Homeowners who took advantage of government programmes left with cladding likely to cause damp
Almost all the external insulation fitted under the previous government’s energy efficiency scheme was installed so poorly it will have to be repaired or replaced, an investigation has found.
Thousands of homeowners who took advantage of the home insulation schemes have been left with incompetently fitted cladding that in some cases is likely to cause damp and mould.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/13/2025 - 23:00
10/13/2025 - 23:00
Every constituency projected to be at greater risk, with many areas likely to be uninsurable
The flood-prone Worcestershire town being abandoned by insurers
Doors, drains and paving perils: protecting your home from flooding
Millions more homes in England, Scotland and Wales face devastating floods, and some towns may have to be abandoned as climate breakdown makes many areas uninsurable, a Guardian investigation has found.
New analysis from the insurance industry, seen by the Guardian, reveals the extent of concern in the sector, with bosses warning that large swathes of housing and commercial property in densely populated areas will be at greater risk.
Every constituency in Great Britain is projected to have increased flood risk in future. In England, 69% of constituencies are likely to have an increase of more than 25% in the number of properties facing flood risk by mid-century. In Wales and Scotland, every area is projected to have a similar rise with many being much worse hit.
Bermondsey and Old Southwark in London and Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire are projected to have about 90% of homes at risk from river and coastal flooding by 2050 – the highest proportions in the country.
Overall London and Yorkshire and the Humber collectively represent more than half of the top 20 constituencies affected by river and coastal flooding, highlighting that the east of England could be most negatively affected.
Surface-water flood risk is likely to be particularly acute in dense urban areas, with 14 London constituencies ranked in the top 20
Bournemouth East shows the largest projected increase in surface-water flood risk, with its low-lying topography and inadequate drainage making it particularly susceptible.
Over the past decade, 110,000 new homes were built in the highest risk flood zones, equivalent to one in 13 of the new homes built. Aviva calculates that if this trend were to continue, 115,000 of the government’s planned 1.5m new homes would also be in the highest-risk flood zones.
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10/13/2025 - 18:35
Guardian Australia's Matilda Boseley, dressed as an Australian pelican, joins ABC News Breakfast to talk bird of the year with Nate Byrne. Boseley highlights the importance of the poll in promoting conservation. 'The point is to appreciate Australian native wildlife,' she says. 'It's fun, it's silly, we're all dressing up, but ultimately it's for a good cause'
Australian bird of the year poll: last day to vote for your favourite
How do you even birdwatch? A comedian and birdwatching champion explain – video
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10/13/2025 - 18:01
The rapid spread of the invasive species offers clues to how we might prevent future extinctions of native animals
To a newly arrived red fox, the abundant rolling grasslands and swamps of Wadawurrung Country, around what is now called Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, must have seemed like a predator’s paradise.
This landscape was filled with small native marsupials and birds, and free of European wolves or bears that usually kept fox numbers in check.
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10/13/2025 - 18:01
Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus
Global forest health has plunged to “dismal” levels and threatens the wellbeing of humanity, warns a damning report that highlights how financial systems are pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to reduce destruction.
Since 2021 when world leaders and corporate executives promised to halt deforestation, the new study found that forest loss has increased, driven by subsidies for livestock, monocrops, logging and other extractive industries.
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Carmakers chose to cheat to sell cars rather than comply with emissions law, ‘dieselgate’ trial told
10/13/2025 - 09:48
Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën face group action in which damages could exceed £6bn
Car manufacturers decided they would rather cheat to prioritise “customer convenience” and sell cars than comply with the law on deadly pollutants, the first day of the largest group action trial in English legal history has been told.
More than a decade after the original “dieselgate” scandal broke, lawyers representing 1.6 million diesel car owners in the UK argue that manufacturers deliberately installed software to rig emissions tests.
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10/13/2025 - 09:18
Humanity has reached the first Earth system tipping point, the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs, marking the beginning of irreversible planetary shifts. As global temperatures move beyond 1.5°C, the world risks cascading crises such as ice sheet melt, Amazon rainforest dieback, and ocean current collapse. Scientists from the University of Exeter warn that these interconnected tipping points could transform the planet unless urgent, systemic action triggers “positive tipping points,” like rapid renewable energy adoption.
10/13/2025 - 08:24
Environmental group accuses king’s property management company of ‘milking for profit’ its monopoly ownership of seabed
Greenpeace is threatening to sue King Charles’s property management company, accusing it of exploiting its monopoly ownership of the seabed.
The environmental lobby group alleges the crown estate has driven up costs for wind power developers and boosted its own profits, as well as the royal household’s income, due to the “aggressive” way it auctions seabed rights.
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10/13/2025 - 07:00
Research comparing Adirondack mountain lakes in New York suggests foot traffic is significant source of pollution
Hiking shoes and outdoor gear are likely a significant source of microplastic pollution in the wilderness, new research that checked for the pernicious material in several Adirondack mountain lakes in upstate New York suggests.
Researchers measured microplastic levels in two lakes that are the among highest sources of water for the Hudson River – one that sees heavy foot traffic from hikers, and another lake that is far away from a path and rarely touched by human activity.
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10/13/2025 - 05:17
Lord Stern says fossil-fuelled growth is futile as the damage it causes ends in economic self-destruction
Investment in climate action is the economic growth story of the 21st century, while growth fuelled by fossil fuels is futile because the damage it causes ends in self-destruction, the economist Nicholas Stern has said.
The plummeting costs of clean technologies, from renewable energy to electric cars, plus the healthier and more productive societies they enable, meant investments could simultaneously tackle the climate crisis and faltering economic growth, and bring millions of people out of poverty, he said.
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