Chemical cocktail suppresses periwinkles’ ability to avoid crabs and disrupts food chainToxins leaching from microplastics leave shellfish at the mercy of predators, research has found. The chemicals completely suppress the ability of the periwinkles to detect and avoid the crabs that eat them.Microplastics plague the world’s rivers and oceans and absorb poisonous chemicals from the water. Previous work has shown mussels are harmed by these toxins when they eat microplastics, but the latest study is the first to show disruption of the relationship between predator and prey. This is likely to disrupt the entire food chain, researchers say. Continue reading...

Humpback whale and 27 pilot whales among those beached in Croajingolong national parkA humpback whale and 27 pilot whales have stranded themselves on a remote beach in a Victorian national park.Most of the beached animals have died, according to authorities. Continue reading...

Court ruled in favor of landowners seeking to limit power to designate private land as protected habitat for speciesThe US supreme court on Tuesday decided against the interests of a warty amphibian and handed a victory to a timber company and other landowners in the first major move on the environment from the bench this term.The court ruled in favor of the commercial interests seeking to limit the federal government’s power to designate private land as protected habitat for endangered species, in a property rights case involving the dusky gopher frog. Continue reading...

More than half of countries use censorship, harassment or violence to repress public debate, warns a reportNearly six in 10 countries are seriously restricting people’s freedoms, according to a new report that warns of a growing repression around the world.According to the study, there is little or no space for activism in countries such as Eritrea and Syria, and also worrying signs in countries where democracy is considered well established, such as France, the US, Hungary and India. Continue reading...

Natural cycle has major influence on global weather, bringing droughts and floodsThere is a 75-80% chance of a climate-warming El Niño event by February, according to the latest analysis from the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.The last El Niño event ended in 2016 and helped make that year the hottest ever recorded by adding to the heating caused by humanity’s carbon emissions. The 2019 event is not currently forecast to be as strong as in 2016. Continue reading...

School students plan to go on strike in protest against inaction on climate change. Whether you approve of the strike or not, you were invited to submit questions here to be answered by climate experts and young campaigners. This blog is now closed – thanks for being part of #MyClimateQuestions7.50am GMTThank you everyone, this has been one of the most rewarding, illuminating blogs I’ve had the joy of running.Thanks to our panellists: Bill Hare, Simon Holmes à Court, Amanda McKenzie, Laura Sykes and Piper Albrecht. And thanks to my colleague Lisa Cox.7.33am GMTAnd one last question, from Sunny Adcock:If I am currently 18, do you think that within my lifetime there is hope of preventing climate change? Realistically what is the best and worse case scenario of what may happen within my lifetime?Yes there definitely is hope.The best case is getting onto a 1.5C pathway, in which case, by the time you turn 50 scientists might be saying that global warming peaked in the 2040s. By the time you are 100, it could be 1.3C or lower and on the way down. Continue reading...

Paradise, California, was a slice of heaven for those who lived there – until they lost everything in California's worst wildfire. The Camp fire wiped out the town, killed at least 85 people, and scorched 150,000 acres. But in the face of a dark new reality, shellshocked residents are displaying resilience Continue reading...

Environmental groups call for greater scrutiny of plan to clear Kingvale station in Great Barrier Reef catchmentDraft approvals to bulldoze almost 2,000 hectares of Queensland native forest have been tossed out by the federal court, which ruled the federal government acted unlawfully by applying only minimal scrutiny.The decision leaves plans to clear Kingvale station, in the Great Barrier Reef catchment, in limbo. Continue reading...

Premier Mark McGowan defies protesters, farmers and MPs to allow controversial drilling, which he says will create jobsWestern Australian premier Mark McGowan has lifted a statewide moratorium on fracking amid intense opposition from large parts of the community.The controversial drilling practice, which fractures the ground to release trapped gas, will now be allowed on existing titles and subject to veto by Aboriginal groups and farmers. Continue reading...

Traffic emissions responsible for at least €70bn damage every year, report saysAir pollution from roads causes at least €70bn (£62bn) in health damage every year in the European Union, according to a new report, with diesel fumes responsible for three-quarters of the harm.The research, commissioned by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), found the vast majority of the costs were borne by taxpayers through government-funded health services. But these costs could be reduced by 80% by 2030 if ambitious action were taken, the report concluded. Continue reading...

Shift to renewables is too late say campaigners as peatlands will still emit greenhouse gasesWhen the semi-state company that harvests Ireland’s peatlands recently announced the closure of 17 bogs, the news was greeted as the end of an era. Turning the soggy landscape that covers much of Ireland’s midlands into a fuel source had been a great national project, an ambitious undertaking launched by the republic’s founding fathers in the 1930s. Draining and cutting hundreds of thousands of hectares of turf on an industrial scale generated desperately needed jobs and reduced dependence on oil imports for almost a century.So there was some nostalgia last month when Bord na Móna, the peat-harvesting company, announced it was closing 17 of its “active bogs” and would close the remaining 45 within seven years. Nostalgia but also acceptance, given the growing awareness that harvesting peat emits greenhouse gases that worsen climate change, requiring a shift to renewable energy. “Decarbonisation is the biggest challenge facing this planet,” said Tom Donnellan, the company’s chief executive. Continue reading...

Storm-damaged support ship means Ben Lecomte, 50, has to divert to HawaiiA French-American plastic pollution campaigner has given up his attempt to swim across the Pacific ocean after a storm broke the mainsail of his support ship, organisers have said.Ben Lecomte had completed about 2,780km (1,500 nautical miles) of the 9,260km (5,000-nautical mile) journey. The trip was to take him through 1,600km of the “Great Pacific garbage patch”, in an attempt to raise awareness of plastic pollution. Continue reading...

South Sea Islander hailed for her ‘powerful contribution’ to reconciliation in AustraliaTributes are flowing for the “matriarch of reconciliation”, Bonita Mabo, an activist and reconciliation advocate in her own right who was the wife of the land rights champion Eddie “Koiki” Mabo. She has died in Townsville, surrounded by her family, at the age of 85.The Aboriginal social justice commissioner, June Oscar, described Mabo as “gentle, stoic and loving. I will always remember her as the mother of native title. Her legacy lives on in our continuing fight for land and sea rights.”

The Trump administration published a major report on climate change the day after Thanksgiving. We will explore the major findings each day this weekDonald Trump doesn’t believe his own government’s major report on climate change – which the administration tried to bury over the Thanksgiving break. It warns that rising temperatures are already harming America and will cause huge damage globally. The Guardian will explore key findings from the report each day this week. Continue reading...

Administration has tried to downplay dire findings of the National Climate Assessment, released the day after Thanksgiving

City says government is forcing it to take action to reduce nitrogen dioxide levelsThe city of Bath may have a reputation for gentility but plans to charge many motorists £9 a day to drive into its Georgian streets are provoking anger and resentment.High levels of pollution, largely caused by topography – the city lies in a giant bowl – are forcing the council to act, but critics say the move will hit people struggling financially and force traffic out into areas just outside the zone. Continue reading...

French prosecution intended to signal crackdown on pollution from luxury liners

Major Met Office report predicts warming up up to 5C, plus more heatwaves and more rainPeople may have to be moved away from high-risk areas as climate change makes flooding more likely and more severe in the UK, the government has said.The warning came as a Met Office report found Britain would experience much wetter winters and summers as much as 5C hotter as a result of climate change. This year’s heatwave is likely to become the new normal by mid-century, but the wettest days are now on average seeing 17% more rainfall than in the recent past, bringing a much heightened risk of flash flooding. Continue reading...

Club is first in UK to use large-scale system with capacity to last an entire matchArsenal has become the UK’s first football club to install large-scale battery energy storage, in a bid to cut electricity costs and support green energy.Tucked in the basement of the Emirates, the system is capable of powering the 60,000-seat stadium for an entire match, or the equivalent of 2,700 homes for two hours. Continue reading...

The shortfin mako is at risk due to failure to halt overfishing, with EU ‘most to blame’The world’s fastest shark may be swimming towards disaster after a major fisheries body failed to address continued overfishing of the highly vulnerable species, conservationists have warned.The shortfin mako – which can reach speeds of up to 43mph – is fished worldwide but is not subject to any international fishing quotas. It is considered exceptionally vulnerable in the North Atlantic, where scientists have recommended all landings be reduced by at least two-thirds to prevent overfishing. Continue reading...

Decades after it became part of the fabric of our lives, a worldwide revolt against plastic is under way• Read the text version here Continue reading...

Prime minister is labelled ‘out of touch’ after he says let the politicians not schoolchildren deal with the issue•Answer all your climate change questions with our ask the experts live blogScott Morrison has been labelled “out of touch” for angrily condemning a national student strike to protest government inaction on climate change.The prime minister implored children to stay in class rather than protesting things that “can be dealt with outside of school”. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia runs live online Q&A as hundreds of school students plan to strike over environmental inactionYoung Australians are frustrated about inaction on climate change – more so when the older generations don’t appear to be doing much about it.Related: Passing the baton: will young people take up the fight to save the planet? Continue reading...

A hiker camping in remote Stewart Island alerted authorities to the discoveryMore than 140 pilot whales have died on a remote New Zealand beach, the latest in a recent string of whale strandings and deaths in the country.On Saturday night the Department of Conservation [DoC] was informed of a mass whale stranding in Mason Bay on Stewart Island. Continue reading...

Farmer Armin Capaul’s long campaign to keep animals intact makes it onto a referendum ballotWith his woolly hat, straggly grey beard and unswerving passion for the wellbeing of his cows, it’s no wonder Armin Capaul has become a media sensation. And the Swiss farmer has used the limelight to his advantage.After eight years of campaigning for farmers to be paid to keep the horns of their cattle intact, the issue will be settled in a referendum today. Continue reading...

Democrats ramp up pressure to act in wake of most sobering government analysis yet

Swedish minister Isabella Lövin found fame in a jibe aimed at the White House. Now she aims for change beyond TwitterIn February last year, a week after Donald Trump had signed an anti-abortion executive order surrounded by seven men, Isabella Lövin posted a photograph of herself on Twitter signing a climate change bill alongside seven other women.Sweden’s then deputy prime minister remained enigmatic as the picture went viral and she was asked whether she had been “trolling” the US president. “It is up to the observer to interpret the photo,” she was quoted as saying. “We are a feminist government, which shows in this photo.” Continue reading...

Demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion aims to highlight government failure on the environmentDozens of campaigners blocked the roads around Parliament Square to highlight concerns about the environment on Saturday.About 50 activists from Extinction Rebellion, a direct action group that has been coordinating a campaign of civil disobedience which has brought areas of the capital to a standstill in recent weeks, risked arrest by standing defiantly in roads in front of queueing traffic. Continue reading...

Schools introduce walk-to-school initiatives and stock up on asthma medicineSchools across the UK are taking ever more drastic steps in an effort to mitigate the effects of air pollution on their pupils’ health.Amid growing concern about the long-term implications of toxic air on young people’s development, the Guardian has found one London school is raising money for face masks for its pupils, while a growing number are installing air purifiers in classrooms and thousands more are trying to deter parents from using their cars on the school run. Continue reading...

Nearly 8,000sq kms lost in the year to July amid alarm new president Jair Bolsonaro will make situation worseBrazil has released its worst annual deforestation figures in a decade amid fears that the situation might worsen when the avowedly anti-environmentalist president-elect Jair Bolsonaro takes power.Between August 2017 and July 2018, 7,900sq kms were deforested, according to preliminary figures from the environment ministry based on satellite monitoring – a 13.7% rise on the previous year and the biggest area of forest cleared since 2008. The area is equivalent to 987,000 football pitches. Continue reading...

The time for Australians to ask questions is now, before a permitting decision is madeThe Great Australian Bight is one of the most unique and productive marine ecosystems in the world. An estimated 85% of its known species are found nowhere else; the region has exceptionally productive and sensitive pelagic, seabed, and shoreline habitats; hosts the greatest concentrations of marine mammals, seabirds, pelagic fishes, and sharks in Australia; and supports an annual multi-billion dollar fishery, aquaculture, and tourism economy. By any measure, the Bight is a national and global treasure, but this treasure is now at risk from proposed deepwater oil drilling.Related: More of the Great Australian Bight opened to oil and gas Continue reading...

Fears other challengers will fold amid tough competition and rising wholesale costsAn energy firm with nearly 300,0000 customers has become the biggest electricity and gas supplier to go bust in the UK, fuelling concerns that more challenger firms could fold.Spark Energy is the seventh supplier to fold this year amid pressure from rising wholesale costs and tough competition. The closure will mean the loss of more than 400 jobs at the firm’s headquarters in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. Continue reading...

Prosecution based on secret footage obtained by rights charity Animal Equality at Fir Tree farm in LincolnshireTwo men pleaded guilty today to charges of animal cruelty while employed at a pig farm, Fir Tree in Goxhill, Lincolnshire.Artis Grogprkevs, 31, and Troy Wagstaff, 30, have appeared at Grimsby magistrates court charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between 2-27 April this year. Continue reading...

A family of roe deer and the bignose unicornfish are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Theresa May called on to commit to ambitious climate targetFifty Conservative MPs have called on Theresa May to adopt an ambitious target of cutting carbon emissions to net zero before 2050, to show international leadership on climate change and protect British jobs.Former ministers Damian Green, Oliver Letwin and Anna Soubry are among the signatories of the letter to the prime minister, which said that a stronger long-term goal would cut energy bills and improve air quality. Continue reading...

Plan to clean up Italian capital condemned as barbaric by animal rights campaignersAuthorities in Rome have enlisted falcons to scare off defecating starlings, as the Italian capital plays host to a growing menagerie of animals, including gulls, wild boars and sheep.Starlings pass through the city in late autumn as they migrate to warmer climes for winter, soiling its cobblestones and riverbanks with sticky guano and bothering residents and tourists, who often use umbrellas to avoid the droppings. Continue reading...

Stella McCartney, Gucci and Adidas among companies inspired by ‘Blue Planet effect’Fishing nets and discarded plastic are finding their way into wardrobes around the world thanks to a rise in the number of fashion designers using materials made from recycled ocean waste.Brands including Gucci, Stella McCartney and Adidas are increasingly partnering with organisations such as Parley for the Oceans – which raises awareness of the destructive effect of ocean plastics – and sourcing materials regenerated from companies such as Aquafil, the textile manufacturer that transforms ocean waste into sustainable materials such as Econyl. Continue reading...

As students, we must urge our universities to end their collaboration in climate breakdownTwo weeks ago, an investigation revealed that Oxbridge colleges are bankrolling fossil fuel extraction on a vast scale. This is only one part of a rot running through much of the UK higher education sector, which students and staff have been fighting for years. Despite many victories for campaigners, educational institutions remain deeply invested in corporations that pose an existential risk to marginalised communities across the world.Cambridge University invests an estimated £377m in fossil fuels. Management here have ignored years of campaigning: a motion to divest fully from fossil fuels was passed by the staff governing body and hundreds of academics have called on Cambridge to divest, as have Labour party leadership and the former Archbishop of Canterbury. Still, those controlling the money pay no attention. Continue reading...

National Audit Office says that with 39m meters still to be replaced, government has no chance of hitting 2020 deadlineConsumers face paying half a billion pounds more than expected for the rollout of smart meters and the programme has no chance of hitting its deadline, the UK’s spending watchdog has warned.The National Audit Office said that with 39m old-fashioned meters yet to be replaced, there is “no realistic prospect” of meeting a goal of all homes and businesses being offered one by the end of 2020 as planned. Continue reading...

70 years ago a six-day fog enveloped London, but its message did not hit homeAir pollution history is littered with early warnings that were not heeded. November 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of one of these. On Friday 26 November 1948, a dense fog developed in London. It lasted six days. Football matches were cancelled and transport disrupted. Traffic convoys were formed to follow trams, each guided by a conductor with a torch. Initially, conductors walked alongside buses but this became impossible as they ran into lamp-posts. There were train accidents too, but the greatest death toll came from breathing the smog. Five weeks later the medical statistician William Logan reported an estimated 300 extra deaths.The warning was ignored. Four years and one week later 12,000 Londoners died in the so-called great smog of 1952. The pattern of ignoring warnings continues. In 2000, researchers at London’s King’s and Imperial Colleges warned of difficulties in controlling nitrogen dioxide from traffic. The UK is still failing to meet legal limits for this pollutant. This month, 21 researchers published a nine-year study. It concluded that air pollution in London was stunting children’s lung growth and this may be storing up problems for their long-term health. Continue reading...

Some are buoyed by faith, some by good fire insurance, some by both. On Thursday, they came together to eatWhat is there to be thankful for after you lose everything?Related: 'He's like Al Capone': turkey on the loose ruffles feathers in Rhode Island town Continue reading...

High court orders government to get prior community consent before granting mining rights in PondolandEnvironmental activists in South Africa have won a landmark legal victory after the high court ordered the government to get prior community consent before granting mining rights.The judgment represents a major victory for campaigners in Xolobeni, a community in Pondoland, who have been involved in a protracted and sometimes violent struggle against a proposed titanium mine. Continue reading...

Animal activists say Stourhead cull is misguided, with only one recent boar injury in the UKSix animal rights groups have strongly criticised plans by the National Trust to cull wild boar on one of its most renowned estates as “misguided and immoral”.The groups, which include Animal Aid and Born Free, have written to the chair of the National Trust, Tim Parker, asking him to halt the cull at Stourhead in Wiltshire. Continue reading...

Western Australian Browse project could emit more than 200m tonnes of CO2Oil and gas giant Woodside Petroleum has applied for environmental approval to build one of Australia’s biggest emitting industrial developments – a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant 425km north of Broome – without a plan to reduce or offset its greenhouse gas pollution.Documents submitted to the federal government for the long-mooted $28bn Browse LNG project show the offshore part of the development alone is expected to emit up to 200m tonnes of carbon dioxide over 50 years, peaking at 7m tonnes a year. Continue reading...

Animal rights groups hope closure of complex will lead to ban on dog meat consumptionSouth Korean officials have begun dismantling the country’s largest canine slaughterhouse complex, as animal rights activists push to end the custom of eating dog meat.About 1 million dogs are eaten each year in South Korea, often as a summertime delicacy. The greasy red meat is believed to increase energy. Continue reading...

Households need electric and hydrogen hybrid boilers sooner rather than later, climate advisers warnMillions of gas boilers will need to be replaced with hydrogen alternatives and coupled with electric heating devices if Britain is to hit its carbon targets at the lowest cost, according to the government’s climate advisers.In a report on the role hydrogen could play in the energy system, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) spelt out the huge but necessary cost the country faces to switch to green heating. Continue reading...

Exercises were conducted in a critical habitat area of the endangered population, Vancouver Island residents sayEndangered killer whales off Canada’s west coast were forced to contend with machine gun fire and smoke bombs after the government allowed the country’s navy to conduct live fire exercises in a protected area.Related: Canada's salmon hold the key to saving its killer whales Continue reading...