Some farmers recovered from president’s first-term trade war and a fresh one is estimated to cost the state $6bn a year
California’s $59bn agricultural industry is bracing for disruption as Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to spike tensions and trigger economic turmoil with China – one of the state’s biggest buyers.
California is the country’s breadbasket, supplying roughly one-third of US vegetables and 75% of its fruits and nuts. But it also exports much of its produce – close to $24bn worth in 2022. This means farmers in the state could lose out significantly as China imposes retaliatory tariffs on American goods.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/11/2025 - 07:00
04/11/2025 - 04:49
Five thousand new homes alongside a paradise for newts appears to fly in face of government’s ‘false wedge’
Arriving at the Kidbrooke Village housing development in Greenwich on a morning in early spring, the first thing you notice is the sound of birdsong and the scent of blossom. Geese are gently honking in the distance.
This was once the Ferrier estate, a postwar housing estate that was demolished in 2009 to regenerate the area.
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04/11/2025 - 04:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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04/11/2025 - 03:37
More than 40% of pesticides discovered in dust linked to toxic effects including cancer and hormone disruption
Almost 200 pesticides have been found by a study examining dust in homes around Europe, as scientists say regulators need to take “toxic cocktails” of chemicals into account when banning or restricting the use of pesticides.
Scientists say their research supports the idea that regulators should assess the risks posed by pesticides when they react with other chemicals, as well as individually. They say this should apply to substances already in use, as well as those yet to be approved.
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04/11/2025 - 01:30
The chickens aren’t really happy about it either – whomst would be a chicken
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04/11/2025 - 01:00
Clean energy investors likely to pull back from US, but other countries may seize opportunity to speed transition
Donald Trump’s upending of the global economy has raised fears that climate action could emerge as a casualty of the trade war.
In the week that has followed “liberation day”, economic experts have warned that the swathe of tariffs could trigger a global economic recession, with far-reaching consequences for investors – including those behind the green energy projects needed to meet climate goals.
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04/11/2025 - 00:00
RSPB urges people to support threatened birds by cutting lawns less frequently and avoiding pesticides
Fewer starlings than ever have been spotted by participants in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, raising fears for their numbers.
The bird conservation charity is urging Britain’s gardeners to keep their lawns wild by not cutting them too often, and to avoid the use of pesticides, which reduce the number of insects to eat and can poison birds.
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04/10/2025 - 23:00
The EU neither ‘kissed ass’ nor unleashed its most powerful trade weapon. Now it must provide the world with an alternative to US chaos
My condolences to everyone who spent days trying to play 5D chess with Donald Trump’s market-exploding tariff mess. Where Trump is involved, there is a cloud of malevolent chaos, and there is grift amid the chaos. What grandmasters there are to be found are almost certainly grandmasters of grift.
When markets dump $10tn in three days and then gain trillions back in a single afternoon on the erratic decisions of one deeply corrupt person, you can be sure that a small number of people have made immense sums of money out of that volatility. Were the people responsible for abnormal spikes of buying into the markets (including call options on various indexes and exchange-traded funds) on Wednesday morning – and again, 20 minutes before the tariff announcement went public – extraordinarily lucky? Were they in the right Signal group? Or were they just simply following Trump on Truth Social, where he posted: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” –just a few hours before dropping the news that he was kind of pulling back.
Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe correspondent
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04/10/2025 - 23:00
Eat-Lancet report recommended shift to more plant-based, climate-friendly diet but was extensively attacked online
A leaked document shows that vested interests may have been behind a “mud-slinging” PR campaign to discredit a landmark environment study, according to an investigation.
The Eat-Lancet Commission study, published in 2019, set out to answer the question: how can we feed the world’s growing population without causing catastrophic climate breakdown?
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Australian voters are left in the dark on climate targets as they head to the ballot box | Tony Wood
04/10/2025 - 20:05
There has been little talk about how Australia’s economy will get to net zero. That’s a terrible reflection on the state of our politics
The Coalition has been forced to reassert its commitment to the Paris climate agreement after its energy spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, appeared to waver on the pledge on Thursday.
O’Brien faced off against the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, at a debate in Canberra, weeks out from a federal election in which energy policy is emerging as a hot-button issue.
Labor, the Coalition, nobody in this country will be able to achieve the emission target set by Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese. The difference between Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese is that Peter Dutton has been honest and upfront about that.
… go against the spirit, if not the letter, of the Paris Agreement, and – in some circumstances – could constitute a breach of those obligations.
Tony Wood is the energy and climate change program director at the Grattan Institute. This article was originally published in the Conversation
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