Scientists are discovering just how toxic wildfire smoke is to the body – here’s what to know and how to stay safe
As dozens of wildfires rage across the US and Canada, blackening the skies once again this summer, scientists are revealing even more about how dangerous wildfire smoke is for our health.
Some of the worst fires – including the Durkee fire in Oregon, the Park fire in California and the Jasper fire in Alberta, Canada – have sent smoke billowing for hundreds of miles around them, blanketing cities like Boise and Calgary with poor-quality air.
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07/31/2024 - 06:00
US researchers say they have uncovered potential link after tracking 130,000 people over four decades
Eating processed red meat could be a significant risk factor for dementia, according to a large study that tracked more than 100,000 people over four decades.
Processed red meat has previously been shown to increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Now US researchers say they have uncovered a potential link to dementia.
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07/31/2024 - 05:00
Critics say bill is a ‘fossil fuel wolf in clean energy clothing’ that would gut environmental protections
US senators should reject an energy-permitting reform bill being brought to committee on Wednesday by senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso because it’s a “wishlist for the fossil industry” of the kind envisioned by Project 2025, environmental groups say.
Manchin, a senator from West Virginia and a former Democrat who registered as an independent in May, and Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, argue their bill will speed permitting of power transmission, mining and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects. Their bill will be voted on by the Senate energy and natural resources committee, of which Manchin, a longtime proponent of the reforms, is the chair and Barrasso is the committee’s top Republican.
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07/31/2024 - 03:39
Advocates say nets are killing marine life and do not prevent shark bites but government says it will not remove them completely
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For years, sea turtles have been nesting along the east coast of Australia – but as global heating causes waters to warm, the marine animals are pushing farther south and into areas off Sydney where shark nets are in place every summer.
In anticipation of increased turtle activity in April next year, the New South Wales government has announced it will remove the shark nets one month early, on 31 March.
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07/31/2024 - 03:33
Land and Environment Court fines state agency $360,000 for logging eucalyptus trees after black summer bushfires
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A court has released a scathing judgment against the New South Wales’ state-owned forest agency, finding it had “a pattern” of illegally damaging the environment and had refused to accept the “true extent of the harm that it has caused”.
The Land and Environment Court fined the Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) $360,000 for offences related to the logging of 53 eucalyptus trees in environmentally significant forest near Eden, in the state’s south, after the black summer bushfires.
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07/31/2024 - 00:37
In today’s newsletter: The government has spent €1.6bn improving the river, but an ancient sewage system and the climate are muddying the waters
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An ambitious project to clean up the River Seine has left French officials up to their eyes in it.
Israel-Gaza war | Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has been targeted and killed in Tehran, the group said in a statement early on Wednesday morning. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed the assassination, which was reported on Iranian state TV early on Wednesday morning, with analysts also claiming Israel killed Haniyeh, the Associated Press said.
UK news | Keir Starmer has said those who rioted in Southport on Tuesday night will “feel the full force of the law” after police vehicles were set alight and missiles hurled at officers. It came after far-right protesters pelted police with glass bottles and bricks and attacked a mosque following a knife attack that killed three children and left five other children and two adults in critical condition.
Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch, the frontrunner to be the next Conservative party leader, has been accused of creating an intimidating atmosphere in the government department she used to run, with some colleagues describing it as toxic, the Guardian can reveal.
US election 2024 | Donald Trump has repeated his weekend remarks to Christian summit attendees that they would never need to vote again if he returns to the presidency in November.
Health | The hidden cost of rising workplace sickness in the UK has increased to more than £100bn a year, largely caused by a loss of productivity amid “staggering” levels of presenteeism, a report warns.
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07/31/2024 - 00:00
Farm north of London to be returned to something like pasture once enjoyed by Anglo-Saxon king
It was once woodland where Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king, rode in pursuit of deer. Over recent decades, the hillside with a panoramic view of London has become arable fields, pony paddocks and a Christmas tree plantation.
But now Harold’s Park, a 200-hectare (500 acre) farm just north of the M25 on the edge of the capital, is to be rewilded and returned to something like the tangled wood pasture once enjoyed by King Harold.
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07/30/2024 - 18:11
Storms result in caved-in roads and crushed cars nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl
Thunderstorms and torrential rain brought another wave of violent floods Tuesday that caved in roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in north-eastern Vermont, nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl.
Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon hours after some areas got 6 to more than 8in (15 to more than 20cm) starting late the night before.
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07/30/2024 - 18:01
The new budget comes after the previous government failed to award a single new offshore wind contract in 2023
The Labour government will make record amounts of funding available to clean energy developers after it increased the value of its summer subsidy auction by 50%, to £1.5bn.
The addition, compared with figures previously announced, means the total budget is seven times the amount available at last year’s auction, the government said.
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07/30/2024 - 12:48
North Sea oil and gas extraction can cause pollution to spike by more than 10,000 percent within half a kilometer around off-shore sites, a study has found. The research has uncovered the true impact on Britain's seabed life -- with the number of species plummeting nearly 30 percent near platforms.
