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Seven months after an El Niño associated with hotter and drier weather got under way, conditions have returned to neutralFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Bureau of Meteorology has declared the El Niño weather event of 2023-24 to be over, with odds increasing that its cooler counterpart, the La...

Removal of nearly 500 barriers last year will help restore disturbed waterways to their natural state, says Dam Removal EuropeEurope removed a record number of dams and other barriers from its rivers in 2023, a report has found, helping to restore its disturbed waterways to their natural states.Nearly 500 barriers were taken out of European rivers last year, according to figures compiled by Dam...

Heavy rain forecast in Saudi Arabia and UAE as France and Spain cool down after weekend of high temperaturesIntense thunderstorms are forecast across parts of the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday, bringing very high rainfall to the region and a significant flooding risk in parts.Low pressure over the Arabian peninsula will deepen on Monday while a flow of moist tropical air moves into the...

Hairy-nosed otters and cats that catch fish are among the startling diversity of creatures making their home in threatened habitatsOne of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has revealed that an astonishing array of wildlife makes its home in these key, threatened habitats.Hundreds of species – from bats to birds and fish to insects – were identified during...

The tree all but vanished in the 1970s. Now, thanks to two amateur nature lovers, it may soon grace our landscapes againConstable painted them. Shakespeare wrote of them. And Francis Drake sailed the world in a ship made from them. English elms were a mainstay of England’s landscape and culture – until they all but disappeared to Dutch elm disease in the 1970s.Since that...

Country had previously turned the tide on deforestation but armed rebels have revoked banDeforestation in the Colombian Amazon is surging and could be at a historic peak as armed groups use the rainforest as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations with the government.Preliminary data shows that deforestation in the region was 40% higher in the first three months of this year than in 2023...

This blog is now closed.Brittany Higgins questions whether she was drugged on night of alleged rape in new court submissionMona ordered to allow people ‘who do not identify as ladies’ into Ladies Lounge exhibitGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA search will resume this morning for a woman who went missing while bushwalking at Belmore Falls in New...

PA Burns Reserve in Altona the latest site to have ‘small amounts of asbestos’ discovered, environment watchdog saysGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastVictoria’s environment watchdog has confirmed traces of asbestos at six parks and reserves across Melbourne, as it probes the sources of the contamination.In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Environment Protection Authority confirmed small amounts...

Walker Corporation had proposed 3,000 apartments, marina and shops for the site, which is a critical habitat for the endangered eastern curlew • Toondah Harbour: should a wetland home to endangered birds become $1.3bn worth of shops, high-rises and a marina?• To the moon and back with the eastern curlewThe environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, has announced she will reject an apartment and...

Advocates fear situation could escalate in Javari valley, a region plagued by violence and poor healthcareMore than 100 Indigenous people in Brazil’s Javari valley have been diagnosed with flu-like symptoms, raising fears that the situation could escalate into an epidemic.The valley, where Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips were killed in 2022, is home to the largest population of Indigenous people in...

Gusts of more than 70mph recorded on Irish Sea coast, as temperatures rose above 30C in mainland EuropeStorm Kathleen brought strong winds to Ireland and the UK at the weekend, causing travel and power disruption. The storm, named by Met Éireann, developed in the Atlantic on Thursday, deepening explosively as it pushed northwards to the west of Ireland.Peak wind gusts of 40-60mph (65-95km/h) were...

Federal emergency declared in Orenburg region and at least 6,000 homes inundated after Ural River overflowsFlood waters were rising in two cities in Russia’s Ural mountains on Sunday after Europe’s third-longest river burst through a dam, flooding at least 6,000 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee.The Ural River, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, swelled several...

Environmental and animal welfare groups call on lender to phase out support for ‘industrial’ livestock operationsThe private sector arm of the World Bank is facing claims that it contributes to global heating and the undermining of animal welfare by providing financial support for factory farming, including the building of pig farming tower blocks in China.A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups is calling...

Sydney expected to be badly affected as further downpours and strong winds forecast to lash New South Wales coastSouth-eastern Australia has been experiencing heavy rain since Thursday night, which will continue until Saturday morning local time. New South Wales will be particularly badly affected, with cumulative rainfall totals of 150-200m along coastal stretches.Hourly totals are expected to reach 10-20mm at times, with the worst-affected...

Second discovery of asbestos at Hosken Reserve, in Melbourne’s north, after similar material found in SpotswoodFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastVictoria’s environment watchdog says it suspects an illegal dumping of construction waste was behind the discovery of asbestos in mulch in Melbourne’s west this week.The material was found in...

Governments across region grappling for response as temperatures soar to unseasonable highsThousands of schools in the Philippines have stopped in-person classes due to unbearable heat. In Indonesia, prolonged dry weather has caused rice prices to soar. In Thailand’s waters, temperatures are so high that scientists fear coral could be destroyed.A “historic heatwave” is being experienced across south-east Asia, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist...

The same year, 2022, company replaced plastic sleeves in EU with paper and cardboard, and cut plastic packaging globally by 11.6%The amount of plastic packaging waste created by Amazon has increased in the US even as the online retail giant sought to phase out plastics elsewhere in the world, a report claims, amid growing pressure for a global treaty to end plastic pollution.Amazon created...

Despite major progress in Brazil and Colombia, deforestation led by farming still cleared an area nearly equal to Switzerland The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures show.An area nearly the size of Switzerland was cleared from previously undisturbed rainforests last year, totalling...

Schemes to replace EU subsidies will not plug gap left by loss of EU subsidies for most farmersFarmers are calling for the government to grant them a universal basic income, saying the post-Brexit agriculture subsidy scheme has left many poorer.Delays to the sustainable farming schemes put in place after the UK left the European Union, to replace the common agricultural policy (CAP), have meant...

Emmerson Mnangagwa says country needs $2bn of aid as severe dry spell caused by El Niño afflicts southern AfricaZimbabwe has declared a national disaster over a drought caused by the climate event known as El Niño and President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the country needs $2bn in aid to help millions of people who are going hungry.The severe dry spell is wreaking havoc across...

German’s appointment to head Convention on Biological Diversity follows global failure to meet any targets on protecting ecosystemsThe next UN biodiversity chief will be Astrid Schomaker, an EU civil servant who will be entrusted with helping the world confront the ongoing catastrophic loss of nature.Schomaker has been a career official with the EU commission for 30 years. A surprise appointment, she will be tasked...

Monitoring station detects predatory species using artificial intelligence and sends alert so nests can be tracedAn early warning system designed to track and trace predatory Asian hornets using artificial intelligence has been unveiled by experts from a British university.Researchers from the University of Exeter have invented a system that draws hornets to a monitoring station. They land on a sponge cloth impregnated with food...

Meteorologist says bears were not aggressive but they fired signal gun to scare them awayKatarzyna Kudłacz was preparing a breakfast of scrambled eggs at a research station on Svalbard when she looked up to see she had three unexpected guests.Shocked and in awe, the meteorologist immediately alerted her colleagues to the female polar bear and her two cubs peering into the Polish research station...

Possible charity highlights financial savings and environmental benefits for low-paid staffMinisters should consider a social leasing scheme for care workers in rural areas across the UK to use electric cars, a climate charity has argued, saying this would save often low-paid staff large sums, also bringing a big environmental boost.A focus group of carers in rural and semi-rural parts of the UK, carried out...