A playful sperm whale, an octopus guarding her young and an otherworldly "screaming swallower": there are some absolutely gorgeous shots in this year's Underwater Photographer of the Year competition

Scientists studying fragments of DNA in our genome say they are shedding light on ancient human-neanderthal couplings

A Texas judge has dismissed Exxon's defamation case against environmental groups it claimed tried to sabotage its plastics recycling program - but has allowed a parallel case against California’s attorney general to stand

Who are you calling birdbrain? 🐦🪶🦅 Good news for twitchers: A new study has found birdwatching might reshape the brain and protect against cognitive decline in aging.

US “bullying” over a proposed shipping carbon levy may be working, say experts, after key maritime state Panama reversed its support The shipping industry accounts for about 3% of the world’s carbon output

Who are you calling birdbrain? 🐦🪶🦅 Good news for twitchers: A new study has found birdwatching might reshape the brain and protect against cognitive decline in aging.

A Cornish power plant that switched on this morning is the UK's first to generate electricity from underground heat. The project relies on three-mile deep boreholes and will generate enough energy for 10,000 homes

Climate change is shifting the flowering seasons of tropical plants - sometimes by months, a study of 200 years of museum data has found

As Brazil moves to explode the deep, rocky river territory of the Lourenção Rocks, locals on the Tocantins River say the government’s refusal to recognize them as “impacted” excludes thousands of fishers from protections. Tiffany Higgins for @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2026/02/amaz...

Chronic ocean heating is causing a “staggering and deeply concerning” loss of marine life, a new study of over 33,000 populations has found www.theguardian.com/environment/...

More than 1,200 people got sick last year after swimming in officially designated English swimming spots last year, despite most of those waters being rated 'good' or 'excellent' New data from @sascampaigns.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Last June, Lincolnshire's Reform party mayor Andrea Jenkyns emailed the general inbox of a US company that wants to start fracking her county. She asked ask how she "could help". The chief exec replied 11 minutes later. This is how the relationship blossomed: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NEW from me: Pesticides that are banned in the EU because of links to health risks like infertility are still in 'major' use in Britain Now they could be banned here under a planned deal with the EU, but the pesticide lobby is fighting back Full list here: unearthed.greenpeace.org/2026/02/18/e...

A large-scale analysis of plug-in hybrids has found that they use three times more fuel than manufacturers claim

Some heartening news from Brazil 💚🌴🌳 Deforestation from August 2025 through January 2026 has fallen to its lowest level for that period since 2014

British fruit and veg treated with ‘toxic’ #pesticides - Ten substances linked to medical issues including infertility are no longer allowed in the EU, but continue to be sprayed on UK crops Story by @adamvaughan.bsky.social and @unearthednews.bsky.social (£) www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

One in nine new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 are in areas at flood risk, according to new data by insurer Aviva www.theguardian.com/environment/...

As Arctic ice cover shrinks, experts warn of security implications and easier access to Greenland's critical minerals, the @financialtimes.com reports

A national park in Belgium, one of the world's most light-polluted countries, is turning off its "pointless" streetlights

🚢 NEW: From its operations HQ in Glasgow, shipping company Seapeak plays a key role in exports of gas from the Russian Arctic to Europe. Last month all 10 of its shipments from Siberia were helped by sanctioned Russian icebreakers to reach open waters unearthed.greenpeace.org/2026/02/11/s...

A Trump 'blockade' on renewables is stalling approvals for hundreds of wind and solar projects nationwide at a time when electricity demand is going up

Malaysia has banned e-waste imports, declaring the country would not be a “dumping ground” for the world

Svalbard polar bears surprise scientists by getting fatter and healthier despite sea ice loss 🐻‍❄️

Peer urges Environment Agency to clean up 25,000-tonne illegal waste dump next to a primary school in Wigan which presents “a grave environmental hazard”

Shell announces 2025 annual profits statement of £13.6 billion, with record payouts for investors

On Saturday, The Guardian published a report on the “Ulez bomber” case, where a man was found guilty of blowing up a Ulez camera with a homemade bomb. They cited our 2024 story, which revealed how opposition to Ulez became radicalised inside online groups. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The polar bears of Svalbard have surprised scientists by growing fatter and healthier in recent years, despite rapid ice loss in their region www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Last year the US tripled its planned gas-fired power capacity, as AI data centres drive a huge global boom in demand. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Wholesale gas prices were responsible for two-thirds of the electricity bill increases households have faced in recent years, according to analysts at the UK Energy Research Centre

For every $1 spent protecting nature, $30 goes to destroying it - @unep.org report calls for major shift towards solutions that help the natural world – and support the economy at the same time news.un.org/en/story/202...

UK officials promised "assertive action" against oil tankers that are part of the Russian shadow fleet in the Channel. But BBC Verify has identified dozens of shadow fleet tankers sailing the Channel in recent weeks

'Cascading risks' from ecosystem collapses around the world pose a serious threat to the UK's future prosperity and safety, parliament's intelligence committee warns in a new report. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half of the world's CO2 emissions in 2024, with Saudi Aramco, Chevron and ExxonMobil leading the list.

The Gates Foundation Trust invested $254 million in companies that extract fossil fuels in 2024, an analysis by the Guardian has found

Are pesticides making florists ill? After French officials linked the death of a florist’s child to neo-natal exposure, many in the industry are raising the alarm

How hot was your city last year? In London the average temperature was 53°F (11.67°C), the 2nd warmest year since 1950. In Glasgow it was 48.3°F (9.06°C), the warmest year since 1950.

Thanks to the final meal of a wolf puppy preserved in the permafrost of northeast Siberia, scientists were able to sequence the genome of the woolly rhinoceroses, which went extinct about 14,000 years ago.

Spain’s meteorologists subjected to ‘alarming’ rise in hate speech and social media attacks, warns environment minister

Human activity helped make 2025 third-hottest year on record, experts say

The UK has secured contracts to build a record amount of offshore wind projects, including what could be the world's largest offshore wind farm. Analysts warn that the government will still struggle to meet its 2030 "clean power" target.

In 2024 alone, wildfires destroyed more than 134,000 km2 of forest globally - an area greater than England. Experts warn the world is now losing forest to fires at an unsustainable rate. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

ICYMI: A major blow to Amazon protection is unfolding in Brazil. ABIOVE, the powerful soy trade group representing Cargill, Bunge and ADM, says it is pulling out of the Amazon Soy Moratorium (ASM), one of the most effective anti-deforestation agreements ever created.

The Himalayas are facing a "snow drought." Meteorologists say snowfall is well below average, leaving mountains bare during what should be their peak winter season. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'A colossal own goal’: Trump’s exit from global climate treaties will have little effect outside US #climatecrisis By @fionaharvey.bsky.social and @olliemilman.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

🔴 NEW - Reform ‘Cosying Up to Authoritarian Petrostate’ Key members of Nigel Farage’s pro-oil party have been forging financial ties to the UAE. 📝 @adambarnett.bsky.social & @writesbright.bsky.social

More than 1,400 'shadow fleet' tankers move sanctioned oil for Russia, Venezuela and others. There's a sudden trend for them to sail under the Russian flag, like the ship seized near to UK waters last week, an analysis shows www.theguardian.com/business/202...

“If you want to know how much the Earth has warmed or how fast we will warm into the future, the answer is in the oceans” - new research finds they are heating at record rates

A 22-year-old woman is dead, 12 workers are injured and 30 people remain missing after a huge landfill collapsed in the Philippines www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Microplastics are inhibiting the capacity of oceans to absorb carbon dioxide Oceans are our largest natural carbon sink, absorbing about a quarter of the CO2 released by human activity every year

US oil companies want “serious guarantees” from Washington to invest in Venezuela, with its aging infrastructure, volatility, and dense oil