Clean-up has collected more than 12,000 tonnes of plastic since 2015A beach in Mumbai is looking much cleaner thanks to the efforts of local people to remove a tide of plastic waste that appears on the shore.

Residents will have to queue for daily rations unless they drastically reduce consumptionCape Town residents may lose piped water to their homes within two months if they do not act to counter the effects of the worst drought to hit South Africa’s second city in almost a century.

Dan Brandon kept 10 snakes and 12 tarantulas in his bedroom and was said to be responsible ownerA lover of exotic animals died of asphyxia after his 2.4-metre (8ft) pet African rock python called Tiny wrapped itself around him, a coroner has ruled.

Dubbed the ‘Tesla of the canals’, the unmanned vessels will operate on Dutch and Belgian waterways, vastly reducing diesel vehicles and emissionsThe world’s first fully electric, emission-free and potentially crewless container barges are to operate from the ports of Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam from this summer.The vessels, designed to fit beneath bridges as they transport their goods around the inland waterways of Belgium and the Netherlands, are expected to vastly reduce the use of diesel-powered trucks for moving freight. Continue reading...

Peru’s Health Ministry found shocking contamination among the Nahua, but hasn’t published its full reportAn indigenous people living in one of the remotest parts of the Peruvian Amazon has been struck by a mystery mercury epidemic, according to an unpublished Health Ministry report dated 2015 and 2017 seen by the Guardian.The Nahua only entered into sustained contact with “outsiders” in the mid-1980s, which led to almost 50% of the population dying mainly from respiratory and infectious diseases. Today, numbering less than 500 people, the vast majority live in a village in the Kugapakori, Nahua, Nanti and Others Reserve established for indigenous peoples in “voluntary isolation” and “initial contact” in south-east Peru. Continue reading...

Trump’s decision to impose a 30% tariff will cost the US around 23,000 jobs and risks slowing the growth of clean energy, advocates warnDonald Trump’s decision to impose a tariff on imported solar panels will cost the US solar industry about 23,000 jobs this year and risks slowing the growth of clean energy that would help address climate change, renewable energy advocates warned.

Team of divers spent two days searching a reef, and hope more red handfish will be foundDivers in Tasmania have discovered a new population of red handfish, doubling the known population of the elusive and extremely rare fish and raising hopes that more may be found.Until last week the remaining population of red handfish, Thymichthys politus, was believed to be confined to one 50m long reef in Frederick Henry Bay near Hobart in south-east Tasmania. Continue reading...

Exclusive: government accused of hypocrisy as documents show opposition to urban waste planThe UK government is opposing strong new recycling targets across the EU despite its recent pledge to develop “ambitious new future targets and milestones”, confidential documents have revealed.

Heddon Valley in Devon to be haven for high brown fritillary, supported by lottery fundingA beautiful wooded valley on the Devon coast is to be the focus of a project to save the UK’s most endangered butterfly – the high brown fritillary.Conservationists believe changes to woodland management, such as the abandonment of coppicing, and climate change have contributed to the steep decline of the large, powerful, fast-flying butterfly over the last 50 years. Continue reading...

Public and private sector funds must increasingly pool resources to finance larger global sustainability and climate change projects, a new study showsTackling climate change and achieving the world’s sustainable development goals will require publicly funded and private sector banks and institutions to be far more willing to join forces to provide “blended” finance to projects, according to a new study.Blended finance is the term given to the use of public or philanthropic capital to spur private sector investment in projects aimed at achieving the sustainable development goals. Already, this market is worth about $50bn globally, but experts said on Tuesday this sum could double within the next three to four years. Continue reading...

Government tells 200 companies they have four years to stop sourcing gas from Groningen field after increasingly significant earthquakesTwo hundred of the Netherlands’ biggest companies have been told by their government to stop sourcing fuel from a major Dutch gas field within four years following a series of increasingly significant earthquakes.Extraction from the Groningen field, one of Europe’s richest sources of gas, is operated in a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, but has been capped in recent years by ministers due to seismic activity in the area. Continue reading...

New catalogue expected to stand alongside red list as an international means to fight extinction, by helping to stop biological invasionsA world registry of invasive species has been launched amid concerns that governments are not doing enough to tackle the rising threat of globalisation to biodiversity.The new catalogue – unveiled in the journal Scientific Data on Tuesday – is expected to become a pillar of international efforts to fight extinction alongside the “red list” of endangered species. Continue reading...

Restrictions aim to boost US manufacturing, but critics warn they will slow shift to renewable energy and increase consumer costsThe US president, Donald Trump, has announced steep tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels, giving a boost to Whirlpool Corp and dealing a setback to the renewable energy industry in the first of several potential trade restrictions.The decisions in the two “Section 201” safeguard cases followed findings by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) that both imported products “are a substantial cause of serious injury to domestic manufacturers,” US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said. Continue reading...

A coalition of experts is asking the government to bring in a new Clean Air Act as ministers prepare to defend current plans in court this weekThe government is coming under renewed pressure to introduce a new Clean Air Act to tackle the UK’s toxic levels of air pollution.Ministers are due back in the high court later this week to defend their current plans which have previously been ruled so poor that they are illegal. Continue reading...

Officials say they need a faster ship to evade anti-whaling activistsJapan is to defy Australia and other nations with plans to replace its whaling fleet’s ageing mother ship, showing its determination to continue its annual expeditions to the Southern Ocean.

Company says regulator’s plans are ‘disappointing’ and its claim of £100m savings is too highNational Grid has hit out at Ofgem’s proposals over an £800m project to connect the Hinkley Point C power station to the electricity network, saying they put investment in the UK energy sector at risk.The Hinkley Seabank plan is an essential overhaul of the power network to send electricity from the new plant in Somerset – which will meet 7% of the UK’s demand – to the rest of the country.

UK energy system can cope with rise of battery-powered vehicles if 4-6pm slot avoided, says reportThe UK energy system will be able to cope with the extra demand caused by the uptake of millions of electric cars, provided drivers shift their charging to off-peak times, according to new research.The number of battery-powered cars on Britain’s roads will grow from around 120,000 today to 10m by 2035 and pass the 17m mark five years later, predicted Aurora Energy Research. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Mayor of London announces scheme to reduce packaging waste and improve access to tap waterA new network of drinking fountains and bottle-refill points is set to be rolled out across London this year as part of a plan to reduce the amount of waste created by single-use plastic, the Guardian has learned.Twenty new drinking fountains will be installed across London in a pilot scheme starting this summer, while a bottle-refill initiative, in which businesses make tap water available to the public, will be set up across five areas of the capital over February and March. If successful, it will be rolled out to the rest of the city in the summer. Plastic cups, bottles and cutlery will also no longer be available at City Hall under the plans. Continue reading...

Winter solstice, night lights and interesting islands are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last monthDust blowing out of the Copper River valley on Alaska’s south coast. The dust plume was likely comprised of fine-grained loess, which was formed as glacial ice moved over the area and ground the underlying rock into a powder. Dust storms in southern Alaska generally occur in late autumn, when river levels are relatively low, snow has not yet fallen, and the layers of dried, loess-rich mud are exposed to the wind. The Copper River - named for ore deposits found upstream - drains an area of more than 24,000 square miles (62,000 square kilometres) and is, by volume of discharge, the 10th largest river in the United States. Its delta forms one of the largest and most productive wetlands on the Pacific Coast of North America. Continue reading...

Australian grocery giant will join Bunnings to withdraw Yates Confidor from saleWoolworths in Australia has joined a growing list of companies to stop supplying a controversial pesticide linked to global declines in bee populations.On Tuesday the grocery giant announced it would join Bunnings in pulling Yates Confidor, a class of pesticide which some international studies have found damage the survival of honeybee colonies. Continue reading...

MCA publicises report asking governments to commit similar resources to carbon capture and storage as to renewablesThe Minerals Council of Australia has stepped up its advocacy for coal power in spite of its biggest member, BHP, saying it will leave the group unless it shifts its stance to become technology-neutral.On Tuesday the MCA publicised a report by the Coal Industry Advisory Board that called for governments to commit similar resources to carbon capture and storage as they do to renewable energy. Continue reading...

Allendale chimneys, Northumberland: The flue lines from the smelter in the valley can still be seen, bulging like veins across the frosty peatlandHigh above Allendale on this frost-sparkling January day, two stone chimneys reach up into a clear blue sky. Built in the 19th century, they exhaled fumes from horizontal flues that ran from a lead smelter more than two miles below on the valley floor. The flue lines can still be seen, bulging like veins across the fields. In places they have collapsed, revealing arched interiors where lead and silver would condense to be intermittently scraped off and recovered.

Townsville and Rockhampton councils to spend $34m on airport hundreds of kilometres from either cityOutspoken federal MP Bob Katter has questioned why two Queensland councils are paying $34m to build an airport to service a massive Adani coalmine, saying there is an “unpleasant odour” to the deal.In October Townsville and Rockhampton councils announced they would spend $18.5m and $15.5m respectively on an airport, hundreds of kilometres away from either city, at the Carmichael coalmine, as part of a funding deal with Adani. Continue reading...

Researchers have tracked Naya from eastern Germany into the Netherlands and now FlandersThe first recorded wolf on Belgian soil for at least 100 years has made her bloody mark.Farmers in north-east Flanders have been put on high alert after evidence emerged that Naya, a female originally from eastern Germany that has been making a pioneering trek across Europe, had killed two sheep and injured a third near the Belgian town of Meerhout. Continue reading...

2.6GW of capacity built in 2017 before subsidies ban industry says will make generation dearer

Nearly 60% of US carbon pollution comes from power and transportation, and power is already decarbonizing fastIn order to meet its share of the carbon pollution cuts needed to achieve the 2°C Paris international climate target, America’s policies are rated as “critically insufficient” by the Climate Action Tracker. The Trump Administration has taken every possible step to undo the Obama Administration’s climate policies, including announcing that America will be the only world country to withdraw from the Paris agreement, and trying to repeal the Clean Power Plan.In 2020, the next American president will have to make up the lost ground and come up with a plan to rapidly accelerate the country’s transition away from fossil fuels. Currently, transportation and power generation each account for about 30% of US greenhouse gas emissions, so those sectors represent the prime targets for pollution cuts.

Holme Fen, Cambridgeshire: The trunks tangle back from both sides of the track, like wiry hair, their bark papery. Packed dense, this makes the forest look grey and odd

Iranian ship Sanchi went down carrying one million barrels of oil that is highly toxic to marine lifeThe spill from a sunken Iranian tanker off China’s east coast has more than trebled in size, just over a week after the ship sank in a ball of flames.

Malcolm Turnbull announces $36.6m will be spent on ‘supporting farmers stopping runoff’ to improve water qualityMalcolm Turnbull has announced a $60m rescue package for the Great Barrier Reef which includes research on developing “resilient” coral, and paying farmers to pollute less.The package, to be spent over 18 months, will also include an increased number of reef officers and vessels targeting crown of thorns starfish outbreaks. Continue reading...

Homes evacuated and rail services disrupted after snow gives way to warmer weather

Right geology and local consent are key in consultation due to be launched this weekThe government is expected this week to begin a nationwide search for a community willing to host an underground nuclear waste dump to store highly radioactive material for thousands of years.Britain has been trying for years to secure a site with the right geology and local communities which would volunteer to host a £12bn geological disposal facility (GDF), as a long-term solution for the most dangerous waste from nuclear power stations. Continue reading...

Firm follows other big UK and European insurers by excluding coal companies from 1 AprilLloyd’s of London, the world’s oldest insurance market, has become the latest financial firm to announce that it plans to stop investing in coal companies.

Private landowners present a rising threat to the millions of acres set aside for public use by blocking access to public landsThe Diamond Bar X is a postcard-perfect slice of Montana solitude. A former cattle ranch that’s been parceled up into sprawling home sites, it sits not far outside Augusta, a cowboy town beneath Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, where the Great Plains crash into majestic snow-peaked mountains to dramatic effect.The area is prime habitat for elk and grizzlies, people are few, and its residents have easy access to countless miles of trails and streams on the adjacent public lands. Continue reading...

Underbidding for contracts to bring in cash – if that is what has happened – is a dangerous practice. We need to knowThe collapse of Carillion, the building and outsourcing company, throws up so many questions about the state of UK business and government services it is difficult to know where to begin.Lifting the lid on Carillion’s strategic plans, it is clear that the company’s board mistook tactical nous for strategy. Not that there was much common sense in taking a building company and morphing it into a conglomerate that tries to meld together the management of prisons, hospitals and schools as if they were all the same. Continue reading...

Extinction prevention plan branded ‘deeply inadequate’ after environment department publishes paper without targetsThe federal government’s latest strategy to protect Australian plants and animals facing extinction has been branded “deeply inadequate” and “a global embarrassment” by environment groups.The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that a new 13-page document had quietly replaced the old 100-page biodiversity conservation strategy just before Christmas on the Department of Environment’s website. Continue reading...

Friends of the Earth, National Trust and others voice ‘serious concerns’ that UK will not cooperate with EUA coalition of leading environmental groups says there is a “significant risk” that British environmental protections will be reduced after Brexit, despite the government’s positive rhetoric.Greener UK, which represents 13 campaign groups including WWF, National Trust, RSPB, Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance and the Wildlife Trusts, says there are “serious concerns” that the government will not cooperate with the European Union after Brexit on environmental issues which need international agreement. Although the environment secretary, Michael Gove, has made several recent announcements, such as the 5p levy on plastic bottles, Greener UK believes there may be a “lack of willpower to ensure high standards across the UK”. Continue reading...

The Ka’apor tribe fight a daily battle in Brazil’s Maranhão state to protect their forestsSairá Ka’apor patrolled one of the most murderous frontiers in the world, a remote and largely lawless region of the Brazilian Amazon where his indigenous community has fought for generations to protect their forest land.Armed with clubs, bows and arrows, GPS trackers and crude guns, he and fellow members of Ka’apor Forest Guard drove off – and sometimes attacked – loggers who intruded into their territory, the 530,000-hectare Alto Turiaçu Indigenous Land, which is roughly three times the area of Greater London and contains about half of the Amazon forest left in Brazil’s northern Maranhão state. That vigilante role came to an end last April when Sairá was stabbed to death in Betel, a logging town close to Ka’apor territory. Continue reading...

A 70-metre-high waste incinerator is being built next to the M5Marooned on the flatlands between the Severn river and the Cotswolds escarpment, Stonehouse in Gloucestershire isn’t the sort of place to make the news. But, of late, outrage has been the dominant emotion here as construction traffic has brought what was a country village to a standstill. Blue plastic barriers proliferate, mobile traffic lights are set down apparently at random and workers clad in hi-vis saunter about with the swagger of the new sheriff in town.While the slow crawl of traffic to and from the M5 is frustrating, it is the cause of the blockage that is more troubling. Stonehouse is being dug up to lay a cable to service the giant waste monster being built next to junction 12 of the M5, an edifice that its opponents warned would grow to four times the size of nearby Gloucester cathedral, a glorious testament to the grand folly of another age. Continue reading...

One $2.2m experiment involves giant fans to cool water down, despite government’s own advisers highlighting risksMillions of dollars of commonwealth money is being handed to tourism-linked groups for Great Barrier Reef protection, despite official advice recommending against the projects, or repeatedly finding them to be failing.The contracts include millions of dollars for tourism operators to cull out-of-control coral-eating crown of thorns starfish. Funds continue to be distributed, despite researchers employed to evaluate the program repeatedly finding it to have failed, and potentially having made the problem worse. Continue reading...

Canada aquarium has announced it will end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity, after pressure from the publicFor years the Vancouver aquarium fended off pressure from animal right activists, local government and residents, arguing instead that whales and dolphins were central to its mission. But this week the tourist attraction gave in to public pressure, and announced that it would end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity.“It had become a local hot topic, to the point where it was just hijacking everything else,” said John Nightingale, the aquarium’s president. Continue reading...

We find organic mushrooms in non-recyclable trays next to plain veg in compostable wrappingMy environmentally conscious wife Clare is the keenest recycler possible. She even collects and recycles the silver milk bottle tops that I tend to chuck out. But when it comes to organic food she’s furious. Why? Because she finds it is the worst culprit for wrapping almost everything in plastic and polywrap that cannot be recycled. How, she asks, did we reach the situation where the most environmentally produced food is also the worst for packaging and recycling?Like many others, the Brignall household despairs at the revelations over the past year that 86% of collected plastic is not actually recycled, and the Blue Planet claim that 8m tonnes of the stuff ends up in oceans. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Boonchai Bach allegedly ran tusk and horn smuggling route from AfricaPolice in Thailand have arrested one of the world’s most notorious wildlife traffickers, allegedly involved in the smuggling thousands of tonnes of elephant tusks and rhino horns from Africa to Asia, the Guardian has learned.Boonchai Bach, who goes by multiple aliases including Bach Mai Limh, was arrested at his operational base in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Phanom, next to the Mekong River on Thursday. Continue reading...

Keyhaven, Hampshire: The brent geese feeding on the grassland are restless, but not because of the people walking along the skyline above themThe mudflats are still, but first impressions are deceptive. On a grey, raw day, we stop on the bridge across the Avon Water as it enters the Keyhaven Marshes. The tide is out, gulls mill in the air, but below us the glutinous foreground seems devoid of life. As our eyes settle to what we are seeing, we realise how misleading those first impressions are. The mudflats are teeming with waders. We’ve left the binoculars in the car and so don’t attempt identification until one long-legged, straight-billed bird wades out to feed, head-down into the stream. In this murky light, it’s impossible to see markings but surely this is a black-tailed godwit.

The Sapphire Wind Farm in northern NSW has invited the locals to invest in it – the first such co-investment project in AustraliaIn the early days of windfarming, carpetbaggers almost ruined it for everyone.Opportunists scoured regional Australia looking for prospective project sites. Farmers were pressured to sign up to leases and planning applications were rushed through. As soon as the permit was in hand, the developer would flip the project and start again. Continue reading...

Photographs show only localised bleaching but there is concern it has come so early in the seasonWarm water has already begun bleaching coral on the Great Barrier Reef, weeks ahead of the period with highest forecast risk. Satellite data suggest widespread bleaching is possible by March.Selina Ward, a coral reef biologist from the University of Queensland, has photographed the bleaching, which she said appeared to be very localised so far, but was concerning because of how early in the season it was. Continue reading...

You are more likely to die from a bicycle accident, lightning strike, or mauling by alligator or bear than from a shark attackThe president of the United States does not like sharks.Related: Stormy Daniels on Trump: pajamas, unprotected sex and … scary sharks Continue reading...

Government extends deadline for installation of older model despite interoperability issuesMore than 1m extra first generation smart meters will be fitted in homes because the government has extended a deadline for their installation, despite the devices being criticised because they can “go dumb” when customers switch energy suppliers.Related: Energy firms say price cap on bills could hit UK roll-out of smart meters Continue reading...