Guardian Environment News

Insurers are taking on more risk than they should. If – or when – a major disaster hits, the catastrophe will have far-reaching consequences

I work for a major insurer, assessing the risk posed by natural disasters on properties around the world, from family homes to schools, government offices and multibillion-dollar commercial centres. The world is facing greater risk than ever from extreme weather. We are not prepared – and that inaction could have profound consequences for the global financial system.

In the face of ever more extreme and unpredictable climate risks, I am coming under pressure to cut my forecasts for the losses that disasters will cause in order to make insurance more affordable – and get my employer more business. In some instances, the questioning of our numbers and models is justified. But too often, it is not being done to produce more accurate models, but to artificially lower prices. If this is happening at my firm, which is struggling to compete with rivals’ prices, it’s happening elsewhere.

The writer is a modeller working in the insurance industry. A version of this piece originally appeared with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism as part of their Secret Source series, a regular column featuring industry whistleblowers

A selection of the winning images from this year’s competition across topics ranging from underwater to urban wildlife, and photojournalism to mammal behaviour. The overall winner is Federico Veronesi of Italy for his powerful image of an elephant carrying a dead calf

• The winning photographs will be showcased at the Natural History Museum in London from 16 October 2026 until July 2027

Declining stocks and increased fishing pressure have led to lower sustainability ratings for two popular cod alternatives

UK shoppers have previously been urged to avoid UK-caught cod and to buy European hake or coley instead – but now these fish are in trouble, too.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), an environmental charity, publishes its Good Fish Guide to help consumers and businesses make sustainable seafood choices. It uses a traffic-light system to rate seafood according to the health of fish stocks and environmental impact.

Citizen scientists on UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme recorded insect visits to flowers during 10-minute surveys

Ubiquitous urban plants often derided as “weeds” are the most attractive to pollinating insects.

The autumn blooms of common ivy, rich in pollen and nectar, are the most visited by insects including bees and butterflies, according to an eight-year study.

Federal court overrules decision by former environment minister for the McPhillamys goldmine development at Blayney

The federal court has overturned a rare protection order issued by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek under Indigenous heritage legislation, which the company said effectively blocked a controversial goldmine in the central west of New South Wales.

Regis Resources challenged the decision by the former minister to issue the order in 2024 under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.

Rescuers respond to surge in callouts for the vulnerable bat species, which usually feeds on blossoms and tree nectar

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Flying foxes are starving en masse across New South Wales and parts of Victoria, with wildlife rescuers responding to a surge in reports of “exhausted and emaciated” adults and skeletal pups.

Most reports involved grey-headed flying foxes, listed as vulnerable under federal environment laws and which usually feed on the blossoms and nectar of native trees.

Hundreds of people displaced in Bangka Belitung with conditions described as worst in a decade with wildlife also badly hit

A forest fire on Indonesia’s Sumatra island fuelled by El Niño has razed nearly 300 homes, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate, an official has said, as the country battles devastating blazes and haze.

Residents first spotted the fire approaching their village in Bangka Belitung province on Saturday and tried to put it out themselves with portable water pumps, said the head of South Bangka regency, Riza Herdavid.

Nearly half of species are in decline, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit, conservation bodies say

Wild bird populations in the UK have fallen to their lowest level since records began, figures show, with nearly half of species in decline.

Figures produced by leading nature conservation bodies for the government show that average populations across 132 native breeding species fell by 19% between 1970 and 2025, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit in recent years.

Team works to restore the sunflower sea star as 95% of these key underwater ecosystems have been decimated along the Pacific coast in past decade

Off the coast of Monterey, California, a team of researchers is gearing up for its first dive of the day into the cold and choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.

On the back deck of the boat, Ashley Kidd, a co-founder of the non-profit Sunflower Star Laboratory, gave the divers their final command: “Dive No 1 … stars in the water.”

When populations fall, fledglings can struggle to learn the right notes to attract mates. But research on how birds communicate offers hope for species’ survival

Listening to birdsong is one of life’s great joys, but when researchers heard a particular tune emerging from a tree in a Buenos Aires park, they were especially jubilant. This arrangement was among those chirped by the local rufous-collared sparrows in the 1960s, but had since disappeared from the area.

That was until scientists created a computer-generated rendition, curious to find out if birds might consider it realistic enough to imitate. Less than three months later, a local avian resident began to copy parts of the song.

High-speed video captures a previously unknown process that lets a honeybee’s two-millimetre stinger pump venom even after detaching from the insect’s body. Using a clear gel that mimics human skin as a target, researchers from Macquarie University detached the stingers and then filmed them in action pumping venom

National park officials took the precautionary measure to limit tourist access after heavy rain caused the Iguazu River to flow at six times the normal rate

Heavy rainfall fuelled by a supersized El Niño weather pattern briefly forced Argentinian authorities to close tourist access to the famed Iguazu Falls, amid fears that rapidly rising water levels would cause the river to burst its banks.

National park officials took the precautionary measure on Monday when the Iguazu River’s flow exceeded 12,000 cubic metres per second – more than six times its average rate.

World Economic Outlook says states’ oil stocks are low and budgets are overstretched, as it upgrades UK GDP growth forecast for 2026

• Developing nations face triple shock, UN warns

The global economy “could soon test the limits of resilience”, as emergency oil stocks run low and government budgets become overstretched, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the IMF said global growth had withstood the Middle East conflict better than feared over the past six months.

Ana Reyes demands Trump officials explain East Potomac tree cutting saying it will probably cause ‘irreparable harm’

US district judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree cutting at the historic East Potomac golf course while she decides on an emergency order from plaintiffs concerned that Donald Trump’s plans for the course are moving forward despite a pending court case challenging them.

“Tree removal for routine maintenance is not exempt from this order,” Reyes wrote. “Plaintiffs are likely to suffer immediate and irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief.

Environmental water to the area was halted after a complaint from a private landholder, leading to the deaths of wildlife and sheep

• Follow our Australia politics live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Freshwater turtles rescued from a dried-up water hole in western New South Wales after the state government cut environmental water to the area are being returned home.

Late last month, 10 broad-shelled turtles and three Murray River turtles were released back into the Gingham water hole in the state’s Gwydir region.

Planting cover crops or perennial plants can protect soil amid potential flooding. Congress must act to protect these practices

As forecasters warn that this year’s El Niño could become the strongest on record, concerns are growing about its effect on agriculture and food security.

The United States will not be hit nearly as hard as Central and South America, the Caribbean and southern Africa, but severe weather could cause significant crop loss in some parts of the country.

Liz Carlisle is associate professor of environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara. She is the author of Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming and co-editor of Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods

Clear skies bring warm days and cold nights to Montenegro, while a low-pressure system moves towards Aegean Sea

• Europe live – latest updates

Temperatures fluctuated dramatically in the Balkans last week, with unusually large differences between daytime highs and overnight lows – known as the diurnal range.

An area of high pressure over the region brought prolonged sunshine during the day, while clear skies at night allowed temperatures to drop rapidly as heat escaped into the atmosphere without cloud cover to slow the cooling.

At least four deaths linked to storm amid warnings of flash flooding that could stretch into Appalachians

As what was left of Hurricane Isaias moved north on Sunday, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall across the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic region, nearly 396,000 customers across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama remained without power.

Heavy rainfall associated with the storm could bring isolated flash flooding and strong wind gusts and remain a threat across the south-eastern US, especially near the southern Appalachians, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). That could bring scattered power outages and downed trees and power lines. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were expected to continue along the Gulf and south-eastern Atlantic coasts.

Heat and humidity have led to one of the worst mosquito years in recent history, with West Nile virus at a decade high

Los Angeles might be best known for blue skies, beaches and film premiers — but for the last several years it’s held another, unenviable distinction: the most mosquito-infested city in America.

And this year has been especially nightmarish, thanks to a series of heatwaves and an extra-powerful El Niño. Locals have called it a summer of “living hell” as clouds of mosquitoes swarm backyards and leave diners at open air patios scratching their ankles.

John Mitani spent years studying a huge community of chimpanzees in Uganda. But then things took a dark turn – and his findings stunned the scientific world

John Mitani can still remember the first time he set foot in Uganda’s Kibale national park. The old-growth east African rainforest enveloped him, its canopy stretching to heights of 40 metres. Fruit trees bowed under the weight of African star apples and bountiful Ficus mucuso figs. And then there were the chimpanzees. Furry black blobs darted through the jungle, their raucous calls often deafening.

It was the summer of 1995, and Mitani, a primatologist from northern California, had just come from working with the chimps living in the Mahale mountains of Tanzania. At the time, Mahale was home to the largest known population of chimps, with about 100 individuals. But there were rumours that this section of Kibale – only accessible via a 12-hour drive from the capital, Kampala – might host an even more unusual abundance of apes.