NSW government imposes water restrictions after Menindee water volumes fall below 2021 levels

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Water levels at the Menindee Lakes in western New South Wales have fallen to their lowest point in five years, prompting the state government to impose upstream water use restrictions as experts warn of potential mass fish deaths over summer.

Combined volume at the Menindee Lakes fell below 480 gigalitres earlier this month, the first time since 2021.

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© Photograph: Google Earth

© Photograph: Google Earth

© Photograph: Google Earth

In wet weather, garden snails can seek shelter in letterboxes – and find a feast there waiting for them

We’ve all heard of snail mail – a term popularised since the advent of electronic mail – but who knew that snails eat mail?

We have it on good authority from the ecologist Simon Mustoe – who said snails ate his letter from Sir David Attenborough – a BBC report announcing the closure of a Northumberland Royal Mail postbox because of snails “munching the mail”, and desperate people on the forums of the Australian hardware chain Bunnings claiming snails have “a real appetite for postal letters” and can “eat a whole letter in two days”.

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© Illustration: Ivy Shih/Australian Museum

© Illustration: Ivy Shih/Australian Museum

© Illustration: Ivy Shih/Australian Museum

The Canadian prime minister’s reckoning with Trumpism in Davos clashes with his attacks on environmental, Indigenous and labour rights

The Canadian prime minister is a hero around the world for his Davos speech that reckoned with a reconfiguration of power in the shadow of Donald Trump.

But at home, Mark Carney is mirroring the US president by radically centralizing power within his office and cabinet and taking a hatchet to dozens of laws protecting environmental, Indigenous and labour rights, all in order to enact his economic agenda.

Shiri Pasternak is an associate professor in criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University and a member of the Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism research team, a collaboration between critical scholars and Indigenous land defenders across North America

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© Photograph: Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/AP

© Photograph: Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/AP

© Photograph: Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/AP

A fool is absurdly simple – just fruit stirred through custard or yoghurt with. maybe a bit of cream – and you can then add whatever bits and bobs you fancy from the fridge

Fool is one of my go-to desserts for two reasons: first, its pure simplicity – it’s little more than custard or yoghurt mixed with whipped cream and pureed fruit – and, second, its adaptability to the seasons. Gooseberry, rhubarb and strawberry are traditionally the most foolish fruits, but just about any fruit goes. British blackberries are still available and apples are in their prime right now, so I’ve gone for those, but use whatever you’ve got in store.

I usually make fool with yoghurt, not least because it’s much less work than making custard from scratch, but I’ve got lots of leftover custard from this week’s Food Filter taste test, so I’m going for a custard base here. I’m always looking for ways to use up small amounts of bits and pieces in the fridge, such as the end of a pot of custard or yoghurt, then add a few other ingredients to elevate remnants into regalia.

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© Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian

© Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian

© Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian

Both of these threats have the same roots: private entities seeking to cash in. We have the power to stand against them

A summer of extreme heat, entire villages obliterated in Nepal, a super El Niño breaking records, Exxon publicly saying we may reach 3C by 2050 – could it possibly be any worse?

How about throwing AI extinction in the mix?

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© Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

© Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

© Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions

Donald Trump said his administration is “terminating” Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators. The change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210m barrels of oil, he said, which is equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption.

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© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

Human beings struggle with emergency communication. Chatbots can help—if people take them seriously.

The radical Stern report showed that a low-carbon future is also good economics. But it seems that capitalism needs a reminder

Saving the only planet we have makes good economic sense. There is, after all, no money to be made on a dead Earth. There may be costs involved now, but they are worth paying to protect our children from certain destruction.

These propositions seem self-evident now. But two decades ago, mainstream economists had very different ideas. They had proved that the climate crisis would be a mere economic blip, easily absorbed by growing economies and therefore not worth spending money on. In their accounting, they considered ice caps and glaciers functionally worthless, that trees only add to GDP when they are cut down, and that a livable climate shouldn’t even merit a line on a spreadsheet.

Fiona Harvey is an environment editor at the Guardian

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© Photograph: Richard McCarthy/PA

© Photograph: Richard McCarthy/PA

© Photograph: Richard McCarthy/PA

Scientists uncover ancient hills and swamps that disappeared as sea levels rose across northern Adriatic

Venice is famed for being a floating city, but research shows the land it sits on once lay many miles inland. Dramatic changes in sea level over 10,000 years have reshaped the northern Adriatic coastline, with much of the land that our ancestors roamed now lying beneath the waves.

Samuele Ongaro, at the University of Southampton, and colleagues combined seismic data with sedimentary cores from the coastal basins of northern Italy, Slovenia and northern Croatia to model changes in sea level across the region and reconstruct past landscapes over the past 10,000 years.

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© Photograph: Paulo Amorim/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paulo Amorim/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paulo Amorim/Getty Images

A striking transformation takes place along the coast of Qinqdao in autumn, when a native seepweed turns a brilliant shade of red.

The ‘red beach’ phenemon can be seen in the salt marshes and wetlands on the coast of China’s Shandong province, where the Suaeda glauca plant matures and absorbs water, changing it from green to crimson between September and November

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© Photograph: Han Jiajun/VCG/Getty Images

© Photograph: Han Jiajun/VCG/Getty Images

© Photograph: Han Jiajun/VCG/Getty Images

Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions

Donald Trump said his administration is “terminating” Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators. The change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210m barrels of oil, he said, which is equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption.

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© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

The data center buildout could cause a massive increase in gas prices as companies scramble for limited supplies and infrastructure fails to meet demand.

The Biden administration had sought to crack down on methane leaks, a big driver of climate change. Those rules are now being scaled back.

© Susan Montoya Bryan/Associated Press

Extreme heat accelerated disappearance of Triglav glacier from mountain revered as a symbol of Slovenian identity

The final ice patch has vanished from Slovenia’s Triglav glacier, the latest Alpine casualty of Europe’s scorching summer.

The once mighty ice mass lost 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003, shrinking to cover less than a hectare of overheated rock, but went on to surprise researchers who feared its imminent demise, clinging on to the mountain for two more decades.

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© Photograph: Anton Melik Geographical Institute

© Photograph: Anton Melik Geographical Institute

© Photograph: Anton Melik Geographical Institute

Extreme heat accelerated disappearance of Triglav glacier from mountain revered as a symbol of Slovenian identity

The final ice patch has vanished from Slovenia’s Triglav glacier, the latest Alpine casualty of Europe’s scorching summer.

The once mighty ice mass lost 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003, shrinking to cover less than a hectare of overheated rock, but went on to surprise researchers who feared its imminent demise, clinging on to the mountain for two more decades.

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© Photograph: Anton Melik Geographical Institute

© Photograph: Anton Melik Geographical Institute

© Photograph: Anton Melik Geographical Institute

President has taken an axe to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stalling climate research on and response to extreme weather events

Sweeping cuts to the premier US climate agency under Donald Trump have severely hampered the country’s capacity to forecast, research and respond to extreme weather events, former government officials and scientists have warned, as the US faces a cascade of hazards fueled by a potentially historic El Niño this winter.

From the start of his second term, the president has taken aim at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), slashing staff levels, canceling contracts and grants, and shutting down databases and research laboratories. The agency that has long been considered a global crown jewel in climate science and forecasting has lost roughly 20% of its staff since January 2025.

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© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Oxfam says investing by rich in disaster recovery widens inequality and gives incentive to delay climate action

The world’s wealthiest people are not just profiting from the polluting causes of climate breakdown, they are also increasingly cashing in on the catastrophic consequences, according to a study by Oxfam.

The global equality organisation has found that the richest 0.1% of the world’s population are heavily invested in disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction – a market that is projected to grow from $70bn to $92bn a year by 2029.

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© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

The re-election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to lead to continued rainforest protections. His opponent wanted to make it easier to clear land.

© Bruno Kelly/Reuters

While oil is known to float, new research finds that over time it can permeate even extremely deep marine habitats, with animal populations declining by as much as 80 percent.

Paris Marx, author of Hyperscale, has been tracking global data center development for years. The US has a lot to learn from what’s happened everywhere from Ireland to New Zealand.