Governments urged to act to prevent potentially disastrous impacts on human resistance to medicines
The use of antibiotics on livestock will rise by nearly a third in the next 15 years without government intervention, according to new global estimates, with potentially disastrous impacts on human resistance to essential medicines.
Animal husbandry accounts for close to three-quarters of global use of antimicrobial medications and in many countries their use is poorly monitored. Some herds are routinely dosed and in many countries antimicrobials are used to increase the growth of animals bred for meat.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/03/2026 - 05:03
06/03/2026 - 05:00
In the Guardian’s Against the tide series, the documentary photographer got to know some ‘amazing’ 16- to 25-year-olds living on the fringes of England and Wales, and now her work is the centre of a new touring exhibition
It was while reading a landmark report about the poor health of people who live on the English coast that documentary photographer Polly Braden had her big idea. “I was just blown away by it,” she says. “I thought: this is about England. And it affects all of us.”
At the same time, as a single mother of teenagers, she had become interested in the lives of young people who had grown up under austerity, lived through a pandemic and were becoming adults during a cost-of-living crisis.
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06/03/2026 - 01:00
Campaigners say builders’ demolition of nest site highlights weak protection of wildlife from development
A building that was a noted nesting site for swifts, among the UK’s most at-risk birds, has been demolished during the nesting season, highlighting significant weaknesses in the protection of wildlife from development, campaigners say.
Contractors for the housebuilder Hill Group carried out the demolition of Regent House near Dorking station in Surrey over the last few weeks, during the nesting season which runs from 1 March to 31 August.
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El Niño expected to develop in coming months, bringing hotter and drier weather to eastern Australia
06/02/2026 - 23:29
BoM and other agencies expect transition to the first El Niño since spring 2023 sometime during winter
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Australia should prepare for an imminent El Niño, with the Bureau of Meteorology and other agencies forecasting that the weather phenomenon is likely to develop in the coming months.
“The models are really aligning now,” Felicity Gamble, a senior BoM climatologist, said. “We are expecting a transition to El Niño sometime during winter.”
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06/02/2026 - 18:01
Bank of England says updated imagery will celebrate native wildlife while bolstering anti-counterfeit features
Puffins, dolphins and bumblebees are among the wildlife that could feature on new banknotes in the UK as the Bank of England announces its shortlist.
There has been controversy over the decision, with figures including Nigel Farage criticising the Bank for, he claimed, wanting to replace Winston Churchill with a beaver. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said it was “a silly thing to do”, and Reform UK’s Farage called it “absolutely crackers”. In the end, no beaver appeared on the shortlist. Mammal options include bottlenose dolphins and red foxes.
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06/02/2026 - 17:35
Ocean Observatories Initiative, $368m network that has provided crucial climate data, latest victim of Trump cuts
The Trump administration plans to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system that has for more than a decade provided crucial data on ocean systems and climate change.
In a notice, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it had “initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative” (OOI), a vast ocean observation network comprising more than 900 instruments that collect data on ocean health, including current patterns, climate variability and marine biodiversity.
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06/02/2026 - 11:29
Utility company pleaded guilty to criminal offence of supplying water unfit for humans
‘My son is still suffering’: the ill effects of water contamination in ‘Brixham incident’
A utility company has been fined £1.85m for supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak made hundreds of people sick and forced thousands of households to boil their water.
South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to a cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, in the spring and summer of 2024.
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06/02/2026 - 10:00
Researchers observed unavailable female dolphins – those that were older, or with calves – did not show the same avoidant behaviour
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Female dolphins identify males by their unique calls and keep track of their past behaviour, choosing to avoid the most aggressive males during mating season, new research suggests.
Bottlenose dolphin society is complex, and male and female dolphins often know each other for decades, said Prof Stephanie King, an expert in animal behaviour at the University of Bristol.
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06/02/2026 - 10:00
Finocchiaro government grants approval for up to 12 wells in Beetaloo basin
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Santos could begin new drilling for gas in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin within weeks after the Finocchiaro government granted approval for up to 12 wells.
The decision, published late last month, has prompted calls from environment groups for the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to use his powers to “call in” the development for an assessment of its potential effects on water and threatened species under national nature laws.
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06/02/2026 - 10:00
‘Completely unnecessary’ hybrid cans are not easily recycled or accepted by container refund schemes, and are already banned in WA
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A single-use plastic and metal drinking vessel dubbed a “franken-can” has been given the dubious honour of the nation’s worst plastic packaging.
The plastic-metal hybrid can, which is not accepted by container refund schemes or easily recycled – has won the inaugural Unpackit award for Australia’s worst packaging.
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