The Guardian Climate Change

Locals called it a ‘miracle’ when the steel plant in JD Vance’s home town got $500m for an upgrade. But Trump’s running mate calls shifting the US to cleaner energy a ‘green scam’

A hulking steel plant in Middletown, Ohio, is the city’s economic heartbeat as well as a keystone origin story of JD Vance, the hometown senator now running to be Donald Trump’s vice-president.

Its future, however, may hinge upon $500m in funding from landmark climate legislation that Vance has called a “scam” and is a Trump target for demolition.

Is there anything climate change cannot do?!

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Lobbyists are increasingly confident about expansion plans as concerns for the economy start to deepen

The younger, tormented minister mulling his position before the Labour government granted Heathrow’s third runway in 2009 might have been greatly relieved to know that, 15 years later, not a shovel would have touched the ground.

But now, returning to power with a revamped energy and climate brief, Ed Miliband again finds himself in a cabinet which, many in aviation hope, may usher in bigger airports and more flights – as well as enough CO2 emissions to outweigh any new solar farms.

Leaked government figures show proportion of assets in adequate condition has fallen ‘significantly below’ target

Thousands of flood defences in England that are supposed to protect properties from serious damage are in a state of disrepair, according to official figures leaked to the Observer before what is expected to be a wetter than usual autumn.

Data from inside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency about the so-called “asset condition” of key flood defences shows the proportion of those regarded as being in adequate condition now stands at just 92.6%, compared with 97.9% in 2018-19. This is the proportion of defences judged to be fit for purpose after rigorous inspection by experts.

Widespread bleaching of reefs is devastating delicate ecosystems

It is one of the least understood processes in nature. How do two very different species learn to live with each other and create a bond, known as symbiosis, which can give them a powerful evolutionary advantage?

Coral reefs are the most spectacular manifestations of symbiosis – and understanding the mechanics of this mutual endeavour has become an urgent task as global warming has triggered the widespread collapse of reefs across the planet.

Arson charges filed against Justin Wayne Halstenberg in San Bernardino county, which has burned 38,000 acres

The mother of the 34-year-old man accused of starting the Line fire in southern California – which has scorched at least 38,000 acres (15,378 hectares) and destroyed one home – has spoken out in defense of her son, telling the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that “he did not light that fire”.

Arson-related charges have been filed against Justin Wayne Halstenberg, who is accused of starting the San Bernardino county blaze on 5 September. He is due to be arraigned on Monday according to the San Bernardino county district attorney’s office.

Legislation makes it illegal to advertise fossil fuel products and services with a high carbon footprint

The Hague has become the first city in the world to pass a law banning advertisements promoting fossil fuel products and climate-busting services.

Legislation passed on Thursday spells the end of publicly and privately funded advertising for petrol and diesel, aviation and cruise ships in the streets of the Dutch city, including on billboards and bus shelters. It takes effect from the start of next year.

Court rules against West Cumbria Mining’s fossil fuel development in Whitehaven

The UK’s first new deep coalmine in 30 years will not be allowed to go ahead after a ruling in the high court.

On Friday morning, Justice Holgate ruled that plans to build the facility in Whitehaven, Cumbria, would not proceed, in what campaigners called a “victory for the environment”.

The headline and body text of this article were updated on 13 September 2024 to clarify that the Cumbria development would have been the UK’s first new deep coalmine, rather than its first new coalmine of any kind, in 30 years.

Researchers are finding heat-related illnesses can also contribute to heart disease and cognitive impairment

At a dialysis center in Atlanta, Lauren Kasper tended to patients resting in hospital beds, some too sick to be transferred to a chair. Many arrived in wheelchairs or walked with canes, their bodies weakened from kidney disease.

As she hooked them up to dialysis machines, Kasper, a nurse practitioner, was struck by how young many of her patients were.

Exclusive: Campaigners call for overhaul as Guardian investigation shows nature rarely on agenda

• How national parks failed nature – and how to fix them

The boards that oversee England’s national parks are bloated, dominated by men and are severely lacking in diversity, a Guardian analysis has found. The analysis also found that farmers outnumber conservation experts by two to one, nature is rarely on the agenda at board meetings and only one national park can account for the ownership of all the land it covers.

Campaigners said a major overhaul of how national parks were governed was “fundamental” to the recovery of nature in the parks and to serving the public, for whom they were set up.

With storms becoming more frequent due to the climate crisis, insurers are forcing operators to respond

One of the least considered hazards of climate change is the increasing frequency of hailstorms and the size and the impact of the pieces of ice they produce. This, in turn, threatens one of the most promising solutions to the climate crisis: solar farms.

In the last year, the number of hailstorms in Europe exceeded 10,000 and the size of large hailstones reported from Italy and Germany increased to 10cm (4in) – enough to dent a car, smash greenhouses and break a solar panel. The frequency of storms and the size of the hail is increasing.

The storm left hundreds of thousands without power, brought flooding and pounded the area with heavy winds and rain. It had weakened from a Category 2 hurricane to a tropical depression as it moved northeastward over central Mississippi, but still threatened areas with dangerous storm surges

• Louisiana residents breathe a sigh of relief as Hurricane Francine recedes

• Francine weakens to tropical storm after slamming into Louisiana coast

Storm did not cause large-scale damage or loss of life, but ferocity of winds and rain raises fears for the future

As Hurricane Francine churned offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Danielle Morris, a resident of the village of Dulac out in the swampy Louisiana coast, made a tough call.

“We’re crazy and we’re staying,” she said, speaking by phone before the hurricane hit, as she stocked up on gasoline for the family’s generator. Some might agree with her judgment of her own sanity – Morris lost her previous home in Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Landslide in Greenland caused unprecedented seismic event that shows impact of global heating, say scientists

A landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days, a scientific investigation has found.

The seismic event was detected by earthquake sensors around the world but was so completely unprecedented that the researchers initially had no idea what had caused it. Having now solved the mystery, the scientists said it showed how global heating was already having planetary-scale impacts and that major landslides were possible in places previously believed to be stable as temperatures rapidly rose.

Four galleries to be overhauled and two more spaces to reopen, including Fixing Our Broken Planet exhibition

The Natural History Museum in London has announced a major programme of transformation it says will mark “a step-change from being a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change” in response to the climate emergency.

The scheme to renovate the museum’s celebrated Victorian building and develop a new research and storage facility will build on its aim to turn visitors into “advocates for the planet”, it said on Thursday.

The prime minister blamed the Tories for ‘breaking’ the NHS and said reform of the service was needed

Starmer sets out some of the most negative findings in the report.

Take the waiting times in A&A - more than 100,000 infants waited more than six hours last year.

And nearly a tenth of all patients are now waiting for 12 hours or more.

Even Lord Darzi, with all his years of experience, is shocked by what he discovered. It is unforgivable, and people have every right to be angry.

While the Greens remain hopeful of compromise, the PM has indicated he wants a deal struck with the Coalition

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Anthony Albanese is rejecting demands from the Greens and some Senate crossbenchers to subject development projects to climate-impact assessments and remove forestry’s effective exemption from environmental protection law, as the government negotiates on stalled legislation with parties to the left and right.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is in talks with the Greens, crossbenchers and the Coalition over legislation to establish an environment protection authority.

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Wildfires east of Los Angeles threaten tens of thousands of homes since accelerating during weekend heatwave

Firefighters battling three major wildfires in the mountains east of Los Angeles took advantage of cooler weather as they slowly gained the upper hand, but not before dozens of homes were destroyed and thousands of people were forced to evacuate.

California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023. The wildfires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures across southern California since they accelerated during a triple-digit heatwave over the weekend.

The Airport fire in Orange county, which has burned more than 35 sq miles (91 sq km). The fire was 5% contained on Wednesday night and was reportedly sparked by heavy equipment operating in the area.

The Line fire in the San Bernardino national forest, which was 18% contained on Wednesday and had charred 57 sq miles (148 sq km). The blaze has injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested on Tuesday.

The Bridge fire east of Los Angeles, which grew tenfold in a day and has burned 78 sq miles (202 sq km), torched at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire is not yet known. It remained 0% contained on Wednesday night.

As increasingly explosive fire seasons ravage the country, federal firefighters say their employer is exacerbating exhaustion by misclassifying their jobs

Firefighters are feeling the strain of another long and intense season, with months to go before the highest risks subside. But as they battle the flames, the thousands of people working for the US Forest Service (USFS), the largest federal employer of firefighters, are also fighting for changes within the agency to tackle issues they say have made the work even harder.

Federal firefighters have been waiting for years for revisions to outdated job descriptions, which have forced them to do more for less. Many have opted to leave altogether.

Communities, states and advocacy groups push to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for role in climate crisis

Big oil is facing a soaring number of climate-focused lawsuits, a new analysis has found. It’s a sign that more communities are demanding accountability for the industry’s contributions to the climate crisis.

For the report, published on Thursday, Oil Change International and the climate research organization Zero Carbon Analytics pulled data from a Columbia University database, focusing on cases in which the world’s 25 largest fossil fuel producers were named as defendants.