Former foreign affairs minister says the benefits of immigration could be preserved but effects managed by slowing down rateThe former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has called for Australia to cut its immigration rate in half, declaring that the country’s experiment of running the fastest rate of immigration in the world was an experiment that was failing.

Tax on luxury fossil fuel cars to fund expansion of Australia’s charging networkThe Greens have proposed introducing mandatory fuel efficiency standards, ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and imposing a four-year 17% tax on luxury petrol and diesel cars as part of an electric vehicle policy announced on Tuesday.Under the proposal Australia would adopt a mandatory fuel efficiency standard of 105g of CO2 a kilometre by 2022, three years earlier than a proposal being considered by the federal government. Continue reading...

A study reveals highest microplastic pollution levels ever recorded in a river in Manchester, UK and shows that billions of particles flooded into the sea from rivers in the area in just one yearThe number of tiny plastic pieces polluting the world’s oceans is vastly greater than thought, new research indicates.The work reveals the highest microplastic pollution yet discovered anywhere in the world in a river near Manchester in the UK. It also shows that the major floods in the area in 2015-16 flushed more than 40bn pieces of microplastic into the sea. Continue reading...

New geological research from Utah suggests the end-Permian extinction was mainly caused by burning coal, ignited by magma

Chew Valley, Somerset: These unruly fields are what we call ‘ancient countryside’ and its pattern may go back to neolithic timesWhen we first visited Folly Farm some 30 years ago this 250-acre plot was up for sale. Gates were hanging from their hinges, the hedges were rampant and the pastures were waist-deep in flowers; the 20th century did not appear to have happened yet, nor even the 19th.These unruly fields were carved from the land, not drawn by a ruler – the first farmers did not go in for squared-off corners as they hacked into the wildwood. The landscape historian Oliver Rackham called this “ancient countryside” (as opposed to the regular fields of “planned countryside” formed by the enclosures) and its pattern may go back as far as the neolithic period. Continue reading...

Photographer Murdo MacLeod visits New Zealand’s South Island where conservationists are seeking to protect the endangered yellow-eyed penguin from predation, disease and habitat destructionAt the end of the day, having avoided being bitten on the flipper by a barracouta or chewed by a shark, a shy yellow-eyed penguin prepares to come ashore and make its bed in the bush. Emerging from the surf, he scans the apparently empty sandy strip with his beady eyes for signs of danger. Though he is a swift swimmer, he is fettered by his stumpy legs when ashore. But he grows confident as he comes close to the dense brush.Then the unexpected happens: eight dark figures spring from three different locations and sprint toward the hoiho – or “little shouter” as the yellow-eyed penguin is known in Māori. He has been bushwhacked like this before and offers only token resistance. “Oh no, not again!” he may have thought. Continue reading...

Some previously rare illnesses are becoming epidemics in some bird populations, scientists sayGarden bird feeders are contributing to the spread of serious diseases among wild birds, scientists have warned, causing previously rare illnesses to become epidemics in some populations.Poor garden feeder hygiene, droppings accumulations and stale food are promoting the transmission of illnesses between garden birds as the animals repeatedly congregate in the same location, coming into contact with species they would not usually interact with in the wild. Continue reading...

Following his shocking photographs of dead albatross chicks and the diet of plastic that killed them, Chris Jordan’s new film is a call to action to repair our broken relationship with planet EarthWe are living in a plastic age and the solutions may seem glaringly obvious, so why aren’t all 7.6 billion of us already doing things differently? Shocking statistics don’t guarantee effective change. So what’s the alternative? American photographer and filmmaker Chris Jordan believes the focus should be on forcing people to have a stronger emotional engagement with the problems plastic causes. His famous photographs of dead albatross chicks and the colourful plastic they have ingested serve as a blunt reminder that the planet is in a state of emergency.While making his feature-length film Albatross, Jordan considered Picasso’s approach: “The role of the artist is to respect you, help you connect more deeply, and then leave it up to you to decide how to behave.” Continue reading...

Digestion of plastic into much smaller fragments ‘doesn’t necessarily help pollution’, Australian researchers sayA world-first study by Australian researchers has found that krill can digest certain forms of microplastic into smaller – but no less pervasive – fragments.The study, published in Nature Communications journal on Friday, found that Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, can break down 31.5 micron polyethylene balls into fragments less than one micron in diameter. Continue reading...

Please note: Apple/IOS mobile users should view within the YouTube appWhat happens to a town that has been abandoned for seven years after a nuclear meltdown? Greenpeace took former residents and a 360-degree camera into the radiation zone north of Fukushima to mark the anniversary of the disaster. The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9 earthquake on the afternoon of 11 March 2011. The tsunami killed almost 19,000 people along the north-east coast of Japan and forced more than 150,000 others living near the plant to flee radiation. Some of the evacuated neighbourhoods are still deemed too dangerous for former residents to go back. Continue reading...

Australian Automobile Association calls for real-world testing after finding nitrogen oxide emissions four times the levels observed in labVolkswagen cars in Australia are guzzling up to 14% more diesel fuel after a recall fix designed to cut emissions, research has found, reigniting calls for emissions to be tested in the real world rather than a laboratory.The analysis, commissioned by the Australian Automobile Association, which is campaigning for real-world testing, examined affected VW cars before recall and immediately after. Continue reading...

Green groups welcome proposed changes to land-clearing law but there are still reasons to doubt they are enough to halt the crisisLast week, the Queensland government tabled a highly anticipated bill seeking to implement its promise to “end broadscale clearing in Queensland”.Queensland is responsible for more tree clearing than the rest of the country combined, so making good on that promise would go a long way to halting Australia’s growing land clearing crisis. Continue reading...

Wentworth voters overwhelmingly favour review – including 70% of Liberal supportersMore than 75% of voters in Malcolm Turnbull’s Sydney electorate of Wentworth would support reviewing the environmental approvals for the controversial Queensland Adani coalmine, according to a new opinion poll.A ReachTel survey of 676 residents in the prime minister’s electorate, commissioned by the progressive thinktank, the Australia Institute, found an emphatic majority favoured a review of the project approvals, including 70% of Liberal voters. Continue reading...

Startup claims device will automatically switch smart-meter users three times a year and save them £300A device that plugs into a home broadband router and automatically switches supplier when cheaper deals become available is set to revolutionise the home energy market.The launch of Labrador comes as more and more people are changing their energy companies. Continue reading...

New York sends its treated sewage to other states to avoid dumping it in the sea – but it has plagued residents with a terrible stenchNew York City is the beating heart of global finance, a cultural behemoth, and home to more than 8.5 million people who create an enormous amount of poo. Some of this expelled waste has been causing a major stink 900 miles away, in Alabama.

Royal announces amalgamation of four charities to help protect communities and local heritageThe Prince of Wales has urged communities not to lose the dwindling skills that shaped the built environment and prevent specialist trades from disappearing “at an alarming rate”.Ahead of his 70th birthday in November, the prince also said he was “deeply concerned” that young people were growing up without a basic understanding of how the world works and our relationship with food. Continue reading...

What happens to a town that has been abandoned for seven years after a nuclear meltdown? Greenpeace took former residents and a 360-degree camera into the radiation zone north of Fukushima to mark the anniversary of the disaster.The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9 earthquake on the afternoon of 11 March 2011.The tsunami killed almost 19,000 people along the north-east coast of Japan and forced more than 150,000 others living near the plant to flee radiation. Some of the evacuated neighbourhoods are still deemed too dangerous for former residents to go back. Continue reading...

Companies say mining poses scant threat but conservation groups say ban should remain until environmental risks have been fully exploredThe US mining industry has asked the supreme court to overturn an Obama-era rule prohibiting the mining of uranium on public lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon.

Some new diesel models emit 12 times legal limit, while others ‘are the cleanest cars on the road’False emissions ratings for cars based on lab tests have cost the UK more than £2bn a year in lost tax revenue, according to the Green party.With CO2 emissions exceeding official measures by an average of 42%, millions of vehicles have been placed in tax bands that do not reflect their true levels of pollution, according to new research published on Saturday. Continue reading...

Cadair Idris, Gwynedd My last visit was with the friend and mentor from whom I inherited this diaryOn foot from Dolgellau, up Cader Road, a wind biting my cheek cold as government social policies. “Gwynt y dwyrain, gwynt o draed y meirwon” (East wind, wind from the feet of the dead)! I flinched before it, turned aside for the Foxes’ Path that climbs a great slope of red scree to the east of the summit.It was 1992 when I last came this way. That scree slope is the simple explanation – one of the most unpleasant ascents on any British mountain, fraught and unstable even in descent. I remember running down it in 1961, and turning a complete somersault as the block I’d landed on chose to career off downhill. No harm done when you’re young, but at the age of worn knees and torn ligaments , it’s best avoided. Continue reading...

Each Australian uses an average of 100,000 litres of water a year, and our electricity use is extreme. Our series Life Swaps looks at ways to reduce the loadDespite living on Earth’s driest populated continent, Australians throw around water as though the supply were endless. We are the planet’s greatest per capita consumers of water, with each person using an average 100,000 litres a year. Much of that is invisible to consumers, expended on the food and products we buy.Our electricity use isn’t much better. A recent Environmental Justice Australia investigation found east coast coal-fired power stations – where emissions limits trail places such as China – are responsible for deadly pollution that causes a suspected 130 premature deaths a year in Sydney alone. Yet oil and coal remain our primary energy sources, powering 70% of the nation. Continue reading...

UK is pushing for a deal that would boost imports linked to deforestation despite EU moves to ban unsustainable palm oil, diplomatic papers revealThe UK is defying EU institutions to push for a hike in nominally “sustainable” Indonesian palm oil imports which have nonetheless been linked to deforestation, leaked documents show.The European parliament is currently trying to force a ban on EU biofuels using palm oil, which have driven deforestation and contributed to the loss of 150,000 orangutans in Indonesia since 2002. Continue reading...

Spinner dolphins and a rehabilitated owl are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Labour says Conservative government should have intervened earlierLabour has accused the Conservatives of costing British households nearly £1,000 in extra energy costs over the past seven years by failing to stop electricity and gas firms raising prices.While the government is now imposing an energy price cap, the opposition attacked what it said was a record of inaction by successive Tory governments. Continue reading...

Exclusive: extractive industry companies who met with Kathleen Benedetto later saw direct benefits from administration decisionsA key Trump administration official scheduled roughly twice as many meetings with mining and fossil-fuel representatives as with environmental groups, public records requests have revealed.Further investigation shows that some of the firms she met later benefited directly from administration decisions that weakened wilderness and wildlife protections.

Formal recognition would help protect those who increasingly risk their lives to defend the land, water, forests and wildlife, says the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environmentIt is time for the United Nations to formally recognise the right to a healthy environment, according to the world body’s chief investigator of murders, beatings and intimidation of environmental defenders.John Knox, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, said the momentum for such a move – which would significantly raise the global prominence of the issue – was growing along with an awareness of the heavy toll being paid by those fighting against deforestation, pollution, land grabs and poaching.

Amid plans for an unnecessary law change targeting cyclists, a parallel government consultation on safety makes some unexpectedly sensible pointsFor those interested in the many benefits that come from getting more people cycling, there’s some bad news and good news today – and in another minor compensation, at least the bad news was widely expected.This is the confirmation from the Department for Transport (DfT) that, as widely trailed at the weekend, a review it commissioned has recommended there should be a new law about causing death or injury by dangerous cycling, as for driving. Continue reading...

Government accused of warm words but no action on reducing throwaway packaging wasteThe government has rejected calls for a “latte levy” to be introduced on takeaway cups to reduce the amount of waste they create.Mary Creagh, the chair of the environmental audit committee, accused ministers of being all talk and no action after they refused to adopt a charge on throwaway cups similar to the plastic bag levy. Continue reading...

Hulne Park, Alnwick, Northumberland The dawn redwood is unchanged since the Cretaceous era. No wonder they have a Lord of the Rings qualityContorted and deeply furrowed, the flared bole of this tree has a Lord of the Rings quality. I almost expect it to start moving and lumber towards me like an Ent. Beneath the point where each branch leaves the trunk there are shadowy elbow-deep clefts. Its muscular ridges are a rich burnt orange, and ripple down to the ground like anchoring roots, making the twisted trunk look like it is screwing itself down into the earth. This is a dawn redwood, Metasequoia glypstostroboides, one of an avenue either side of Farm Drive in Hulne Park.

Decision a blow to those wanting Rio to stop funding industry association membershipsA move urging Rio Tinto to rethink its funding of the fossil fuel lobby has suffered a setback – the Anglo-Australian mining company has refused to present a shareholder motion on the issue to its annual general meeting in the UK.Last week, institutional investors who manage a combined $84bn in funds – and hold about $100m of Rio Tinto shares – filed a motion to the Australian arm of Rio Tinto, calling for a review of the company’s funding of industry association memberships.

Seven years after the nuclear disaster, 50,000 people have yet to return to their homes, but the dream of going back enduresOkuma, on Japan’s east coast, used to host a busy community of 10,500 people. But today the houses stand empty.The town is empty because it is one of the closest to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and – seven years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a triple meltdown – it remains under evacuation orders with decontamination still not finished. Continue reading...

Harold Forbes says the principle of polluter pays is rarely implemented; Jeremy Tomkinson calls for clear policy on lowering petrol emissions; Chris Tidmarsh laments the sparsity of electric-car charging points in Southwark and LambethYour article on carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicles (Fall in CO output from new cars goes into reverse, 27 February) makes no mention of the eight-year freeze on fuel duty, which has contributed to UK fuel prices being 4% below their 2000 levels in real terms and 21% below the 2013 peak. The relative price of things is an enormously powerful driver of human choices and behaviour.Dumping the economic assumption that nature is a limitless source of materials and services that can be considered to come for free would be the single biggest leap that humanity could make in securing its future. At present we have few monetary incentives to avoid excess greenhouse gas emissions, single-use plastics or even excess animal manure. In fact, the economy encourages us believe it is “cheaper” to do such things. Continue reading...

Seyed-Emami family were boarding plane to Canada when security forces stopped widowThe widow of an Iranian-Canadian environmentalist who died in a Tehran prison under disputed circumstances has been barred from leaving the country, according to one of her sons.The family – all of whom are dual citizens of Iran and Canada – were boarding a Lufthansa flight for Canada on Wednesday when Maryam Mombeini, 55, was stopped by security forces and told she was forbidden from leaving the country. Continue reading...

Northern Territory government-approved land clearing likely to cause up to 3 megatonnes of C02-equivalent greenhouse gas emissionsA landmark court case in the Northern Territory is set to consider a challenge to a massive land-clearing approval based on its impacts on climate change.The case, brought by the Environment Centre NT, is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia, using the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions from clearing as a lever to seek to have an approval overturned. Continue reading...

South Yorkshire rejection of Ineos drill application adds to refusals, which include those from Tory councilsThe application by Ineos to explore for shale gas in South Yorkshire has been rejected by local councillors, bringing the number of planning decisions that have gone against fracking companies this year to seven.Rotherham metropolitan borough turned the application by the UK-based petrochemicals firm to drill a well near the village of Woodsetts on grounds that it could harm wildlife and cause traffic problems. Continue reading...

National park will bolster local economy while providing animals with unbroken habitatThe Bank of China has pledged at least 10bn yuan (£1.1bn) to create a vast panda conservation park in south-west Sichuan province, the Chinese forestry ministry has said.Related: What sound do pandas make? You asked Google – here’s the answer | Jules Howard Continue reading...

Chicksands Wood, Bedfordshire A shaft of sunlight enticed me to a place where the wood’s medieval heart beat stillAlmost seven centuries ago, a great calamity 50 miles out to the east sent men with axes and saws into priory-owned Chicksands Wood. The Norman central tower of Ely Cathedral had collapsed, and the architect of its replacement chose to bridge the gap not with stone, but with wood. To this day, the Octagon Tower has Bedfordshire oak timbers holding up its roof to heaven. Continue reading...

Regulator WaterNSW to begin court action against members of Harris and Barlow families, months after issue hit headlinesWaterNSW has moved to prosecute a number of landowners on the Murray-Darling river system for water theft, eight months after the ABC brought the matter into the national spotlight.Today’s announcement came on the day the state ombudsman, Michael Barnes, released a scathing report on the regulator, criticising it for giving him grossly inflated figures on the number of enforcement actions and prosecutions it had initiated to enforce water laws in the past 15 months. Continue reading...

Strong demand from China, as well as European fashion houses and US sportswear companies, is proving a boom for the industryThe price of wool has reached an historic high after decades of poor returns and Australian woolgrowers are saying the market is stronger than it has been in 30 years.The price signal, the eastern market indicator, reached a record $18.30 per kilogram this month, double where it was eight years ago. The hike has been driven by strong demand from China and European fashion houses, as well as growing interest from shoe and sportswear companies in the US. Continue reading...

Culture meets politics as environmental groups distribute scorecards rating the major parties’ environment policiesRenewable energy groups are targeting Adelaide’s festival season ahead of the South Australian election with scorecards rating the major parties’ environmental policies, with the Greens and Labor leading the way.A scorecard distributed by the Australian Conservation Foundation gives its only five-star rating for renewables to the Greens. Labor gets a glowing four-and-a-half star rating for its heavy investment in renewable energy; Nick Xenophon’s SA Best receives a lukewarm two stars, while the Liberals are panned with a scathing half-star rating. Continue reading...

California, Washington and Oregon have led criticism of Trump’s climate policies, but change hasn’t been easier closer to home

Third Energy to halt shale gas project in Kirby Misperton until completion of approval processThird Energy has postponed plans to frack for shale gas at a site in North Yorkshire until the autumn.Related: The village that took on the frackers Continue reading...

Eighteen hostages are alive and abductors are demanding a large ransom, local sources sayEighteen employees of a gorilla sanctuary in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have been abducted by a militia group, sources have said.An official with an NGO said the abduction took place on Monday in the area of Nzovu, in Kahuzi-Biega national park. They said an armed group called the Mai-Mai Raia Mutomboki was responsible. Continue reading...

Critics say legal move by UK Oil and Gas, that could see protesters at its sites jailed and fined, is draconian and anti-democraticAnother firm is seeking a sweeping injunction against environmental protesters, drawing accusations that the legal move is “draconian and chillingly anti-democratic”.UK Oil and Gas (UKOG) has applied for a broad injunction to prevent campaigners from mounting protests that it says would unlawfully interfere with its operations. Continue reading...

Josue Santiago, head of the We Care Wildlife Sanctuary, charged with the false reporting of a crime after claiming ad inspired theftsThe mysterious disappearance of dozens of exotic animals from a Florida wildlife sanctuary after a fake “help yourself” advertisement appeared online has been solved, according to detectives: the alleged late-night theft was nothing more than monkey business contrived by the sanctuary’s owner.Josue Santiago, 41, head of the We Care Wildlife Sanctuary, remained in his own cage at the Miami-Dade county jail on Wednesday, charged with the false reporting of a crime. Meanwhile, seven ring-tailed lemurs, five marmosets, three red-handed tamarins, a white-faced capuchin and assorted other “stolen” animals, including rare birds and tortoises, worth a combined $53,400, were being cared for at a refuge in North Carolina, where Santiago is alleged to have taken them before returning to Miami and staging Sunday’s break-in. Continue reading...

Several oaks and poplars cut down to dress Karl Lagerfeld’s catwalk at Grand Palais in ParisThe fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has been criticised by environmentalists after reportedly chopping down several old oak and poplar trees for his Chanel catwalk show.Campaigners said the grand couturier’s attempt to present Chanel’s green credentials had badly backfired and revealed the fashion house was “completely divorced from the reality of protecting nature”. Continue reading...

New law would ban the sale of all eggs, pork or veal from a caged animal, putting the state ahead of the EU – if campaigners can get enough signaturesThey call Chris Winn the signatures guy. A delivery driver by day, he spends his free time drumming up support for animal rights. “When I did the shark fin ban I got 4,000 signatures,” says Winn, 53. “Usually I’m the top guy in California.”Now he’s on a new mission. It’s a cold Saturday afternoon in San Francisco and Winn is jubilant, bundled in a hat and sweatshirt, scouting for signatories for a proposed law that would ban the sale of any eggs, pork or veal that comes from an animal that spent its life in a cage. If passed it would be the most progressive farm animal welfare law in the world. Continue reading...

A bill that would require some stores selling only cage-free eggs to offer lower-welfare eggs as an affordable option risks a ‘major set-back’ for animal welfare, say criticsIowa grocery stores selling cage-free eggs may soon be required to stock eggs from battery hens as well.The bill would affect two of Iowa’s largest supermarkets, HyVee and Fareway Stores, and national chains such as Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and Target, as well as smaller independent grocers. That’s because the bill is pegged to a government food-assistance program for low-income pregnant women, mothers and children, known as WIC. Stores that accept WIC vouchers would have to offer caged eggs alongside eggs that come from cage-free, free range or enriched colony cage environments.

6.4 million moved after large-scale flooding, droughts and other disasters, while 1.2 million were forced out by projects such as damsAt least 7.7 million Brazilians, or one every minute, have been forced to leave their homes since 2000, a pioneering study has found.Of those, 6.4 million moved after large-scale flooding, droughts and other natural disasters, while 1.2 million were forced out by large-scale construction projects such as dams. Continue reading...

Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the Saudi Arabian throne, grabbed the world’s attention with a series of reforms in the kingdom, pushing back against the highly conservative establishment. His aim is to make Saudi Arabia a more open nation. However, the war in Yemen and his diplomatic rivalry with Iran have caused the international community to question how radical his changes really are as he begins a series of diplomatic visits to the UK and US Continue reading...