Wild horses, an Ethiopian wolf and a dolphin attacking a porpoise are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

A surging NDP can defeat Canada’s Trump – whose folksy act is a front for an assault on working people and the environmentA recent episode perfectly captures the appeal of Ontario Tory leader Doug Ford. Asked about a delayed mining plan in the province’s north, this is how he answered: “If I have to hop on a bulldozer myself, we’re going to start building roads..it will benefit local people but it is also going to benefit everyone in Ontario.” The statement quickly went viral.In a single gesture, witness the dizzying acrobatics of right-wing populism. There’s the posture of an unflinching maverick, spitting on his hands and getting the job done. There’s the plain-spoken concern for the common man and woman. And then there’s the actual result: a resource scheme that would enrich multinational corporations – who’d help themselves to a 10-year tax holiday – while trampling Indigenous rights and razing one of the last intact wild areas in Canada. Continue reading...

Minister accused of letting political lobbying interfere with listing a year after recommendation by independent committee• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noonConservation groups have accused the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, of allowing political interference in the scientific assessment of threatened species listings.Frydenberg has delayed, for the third time, granting an endangered listing to woodlands eligible for protection under Australia’s national environment laws. Continue reading...

Park visitation is at a record high – good for tourism, not so good for peace and quiet. From Acadia to Zion, Bryce Canyon to Yosemite, leading writers and environmentalists share their alternatives to the most popular spots

WHO database lowers Beijing’s particulate ranking from 40th worst in world to 187th, as coal plants flagged as key culpritBeijing is slowly shedding its image as the world’s most polluted city. In 2013, it ranked as the 40th worst city for the particulate PM2.5 in the World Health Organisation global database. Four years on, thanks in part to a crackdown on polluters, it stands in 187th place.Air pollution in the 62 Chinese cities tracked by the WHO dropped by an average of 30% between 2013 and 2016. China’s air pollution problems are often blamed on the country’s rapid industrial growth but the problems probably date back to the 1950s. Continue reading...

Michael Gove, the enviroment secretary, responds to a Guardian editorial on his clean air strategyYou write that “the main contributor to the air quality crisis … is road transport” (Editorial, 23 May). Road transport contributes 34% of nitrogen dioxide emissions and 12% of particulate matter emissions. The majority of air pollution comes from other sources. In particular, domestic burning contributes 38% of primary particulate matter – the most damaging pollutant to human health, according to the World Health Organisation.You write that our clean air strategy “purported to tackle a public health crisis by getting families to open their windows more often because ‘air pollution inside the home can often be higher than outside’.” Those 11 words are taken from almost 40,000 in the document, which sets out action on domestic fuel, farming, ports, aviation and in other areas. Continue reading...

Taxpayer’s right to healthcare | ‘Falling’ pregnant | Female film critics | Nancy Banks-Smith | Clothes mothsYou report (24 May) that Pauline Pennant, a UK citizen living overseas, pays UK taxes through her pension, earned after 30 years working with the NHS, yet is no longer entitled to free healthcare. If she is no longer entitled to this because she lives overseas, then why does she still pay UK tax on her pension and what, or who, is this deducted tax being used for?

Exclusive: study of schools in capital finds dangerous levels of fine particulate pollution within classrooms, putting children at riskChildren in London schools are being exposed to higher levels of damaging air pollution inside the classroom than outside, putting them at risk of lifelong health problems, a new study has revealed.Related: Clean-air campaigners call for ban on school run to cut pollution Continue reading...

Litigants from eight countries claim EU institutions are not protecting fundamental rightsLawyers acting for a group including a French lavender farmer and members of the indigenous Sami community in Sweden have launched legal action against the EU’s institutions for failing to adequately protect them against climate change.A case is being pursued in the Luxembourg-based general court, Europe’s second highest, against the European parliament and the council of the European Union for allowing overly high greenhouse gas emissions to continue until 2030. Continue reading...

Holyrood says ‘net-zero’ carbon emissions are ultimate aim but climate campaigners say target is disappointingNew targets will set Scotland on course to become one of the first countries in the world to achieve a 100% reduction in carbon emissions, the Scottish government has claimed, although it has stopped short of committing to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.The draft climate change bill, published on Thursday morning, sets a target of a 90% reduction by 2050 – which the UK Committee on Climate Change states is currently “at the limit of feasibility” – with the aim of achieving 100% reduction, or “net-zero”, as soon as possible.

Pigs outstripped people in Duplin county long ago - but now the residents are fighting back

Most MEPs on the influential agriculture committee have business ties, new research shows, raising concerns about conflicts of interest

Dozens of fast-flying butterflies released in a secret location in Northamptonshire forest after disappearing in 1976It mysteriously vanished from England after the long hot summer of 1976, but the chequered skipper butterfly is taking to the skies again as part of a bid to revive 20 endangered species.Several dozen mostly female butterflies have been collected in Belgium and released in a secret location in Rockingham forest, Northamptonshire. Continue reading...

Footage captured by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy shows the construction of world’s largest cat-proof fence. Completed in central Australia, the 94 square kilometre sanctuary will provide protection for endangered marsupials.The 44km fence – made of 85,000 pickets, 400km of wire and 130km of netting – surrounds the Newhaven wildlife sanctuary, a former cattle station that has been bought by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Continue reading...

National Trust finds 12% decline since 2013, with the population of one island off Northumberland down 42%Puffin numbers at one of Britain’s most important habitats have fallen sharply, raising fears they could die out completely there within a century.Every five years National Trust rangers carry out a census of the birds on the Farne Islands, and the latest survey has potentially grim news for the colourful seabird. Continue reading...

If the bill becomes law, restaurants that continue to use plastic straws would be warned, then face fines between $100 and $400A New York city council member announced on Wednesday his plan to ban plastic straws from the city of 8.5 million people, amid a growing effort across the globe to cut back on plastics.

Feral cats kill a million native birds every night and have caused extinction of 20 native speciesThe world’s largest cat-proof fence has been completed in central Australia, creating a 94 square kilometre sanctuary for endangered marsupials.The 44km fence – made of 85,000 pickets, 400km of wire and 130km of netting – surrounds the Newhaven wildlife sanctuary, a former cattle station that has been bought by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Queensland government takes Kingvale station to court over clearing that Olkola people say threatens sacred sites

Costly rehabilitation to be largely left to developers, including on Melbourne site involving 130 chemicals• Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

When scientists exposed the crop to higher levels of carbon dioxide vitamin levels fell significantly

Almost all nations would benefit economically from keeping global warming to 1.5C, a new study indicates

Undercover footage recorded more than 100 incidents over 10 days, with workers apparently kicking pigs in their heads and stomachs

Water shortages could stretch into the 2050s, according to the Environment Agency. It’s time to do your bitThe sun is shining and we are due a hot bank holiday Monday, so it must be time for a drought story. And not just any old drought, but one stretching into the 2050s and beyond, according to the Environment Agency, which warns that our use of water is unsustainable. While the agency puts much of its focus on the need for companies to change their behaviour, especially by reducing leakage, there are practical steps we can all take. Continue reading...

The news that Mediterranean whales have died after ingesting our plastic waste comes as no surprise – but seems to be an omen for fallout from our disruption of the natural worldPlastic bags have been blamed for the deaths of sperm whales in the Mediterranean. The Athens-based Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute found that more than a third of the sperm whales found dead in Greek waters had stomachs blocked by plastic waste. But this comes as no surprise to whale watchers.In a plangent 2011 report by same researchers on a mass sperm-whale stranding, a combination of factors – noise from naval exercises, dehydration and stress that caused toxic chemicals and heavy metals to be released from the whales’ body fat – was found to have caused them to beach. The scene of the dying whales moved the scientists to unusually emotive language as they recorded finding them “agonising on the shore”. Continue reading...

Ban will stop 214,000 vehicles from using two key roads as part of pollution crackdownHamburg is to become the first German city to ban some diesel cars to improve air quality, setting a template for other urban centres in the country.The ban will affect about 214,000 cars, more than two-thirds of the diesel vehicles registered in Germany’s second-largest city. Continue reading...

Farmers take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation, and at twice the rate of military veterans. Two bills to help farmers were included in the federal farm billIn early May, Kansas farmer John Blaske is waiting for the rain to stop so he can begin planting. From the front door of his farmhouse, a green yard decorated with bird feeders slopes down to a series of fields where the corn will be planted. Beyond the fields, there’s a tree line and a small bridge with a creek running below. It’s peaceful here, and mostly quiet, except for the sound of the occasional car or tractor, or the cows calling from the paddock.

Hot oceans fueled Hurricane Harvey, generating more intense rainfall

Wasted water from leaking pipes and overuse in homes is causing damage to rivers and wildlife and putting increasing pressure on overstretched supplies, warns the Environment AgencyPeople need to use less water and companies must curb leaks to prevent future water shortages and damage to rivers and wildlife, the Environment Agency (EA) has warned.Many sources of water supplies are already overstretched and, with climate change and a growing population, much of England could see significant supply shortages by the 2050s – particularly in the south-east. Continue reading...

Bodnant Garden, Gwynedd: Rhododendrons and azaleas flash white, pink, red, orange and blue as the oaks awaken from a long winter dream

Exclusive: Study finds 12,000 items worth $4m, including ivory, live orangutans and a huge number of reptiles and birds for the pet tradeThe online sale of endangered and threatened wildlife is rife across Europe, a new investigation has revealed, ranging from live cheetahs, orangutans and bears to ivory, polar bear skins and many live reptiles and birds.Researchers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) spent six weeks tracking adverts on 100 online marketplaces in four countries, the UK, Germany, France and Russia. They found more than 5,000 adverts offering to sell almost 12,000 items, worth $4m (£3m) in total. All the specimens were species in which trade is restricted or banned by the global Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. Continue reading...

Yacht club members can finally take to the ephemeral lake in South Australian outback after tracking water from western Queensland• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noonAfter weeks of tracking the slow progress of flood waters through outback Queensland, members of the improbable Lake Eyre Yacht Club have been able to return to the water.Water reached Lake Eyre, or Kati Thanda, in South Australia on 15 May, two months after falling in the upper Diamantina catchment in western Queensland, some 1,000km away. Continue reading...

With insect numbers falling because of pesticides, natural controls are being sought for a pest threatening valuable oilseed rape cropsOne of the pests that troubles British farmers is the pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus, which is particularly fond of yellow flowers and is a menace to oil seed rape. On some plants it is a beneficial pollinator, but on oilseed rape it destroys the plant’s ability to produce the all-important seed.Related: Our wildlife can be saved – but only with political will | Letters Continue reading...

Potentially deadly plumes of volcanic gas and particles are polluting the Big Island in the wake of recent eruptions

The Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E were barred by the EPA from Scott Pruitt’s eventJournalists from national news organizations were barred from a summit in Washington on harmful water contaminants on Tuesday, convened by the embattled environmental protection agency (EPA) chief, Scott Pruitt. One reporter was manhandled out of the building.Pruitt is already engulfed in a scandal over his use of taxpayer money and closeness to lobbyists, actions he has been obliged to defend in a string of congressional hearings in recent weeks, amid calls for him to quit or be fired. He is being investigated for possible federal ethics violations including spending for round-the-clock security guards, first-class plane tickets and a $43,000 soundproof telephone booth. Continue reading...

Proposal would repeal Obama-era rules that ban shooting of bear cubs and other controversial hunting practices in AlaskaThe Trump administration is attempting to repeal a rule that bans the shooting of bear cubs, use of dogs and bait to hunt bears, and killing caribou from motorboats in Alaska’s federal wildlife refuges.The proposal would scrap a 2015 regulation by the National Park Service that restricts controversial hunting and trapping practices on about 20m acres of federal land in Alaska. Continue reading...

On international day for biological diversity, the IUCN celebrates successful conservation action with images and stories of 12 species and the efforts underway to improve their status Continue reading...

The wildlife presenter has revealed he is storing roadkill in his freezer to feed foxes, as recent reports suggest their numbers are in sharp declineThe next time you’re at Chris Packham’s house, rifling through his kitchen looking for a snack, for God’s sake, don’t look in the freezer. That’s where Packham keeps his “enormous quantity” of roadkill.What exactly is Packham doing with an enormous quantity of roadkill in his freezer? It’s a fair question. Should a nationally renowned wildlife presenter be running over wildlife in the first place? Continue reading...

Oil firm grilled over carbon emissions, but defeats motion calling for tougher targetsShell investors have rebelled over the company’s executive pay, as the Anglo-Dutch oil company came under pressure to take stronger action on climate change.While chief executive Ben van Beurden’s €8.9m (£7.79m) pay package for 2017 was approved, more than a quarter of shareholders voted against the firm’s remuneration report at its annual general meeting on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary says Nord Stream 2 could leave Europe reliant on ‘malign’ RussiaThe UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has joined the US in condemning “divisive” German plans to press ahead with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, arguing it could leave European energy consumers heavily dependent on “a malign Russian state”.

Charity says at least 65 people have died in Pakistani city as temperatures exceed 40CAn intense heatwave across south Asia has killed dozens of people with sustained temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) coinciding with power cuts and Ramadan, when many Muslims avoid eating or drinking water.At least 65 people have died in Karachi in recent days according to the charitable organisation that runs the central morgue in the Pakistani port city, as volunteers handed out water to labourers and others working outside in temperatures as high as 44C. Continue reading...

As the fifth annual Great British Bee Count gets under way, wildlife and gardening experts are calling on the public to grow weeds to help Britain’s bees. The count, which will provide the first national health check for wild bees and other pollinators, runs until 30 June Continue reading...

Exclusive: UK capital has the most expensive public transport, third-worst air quality and is one of most dangerous to walk and cycle, study of 13 cities revealsLondon is trailing behind other major European capitals in its effort to create a clean, affordable and safe transport system, according to a new report.The study of 13 cities found London has the joint third worst air quality after Moscow and Paris, as well as the most expensive public transport and the highest number of cycling accidents. Continue reading...

Development of major new markets in China and reforms in Europe have provided a crucial boost as countries look at tools to cut carbon and meet their Paris climate targetsGlobal carbon markets have been revived from the brink of collapse as, after years in the doldrums, recent developments have provided a much-needed boost, according to a new report from the World Bank.China has made strong progress on its new carbon markets, which when complete will be the biggest in the world, while the EU initiated reforms of its carbon trading system which have already had an effect on prices. Continue reading...

Snares – either metal or rope – are indiscriminately killing wildlife across Southeast Asia, from elephants to mouse deer. The problem has become so bad that scientists are referring to protected areas in the region as “empty forests.”

Market shift to renewables means scheme’s economic case stacks up, senators toldThe head of the government’s Snowy 2.0 project says the expanded scheme would be able to “out-compete” any new coal-fired power.Snowy Hydro’s managing director and chief executive, Paul Broad, told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday the project would perform better than any new coal plants, including those being pushed for by government backbenchers , because of the increasing market shift toward renewables. Continue reading...

Consultation proposes reducing pollutants, including particulates from wood burners and ammonia from farms – but does little to tackle diesel emissionsA new clean air strategy published by the UK government has been criticised as “hugely disappointing” by the Labour party. Other groups said it did little to tackle the dirty diesel vehicles that are the main source of toxic air in urban areas.The new strategy, announced on Tuesday by environment secretary, Michael Gove, aims to crack down on a wide range of pollutants. These include particulates from wet wood and coal burning in homes, ammonia emissions from farms and dust from vehicle tyres and brakes. Continue reading...

Alpha North, which would be bigger than Adani’s Carmichael mine, to be examined under federal environment lawsA proposal by the millionaire former MP Clive Palmer to develop the biggest open-cut coalmine in the southern hemisphere in Queensland will be scrutinised by the federal environment department, including its impact on the Great Barrier Reef.The federal government announced late on Monday it intended to fully assess the Alpha North project under federal environmental laws and would require detailed assessments on the impact on the reef, world heritage properties, threatened species, migratory birds and several other matters.

Take our quiz and see if you know more about political faux pas than some politicians seem to know about scienceThis week the GOP reminded us once again just how much they champion science. First Mo Brooks, a congressman from Alabama, pondered whether rocks falling into the ocean could be causing rising sea levels at a hearing of the House science, space and technology committee. Then Bill Gates revealed that president Trump asked him if HIV and HPV were the same same thing.

Clothes moths | Salvator Mundi | The Four Counties Ring | Liam Rosenior | Roman AbramovichOh no: an article about how we can be kind to insects (G2, 21 May). Does this go for clothes moths too? They have just eaten through my only ever cashmere sweater. When he sees them, my husband says: “It’s no use killing them – I should torture them and ask where they are coming from.” The Indian tapestry, I suspect. What do they eat in the wild? Is our house “the wild” for them? Do I have to be kind to them?

Scores of retailer’s own-brand items will have no date label in drive to reduce food waste