Minister tells Guardian he is unsure of causes of crisis, saying he wants farmers to have tools to adapt to changeAustralia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”.Clarifying earlier comments that the question is “irrelevant” when considering the Coalition government’s response to intensifying bushfires, he told Guardian Australia he was unsure about the causes of the climate crisis but wanted to give the country the tools to adapt. Continue reading...

NFU says growing fuel for power stations and capturing CO can slash emissions

Trillions of dollars needed to avoid ‘climate apartheid’ but this is less than cost of inactionThe world’s readiness for the inevitable effects of the climate crisis is “gravely insufficient”, according to a report from global leaders.This lack of preparedness will result in poverty, water shortages and levels of migration soaring, with an “irrefutable toll on human life”, the report warns. Continue reading...

Operators ask government for national strategy to encourage more people to use busesBus operators have pledged to buy only ultra-low or zero-emission vehicles from 2025 as they called on the government to outline a national strategy to encourage more people to use buses.The Confederation of Passenger Transport, which represents most bus operators in the UK including the big five firms – Arriva, FirstGroup, Go Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach – said it wanted lower fares for jobseekers and apprentices, smart ticketing and innovative, sustainable solutions for rural areas, where bus services have been hit particularly hard. Continue reading...

Two trees infected with subspecies of Xylella fastidiosa that killed 1m trees in ItalyA deadly disease estimated to have killed a million olive trees in Italy has spread to France.The French agriculture ministry announced the discovery of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, known as olive tree leprosy, on two trees in the south of the country and said the infected trees would be destroyed to stop it spreading. Continue reading...

A 2,000km road and river odyssey in Brazil reveals consensus from all sides: Bolsonaro has ushered in a new age of wreckingFrom afar, it resembles a tornado: an immense grey column shooting thousands of feet upwards from the forest canopy into the Amazonian skies.Up close it is an inferno: a raging conflagration obliterating yet another stretch of the world’s greatest rainforest as a herd of Nelore cattle looks on in bewilderment. Continue reading...

There are doubts the Noah’s Ark plan for the Lower Darling will be enough to prevent more mass fish killsFaced with a looming ferocious summer with little rain forecast, the New South Wales government has embarked on a Noah’s Ark type operation to move native fish from the Lower Darling – part of Australia’s most significant river system – to safe havens before high temperatures return to the already stressed river basin.Researchers have warned of other alarming ecological signs that the Lower Darling River – part of the giant Murray-Darling Basin – is in a dire state, following last summer’s mass fish kills. Continue reading...

Fires that swept though subtropical rainforest around the historic Binna Burra lodge are unprecedented, experts sayQueensland’s former fire commissioner says an erratic bushfire front that climbed into the state’s subtropical rainforest and razed the 86-year-old Binna Burra Lodge is “like nothing we’ve ever seen before”.“What we’re seeing, it’s just not within people’s imagination,” said Lee Johnson, who spent 12 years in charge of Queensland’s fire service. Continue reading...

Australian researchers are trying to understand how the birds, which receive no parental care, survive against all odds in big citiesThe chicks are considered “hors d’oeuvres” of the bird world and now Sydney scientists need public help trying to understand how brush turkeys survive against the odds in urban environments.Brush turkeys’ six-month breeding season kicked off in July and a team of researchers from the University of Sydney and Taronga Zoo have put out a call for community sightings of nesting mounds, breeding activities and chick hatchings across New South Wales and Queensland. Continue reading...

Humber drive aims to shrink carbon footprint of UK’s most polluting industrial zoneEnergy companies have ignited multibillion-pound plans for the UK’s first carbon-neutral “industrial cluster” in the Humber.An alliance of companies including National Grid, Drax and Norway’s state energy company, Equinor, are leading a campaign to shrink the carbon footprint of Britain’s most polluting industrial zone. Continue reading...

More than 90% of the land cleared was not referred to the federal government for assessmentMore than 7.7m hectares of habitat have been cleared since the introduction of Australia’s national environment act, according to new research that finds 93% of land cleared was not referred to the federal government for assessment.The study, led by researchers from the University of Queensland and three environment organisations – the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF Australia and the Wilderness Society – warns that Australia’s high extinction rate will increase “without a fundamental change” in how environment laws are enforced. Continue reading...

Gilets jaunes-style movement has threatened to bring down national government

Phenomenon could be as damaging as ‘the blob’ that caused algae blooms and killed sea lions several years agoThe ocean off the western coast of North America is five degrees Fahrenheit hotter than usual after warming at an unusually rapid rate, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).It has been dubbed the “north-east Pacific marine heatwave of 2019”. Continue reading...

Mock funeral procession highlights impact of cars and demands funding for cyclist safetyHundreds of cyclists took part in a staged funeral procession in central London on Saturday before performing a “die-in” near Whitehall to call for greater investment in walking and cycling.The protest, organised by the campaign groups Extinction Rebellion and Stop Killing Cyclists, drew attention to statistics showing that more than 100 cyclists were killed and 3,400 seriously injured in 2016, the most recent year for which figures were available. Continue reading...

Land once owned by Beatrix Potter is being ruined by off-road vehicles, campaigners claim. Now a crucial decision looms on whether to ban themRichard Bowness’s heart beats through this landscape. His grandfather broke stones to construct many of the farm tracks, and with his “own bare hands” Bowness built many of the local cottages.As we wind down one corner through the valleys just north of Coniston Water, he points to the upstairs window of a cottage: “I was conceived there, you know!” Continue reading...

Males have begun their walkabout seeking a mate (and hoping not to get eaten) – and this year has seen a big turnoutGaggles of tarantulas are emerging from their burrows across the western US on a quest to mate, hunting for love in prairies, foothills and a garage belonging to Kim Kardashian West.From August to October, the eight-legged crawlers go on a walkabout for a once-in-a-lifetime foray to find a partner. The phenomenon is now occurring on a unusually large scale from northern California to Colorado and Texas, shining a light on the arachnids’ remarkable mating behavior, which can involve dancing and cannibalism. Continue reading...

Lashing rain, 185mph winds – the ferocious storm has left 43 dead and hundreds missing. Oliver Laughland reports from the rubble of Grand BahamaAs Erica Roberts clung to a tall mango tree, the winds and sea water churned up by Hurricane Dorian pounding her face, a single thought ran through her head: “I will not die like this.”Related: 'I thought no one was coming to rescue us': Abaco Islanders flee Dorian's destruction Continue reading...

Dr Peter Hounsell writes that the electric bin lorries currently being trialled are nothing new, while Richard Ellam says that it used to be common for councils to burn rubbish to generate electricityYour report on electric bin lorries powered by energy from household waste (5 September) that are being trialled by Sheffield and Westminster councils suggests that this may be a world first for local authorities.This may well be the case in the 21st century, but Sheffield also claimed to be the first to do this back in 1915. Electric refuse collection vehicles were not uncommon in the early decades of the 20th century, and one manufacturer claimed to have 50 local authority customers for its vehicles. Continue reading...

Residents inhaling smoke from peat and trees burned hundreds of miles awayAn increase in Indonesian forest fires – the sharpest rise since 2015 – has infuriated neighbouring Malaysia, where residents are inhaling smoke from peat and trees burned hundreds of miles away.More than 14 megatonnes of carbon dioxide were discharged from the blazes on 5 September, more than triple the average on this day over the previous 15 years, according to satellite data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Continue reading...

A sleepy Bolivian peccary, fading British heather and a migrating heron in Turkey Continue reading...

Milk & More encourages people to switch to online accounts to save on administration costsAn “eco-friendly” delivery company that pledged to revive the traditional “Great British milkman” has raised the price of fresh milk by 4p a pint – but only for customers who don’t want to switch their accounts online.In a drive to modernise the business and move towards a cashless system, Milk & More says it wants to incentivise customers to switch their accounts online to allow more efficient and less costly administration and payment. Continue reading...

Baby timber rattlesnake in New Jersey has two fully formed, independently working headsScientists have named a rare two-headed snake Double Dave after it was found in a forest in the US state of New Jersey.The baby timber rattlesnake was discovered last month by environmentalists from the Herpetological Associates group, who study endangered and threatened reptiles. Continue reading...

A severe fire danger warning is in place for the greater Sydney region and swathes of both statesEmergency warnings have been issued for communities in Queensland and northern New South Wales amid hot and windy conditions, while a severe fire danger warning is in place for the greater Sydney region.The Rural Fire Service has issued the warnings for fires at Tenterfield and nearby Drake in northern NSW, Bees Nest near Armidale and Lidsdale near Lithgow west of the Blue Mountains. Continue reading...

Fishermen report seeing ‘snouts in the dark’ on Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanesA mystical Malaysian island is grappling with a “sea-borne invasion” of wild boar, which some believe are swimming kilometres across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes before destroying crops.“The sea-borne invasion of wild boars leaves us in despair as the animal population is increasing,” said Norhizam Hassan Baktee, chairman of the Malacca agriculture committee, of the influx on the island of Pulau Besar. Continue reading...

Water bottles, cigarette lighters and fishing nets were among garbage found on Djulpan beach, Sea Shepherd saysFurther evidence that plastic does not discriminate as it spreads across the planet: the marine conservation organisation Sea Shepherd said it is washing up in large quantities on a remote Australian beach.Sea Shepherd joined Indigenous rangers in picking up more than seven tonnes of marine plastic pollution on a two-kilometre stretch of Djulpan beach, in northeastern Arnhem Land. Continue reading...

BHP says shareholder resolution to leave industry groups at odds with climate stance is unnecessary, as review is under wayBHP’s board has rejected as unnecessary a shareholder resolution requiring it to suspend its membership of organisations, including the Minerals Council of Australia, that are at odds with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.The miner said the resolution, backed by investors including tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and a group of pension funds, was not needed because, as the Guardian has previously reported, it is already reviewing its membership of industry bodies. Continue reading...

Biggest fossil fuel extractors warned they risk wasting $2.2tn ‘in a low-carbon world’Major oil and gas companies have invested $50bn (£40.6bn) in fossil fuel projects that undermine global efforts to avert a runaway climate crisis, according to a report.Since the start of last year, fossil fuel companies have spent billions on high-cost plans to extract oil and gas from tar sands, deepwater fields and the Arctic despite the risks to the climate and shareholder returns. Continue reading...

Billions of lightbulbs will remain far more inefficient than their main alternative, costing Americans more in energy billsThe Trump administration has come up with its latest bright idea – scrapping rules that require energy efficiency standards in lightbulbs.The Department of Energy is eliminating stricter efficiency standards on about half of bulbs sold in the US. The repealed rule, enacted during Barack Obama’s presidency, was aimed at phasing out older-style inefficient incandescent and halogen lightbulbs by 2020. Continue reading...

Erwin Kräutler says he expects next month’s papal synod to denounce destruction of rainforestThe fires in the Amazon are a “true apocalypse”, according to a Brazilian archbishop who expects next month’s papal synod at the Vatican to strongly denounce the destruction of the rainforest.The comments by Erwin Kräutler will put fresh pressure on the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, following criticism from G7 leaders last month over the surge of deforestation in the world’s biggest terrestrial carbon sink. Continue reading...

French judge ruffles feathers by rejecting complaint about bird’s dawn squawkingAt last Maurice the rooster has something to crow about. A court has ruled that France’s most famous cock can carry on with his dawn chorus, in a legal case that has pitted town against country.On Thursday, a tribunal rejected a couple’s complaint about the bird’s early morning crowing and ordered them to pay €1,000 (£897) in damages to Maurice’s owner, Corinne Fesseau. Continue reading...

Corporate watchdog urges clean-up of supply chains as analysis finds weak regulation and enforcement has led to lack of scrutinyMost of the world’s top companies extracting key minerals for electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines have been linked with human rights abuses in their mines, research has found.Analysis published by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), an international corporate watchdog, revealed that 87% of the 23 largest companies mining cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc – the six minerals essential to the renewable energy industry – have faced allegations of abuse including land rights infringements, corruption, violence or death over the past 10 years. Continue reading...

Candidates warn of ‘irreparable damage’ in marathon town hall but can’t agree on how aggressively to tackle problemDemocrats vying for president revealed a fundamental split over how aggressively the US should tackle climate change in a seven-hour town hall meeting on Wednesday.Bernie Sanders painted an apocalyptic future wreaked by the climate crisis and pledged to wage war on the fossil fuel industry. A high-energy Elizabeth Warren urged optimism for building a better America and the former vice-president Joe Biden, who has a pitched a more moderate proposal, said he would push other nations to recommit to stronger action. Continue reading...

Trust says hillsides turning from purple to brown after loss of 75% of plant on some slopesHillsides across Britain have turned from glorious purple to muddy brown because of a worrying loss of heather, conservationists have warned.The National Trust has flagged up that 75% of the plant has been lost or is struggling on some slopes that it manages in the west of England and blames the climate emergency for the problem. Continue reading...

Republican Henry McMaster says there is still time for people to leave at-risk areas but residents should do so immediately – get the latest now

Despite the hurricane, local residents question scientists’ conclusions. But those in power are showing signs of acceptanceDoreen Auciello, 63, was finishing a continental breakfast in a hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida – home of the famous speedway races.As she sat with her good friend Gene, who recently lost her husband, their conversation and that of everyone else in the room revolved around Hurricane Dorian, just offshore. Continue reading...

Former diesel vehicles to be powered by the rubbish they collect in drive to cut pollutionElectric bin lorries powered by energy from the household rubbish they collect are being piloted in Sheffield and Westminster, London, in what the councils are calling a world first for a local authority.The scheme recycles diesel lorries destined for the scrapyard, fitting them with electric engines and transforming them into 26-tonne bin wagons powered by the waste they collect. The idea is that any surplus energy can be fed back into the system to power people’s homes. Continue reading...

Chemical is blamed for death of insects and suspected to cause cancer in humansGermany has said it will phase out the controversial weedkiller glyphosate because it wipes out insect populations crucial for ecosystems and pollination of food crops.The chemical, also suspected by some experts to cause cancer in humans, is to be banned by the end of 2023 when the EU’s approval period for it expires, ministers said. Continue reading...

Environmental groups rate Democrats’ plans and records ahead of CNN’s town hall focusing on the climate crisis

Report urges meat, dairy and seafood companies to address impact of industry’s deforestation, use of antibiotics and emissionsThe world’s biggest producers of meat, dairy and seafood are failing to tackle the enormous impact they are having on the planet through deforestation, the routine use of antibiotics and greenhouse gas emissions, a report warns.The Coller Fairr index ranks 50 of the largest global meat, dairy and fish producers by looking at risk factors from use of antibiotics to deforestation and labour abuses. The producers are the “hidden” supply chain, providing meat and dairy to global brands including McDonald’s, Tesco, Nestlé and Walmart. Continue reading...

Activists, journalists, politicians and voters must transcend the cultural, racial and political differences to work together“You’re a black tree hugger, interesting.” When I told my grandparents that I was moving back to Detroit to work as an environmental justice organizer for the Sierra Club they chuckled and called me a tree hugger. This quip was understandable, their interactions with the environmental movement were not particularly positive; they contended that, in their time, most environmentalists cared more about protecting remote habitats than protecting their black neighbors from discrimination and violence.Today, to fight our climate crisis effectively, we have to transcend cultural, racial and political differences and build a broader coalition of engaged citizens. We have to engage all citizens, some who may not care about conservation but certainly care about the safety of their drinking water, the cleanliness of their air and the safety of their homes. This requires all of us, from journalists and politicians to activists and voters, to engage with communities in a culturally competent manner. We must bring to the table an understanding that we don’t have to agree on every political issue to work together towards building a better future for all of us. Continue reading...

We know that warm waters fuel hurricanes, and Dorian was strengthened by waters well above average temperaturesThe Bahamas, for those who live there, is simply a place to call home. For many Americans, it’s a dream vacation spot. But Hurricane Dorian turned that dream into a nightmare. And the worst part is this is only the beginning. Because unless we confront the climate crisis, warming will turn more and more of our fantastic landscapes, cities we call paradise and other dream destinations into nightmarish hellscapes.Related: Hurricane Dorian edges 'dangerously close' to Florida after battering Bahamas Continue reading...

Locals from Pelican Rapids in Minnesota are unfazed about losing the record to The Entrance in NSWLocals in a tiny American hamlet with the world’s biggest pelican statue say they are not fussed about the prospect of losing the record to an Australian seaside township.The Central Coast council in New South Wales is considering building the world’s largest pelican sculpture in an effort to turn around its tourism industry. Continue reading...

Germany leads complaint against plan to leave polluted remains of Shell rigs in place

‘The fight goes on,’ say activists after ignoring injunction at Cuadrilla site in Lancashire

Amid questions over his eco-credentials, Harry has joined forces with travel industry firms to look at improving conservation and benefitting local communitiesPrince Harry’s new charitable foundation, Sussex Royal, has helped launch an initiative to raise awareness of, and promote, sustainable travel. Travalyst is a collaboration between five companies – Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa – aimed at improving conservation efforts, protecting the environment and helping develop the economies of communities involved in the tourist industry. Continue reading...

Macron called on to legislate against ‘wackos’, including tourist who took dog to summitA mayor in the French alps has urged Emmanuel Macron to take action against “wackos” climbing Mont Blanc, after incidents including a British tourist abandoning a rowing machine on western Europe’s highest peak.Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais, who for years has sounded the alarm against overcrowding on Mont Blanc, said a member of the British “Royal Commandos”, thought to mean the Royal Marines, hauled up the exercise machine for a stunt on Saturday. Continue reading...

Depths of lakes that hold about 90% of US’s freshwater spiking to record levels, from 14in to nearly 3ft above long-term averages