People near south Wales river were told to keep windows and doors shut after thousands of litres of kerosene from a GE Aerospace site got into the water

Oily slicks of kerosene still appeared to be leaking into the River Taff this week, several days after a breach of thousands of litres was spotted by members of the public.

The breach into the Welsh river was identified last Friday, after people reported strong chemical odours emanating from it. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) officers arrived on site soon afterwards to identify the source of the pollution and were assisted by the south Wales fire and rescue service, which placed absorbent mats and booms to contain as much kerosene as possible.

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© Photograph: Jeremy Inglis/Alamy

© Photograph: Jeremy Inglis/Alamy

© Photograph: Jeremy Inglis/Alamy

The Trump administration is advancing some wind projects after a court order required it to do so. A White House official said Thursday that an initial set of wind projects under Pentagon review have been released. The official said this represents two projects located in Maine and South Dakota. The official said the Defense Department…

The Trump administration is advancing some wind projects after a court order required it to do so. A White House official said Thursday that an initial set of wind projects under Pentagon review have been released. The official said this represents two projects located in Maine and South Dakota. The official said the Defense Department…

Cyprus recycled just 27.8 per cent of its plastic packaging waste in 2024, placing it among the EU countries with the lowest recycling rates, according to Eurostat figures published on Thursday.

The island generated 23.31kg of plastic packaging waste per inhabitant, considerably below the EU average of 35.9kg.

Cyprus’ recycling rate was also well below the EU average of 42.4 per cent, with only France at 27.4 per cent, Finland at 26.9 per cent and Denmark at 22.5 per cent recording lower rates.

Across the EU, the plastic packaging recycling rate increased by 0.6 percentage points compared with 2023.

The highest recycling rates were recorded in Latvia at 71 per cent, followed by Belgium at 58 per cent, Poland at 56 per cent and the Czech Republic at 53.7 per cent.

Between 2014 and 2024, the amount of plastic packaging waste generated across the EU increased by 6.1kg per inhabitant, while the amount recycled also increased by 3.4kg per inhabitant.

Overall, approximately 81.5 million tonnes of packaging waste were generated in the EU in 2024, equivalent to 181kg per inhabitant, an increase of 19.6kg compared with 2014.

Paper and cardboard accounted for the largest share of packaging waste, at 40.8 per cent, followed by plastic at 19.6 per cent and glass at 18.1 per cent.

Wood and metal also accounted for significant shares of the total packaging waste generated across the bloc.

Ancient plants reveal that the vestiges of the North American ice sheet started expanding a few thousand years ago, but that climate change caused it to reverse course.

This is the first time that the Fund, set up in 2022, has allocated money to a specific country; amount is a fraction of Nepal’s own $5 billion loss estimate; so far, Fund has pledges for $820 million while fielding requests worth $2.8 billion

Its strength may be "off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades."

Its strength may be "off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades."

A wildfire resilience summit held on Thursday brought partners and interested parties together.

© PA Wire

Storm Austen will bring heavy winds and rain to the south-east of Ireland on Thursday and Friday, before Storm Boelo hits.

© PA Archive

A wildfire resilience summit held on Thursday brought partners and interested parties together.

© PA Wire

A young family thought they had escaped the toxic legacy of Love Canal with a dream house near a creek in the suburbs. Then the men in the hazmat suits showed up.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) on Wednesday blamed the war in Ukraine for high diesel prices, with energy costs as a key concern in the rapidly approaching midterms. “The real problem with the cost of diesel, in particular, is No. 1, is the Ukraine war, and because of that, diesel production has gone down. But beyond…

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) on Wednesday blamed the war in Ukraine for high diesel prices, with energy costs as a key concern in the rapidly approaching midterms. “The real problem with the cost of diesel, in particular, is No. 1, is the Ukraine war, and because of that, diesel production has gone down. But beyond…

This animated map shows the insect’s population exploding in Australia’s eastern states, with the endangered species coming back from the brink

If you live anywhere on the eastern side of Australia, you’ve probably noticed that bogong moths are back in a big way.

While we don’t yet have figures from ecologist-led surveys to compare with previous years, there is a wealth of data on the great moth revival being generated by citizen scientists across the eastern states.

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© Illustration: Guardian Design

© Illustration: Guardian Design

© Illustration: Guardian Design

Be Ready campaign aims to prepare UK for impact of climate crisis, technological dependency and threats by hostile state

Every Briton is being urged to stock up to nine litres of bottled water and three days’ worth of food in new government guidance designed to ensure that households can survive a weather, cyber or other serious emergency.

The Be Ready campaign is aimed at persuading people to stock up with supplies to last 72 hours, amid growing official concern about the impact of the climate crisis, technological dependency and hostile state threats.

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© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that can enter animals through open wounds and feed on living tissue.

The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that can enter animals through open wounds and feed on living tissue.

Violent storms overnight knocked over utility poles and carried thunder and heavy winds through central Arizona

Trees fell on to homes and utility poles were knocked down by a possible tornado in a central Arizona community during a series of violent storms that moved through the state overnight into Thursday.

Storms capable of causing hail and wind damage were traveling through central Arizona early on Thursday, with some flood watches and the possibility of tornadoes, the National Weather Service said.

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© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

Storm Austen, the first named storm of the season, is expected to affect south-west England on Friday.