From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
The nearly 200 countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate action were already called on by the UN to put forward updated policies on curbing emissions in February, a deadline that was extended till the end of September. Denmark and Spain are among the EU nations that approve a European Commission proposal to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, which was to form the basis of the plan to present to the UN for goals to be achieved by 2035.
The H100 project in Levenmouth, supported by the Scottish Government and gas network operator SGN, is supplying green hydrogen produced from an offshore wind turbine to 300 homes. Residents are using hydrogen-powered boilers and radiators like they would natural gas, but without carbon emissions. First Minister John Swinney called the project "a new prospect and a really exciting opportunity," emphasising its potential to inform UK energy policy.
The Guardian has long been at the forefront of agenda-setting climate journalism, and in a news cycle dominated by autocrats and war, we refuse to let the health of the planet slip out of sight. We stand out as a media organisation by examining why the climate emergency is creating a new era of demagogues and how powerful governments, financial institutions and big oil companies are turning their back on climate promises.
When I first encountered the Great Salt Lake and was introduced to the complex issues that are affecting the lake, I asked myself what art could contribute to the discussion,
Microplastics seem to be everywhere-in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. They have turned up in human organs, blood, testicles, placentas, and even brains. While the full health consequences of that exposure are not yet known, researchers are exploring potential links between microplastics and negative health effects such as male infertility, inflammation, liver disease and other metabolic problems, and heart attack or stroke.
One recent August morning, the sun was just rising when I was up and out the door of my apartment, heading to the Oakland estuary. Not everyone would be excited to get up at "oh-god-thirty" to tromp out to the bay's shoreline and strap themselves to a wobbly paddleboard to hunt down piles of garbage. But as an environmental reporter and water nerd, I was pumped.
For the next few days, there's an offer on TfL's cycle hire scheme, where you can rent a bike for a whole month for just £10. The £10 monthly subscription then offers unlimited one-hour cycle rides at no extra cost for standard bikes and £1 extra for e-bikes. To take advantage of this offer, you need the Santander Cycle app, and then use the voucher code: CFD25, when purchasing a monthly membership.
There's a new, free tool to help Americans monitor power outages in real time. Compiling data from its vast network of home sensors, startup Whisker Labs is launching the feature today in its Ting app. You don't actually need to have one of these sensors in your home to use the Ting app to track a power outage. Whisker Labs, which shared the announcement first with The Verge, says it is the only app to offer immediate outage alerts at such a hyperlocal level.
If a dense fog advisory is issued for your area, it means that widespread dense fog has developed and visibility often drops to just a quarter-mile or less. These conditions can make driving challenging, so exercise extreme caution on the road, and if possible, consider delaying your trip. If you must venture out in foggy conditions, keep these safety tips from the NWS in mind:
Southern California could feel more like Florida the rest of this week, forecasters said, as moisture from a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific shifts north, boosting humidity and the chance for unstable weather in the region. "The next several days, we're getting the remnants of the energy from Tropical Storm Mario," said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. "It's giving us this threat of thunderstorms." Those storms could create fires from dry-lightning strikes or flash floods and debris flows depending on how strong they turn out to be, the National Weather Service warned.
In 2022, the Australian mining and energy company Fortescue signed a deal with E.On, a German energy network and infrastructure operator, to supply up to five million tons of low-emission green hydrogen to Europe annually. "The race for large-scale production and transportation of green hydrogen has taken off," said Robert Habeck, then German minister for economic affairs and climate action, of the deal. Adding that it would be the start of a "future without fossil fuels."
But moist, forested Oregon-and the Cascadia ecoregion more broadly-has always been a "fungal paradise," according to mycologist Noah Siegel, coauthor of a 2024 guidebook, Mushrooms of Cascadia, that covers over 750 species. "They come in pretty much every single color possible and range from minuscule tiny little mushrooms that are a millimeter across to the Noble Polypores, which can be five feet across," Siegel says. "All of that is right under your nose, in the forest around you." It's truly a wonderland out there.
To access the meteorological archives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - which contain records from when the DRC became independent in 1960 collected from 37 weather stations across the country - Muheki had to fly from Kinshasa to Kisangani in the country's north, travel along the Congo River by boat and then take an unpaved road on a motorcycle to reach the Yangambi branch of the DRC's National Institute for Agronomic Research (INERA).
Eighteen rural communities in Lesotho have filed a complaint with the African Development Bank (AfDB) over its funding of a multibillion-pound water project whose construction process they claim has ruined fields, polluted water sources and damaged homes. About 1,600 people living in the villages in Mokhotlong district in north-east Lesotho are demanding transparency over planned forced relocations and compensation they say they have not been consulted on. The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is scheduled for completion by 2029, a decade later than planned.
Car-centric planning has hollowed out our cities. Zoning regulations, freeways, and cheap fuel gave rise to sprawling suburbs and isolated communities, dependent on personal vehicles for even the most basic tasks. It's a system that punishes the poor, marginalizes the elderly and disabled, and makes public life thinner and more precarious. The car promised freedom, and delivered debt, pollution, and dependence.
A historic East Bay company that generated the foul stench of sewage odor that polluted a town's air has settled a lawsuit with Contra Costa County prosecutors for approximately $500,000, authorities said Tuesday. C&H Sugar, whose plant has been a staple in the unincorporated city of Crockett since 1906, committed the odor violations in 2022 at a wastewater treatment plant it jointly owns at Dowrelio Drive, according to a statement from the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.
What if there were a technology that could help to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, air pollution and environmental degradation, while improving health, reducing social inequality and boosting economic growth? There is, and this month it turns 200. The opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in northeast England on 27 September 1825 is generally considered to be the birth of the modern railway - an event that set in motion a revolution in human mobility and social organization.
Larch trees, a type of deciduous conifer, are typically found east of the Cascade Crest throughout Washington's Cascade Mountains, as well as the broader Pacific Northwest and Canadian Rockies. Unlike other conifers, though, larches lose their needle-like leaves each fall. But first, they turn gold, blanketing the mountainsides of their high-altitude homes in a gilded hue. The spectacular vistas and short viewing window create the same foliage-spotting frenzy as the rest of the U.S., drawing huge crowds for Larch Madness season.
Fishermen have been under a moratorium on catching shrimp for more than a decade because of low population levels that scientists have attributed to climate change and warming oceans. The harvesters were allowed to catch a small number of shrimp this past winter as part of an industry-funded sampling and data collection program. The fishermen didn't catch much though, and recent changes allow regulators to extend the moratorium for five years at a time instead of just one, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission officials said Monday.
Taxing Britain's SUVs in line with other European countries could raise almost 2bn a year for the public finances, research has shown. The Transport & Environment thinktank has urged the government to use the autumn budget to bring in a levy on the largest vehicles, which it said would reflect the damage they caused to the environment and infrastructure.
Tuesday is expected to be the hottest day of the week, with warmer valley areas in L.A. County expected to reach the triple digits and temperatures in inland coastal areas ranging from the 80s to lower 90s, according to the National Weather Service. The hot weather will continue on Wednesday and coincide with a risk of thunderstorms that will persist through midday Friday.
It's really a truly significant change, California Resources CEO Francisco Leon said Monday on a call with analysts discussing the acquisition. The state is signaling a need for California production, he said, adding that the company has been having tremendous, very constructive conversations with the state of California.
The fan of the landslide, where a surge of boulders and mud blasted the forest open after rushing down the steeper slopes of Arizona Mountain in the Catskills, is about 100 feet widean undulating plane of rocks, mangled tree trunks, and invasive plants such as Japanese stiltgrass that thrive in disturbed areas. On a hot July day the seasonal stream that runs through this ravine, named the Shingle Kill, is small enough to step over.
In 2023, truck manufacturers struck a deal with the California Air Resources Board to drastically reduce emissions and invest in electric trucks. This summer, however, several of the companies - Daimler Truck, Volvo Group, Paccar and Traton - backed out of the partnership and sued California, with support from the Trump administration. Now fossil-fuel-aligned corporations are leveraging political connections to weaken oversight, erode environmental protections and entrench their dominance.
Environmental groups have been at odds with the city of Portland for years over Zenith Energy's oil transloading facility in Northwest Portland. Critics argue the city is allowing a dangerous operation with environmental and health risks to continue its business, with little mechanism for the city to enforce its own regulations imposed on the energy company. That last part came into clearer focus recently. A lawsuit filed against the city by multiple environmental groups revealed issues with a Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS)
During the "Las Megas" event in Las Vegas, Tesla launched Megablock, a pre-engineered medium-voltage block designed to integrate Megapack 3 units in a plug-and-play system. Capable of 20 MWh AC with a 25-year life cycle and more than 10,000 cycles, the Megablock could achieve 91% round-trip efficiency at medium voltage, inclusive of auxiliary loads. Tesla emphasized that Megablock can be installed 23% faster with up to 40% lower construction costs.
