The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including an African penguin and a dolphin in the Bosphorus Continue reading...

Pavement chalking to draw attention to wild flowers and plants in urban areas has gone viral across Europe – but UK chalkers could face legal action

Mayors coordinating efforts to support a low-carbon, sustainable path out of lockdownsCities around the world are already planning for life after Covid-19, with a series of environmental initiatives being rolled out from Bogotá to Barcelona to ensure public safety and bolster the fight against climate breakdown.Mayors from cities in Europe, the US and Africa held talks this week to coordinate their efforts to support a low-carbon, sustainable recovery from the crisis as national governments begin to implement huge economic stimulus packages. Continue reading...

Revealed: Oil and mining firms – some with ties to Trump officials – taking advantage of funding, review showsUS fossil fuel companies have taken at least $50m in taxpayer money they probably won’t have to pay back, according to a review of coronavirus aid meant for struggling small businesses by the investigative research group Documented and the Guardian.A total of $28m is going to three coal mining companies, all with ties to Trump officials, bolstering a dying American industry and a fuel that scientists insist world leaders must shift away from to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

If you’re gardening more than usual, try not to disturb the legless lizard, which can mate for up to 10 hours at a time in May

Researchers study whether new strain of chronic bee paralysis virus is responsibleA viral disease that causes honey bees to suffer severe trembling, flightlessness and death within a week is spreading exponentially in Britain.Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) was only recorded in Lincolnshire in 2007. A decade later, it was found in 39 of 47 English counties and six of eight Welsh counties, according to data collected from visits to more than 24,000 beekeepers. Continue reading...

As the pandemic leaves millions without work, taps are turned off even as the CDC calls for frequent hand-washingJoshua Haynes was raised to work hard and take care of his family without asking for outside help. But when the utility bills arrived last month, he knew there would be trouble.Haynes, 34, a construction worker from Newbern, Tennessee, was left without income after the governor issued a stay-at-home order in early April. As a cash-in-hand builder, he is not eligible to claim unemployment insurance, and the stimulus cheque still had not arrived. Continue reading...

Green groups fear coronavirus lockdown has weakened environmental protectionsAn “armada” of more than 100 fishing vessels are illegally plundering south Atlantic waters close to Argentina, environmental groups say, raising concerns that the coronavirus lockdown has weakened already fragile marine protections.The incursion of the ships, mostly from east Asia, appears to have been carried out by stealth. The vessels waited until nightfall, shut down satellite tracking systems in coordination and then moved into the squid-rich waters of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone, Greenpeace said. Continue reading...

Study argued such schemes are like ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul, while half of irrigators said program was ‘wasteful’A new study has found that the government’s $4bn Murray-Darling irrigation efficiency program, designed to make farms more efficient while returning some of the saved water to the environment has actually led to irrigators who received subsidies extracting more water than those who did not.The study by academics from University of Adelaide, University of NSW, the Australian National University and the Environmental Defenders office found up to 28% more water was extracted by those who received subsidies. Continue reading...

Currents act as conveyor belts that concentrate microplastics in hotspots, study suggestsScientists have discovered microplastics in greater quantities than ever before on the seabed, and gathered clues as to how ocean currents and deep-sea circulation have carried them there.Microplastics – tiny pieces of plastic less than 5mm in size – are likely to accumulate most densely on the ocean floor in areas that are also biodiversity hotspots, intensifying the damage they may do to marine ecosystems, according to the research. Continue reading...

More than half of Woodside’s investors support shareholder motion to set targets in line with Paris climate agreementActivists have heralded a “breakthrough moment” in the push for the Australian gas industry to do more on the climate crisis after more than 50% of shareholders called on Woodside Petroleum to set science-based greenhouse gas targets.Slightly more than half of the company’s investors who gave a view supported a motion that it set targets in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement to cut both its own emissions and the “scope 3” emissions released by consumers of its products, many of them in Asia. Continue reading...

Plants, birds, moths and bugs are all waiting to be noticed and appreciated – and photographed

From frogs to baboons, Guardian readers from around the world have sent us their best shots of urban wildlife taken from their homes

Planned sale of land to fossil fuel, mining and and timber concerns mirrors rollback of Obama-era pollution regulationsThe Trump administration has ratcheted up its efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic to overhaul and overturn Obama-era environmental regulations and increase industry access to public lands.The secretary of the interior, David Bernhardt, has sped efforts to drill, mine and cut timber on fragile western landscapes. Meanwhile, the EPA, headed by the former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, has weakened critical environmental laws and announced in March that it would cease oversight of the nation’s polluters during the Covid-19 crisis. Continue reading...

Airline given £600m coronavirus bailout with no strings attached

Environment department’s three-year inquiry found Jam Land illegally used herbicide on critically endangered grasslands in 2016

Study into effects of coronavirus curbs also finds less asthma and preterm births

Renewable electricity may be only source to withstand biggest shock in 70 years

Keith Pitt says review of environmental laws must look at how to ‘streamline’ assessment processes for major projectsThe federal minister for resources, water and northern Australia, Keith Pitt, says “cashed-up activists” should not be able to hold up developments that have been approved by a government agency “simply because they can afford to”.In an interview with Guardian Australia, Pitt said Australia had “some of the strongest environmental protections in the world” and the government had “no intention to change how strongly we protect the environment”. But he said a review of Australia’s environmental laws needed to consider how assessment processes could be “streamlined” for companies developing major projects. Continue reading...

Getting the regulations right will allow the secure expansion of wind and solar power, study findsAustralia already has the technical capacity to safely run a power grid in which 75% of the electricity comes from wind and solar and, if it gets regulations right, should occasionally reach this level within five years.A study by the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) looking at how to incorporate more renewable energy into the system while maintaining grid security found wind and solar capacity was increasing rapidly, but the operation of the electricity market could hold it back unless settings were changed. Continue reading...

Former Obama adviser says Australian PM was ‘very sure of himself without knowing what he was talking about’

A suburb of the country’s capital is showing how urban planning can be harnessed to benefit both humans and wildlife

As the coronavirus lockdown makes wildlife more visible in our cities, biodiversity reporter Patrick Greenfield speaks to ecologist Dr Rana El-Sabaawi and evolutionary biologist Prof Menno Schilthuizen about what this means for the future of cities and how urban dwellers can become more involved with nature Continue reading...

Exclusive: Queensland government blocked report’s public release after granting gas companies new exploration rightsAn independent scientific panel commissioned by the Queensland government recommended a ban on fracking in the environmentally sensitive Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin, but the experts’ findings were made secret by the state and ultimately ignored.Guardian Australia has obtained a leaked copy of the panel’s report, which was blocked from public release and ruled subject to cabinet confidentiality by the Palaszczuk government last year. Continue reading...

Lockdown and oil price slump leave future of vast Argentinian shale project hanging in balanceWhether the post-pandemic world moves back to fossil fuels or forward to a clean economy will become clearer in the coming weeks as the International Monetary Fund and Argentina decide whether to continue support for the vast Vaca Muerta oil and gas fields in Patagonia.The development aims to tap the second biggest shale deposits on the planet (after the Permian basin in Texas), but its future has been thrown in doubt by the coronavirus lockdown, which has induced the steepest fall of the oil price in 30 years. Continue reading...

Analysis suggests current federal policies will lead to a price rise after 2030 but a more ambitious target would keep bills lowerAustralia could get 90% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2040 without an increase in power prices, according to an analysis by the energy and carbon consultancy RepuTex.Under current government policies, the country is on track to have 75% of its electricity generated by renewables within 20 years, but the analysis suggests a weak federal policy framework would lead to wholesale prices rising for a period after 2030. Continue reading...

Event’s 50th anniversary sees digital activism replace demos, due to coronavirus

While some species have declined by more than a third overall, where conservation measures are in place they have increased by 46%Populations of some Australian mammals declined by more than a third over two decades, but sites with clear conservation management saw improvements in their populations of 46%, according to new research.The figures are the first tranche of data in Australia’s Threatened Species Index for mammals, which combines data from monitoring programs across the country to track trends in threatened species populations. Continue reading...

Instead of bailing out big oil, let’s bail out ordinary people insteadOn the inaugural Earth Day, Americans flooded streets and college campuses to channel their fears, desire, hopes and longings into their vision for a better future. All these years later, we have failed to heed their call.This Monday, two days before Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, oil futures went negative for the first time in history. Buyers were so eager to offload oil commitments that they were willing to give their crude away at cost. This crash only emphasizes the inherent instability of the carbon economy and the need to create a more stable future. We need to disentangle our society from fossil fuels and let the industry die. Continue reading...

Research on events in Hawaii suggests climate crisis could increase eruptions around worldThe spectacular eruptions of the KÄ«lauea volcano in Hawaii in 2018 were triggered by extreme rainfall in the preceding months, research suggests.Scientists say the finding raises the possibility that climate breakdown, which is causing more extreme weather, could lead to an increase in eruptions around the world. Continue reading...

European carriers including Easy Jet and TUI secure loans free of binding environmental conditions, analysis reveals

We’ve learned that there is a bigger power than humanity. Now coronavirus has shown that to communities across the world

I worked for the EPA for 33 years. We can’t let this administration obliterate half a century of environmental progressOn the first Earth Day in 1970, millions of Americans took to the streets to demand clean air, water and land, and advocate for a healthier and more sustainable environment. By the end of the year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded.Related: EPA faces court over backing of Monsanto's controversial crop system Continue reading...

Taking down the fossil fuel industry requires taking on the institutions that finance it. Even during a pandemic, this movement is gaining steam1970 was a simpler time. (February was a simpler time too, but for a moment let’s think outside the pandemic bubble.)Simpler because our environmental troubles could be easily seen. The air above our cities was filthy, and the water in our lakes and streams was gross. There was nothing subtle about it. In New York City, the environmental lawyer Albert Butzel described a permanently yellow horizon: “I not only saw the pollution, I wiped it off my windowsills.” Or consider the testimony of a city medical examiner: “The person who spent his life in the Adirondacks has nice pink lungs. The city dweller’s are black as coal.” You’ve probably heard of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catching fire, but here’s how the former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller described the Hudson south of Albany: “One great septic tank that has been rendered nearly useless for water supply, for swimming, or to support the rich fish life that once abounded there.” Everything that people say about the air and water in China and India right now was said of America’s cities then. Continue reading...

More than 11,000 cases of dead and sick birds reported in past fortnightThousands of blue tits have been found sick or dead in Germany, prompting an investigation by conservation groups and scientists.

Findings confirm 11 of the 12 warmest years in Europe occurred in past two decadesEurope had its hottest year on record last year, new data has confirmed, with periods of exceptional heat last February, June and July, and one of the wettest Novembers on record.Previous records were broken by only a small margin, but the findings confirmed that 11 out of the 12 warmest years in Europe have occurred in the past two decades, according to the European State of the Climate 2019 report, published on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Public invited to stare at series of dots for 10 seconds and consider each afterimage

Jeff Gibbs’ film, produced by Michael Moore, takes a pop at green, liberal A-listers such as Al Gore – but doesn’t dare criticise Greta ThunbergRecently, petrolhead pundit Jeremy Clarkson was thought to have disgraced himself by pointing out that the hi-tech sea yacht used by Greta Thunberg for her transatlantic crossing, for all its solar panels and underwater turbines, had an old-fashioned diesel engine aboard for emergencies. I thought about Clarkson’s jibe while watching this refreshingly contrarian eco-documentary from environmentalist Jeff Gibbs, which has been uploaded for free online viewing by its executive producer, Michael Moore.Gibbs has a cheeky habit of going backstage at music festivals that solemnly declare themselves to be using 100% renewable energy, only to find that the fancy array of solar panels behind the tent is enough to power a single bass guitar. The rest of the energy is provided by just plugging into the shameful old electricity grid, provided by fossil fuels. He sees it as symptomatic of the mainstream environmental movement, running on delusional piety. Continue reading...

Activists hold mass video calls and share hashtags, and three-day livestream planned for Earth DayThe large crowds and brightly coloured placards of the school climate strikes became some of the defining images of 2019.“There would be lots of chanting and the energy was always amazing,” says Dominique Palmer, a 20-year-old climate activist from London who has been involved with the strikes for more than a year. “Being there with everyone in that moment is truly an electrifying feeling. It’s very different now.” Continue reading...

Amphibians are at the forefront of a battle against extinction – but they’re not the only ones benefiting from ‘frozen zoos’Olaf grasps Diane Barber’s gloved hands with his sticky, four-fingered legs. His skin is bumpy and moist, the colour of pebbles at the bottom of a river when dappled sun hits them. Olaf’s eyes are deep amber. His body lifts and falls with each breath. “The males get really pretty,” says Barber, ectotherms curator at Fort Worth zoo in Texas. “Sometimes they’ll turn a solid yellow when they’re in breeding form.”In some ways, this toad shouldn’t exist at all. He is the progeny of an egg from a captive mother and sperm from a wild father – a hybrid from parents who were both dead. Olaf is not the first amphibian to be born via IVF – that has been happening for years – but he is the first to be born from sperm that was frozen and thawed. Continue reading...

The 50th annual call for environmental reform falls at a time when the health of people and nature has never been more urgentFifty years ago today, the first Earth Day was marked in the United States as a peaceful call for environmental reform, following a massive oil spill off the coast of California. Half a century later, this annual day unites millions across the globe, drawing attention to the huge challenges facing our planet.Now more than ever, Earth Day offers an opportunity for us all to reflect upon our relationship with the planet, amid the most powerful possible message that nature can surprise us at any moment, with devastating consequences for pretty much every individual. It is a time when the health of the planet and its people has never been so important. Continue reading...

Tearfund NGO says drinks makers not doing enough to tackle their plastic pollutionCoca-Cola and Pepsi are not doing enough to reduce their plastic waste footprint globally, according to a report.The charity Tearfund has compiled a league table of how the companies, and Unilever and Nestlé, are faring in their commitments set against a three-point plan. Continue reading...

Governments must act now to stop 265 million starving, warns World Food Programme boss

Efforts to protect the European eel, under threat from pollution and the damming of rivers, are having some successThis is the peak season for the arrival of what is hoped will be millions of glass eels swimming up Britain’s estuaries to reach fresh waters where they can grow into adults. The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a curious creature with a complex lifestyle that is still barely understood.Eels are thought to begin life as eggs in the Sargasso Sea; drifting as larvae for about a year 4,000 miles north-east in the Gulf Stream before turning into tiny transparent eels. Their goal is to find a home in rivers, lakes and ponds while growing darker and larger for up to 10 years. When nearly a metre long they set off back across the Atlantic to breed. Continue reading...

Some councils confirm halt to recycling as lockdown puts pressure on disposal servicesCouncils are burning household recycling after being hit by a massive surge in domestic waste and coronavirus-related staff absences during the pandemic, the Guardian has learned.Councils in Cardiff, St Helens and Inverclyde confirmed they were temporarily incinerating recycling, while those in Oldham, Redbridge and West Dunbartonshire also said they had stepped down their recycling services for the time being. A further six authorities have stopped collecting glass or cardboard. Continue reading...

Lawyers argue that ministers have failed to account for UK’s climate crisis obligations

Scientists surprised by latest results but say carbon cuts remain vital to prevent ice loss becoming permanentThe loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic is now very likely before 2050, new research shows, even if the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis are cut rapidly.The result has alarmed scientists but they said slashing greenhouse gases remained vital as this would determine whether Arctic summer ice vanished permanently or could recover over time. If emissions remain very high, there is a risk the Arctic could be ice-free even in the dark, cold winter months, a possibility described as “catastrophic”. Continue reading...

From sea level rise to habitat loss, the effects of the climate crisis are on the verge of making south Florida uninhabitableFew places on the planet are more at risk from the climate crisis than south Florida, where more than 8 million residents are affected by the convergence of almost every modern environmental challenge – from rising seas to contaminated drinking water, more frequent and powerful hurricanes, coastal erosion, flooding and vanishing wildlife and habitat.If scientists are right, the lower third of the state will be underwater by the end of the century. Yet despite this grim outlook, scientists, politicians, environment groups and others are tackling the challenges head on. Continue reading...

Report from UN World Food Programme and others warns 265m people are facing acute risk

Coronavirus-hit Lombardy city will turn 35km of streets over to cyclists and pedestrians