Aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across country with flooding under way or expected on Garonne, Maine and Loire rivers
France has issued red alerts for flooding in three départements as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.
Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
02/17/2026 - 07:00
Huge project by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms gets go-ahead amid concerns over the environmental cost of fish farming and threat to traditional way of life
At Collafirth, north Shetland, Sydney Johnson is unloading two-dozen bags of scallops by throwing them over his head like medicine balls to the pier above. Johnson, who has just finished a 10-hour shift on his boat, the Golden Shore, is concerned that plans for a new salmon farm will put fishers like him and his two sons out of business.
“They say it’s just one farm,” says Johnson. “But it’s one farm more. There’s only so much water and we’re at saturation point.”
Continue reading...
02/17/2026 - 02:24
Australian Antarctic Program scientists say virus on Heard Island has spread to new species
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
The gentoo penguin has become the first bird to test positive for the H5N1 bird flu on an Australian territory, with samples confirming the virus has spread on a sub-Antarctic island.
The deadly and contagious strain of bird flu, which has already killed millions of seabirds, wild birds and poultry overseas, was confirmed in southern elephant seals on Heard Island in November 2025.
Continue reading...
02/17/2026 - 00:00
Industry using ‘diversionary’ tactics, says analyst, as energy-hungry complex functions such as video generation and deep research proliferate
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
Most claims that AI can help avert climate breakdown refer to machine learning and not the energy-hungry chatbots and image generation tools driving the sector’s explosive growth of gas-guzzling datacentres, the analysis of 154 statements found.
Continue reading...
02/16/2026 - 23:41
Legal bid by shareholder advocacy group over alleged misleading ‘net zero’ and ‘clean energy’ claims fails
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
Gas company Santos has successfully defended a landmark greenwashing case in which it was accused of making misleading claims about its net zero plans and being a producer of “clean” energy.
In a blow for climate activists, the federal court on Tuesday dismissed the case brought by the shareholder advocacy group the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR).
Continue reading...
02/16/2026 - 14:23
President says it is inappropriate for UK to be dealing with Gavin Newsom after Ed Miliband meets governor in London
Donald Trump has vented his fury against a green energy deal between the British government and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, a likely future Democratic presidential candidate.
“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum,” Trump said in an interview with Politico, using the derogatory nickname he reserves for Newsom. “Gavin is a loser. Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”
Continue reading...
02/16/2026 - 08:21
Island’s reservoirs hit record lows even before tourist season starts as Cypriots are warned ‘every drop counts’
Europe live – latest updates
Authorities in Cyprus have urged residents to reduce their water intake by 10% – the equivalent of two minutes’ use of running water each day – as Europe’s most south-easterly nation grapples with a once-in-a century drought.
The appeal, announced alongside a €31m (£27m) package of emergency measures, comes as reservoirs hit record lows with little prospect of replenishment before the tourist season starts.
Continue reading...
02/16/2026 - 07:00
The Congo River basin is one of the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems. But it is also home to a growing population and relentless trade in timber and charcoal
“You can’t be scared of the storms,” says Jean de Dieu Mokuma as the sun sets on the Congo River behind him. “With the current, once your voyage has begun, there is no turning back.” Mokuma, along with his wife Marie-Therese and their two young children, is piloting a cargo of timber downstream lashed on to a precarious raft and tied to a canoe.
Families wake up at dawn on rafts of logs and merchandise that are being transported down the Congo River by boat to Kinshasa, the DRC capital
Continue reading...
02/16/2026 - 01:00
Analysis reveals big regional disparities as critics say Labour’s proposed levy could slow uptake of EVs
Drivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour’s mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data.
The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers switch from petrol to electric vehicles.
Continue reading...
02/15/2026 - 12:30
The president’s destructive policies enrich fossil fuel billionaires, while Beijing has bet big on the green transition
Devastating wildfires, flooding and winter storms were among the 23 extreme weather and climate-related disasters in the US which cost more than a billion dollars last year – at an estimated total loss of $115bn. The last three years have shattered previous records for such events. Last Wednesday, scientists said that we are closer than ever to the point after which global heating cannot be stopped.
Just one day later, Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, announced the elimination of the Obama-era endangerment finding which underpins federal climate regulations. Scrapping it is just one part of Mr Trump’s assault on environmental controls and promotion of fossil fuels. But it may be his most consequential. Any fragment of hope may lie in the fact that a president who has called global heating a “hoax” framed this primarily as about deregulation – perhaps because the science is now so widely accepted even in the US.
Continue reading...
