Environmental News
Breaking environmental news, policy updates, and ecosystem changes worldwide
Wildfires rage in Spain and Portugal amid searing heat
Extreme temperatures exacerbated by carbon pollution fuel fires in southern Europe as green policies are rolled backEurope live â latest updatesEurope scorched by wildfires â pictures from spaceRelentless heat and...
Trees, homes, roads: how the sea is swallowing coastal villages in the Philippines â in pictures
The countryâs coastal communities have long lived with flooding but as climate change accelerates rising sea levels and reclamation projects reshape Manila Bay, residents now see their homes under water...
The Smoldering, Noxious Waste Dump Next Door
L.A. Countyâs Chiquita Canyon Landfill has spewed high levels of toxic gases and climate super-pollutants for years. Yet local residentsâ pleas for help from state officials remain unanswered.By Liza GrossFive...
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on Democratsâ Failuresâand Opportunities for a Climate Comeback
The Rhode Island climate hawkâs prescription for a sidelined Democratic Party: name fossil fuel corruption, localize the impacts and use cost-of-living pain to rally voters.By Aidan HughesSeven months into President...
After the Texas floods, when is the right time to ask what went wrong?
The finger-pointing began as soon as the waters started to recede. Within hours of last monthâs floods in Kerr County, Texas, which killed more than 130 people, pundits were already...
As summers of extreme heat become more common, the UK must protect its workers | John Harris
Thereâs been fury in Spain over the tragic death of a street cleaner. Itâs not hard to imagine something similar playing out in the UKMontse Aguilar was only 51 when...
German police are investigating a âŹ0.15 water butt theft â and I fear theyâre on the right side of history
Iâve often laughed at those who are voluntarily extremely frugal. But in a world of dwindling resources, arenât the real weirdos the ones throwing yacht parties and sending Katy Perry...
A startup promised 45,000 EV jobs to struggling towns. Theyâre still waiting.
They came with promises of transformation: thousands of jobs, surging salaries, and a foothold in the booming electric vehicle market. Imola Automotive USA, a Boca Raton, Florida-based startup, pitched officials...
âPray for rainâ: wildfires in Canada are now burning where they never used to
Canadaâs response to the extreme weather threat is being upended as the traditional epicentre of the blazes shifts as the climate warmsRoad closures, evacuations, travel chaos and stern warnings from...
The Chinese Dam Threatening the Worldâs Most Endangered Ape
When a new orangutan species was found near a Chinese-owned hydrodam in Indonesia, scientists and advocates launched a campaign to block the project. Then some who spoke against it lost...
El Pasoâs Heat Is Killing in Record Numbers. It May Only Get Worse
In El Paso, heat deaths hit record highs in 2023 and 2024. Advocates say not enough is being done to protect the regionâs most vulnerable people.Story by Martha Pskowski, photos...
Deadlocked on Plastic Pollution
Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and reporter Bob Berwyn as they explain why global talks on plastics pollution reached a disappointing end.Global talks on plastics fell...
Trying to keep cool in an increasingly hot world â picture essay
The Cooling Solution is a photographic and scientific project that aims to show how people are adapting to high temperatures and increasing humidity across different countries, cultures and socioeconomic conditionsAs...
Trump administration reopens $5B EV charging program after losses in court
The Trump administration appears to be backing away from its fiercely contested efforts to freeze a $5 billion federal funding program for electric vehicle chargers. On Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled...
Farmers in US midwest squeezed by Trump tariffs and climate crisis
Excess rainfall has fueled disease and pest pressure in Ohioâs soybean fields as a trade war with China puts farmersâ biggest export market in doubt Seventh-generation farmer Brian Harbage grows...
Tribal Solar Projects Meet Different Fates In Wyoming After Trump Administration Kills Funding
The Eastern Shoshone are moving ahead with a solar-powered micro-grid, but the Northern Arapaho rooftop PV program stalled after the EPA clawed back Solar for All funding.By Jake BolsterWIND RIVER,...
After a Drought Last Year, Ohio Farmers Wished for Rain. Now Downpours Are Destroying Their Crops
The variation in weatherâextreme drought one year, flash flooding the nextâhas made it nearly impossible for small farmers to plan their growing seasons.By Theo Peck-SuzukiThe water in the creek was...
From Landfills and Recycling Programs to Desks in Offices, Toxic Chemicals in Plastics Poison Workers
The plastics contaminating every corner of the Earth contain thousands of unregulated toxic chemicals. As global plastic talks end without a treaty, health experts say negotiators must consider their toxic...
Look up: five hopeful novels about the climate crisis
Can fiction make us more optimistic about tackling Earthâs environmental emergency? These eco-focused books have hope at their coreâCan literature be a tool to encourage something better â creating eco-topia...
Blue sky thinking: why we need positive climate novels
Environmental fiction is booming â but can it move beyond dystopia to a brighter vision of the future?Nearly a quarter of a century ago when I published my first novel, Haweswater, about...
âUnlike any other kind of fearâ: wildfires leave their mark across Spain
Near-disaster in PaĂźls is latest incident to show Spainâs vulnerability to the effects of the climate emergencyOn Saturday, the people of PaĂźls will celebrate the feast of their patron saint,...
Massachusetts Seeks to End Ratepayer-Funded Subsidy for New Natural Gas Connections
A growing number of states look to end the incentives that regulators say lock in continued fossil fuel growth.By Phil McKennaA new Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities policy designed to...
Treasury Tightens Rules for Wind and Solar Tax Credits, But Offers Leeway
Climate advocates balked at the new hurdles for wind and solar. Still, analysts say the industry may have dodged a bullet.By Marianne Lavelle, Aidan HughesWind and solar projects will have...
âIt Didnât Have to Be This Wayâ: After Another Explosion at Clairton Coke Works, Advocates Call for Accountability
The deadly blast at the U.S. Steel facility outside Pittsburgh was just the latest in a series of recent workplace accidents.By Kiley BenseIn the aftermath of an explosion at U.S....
Delaying Even More Coal, Gas Plant Closures Could Cost Ratepayers Billions
Americans could be paying nearly $6 billion extra a year in energy bills if the Trump administration continues to keep power plants operating past their retirement dates, according to a...
âHellishâ: heatwave brings hottest nights on record to the Middle East
Temperatures did not drop below 36C in Sedom, Israel on Tuesday night, while several parts of Jordan stayed above 35C on MondayJordan and Israel have suffered through their hottest nights...
The International Seabed Authorityâs war with itself
For the last three decades, the United Nationsâ agency called the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, has been working in relative obscurity on negotiating the regulations that will govern a...
The Guardian view on Franceâs wine crisis: the answer to claret could be clairet | Editorial
Consumers are drinking less red wine than ever. Producers need to revive the fresher and lighter vintages that their medieval ancestors once harvestedThese are always anxious weeks in the Bordeaux...
âConsensus kills ambitionâ: UN plastics treaty talks end without an agreement
Diplomats from around the world concluded nine days of talks in Geneva â plus a marathon overnight session that lasted into the early hours of Friday â with no agreement...
Flash floods kill at least 159 people in Pakistan after huge cloudburst
Search for the missing continues in north-west after downpour also sparks deadly flooding and landslides in IndiaA massive cloudburst has triggered flash floods in north-west Pakistan, killing at least 157...
Plastic Pollution Talks in Geneva End Without Treaty
The UN eyes further negotiations, but global discord on limiting an escalating crisis makes next steps unclear.By Bob BerwynGENEVAâGlobal talks on curbing dangerous plastics pollution ended early Friday without agreement...
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xiâs priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Welcome to Carbon Briefâs DeBriefed. An essential guide to the weekâs key developments relating to climate change. This week Blazing heat hits Europe FANNING THE FLAMES: Wildfires âfanned by a...
Arctic glaciers face âterminalâ decline as microbes accelerate ice melt
Scientists in Svalbard in race to study polar microbes as global warming threatens fragile glacial ecosystemsâIt felt really scary ⌠like being in the middle of a burning city during...
Campaigners sue Chilean government over copper mining pollution
A coalition of environmental campaigners and Indigenous groups is suing the Chilean government for systematically failing to curb pollution in the heart of the countryâs copper mining region, as demand...
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
The specter of a âgas-for-windâ compromise between the governor and the White House is drawing the ire of residents as a deadline looms.By Deep VakilHundreds of New Yorkers rallied against...
Plastics treaty talks collapse without a deal after âchaoticâ negotiations
UN talks on creating a global pact to stem plastic pollution collapsed in Geneva with no agreement or clear way forward after chaotic nights of negotiations failed to break a...
Chicago Aims To Have Most Air Pollution Sensors in the US
The city is racing to put up 277 sensors. Once installed, Chicago will have the most high-quality air monitors in the country, a model that rivals only London, which has...
The Trump administrationâs assault on science feels eerily Soviet
In the fall of 1925, agronomist Trofim Lysenko arrived on the dusty plains of what is now Azerbaijan, hoping to keep cows from starving to death over the winter. The...
California is sunsetting oil refineries without a plan for whatâs next
Within the past year, two major California oil refineries have announced plans to shutter â moves that will pull about one quarter of a million barrels from the stateâs daily...
Factory farms donât just stink â they make it harder to breathe, too
New research out this week underscores what many environmental justice advocates in the U.S. have long known: Animal feeding operations â another term for factory farming â pollute the air, and...
Climate crisis harming world heritage painted houses in Burkina Faso, say residents
TiĂŠbĂŠlĂŠâs wavy-walled houses covered in geometric lines showing signs of disintegration amid erratic weatherA world heritage site that was once a famous tourist destination is suffering from signs of disintegration,...
The heart-shaped mangrove formation fading due to rising seas
The Heart of Voh is a symbol of New Caledoniaâs pristine environment but its outline is changing due to the climate crisisOn the west coast of New Caledonia, Isobelle Goa...
Temperatures and Carbon Emissions Continue to Rise
An acceleration of warming that started in 2023 continued through 2024, according to the latest annual climate assessment by the American Meteorological Society, as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue...
US Guts Criticism of Indigenous Rights Abuses, Mentions of Climate Change From Annual Human Rights Reports
The Trump administration delayed releasing reports on countriesâ human rights records. Now theyâre out, and theyâre starkly different than in the prior eight years.By Katie Surma, Peter AldhousForget Indigenous rights,...
Clock runs down on global plastics pact with no deal in sight
Diplomats in Geneva are racing to clinch a last-minute agreement on a global plastics pact and rescue fraught talks from collapsing without a deal. As negotiations neared the end of...
Factcheck: Trumpâs climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims
A âcritical assessmentâ report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief...
Bodycam footage shows firefighters tackling Turkey wildfire â video
Bodycam footage showed firefighters tackling the flames from a wildfire in Turkeyâs southern Mersin province. The fire began in a forest area in the Silifke district and led to the...
Virtual Power Plants Showed Up for Their Biggest Test Yet. Here Are the Results
The California grid got an evening boost from 535 megawatts of home-based batteries, giving a hint at what this decentralized resource can do.By Dan GearinoIf what happened on July 29...