4 h. ago Five of the UK’s biggest indoor playgrounds – great for unpredictable autumn weather

HUNDREDS of trampolines and indoor fairgrounds are the perfect ways to burn off steam when the weather is moody. We've rounded five of the best indoor playgrounds across the UK, loved by families. The Playhive in Stockeld Park  The Playhive at Stockeld Park in North Yorkshire, describes itself as “one of Europe’s largest and most original...

Politics

5 h. ago Chocolate bars that aren't: List of snacks that can no longer be classed as chocs

Soaring cocoa prices - driven by the climate crisis - along with higher production costs and inflation have forced manufacturers to slash chocolate content and shrink product sizes

Politics

7 h. ago How plays like Weather Girl and Kyoto are finally bringing the climate crisis alive for audiences

The complexities of the climate crisis are a tough sell to audiences but these plays in New York show it can be doneDespite (or perhaps because of) its overwhelming awfulness, the climate crisis has been oddly underrepresented on stage and screen. Humanity’s greatest challenge has often been deemed too much of a downer, too complex or too dull a topic to spawn shows and movies.A burst of recent climate-themed cultural output, however, suggests this may be changing. Weather Girl, a one-woman play about the unraveling of a TV meteorologist who can no longer bear to gloss over climate breakdown in California, has just closed in New York City to upbeat reviews. Continue reading...

Society

7 h. ago Is the climate crisis too grim to work on the stage? Sparkling wine and villains might help

A burst of recent climate-themed cultural output suggests views of the topic as too depressing or dull may be changingDespite (or perhaps because of) its overwhelming awfulness, the climate crisis has been oddly underrepresented on stage and screen. Humanity’s greatest challenge has often been deemed too much of a downer, too complex or too dull a topic to spawn shows and movies.A burst of recent climate-themed cultural output, however, suggests this may be changing. Weather Girl, a one-woman play about the unraveling of a TV meteorologist who can no longer bear to gloss over climate breakdown in California, has just closed in New York City to upbeat reviews. Continue reading...

Events

54 h. ago World’s landscapes may soon be ‘devoid of wild animals’, says nature photographer

Margot Raggett, whose latest compilation shows animals scrubbed from natural habitats, calls for rethink on UK accelerated housebuildingMargot Raggett has spent the past decade raising money for conservation efforts around the world but, right now, she feels nervous about the future. “It does feel like we’ve taken a backward step,” she said.The wildlife photographer has raised £1.2m for the cause in the past 10 years through her Remembering Wildlife series, an annual, not-for-profit picture book featuring images of animals from the world’s top nature photographers. The first edition was published in 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was being drafted but, in the years since, efforts to tackle the climate crisis have been rolled back. Continue reading...

Culture

3 d. ago Overconsumption and ruin: before and after images predict how tech could harm our planet

From Venice to the Iguaza Falls, an exhibition in London illustrates the hidden cost of our gadgets and devicesArtists have created visualisations of the impact of the climate crisis on some of the world’s most recognisable landscapes using scientific modelling, in a project to highlight the environmental effects of tech consumption.Venice in Italy, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil, and the Seine River in Paris were among the locations explored to depict the potential impact of the climate crisis by the end of the century. The results are on display at an exhibition in London. Continue reading...

Science

3 d. ago Overconsumption and ruin: before and after images visualise how tech could harm our planet

From Venice to the Iguazu Falls, an exhibition in London illustrates the hidden cost of our gadgets and devicesArtists have created visualisations of the impact of the climate crisis on some of the world’s most recognisable landscapes, in a project to highlight the environmental effects of tech consumption.Venice in Italy, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil, and the Seine River in Paris were among the locations used to explore to potential impacts of the climate crisis by the end of the century. The results are on display at an exhibition in London. Continue reading...

Science

3 d. ago What the datacenter boom means for America’s environment – and electricity bills

In this week’s newsletter: from Google to Amazon to OpenAI, the economic and climate cost of datacenters continues to grow• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe headlong rush to build huge new datacenters, in order to support the growth of AI, is raising a number of concerns in the US – around the impact upon the climate crisis, water use and electricity bills. It’s also set to reshape American politics in potentially unusual ways.Companies such as Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, Amazon and Meta are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into new datacenters that will form the backbone to the surging use of AI by businesses and the public.Bird migration is changing. What does this reveal about our planet? – visualisedTowns may have to be abandoned due to floods with millions more homes in Great Britain at riskThe plastic inside us: how microplastics may be reshaping our bodies and mindsDatacenter emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it kee...

Science

4 d. ago Judge dismisses suit by young climate activists against Trump’s pro

Judge said plaintiffs had ‘overwhelming evidence’ of climate crisis but a court injunction would be ‘unworkable’A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by young climate activists that aimed to halt Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel executive orders.The dismissal by US district judge Dana Christensen on Wednesday came after 22 plaintiffs, ages seven to 25 and from five states, sought to block three of the president’s executive orders, including those declaring a “national energy emergency” and seeking to “unleash American energy” – as well as one aimed at “reinvigorating” the US’s production of coal. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating

CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakeningLevels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere soared by a record amount in 2024 to hit another high, UN data shows, deepening the climate crisis that is already taking lives and livelihoods across the world.Scientists are worried that the natural land and ocean “sinks” that remove CO2 from the air are weakening as a result of global heating, which could form a vicious circle and drive temperatures up even faster. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Pentagon retreats from climate fight even as heat and storms slam US troops

For decades, the military treated climate crisis as a threat. Now it’s backing away from plans to protect people and bases from extreme weatherThis story is from Floodlight, a non-profit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action.Retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant Vida Rivera knows heat can be as dangerous as any enemy. Continue reading...

Society

7 d. ago Trump calls climate science a ‘con job’. That could make tackling the crisis a whole lot easier | Francesco Grillo

Europe and Brazil have a rare opportunity, unimpeded by the US, to make a success of Cop30 – and reshape the world orderThe climate crisis, Donald Trump told the UN last month, is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”. With these words the US president rejected the international scientific consensus and evidence that we can all check daily with a basic thermometer. He has also announced he is withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement, signed in 2015 by 195 UN countries. The US joins an axis of deniers including Yemen, Iran and Libya, countries that signed the agreement but never ratified it.Paradoxically, Trump’s reversal provides an opportunity for others to advance the climate agenda: to sketch out the blueprint of a possible new world order without the US, even if Washington was the architect of the old one.Francesco Grillo is a visiting fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, and director of the thinktank Vision Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Poor countries paying billions more to cover debts than they receive as aid to fight climate crisis

The world’s least developed countries paid US $37 billion (£28bn) to service their debts in 2023, but received only $32 billion (£24bn) in climate finance

Economics

8 d. ago Diane Keaton's touching final photo before death will bring a tear to your eye

Hollywood legend Diane Keaton has sadly died at the age of 79 and the actress shared a touching final photo with fans just months before her death

Sport

9 d. ago Why should you be Labour’s next deputy leader? Guardian readers quiz the candidates

As party members prepare to choose between Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell, the pair answer questions on wealth taxes, Brexit, the climate crisis and the far right Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago How climate crisis is creating hellish conditions for waste pickers at Nairobi dump declared ‘full’ 24 years ago

Nairobi’s Dandora dumpsite continues to receive 2,000 tonnes of waste each day despite being declared full in 2001. Waste pickers who come each day searching for valuables to sell tell Nick Ferris how extreme heat and rains are making the work increasingly difficult

Society

1 week ago ‘Humanitarian’ visa must be created for Pacific Islanders displaced by climate crisis, experts say

Calls for reform to allow people across the Pacific threatened by climate crisis to more easily migrate, particularly to New ZealandClimate and migration experts are calling for urgent action to create legal pathways for people displaced by the climate crisis, as a new report highlights the scale of the problem across the Pacific.Research by Amnesty International released on Thursday found current immigration systems are inadequate for Pacific Islanders seeking safety and stability, as rising seas threaten to make their homelands uninhabitable. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago National security threatened by climate crisis, UK defence chiefs due to warn

Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published The UK’s national security is under severe threat from the climate crisis and the looming collapse of vital natural ecosystems, with food shortages and economic disaster potentially just years away, a powerful report by the UK’s defence chiefs is due to warn.However, the report, which was supposed to launch on Thursday at a landmark event in London, has been delayed, and concerns have been expressed to the Guardian that it may not now be published. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago National security threatened by climate crisis, UK intelligence chiefs due to warn

Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published The UK’s national security is under severe threat from the climate crisis and the looming collapse of vital natural ecosystems, with food shortages and economic disaster potentially just years away, a powerful report by the UK’s intelligence chiefs is due to warn.However, the report, which was supposed to launch on Thursday at a landmark event in London, has been delayed, and concerns have been expressed to the Guardian that it may have been blocked by number 10. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Rain and strong winds set to finally bring the curtain down on Britain's Indian summer

So far this Autumn, the mercury levels have hit as high as 20C in parts of the country, leaving Brits to enjoy unseasonably warm weather.

Sport