guidance of his grandfather, whose help is sought after a community member disappears.
Last year was the hottest on record — sparking major climate disasters across the globe that left a trail of destruction, including lost lives, destroyed infrastructure and decimated crops.
Data is key to solving some of the world’s toughest problems, but it’s often scattered and disorganized. An AI-powered tool from Conservation International can help.
For one of the world’s most important crops, a project supported by Conservation International is grounds for optimism.
From “blue carbon” to “ecosystem services,” environmental jargon is everywhere. Conservation International looks to make sense of it in an occasional explainer series. In this installment, we explore the role “HFLDs,” play in storing climate-warming carbon.
In case you missed it: Scientists are sourcing new, lifesaving medications from the sea. But deep-sea mining explorations could risk critical marine ecosystems before their potential is understood.
The recent IPCC climate report was bleak, but there are silver linings. Our expert weighs in.
The conservation movement has lost one of its giants. Renowned ecologist Thomas Lovejoy died Dec. 25 at the age of 80, National Geographic reported.
In partnership with Conservation International and NASA, the government of Liberia recently mapped the country’s diverse ecosystems — from lush forests to coastal mangroves — and analyzed how they have changed over time.