Wildfire is now an over-riding concern for many farmers, who are taking extra precautions to stop fires spreading as the hot spell continues“It’s like a tinderbox out here,” says Lesley Chandler, looking down at parched fields where bleached-out grass struggles through baked, stone-hard earth. “Just a spark could set it all alight.”Chandler farms 200 acres of arable land in Oxfordshire, where there has been virtually no rain for weeks. Pastures that would normally boast grass nearly a foot tall have instead a thin cover of dried-out vegetation. Continue reading...

Facebook is still struggling to contain its fake news problem

Failure to meet deadlines for water resource plans could jeopardise the entire strategy, royal commission toldThere is a high likelihood the New South Wales government will fail to meet the deadline for developing a crucial water resource plan that will underpin the Murray-Darling basin plan, the South Australian royal commission has heard.

Legoland and Thorpe Park among the attractions that have joined Coca-Cola in a trial offering instant incentives for recyclingVisitors to some of the UK’s most popular tourist attractions are to be offered half-price entry in exchange for used plastic drinks bottles, as part of a trial starting on Wednesday which gives instant incentives for recycling.In a tie-up between theme park operator Merlin and drinks giant Coca-Cola, a series of so-called “reverse vending machines” will be installed outside the entrances of Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland. Continue reading...

Powis Castle, Welshpool, Powys: The crows live a parallel existence as shrine animals, stealing tributes from visitors, essential to the life of the place but overlookedTwo young crows, beaks agape, sat quietly on the stump of a beech tree I cut down on the eastern bank below the castle walls in the late 1970s. The crows waited for a parent to turn up with the remains of a sandwich nicked from the cafe down the garden. They were living a kind of parallel existence as shrine animals, dark creatures in the garden’s gloriously vivid displays of flower, stealing tributes from visitors, essential to the life of the place but overlooked.Cultural places in the public view have a wild private life. Behind the care and hard work that sustains a garden like this and gives it aesthetic qualities that people from all over the world come to experience, there is a wild life that grounds it in place and provides an ecological context for the cultural. Much of this life, once persecuted for its wildness, is now celebrated as wildlife but crows retain that outsider, transgressive character. However beautiful the garden is, crows reveal a secret bandit territory. Common and dark, they are almost invisible and yet nonetheless tutelary. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Energy minister says targets can be reviewed in five years if states sign up to energy guaranteeJosh Frydenberg has offered an olive branch on the national energy guarantee, telling state energy ministers the emissions reduction target can be reviewed after five years – stepping back from an ambit claim that it be locked in for a decade.The concession is flagged in a commonwealth paper circulated to the states late on Tuesday night. It sets out the Turnbull’s government’s position on how emissions reduction in the Neg will work. Continue reading...

Liberal energy minister, who inherited policy criticised as a mix of ‘ideology and idiocy’, says he’ll ensure it does not come at too high a priceSouth Australia’s energy minister says the state is on track to have 75% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025 – the target set by the former Labor premier Jay Weatherill and once rejected by his Liberal government.And Dan van Holst Pellekaan pledged to ensure it does not come at too high a price. Continue reading...

European hornets have moved north with climate change, but are generally less aggressive than common waspsIn a drought, all sorts of wildlife gets attracted to a garden pond since there are few other sources of water nearby. Regular visitors are wasps, the largest of which is the European hornet, Vespa crabro, which dwarfs common wasps because it is twice the size, at 25mm long.According to the experts it is less aggressive than the common wasp, but carries a substantial sting – so requires respect. Although once confined to the extreme south of Britain because it was too cold further north, climate change has allowed hornets to extend their range as far north as Scotland, and they are now common in the Midlands and central England. Continue reading...

Marcus Nield of the UN’s Climate Change Adaptation Unit says blaming China for is a case of ‘yellow peril’ hysteria, while Robin Maynard highlights the key role of population in depleting resourcesBlaming China for climate change is a clearcut case of “yellow peril” hysteria (Letters, 12 July). On average, a person in China consumes less than half of the emissions of a person in the US (7.2 tonnes per capita annually compared with 16.5 tonnes). So why all the finger-wagging at China? There’s a blatant mistake recurring in carbon politics. Yes, as a nation, China emits the most carbon dioxide, but an astronomical volume of these emissions are to manufacture our goods in the west. Is it fair to maintain a voracious level of consumption in the US and UK while blaming China for producing the goods that we’re consuming? Don’t look at emissions in isolation. Look at them in tandem with consumption, and then we’ll see where to place the burden of blame. Also, China’s investments in renewables have caused the costs to plummet, from which the entire world can now benefit. China invests more than $100bn in domestic renewables every year – more than twice the level of the US, and more than the US and the EU combined.

Experts call for better forest management and focus on prevention after blaze that killed more than 70 peopleAn unusually dry winter, with less than average rainfall interspersed with localised flooding in some areas, is emerging as a major contributing factor to the wildfires that are ravaging the mainland of Greece.

Energy minister issues first permit since new regulatory regime introducedShale gas firm Cuadrilla has been given the green light by the government to start fracking at a well in Lancashire, after the energy minister issued the first fracking permit since a new regulatory regime was introduced.Fracking is expected to begin in late August or early September at the Preston New Road site, between Blackpool and Preston, which has been the focus of 18 months of protests since work on the site started. Continue reading...

Burlington, the first US city to run entirely on clean power, is inspiring other cities to make progress on climate changeBurlington in Vermont has already given the world Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and provided the political launchpad for Bernie Sanders. Now the city’s successful switch to 100% renewable electricity is spurring US mayors to fill the gaping void on climate change action left by the Trump administration.

Hope is that dams built by pair of beavers will hold back water and improve biodiversityFour hundred years after the beaver was hunted to extinction in the UK, two of the mammals have been reintroduced on government land in an English forest as part of a scheme to assess whether they could be a solution to flooding.Two Eurasian beavers were released on Tuesday into their new lodge within a large penned-off section of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. The hope is that the animals will build dams and create ponds on Greathough Brook, which feeds into the River Wye, and slow the flow of water through the steep-sided, wooded valley at times of torrential rainfall. Continue reading...

Seismic testing plan would cause irreparable harm to Alaska national wildlife refuge, biologists sayThe Trump administration has announced it is considering a proposal to conduct seismic testing for oil and gas in the Arctic national wildlife refuge, the largest such preserve in the US.If the plan moves forward, vehicles with “shakers” – diesel-powered equipment that sends tremors through the landscape – will be deployed along Alaska’s northern coastal plain in an effort to map underground hydrocarbon deposits. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Board urges states and territories to end energy wars without giving ground on emissionsThe architects of the national energy guarantee have told state governments they can sign on to the policy mechanism without endorsing the Turnbull government’s low emissions reduction target. The Energy Security Board intervention in the fraught debate is an attempt to open the way for a compromise at a make-or-break meeting in August.A final policy paper circulated to the states and territories ahead of the looming meeting, seen by Guardian Australia, appeals to members of the Coag energy council to approve the Neg mechanism even if they oppose the Turnbull government’s emissions reduction target for electricity of 26% by 2030. Continue reading...

Former Irish president’s initiative kicks off with podcasts pairing her with comedian Maeve HigginsWomen around the world who are leading the fight against climate damage are to be highlighted by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and UN high commissioner, in the hopes of building a new global movement that will create “a feminist solution for climate change”.Perhaps more revolutionary still, the new initiative is light-hearted in tone, optimistic in outlook and presents positive stories in what the originators hope will be seen as a fun way. Continue reading...

Committee says body that takes on environment oversight role needs powers to hold government to accountA new environmental watchdog with powers to hold the government to account must be set up after Brexit to ensure protections are kept in place, an influential group of MPs has said.The environmental audit committee (EAC) on Tuesday also called for targets on air, water, soil, biodiversity and other issues to be legally binding and subject to five-yearly reports, in a similar way to the carbon budgets produced by the Committee on Climate Change under the 2008 Climate Change Act. Continue reading...

Testifying in landmark trial, former school groundskeeper describes suffering allegedly caused by company’s chemicalsDewayne Johnson said that if he had known what he knew now about Roundup weedkiller, “I would’ve never sprayed that product on school grounds … if I knew it would cause harm … It’s unethical.”Johnson, a former school groundskeeper in northern California who is terminally ill, was testifying on Monday in his landmark suit against Monsanto about the cancer risks of the company’s popular weedkiller. He is the first person to take the agrochemical company to trial over allegations that the chemical sold under the Roundup brand is linked to cancer. Continue reading...

Representative Carlos Curbelo has proposed a tax on carbon dioxide emissions but Republicans are expected to block itA Republican lawmaker has proposed that the US introduce a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, in a departure from the party’s decade-long hostility toward any measure aimed at addressing climate change.Carlos Curbelo of Florida, considered a moderate GOP member of Congress, said a carbon tax would avoid “saddling young Americans with a crushing environmental debt” and expressed his belief that “this bill or legislation similar to it” will become law one day. Continue reading...

Scientists warn the impact of climate change may be as large as economic recessions, which are known to increase self-harmRising temperatures are linked to increasing rates of suicide, according to a large new study. The researchers warn that the impact of climate change on suicides may be as significant as economic recessions, which are known to increase rates of self-harm.

Inquiry into response to fatal attack by Hindu cow vigilantes on Muslim man Akbar KhanIndian police have begun an inquiry into officers alleged to have taken a tea break instead of taking a critically injured lynching victim to hospital.

Scenic US west-coast route open again following a 14-month, $54m project to fix natural disaster damage that stranded Big Sur communityOne of the world’s most famous road trips is back in business after back-to-back natural disasters made the “dream drive” along California Highway 1, between San Francisco and Los Angeles, impossible for more than a year. The classic US west-coast route, which traces some of the state’s most dramatic scenery, had been off-limits since February 2017.That month, unprecedented heavy rains sank the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, around 150 miles south of San Francisco, leaving an impassable gap in the two-lane highway. Just three months later, a massive landslide 35 miles south of the downed bridge, at Mud Creek, swept another chunk of the road into the sea. Continue reading...

Ofgem outlines measures to ensure more drivers can use the electricity networkBritish electric car drivers face having to pay more to power their car if they refuse to shift their charging to off-peak times, in a move designed to lessen their burden on the electricity network.There are currently 160,000 plug-in cars on UK roads but rapid growth means their impact on the energy system must be managed carefully, said energy regulator Ofgem. Continue reading...

The coffee giant has announced that it is phasing out straws. But are the new lids it’s introducing actually any better?This month, Starbucks joined a growing movement to ban single-use plastic straws, announcing it would eliminate the items from its stores by 2020. In their place, the company will be introducing strawless lids, which have a sippable protrusion. It will also make alternative-material straws available.Starbucks already has strawless lids available in more than 8,000 of its North American stores. These were developed for its “Nitro” coffee beverages which have a creamy top and are best drunk without a straw. Now, however, the coffee chain will be making the Nitro lids standard for all cold beverages, most of which now come with straws. Cold beverages make up more than 50% of Starbucks’s beverage mix, an increase from 37% just five years ago. Continue reading...

International photographic competition, which runs in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, awards special prize for the best close-up images Continue reading...

In the troposphere, scientists detected a human-caused signal in the seasonal cycle

Wildlife agency says ‘subsidiary activities’ in the dunes would scare off rare larkThe Belgian Naturism Federation has come to the defence of its burgeoning membership after the Flemish wildlife agency blocked an application for a second nudist beach in the country on the grounds that bathers’ “subsidiary activities” would pose a threat to a rare bird.Attempts to gain designated naturist status for a quiet spot near Westende, about 12 miles south of the popular seaside resort of Ostende, hit a snag after objections were raised that sexual activity in the dunes would scare off the locally treasured crested lark, or Galerida cristata. Continue reading...

Host of ABC sleeper hit of 2017 reflects achievements of season one, and what still needs to changeWho would have thought a show about garbage could be so compelling?The success of last year’s sleeper hit War on Waste was a happy surprise to its presenter, Craig Reucassel, and the team behind the ABC TV show – not least because of how responsive audiences were to many of its suggestions. Sales of reusable coffee cups shot up, worm farm suppliers struggled to keep up with demand and the #BantheBag campaign helped to spur supermarkets to get rid of single-use plastic bags. Continue reading...

The Banks Group mine is going ahead despite fears it will devastate the local environmentFrom the end of her garden June Davison can see and hear the heavy machinery stripping away the valley. Soon there will be explosions and dust to add to the 12 hour thrum of engines as the coal is stripped from below the earth.After 40 years of local opposition that has helped keep this area of the Derwent valley in County Durham untouched, open-cast mining has begun between the villages of Dipton, Leadgate and Medomsley, once home to a deeply entrenched mining community around what was South Medomsley colliery. Continue reading...

Study finds that while wealthy nations advocate renewables at home, 60% of aid to African energy projects went on fossil fuelsWealthy governments have been accused of promoting fossil fuel development in Africa at the expense of clean energy.Analysis showed 60% of public aid for energy projects was spent on fossil fuels, compared with just 18% on renewables. Continue reading...

Millions of tons of plastic sent abroad for recycling may be being dumped in landfillMillions of tons of waste plastic from British businesses and homes may be ending up in landfill sites across the world, the government’s spending watchdog has warned.Huge amounts of packaging waste is being sent overseas on the basis that it will be recycled and turned into new products. However, concerns have been raised that in reality much of it is being dumped in sites from Turkey to Malaysia. Continue reading...

Study says the date by which we consume a year’s worth of resources is arriving fasterHumanity is devouring our planet’s resources in increasingly destructive volumes, according to a new study that reveals we have consumed a year’s worth of carbon, food, water, fibre, land and timber in a record 212 days.As a result, the Earth Overshoot Day – which marks the point at which consumption exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate – has moved forward two days to 1 August, the earliest date ever recorded. Continue reading...

The British billionaire investing in South Australia believes renewables are the future of energy, because it makes economic senseThe British billionaire who rescued the Whyalla steelworks from administration and is spending more than $2bn on clean energy and green steel developments in regional South Australia says most Australians are yet to grasp that solar power is now a cheaper option than new coal-fired electricity.

Cash will continue to be a universal form of payment, says Tim Halford, and Hilary Chivall warns against society being totally dependent on electricity for online transactionsCash is dying, contactless is king – we’ve heard it so many times. Voices in the payment industry and the media are quick to decry the end of cash payments. Talk of the cashless society (Brett Scott, 19 July) is ubiquitous. In their enthusiasm, many forget that a cashless future is far from certain.Your article argues that Washington DC’s move to make it illegal not to accept cash will protect the 10% of its citizens who remain unbanked. This issue isn’t US specific. The UK has 1.5 million unbanked citizens, who rely on cash payments to partake in society. Reports show that cash is still one of our favourite payment methods, with many using it as a budgeting tool. Moving towards cashless payments would devastate the livelihoods of our most vulnerable, and go against the preferences of UK consumers. Continue reading...

Brown bear’s fate could be worse still after he riles farmers with attacks on livestockAfter two years of roaming and a string of attacks on horses, sheep and goats, Goiat the brown bear could soon find himself declared ursus non gratus in the Pyrenees. Or worse.Goiat, who is thought to be between 12 and 14 years old, was brought to Catalonia from his native Slovenia in June 2016 as part of an EU project to consolidate the bear population in the mountains that straddle Spain and France. Continue reading...

Michael Gove’s plan does not oblige fishing industry to eliminate bycatch, where boats accidentally net sea speciesProtection for dolphins and seabirds will be weaker under government plans for Brexit than if Britain stayed in the EU, according to a new analysis by environmental groups.Under the EU’s Seabird Plan of Action, the fishing industry is obliged to eliminate “bycatch”, where boats accidentally catch seabirds, dolphins and other species. Under laws set out in environment secretary Michael Gove’s white paper on fisheries, they would need only to implement “practical and effective risk-based mitigation”. Continue reading...

As disease threatens the olive oil industry in Puglia, scientists hope to revive a traditional remedyCiccio Manelli, 81, who owns hundreds of ancient olive trees in the southern Italian province of Brindisi, burst into tears when contemplating the prospect of his precious trees being uprooted.“My life is being destroyed,” he said. “An infected olive tree was found on another farmer’s land and now they want to come and uproot mine, even if they’re not sick. I grew up among these fields. These trees are my family.” Continue reading...

Shorten and Burney vow to restore supplement under threat for new welfare recipientsLabor says it will reverse the Coalition’s plan to axe the clean energy supplement, which is worth hundreds of dollars a year, for those who went onto welfare after September 2016.While Labor has consistently opposed the as-yet unlegislated measure, on Sunday the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, and the shadow human services minister, Linda Burney, promised that if the supplement was cut, Labor would restore it. The payment is worth $365 a year for singles and $550 for couples. Continue reading...

We’d like to hear from people who’ve been affected by the drought in New South Wales and other states in east Australia. Share your experiencesA record dry spell has caused the worst drought in 100 years in parts of eastern Australia. Farmers with livestock in parts of New South Wales have been some of the most affected as low rainfall and a dry winter have depleted the grass needed to feed livestock.Farmers are having to buy expensive feed to keep animals alive and the extra costs are putting some livelihoods at risk. The NSW government recently approved an emergency drought relief package of $600m, at least $250m of which will cover low-interest loans to assist eligible farms. Though the package has been welcomed there are concerns among farmers that it’s not enough. Continue reading...

Jeremy Corbyn to announce policy that aims to raise rural workers’ living standards in areas of high inequalityLabour has pledged to improve the pay and conditions of rural workers in England by reinstating the Agricultural Wages Board, which was abolished five years ago.Jeremy Corbyn will announce the policy on Sunday at the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival in Dorset, which commemorates the history of trade unionism and agricultural workers’ struggle for fair pay. Continue reading...

We asked, you answered – and there was no shortage of examples of excessive plastic packaging across Australia shared via Guardian Witness

On a planet of billions, nine represent the strong minority battling murder in the global corruption of land rightsIndividually, they are stories of courage and tragedy. Together, they tell a tale of a natural world under ever more violent assault.The portraits in this series are of nine people who are risking their lives to defend the land and environment in some of the planet’s most remote or conflict-riven regions. Continue reading...

Report by MPs and peers says predicted benefits of scheme ‘likely to be slashed further’Government predictions of the savings smart meters will generate for consumers are inflated, out of date and based on a number of questionable assumptions, a group of MPs and peers has said.They also said the rollout of smart meters risked going over budget, was past its deadline and must be reviewed immediately. Continue reading...

Birhan Erkutlu and Tuğba Günal wanted to ‘get away from it all’ but are now leading a campaign to protect rivers and trees from hydropower plantsBirhan Erkutlu and Tuğba Günal moved into the forests of Antalya to get away from it all. They wanted a natural, peaceful life free of capitalism, consumer culture, social media, the internet, even electricity. Fate had other plans.

Robert Chan risks his life to stop poachers and powerful developers destroying precious marine life in the PhilippinesConfiscated bottles of cyanide, fishing dynamite and more than 600 chainsaws decorate the office of Robert Chan , leader of arguably the world’s most effective direct-action eco-vigilante organisation.The Palawan NGO Network Incorporated risk their lives to protect reefs and coastal forests in the Coral Triangle, a global hotspot for marine biodiversity and violent environmental crime. Continue reading...

Fatima Babu’s decades-long campaign against a toxic copper smelter in Tamil Nadu says the cost of victory was too highFor 24 years, Fatima Babu struggled to galvanise the citizens of Tuticorin in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu against the toxic threat posed by the Sterlite Copper smelter. Often working thanklessly and sometimes alone, she filed lawsuits, organised workshops and gave interviews to raise awareness.The English professor-turned-activist hoped that people would eventually rally to the cause, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine how quickly opinion could change or how violently the authorities would respond.

Ranger Samuel Loware’s life is under constant threat in his efforts to conserve wildlife from heavily armed guerillasThe bullet that pierced the shoulder of Ugandan ranger Samuel Loware had already taken one life and could easily have added his. The shell was fired by a Sudanese poacher trying to flee back over the border with contraband meat from the Kidepo Valley national park.

Nonhle Mbuthuma is battling for her community’s right to say no to the exploitation of their territory in a hangover of the apartheid eraAs a child, Nonhle Mbuthuma would wake up in her family’s thatched hut listening to the waves crashing on South Africa’s Wild Coast , then go and play on the sand dunes, head off to school or help her parents cultivate sweet potatoes and bananas on the family plot.

Villagers massacred amid conflict between indigenous community and coffee plantation

Nurse-turned activist Isela Gonzalez lives with bodyguards and constant threat in her fight against destructive economic interestsNot all land defenders fight in remote forests and coastlands. Some take the battle to the centres of power: to courtrooms, parliament buildings and corporate headquarters. The veneer of urban civility may be glossier here, but the struggle is no less dangerous. In some cases, it can be worse.Isela Gonzalez has been threatened more times than she can remember by university-educated men in suits, whose business interests – in logging, mining, agriculture and narcotics – are challenged by her work as director of Alianza Sierra Madre to protect indigenous land rights in Mexico’s western Sierra Madre. Continue reading...