Figure calculated by Oil Change International has more than doubled since 2017 but is likely a vast understatement
The US currently subsidizes the fossil-fuel industry to the tune of nearly $31bn per year, according to a new analysis.
That figure, calculated by the environmental campaign group Oil Change International, has more than doubled since 2017. And it is likely a vast understatement, due to the difficulty of quantifying the financial gains from some government supports, and to a lack of transparency and reliable data from government sources, the group says.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/09/2025 - 08:00
09/09/2025 - 07:19
World Cup may be forced into winter in future
Reports also looks at risks for 2030 and 2034 editions
The 2026 World Cup could be North America’s last without urgent climate adaptation, according to a new study highlighting extreme weather threats.
The Pitches in Peril report found that 10 of the 16 venues are at very high risk of experiencing extreme heat stress conditions. By 2050, nearly 90% of North America’s host stadiums will require adaptation to extreme heat while one third will face water demand equalling or exceeding supply.
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09/09/2025 - 06:24
Ethiopian PM says dam will electrify entire region but Egypt fears it could restrict water supply during droughts
Ethiopia has officially inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, a project that will provide energy to millions of Ethiopians while deepening a rift with downstream Egypt that has unsettled the region.
Ethiopia, the continent’s second most populous nation with more than 120 million people, sees the $5bn (£3.7bn) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (Gerd) on a tributary of the Nile River as central to its economic ambitions. The dam’s power has gradually increased since the first turbine was turned on in 2022, reaching its maximum capacity of 5,150MW on Tuesday. That puts it among the 20 biggest hydroelectric dams in the world – about one-quarter of the capacity of China’s Three Gorges dam.
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09/09/2025 - 06:14
New rules come into force from 30 September in order to restore habitats and reduce flooding
Burning on England’s deep peat will be banned in order to restore habitats for rare wildlife and reduce air pollution and flooding, the government has said.
England’s peatlands are in poor shape due to having been burned, intensively drained and used as grouse moors. They naturally act like a sponge, with layers of moss and other vegetation, and store vast amounts of carbon: an estimated 3.2bn tonnes in the UK alone.
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09/09/2025 - 06:00
MPs criticise ‘inconsistent’ climate policy that includes grants of up to £3,750 for ‘supersized status symbols’
Ed Miliband has been accused by MPs of subsidising dangerous and polluting “supersized status symbols” as his department hands grants to people who buy electric SUVs.
The Labour government is giving discounts of up to £3,750 on new electric cars, but Guardian analysis reveals 12 of the 37 eligible models are SUVs.
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09/09/2025 - 05:00
The faded resorts and coastal towns of Tendring in Essex offer few job opportunities but many of its 20-somethings are set on finding their way in an area with one of England’s oldest populations
Share your experiences of living in a coastal town
Photographs by Polly Braden
The village where 22-year-old Millicent has lived all her whole life is often her most closely guarded secret – at least until first impressions have been established. “It’s almost like a superpower,” she says. “I wait until people are comfortable with me, and then I’ll do the big reveal.”
It doesn’t matter where she goes, the story is always the same. “I’ll go to meet new friends and at some point I’ll tell them I’m from Jaywick,” says Millicent. “And it’s as if they go through the five stages of grief. They’ll say: ‘Oh, you’re not … oh, I’m so sorry’.”
Kyle, Matt and Finn at Jaywick’s Martello Tower, now an arts site
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09/09/2025 - 05:00
Sea levels are rising in New England at some of the fastest rates in the world. On a quiet ribbon of saltmarsh in Rhode Island, septuagenarian Deirdre isn't prepared to accept the loss of her beloved saltmarsh sparrow, which risks becoming extinct by 2050 due to elevated high tides inundating nests and drowning fledgling birds. Leading a team of citizen scientists, Deirdre unravels the secret to finding delicate nests amid thick marsh grass, while they design and deploy a low-cost 'ark' to try to raise vulnerable sparrow nests to safety. Will this be the year they manage to save them?
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09/09/2025 - 04:30
Sea levels are rising in New England at some of the fastest rates in the world. On a quiet ribbon of saltmarsh in Rhode Island, septuagenarian Deirdre isn’t prepared to accept the loss of her beloved saltmarsh sparrow - the species is facing extinction before 2050 due to elevated high tides inundating nests and drowning fledgling birds. Leading a team of citizen scientists, Deirdre unravels the secret to finding delicate nests amid thick marsh grass, while they design and deploy a low-cost ‘ark’ to try to raise the sparrow nests to safety.
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09/09/2025 - 04:30
In Rhode Island, a small team of researchers and volunteers is fighting, against the odds, to save saltmarsh sparrows from extinction as their chicks drown in ever higher tides
• Photographs by Jason Jaacks
Knee-deep in water, the young man lifts his arms. His wrists are grabbed, next his ankles, then he feels himself flying through the air, nearly horizontal, before plunging into New England’s pungent tidal waters.
Grinning and still dripping, he receives a homemade certificate documenting his induction into the Needle in a Haystack Society.
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09/09/2025 - 04:00
Climate research group says such ideas are diverting attention from cutting fossil fuel use
Proposals to fight the impact of the climate crisis at the poles, from giant underwater curtains to scattering glass beads across the ice, have been dismissed by a group of scientists as an “unimaginably expensive” and “dangerous” distraction.
Geoengineering, which includes blocking sunlight with airborne particles and thickening ice with pumped seawater, has become highly divisive among scientists. Its proponents argue that, with cuts in carbon emissions going far too slowly, exploring options for “emergency brakes” would be valuable.
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