Environment

Congress must act to ensure that families are able to heat their homes before the start of the season

Heating oil may be the clearest warning yet of how the war in Iran is deepening the US’s energy affordability crisis. Families who heat their homes with oil are facing bills that could be 50% higher this winter, adding nearly $900 to the cost of keeping their homes warm. These families were already struggling before the war began.

As the Guardian recently reported, research by my organization found that electricity shutoffs in 10 states had increased 28% over the past two years. Millions of Americans were already falling behind on their utility bills, forced to choose between paying for energy, food, medicine and rent. Now they face another round of increases in gasoline, electricity and home heating costs.

Andrea Egan calls for same political focus on teachers, care sector and NHS and says Jackdaw decision ‘a serious misstep’

The leader of the UK’s biggest trade union has called for the same political focus to be given to NHS, education and care sector workers as there has been on those employed in North Sea oil and gas.

Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, said too often public sector workers were treated as an “afterthought” by the government compared with the “massive political focus” on protecting jobs in the North Sea.

Voters are feeling the pinch of Trump’s anti-climate agenda as energy costs rise, but a shake-up in Congress could shift things

If the polls can be believed, the US could see a blue wave in the midterms, giving Democrats a chance to take back the House and Senate, and gaining up to four governor’s seats.

These wins could give Democrats new power to resist Donald Trump’s anti-climate agenda, and to push forward climate policies at the state level. But if Republicans maintain power, it could further embolden Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda and leave intact his administration’s latitude to continue dismantling regulatory measures his critics say protect public health and the planet.

Turkey has been hit by powerful thunderstorms and a fatal tornado this week with more heavy rain expected

Heavy rain and strong winds will continue to affect parts of south-eastern Europe and Turkey over the next few days, as an area of low pressure in the region has allowed for the formation of powerful thunderstorms. During a particularly intense thunderstorm in Antalya, a coastal city in the south-west of Turkey, the formation of a tornado resulted in the deaths of four construction workers on Tuesday. Authorities in Greece and Turkey have released severe rainfall and flooding warnings, as a further 100-150mm (nearly 4-6in) of rain is expected this week in central Greece and western parts of Turkey, with locally higher totals possible.

Travelling eastwards towards south Asia, strong winds and heavy rainfall have swept across the Indian regions of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Arnab made landfall. With wind gusts in excess of 85mph (140km/h) and rainfall totals in some regions exceeding 200mm, the severe storm has prompted mass evacuations of more than 180,000 people, as well as widespread disruption to energy and transport infrastructure. The cyclone will weaken as it continues to traverse northwards over the coming days, though will continue to deliver heavy rain to parts of northern and central India as it does so.

Ex-energy secretary Ed Miliband’s agenda appears undermined as money is diverted from renewables to defence

Britain is unlikely to hit its targets on green heating after the cuts announced by John Healey this week, experts have warned, as critics of Ed Miliband claim the former energy secretary’s green agenda is being dismantled.

The chancellor unveiled more than £3bn worth of cuts to the energy department’s budget this week, much of which will pay for higher defence spending.

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

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The invasive species has increased in spread and numbers and is costing farmers millions of dollars

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An unpublished government report on feral deer shows Australia is failing in its efforts to stop the spread of what one advocate warns could become “Australia’s next feral pig”.

The five years from 2020-2025 over which the national feral deer action plan was assessed covers a period in which the famously elusive species has increasingly encroached upon major cities, leading to more frequent encounters – including a memorable occasion in which two men in various degrees of undress were fined after becoming lost in the bush when they were spooked by deer while nude sunbathing.

As many as 8 million people have been affected by food shortages, electricity blackouts and health clinic closures

Extreme drought driven by an historic El Niño is affecting as many as 8 million people in Papua New Guinea, causing a cascade of issues from shortages of food and water, to electricity scarcity and schooling disruption.

An influential coalition that includes churches, trade unions and business groups has said the Pacific nation is in the midst of a “national crisis”, but there appears to be “no coordinated plan to protect vulnerable communities from the worsening impacts of El Niño.”

Oxford study shows Manx shearwaters lose direction when their body clocks get out of sync

Seabirds returning from foraging trips can be thrown hundreds of miles off course by a form of jet lag that arises when their body clocks get out of sync with local time, researchers say.

Tracking data from Manx shearwaters on the west coast of the UK revealed that when the birds returned home to their colonies after trips over the Atlantic, their rapid eastward flights disrupted their sense of time and navigation.

A species of seabirds appears to become disoriented on flights back to its nest due to shifting time zones.

(Image credit: birdsonline)

Angela Eagle tells industry ‘people are sick of excuses’ as pollution levels remain high despite billions in investment

Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has summoned water industry bosses to Whitehall after a report found that the environmental performance of the big companies has worsened despite investment.

“People are sick of excuses,” Dame Angela said, after the Environment Agency joined the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Natural Resources Wales and Ofwat for a joint report that rated eight of the nine water companies in England as “poor” or “requiring improvement”.

Replacing diesel-powered ferries with electric vessels could reduce emissions and improve air quality

Cutting through New York Harbor in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, the small white boat we were riding on caught the attention of passengers aboard a nearby sightseeing ferry.

“It’s quite a curiosity at the moment,” Eric Laakmann, the chief executive and co-founder of Vessev, said.

Climate Central is an independent group of scientists and communicators who research and report the facts about our changing climate and how it affects people’s lives.

El Niño years typically lead to more precipitation and higher-than-average temperatures. The latest data shows the different potential impacts by region.

(Image credit: Connie Hanzhang Jin)

NSW government imposes water restrictions after Menindee water volumes fall below 2021 levels

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Water levels at the Menindee Lakes in western New South Wales have fallen to their lowest point in five years, prompting the state government to impose upstream water use restrictions as experts warn of potential mass fish deaths over summer.

Combined volume at the Menindee Lakes fell below 480 gigalitres earlier this month, the first time since 2021.

Seawater surges into low-lying communities from San Diego to San Francisco Bay Area, submerging streets, homes and businesses

Historic high tides have caused chaos up and down the California coast this week, as parts of the state were inundated by record-breaking water levels. Seawater surged into low-lying communities from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay Area, submerging streets, flooding homes and businesses, and jamming important transportation corridors and train routes.

Kayakers and paddleboarders could be seen gliding through typically busy thoroughfares in Marin county, north of San Francisco, on Monday and Tuesday. Several drivers had to be rescued from floating cars in the area, while cyclists who had attempted to cross the temporary lagoon that had formed quickly found themselves waist-deep. Further south, in cities such as Newport Beach, water pounded the emergency infrastructure set up to keep out the swelling sea, which seeped through berms, seawalls and sandbag blockades along the shoreline.

The Trump administration wants to undo a Biden-era rule that would reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

(Image credit: David Goldman)

Bush Heritage hopes to buy Wooroora station, which links wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland and is home to 12 endangered species

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A majestic tract of land in far north Queensland that links wet tropics and world heritage rainforest, and contains headwaters that flow to the Great Barrier Reef, could be bought and protected by Christmas, after a conservation group raised more than $19m in private donations to buy the cattle station.

Wooroora spans more than 20,000 hectares of largely intact wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland on the lands of the Jirrbal people about 100km south-west of Cairns – and borders Bush Heritage’s existing 43,575-hectare Yourka Reserve in one of the most biodiverse regions in Australia.

Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions

Donald Trump said his administration was “terminating” Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators. The change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210m barrels of oil, he said, which is equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption.

The Canadian prime minister’s reckoning with Trumpism in Davos clashes with his attacks on environmental, Indigenous and labour rights

The Canadian prime minister is a hero around the world for his Davos speech that reckoned with a reconfiguration of power in the shadow of Donald Trump.

But at home, Mark Carney is mirroring the US president by radically centralizing power within his office and cabinet and taking a hatchet to dozens of laws protecting environmental, Indigenous and labour rights, all in order to enact his economic agenda.

Shiri Pasternak is an associate professor in criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University and a member of the Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism research team, a collaboration between critical scholars and Indigenous land defenders across North America