Environment | The Guardian

Cotton farm in Queensland’s Goondiwindi searched as part of probe into alleged misuse of state-administered grantsA police raid on a Queensland cotton farm came two months after detectives launched a formal investigation of alleged fraud involving millions of dollars of federal funds earmarked for Murray-Darling water savings.Detectives from the major and organised rural crime squad raided Norman Farming at Goondiwindi on Tuesday as part of a probe into the alleged misuse of state-administered grants. Continue reading...

Christine Lagarde warns of ‘dark future’ if the world fails to take steps to address global warmingThe world will be in deep trouble if it fails to tackle climate change and inequality, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has warned.

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire Arrested in a kind of limbo, the plumes of rosebay willowherb had yet to liberate themselves and venture into the wide worldRosebay willowherb seedpods cracked ajar like fans of white feathers. Exhausted after the carmine blaze of summer, the Chamaenerion angustifolium plants were dry, rusty and derelict. Their long thin seedpods had split into four strands, stretching open to reveal a mass of pappus – silky plumes attached to hundreds of tiny spilling seeds per pod, 80,000 or so to a plant.It was a wonder those seeds were still there, given the shaking they must have got from Red Ophelia. But, arrested in a kind of limbo, like a photograph, they had yet to liberate themselves and venture into the wide world. Continue reading...

Transport department publishes new noise analysis and air quality plan, with public consultation now open until 19 DecemberThe public consultation on the planned third runway at Heathrow has been reopened due to new evidence.

Wine producers’ body warns production will fall after Italy, France and Spain were hit by freak weather events in 2017If you haven’t got a wine cellar, it’s time to get one and start stockpiling – because global wine production is to fall to its lowest level in more than 50 years.On Tuesday the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said it expected an 8% decrease in global wine production to 247m hectolitres for 2017. Continue reading...

New report also reveals rise in large-scale illegal ivory shipments which could be due to panic sell-off by traffickers as countries implement domestic bansElephant poaching in Africa has declined for the fifth year in a row, experts have said.But elephant populations continue to fall due to illegal killing and other human activities, while seizures of large-scale illegal ivory shipments were at record highs in 2016, a new report reveals. Continue reading...

Major producers report rot in fields due to rainfall but bursts of sunshine have led to larger than average pumpkinsShoppers can expect fewer but bigger pumpkins on sale in the run-up to Halloween as a result of the UK’s wet summer, farmers and producers have warned.The weather has squeezed supplies of the seasonal favourite, with major growers reporting “significant levels of rot” which have led to thousands being left to turn to pulp in the fields rather than heading for the supermarkets. Continue reading...

Bank calls for water to be treated as valuable resource as study into impact details lack of water’s devastating lifelong scars on children

Glyphosate is found in 60% of UK bread and environmentalists welcome a ban but industry warn of uproar among farmers if herbicide is phased outA pivotal EU vote this week could revoke the licence for the most widely used herbicide in human history, with fateful consequences for global agriculture and its regulation.Glyphosate is a weedkiller so pervasive that its residues were recently found in 45% of Europe’s topsoil – and in the urine of three quarters of Germans tested, at five times the legal limit for drinking water.

Tony Abbott, Craig Kelly and Matt Canavan argue government should cut off support to some renewable investments in 2020Dissident government MPs, including the former prime minister Tony Abbott, are continuing to stir the pot on energy despite last week’s party room sign off on the new national energy guarantee.

Commission says carbon price would benefit consumers and help deliver best possible market reformsThe Productivity Commission has called on the Turnbull government to adopt a “proper vehicle” for reducing carbon emissions that puts a single price on carbon, saying it would benefit consumers.It says a price on carbon must eventually form part of Australia’s energy markets and would help to deliver the greatest possible market regulation reform benefits over the next five years. Continue reading...

Second winner threatens to quit Whitsundays Tourism amid criticism of sponsor ‘who is singlehandedly destroying everything that we stand for’The winner of a Queensland tourism award has rejected its prize because it was sponsored by the mining giant Adani.Another winner in the 2017 Whitsundays Tourism awards, held last month at Hamilton Island with Adani as a silver sponsor, threatened to quit the organisation unless it cut ties with the miner. Continue reading...

New Zealanders were urged to 'vote kea' in a video campaign for the world's only alpine parrot, resulting in thousands more votes cast for the species than ​actual birds in existence. The nation's annual bird of the year competition hit new heights this year with more than 50,000 votes cast from around New Zealand and the world. Despite their protected status, keas have divided Kiwis between those who enjoy the cheeky parrot’s animated nature and those who curse its destructive habits Continue reading...

Vice-president Rosario Murillo calls global pact ‘the only instrument we have’ to address climate change as number of outsiders shrinks to twoNicaragua is set to join the Paris climate agreement, according to an official statement and comments from the vice-president, Rosario Murillo, on Monday, in a move that leaves the United States and Syria as the only countries outside the global pact.

The world’s only mountain parrot whose cheeky antics divide Kiwis, beats kererū and kākāpō to coveted crown

Group shown swimming into a baited trap at the scene of a recent fatal attack in Queensland have been criticisedA group of men photographed swimming into a baited croc trap near the scene of a fatal attack in Queensland appear to be vying for the “idiots of the century award”, a local mayor has said.Photos of the men swimming around and even climbing into the trap at the Port Douglas Marina have surfaced online, leaving the mayor of Douglas Shire, Julia Leu, stunned. Continue reading...

Three-quarters of those surveyed report that they have voted in the ballot, with a further 8% saying they definitely willMore than half of people who have returned their ballot in the same-sex marriage postal survey say they have voted in favour of marriage equality, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

Photographer Tim Flach’s latest book Endangered, with text by zoologist Jonathan Baillie, offers a powerful visual record of threatened animals and ecosystems facing the harshest of challengesTim Flach sees his Hasselblad H4D-60 camera as a means to its end: capturing the character and emotions of an animal. Until now his interest has been in the way humans shape animals, but in his new book, Endangered, he poses the question of what these animals, and their potential disappearance, mean to us.Twenty months of shooting and six months of assembling has resulted in a collection of more than 180 pictures. “In some cases we put up a black background in a zoo or a natural reserve, in others it meant being underwater with hippos or great white sharks.” Continue reading...

Scientists were expected to report that climate change is affecting air and water temperatures, precipitation, sea level and fish in New England’s largest estuaryThe Environmental Protection Agency kept three scientists from speaking at a Rhode Island event about a report that deals in part with climate change.The scientists were expected to discuss in Providence on Monday a report on the health of Narragansett Bay, New England’s largest estuary. The EPA did not explain exactly why the scientists were told not to. Continue reading...

Plastic pollution, overfishing, global warming and increased acidification from burning fossil fuels means oceans are increasingly hostile to marine lifeIf the outlook for marine life was already looking bleak – torrents of plastic that can suffocate and starve fish, overfishing, diverse forms of human pollution that create dead zones, the effects of global warming which is bleaching coral reefs and threatening coldwater species – another threat is quietly adding to the toxic soup.Ocean acidification is progressing rapidly around the world, new research has found, and its combination with the other threats to marine life is proving deadly. Many organisms that could withstand a certain amount of acidification are at risk of losing this adaptive ability owing to pollution from plastics, and the extra stress from global warming. Continue reading...

David Attenborough’s ocean wildlife series returns to our screen next week – and a gravity-defying, bird-munching superfish could be its biggest starName: Giant trevally.Appearance: Like a bluefin trevally, but larger and without blue fins. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Freedom of information request reveals ‘disgraceful’ amount of taxpayers’ money used to battle ClientEarth over illegally poor air pollution plansThe government spent £370,000 of taxpayers’ money unsuccessfully fighting court claims that its plans to tackle air pollution were illegally poor, a freedom of information request has revealed.

British Beekeepers Association survey reveals worrying drop in honey yield, with 62% of beekeepers saying neonicotinoids are to blameBeekeepers have raised concerns over the future of honeybees as an annual survey showed a “steady decline” in the honey crop.The survey by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) revealed beekeepers in England produced an average of 11.8kg (26 lb) of honey per hive this year, down 1kg on last year. Continue reading...

Drivers of older, more polluting petrol and diesel cars in centre of capital now liable for fee on top of congestion chargeDrivers of the most polluting vehicles must from now on pay a daily charge of up to £21.50 to drive in to central London.From Monday, people driving older, more polluting petrol and diesel vehicles will be liable for the £10 T-charge, on top of the congestion charge of £11.50, which has been in place since 2003. Continue reading...

A new study finds that Americans are willing to pay an extra $15 per month on energy bills to tackle climate change.

Most filming done in the wild – including armoured octopuses and hypnotic cuttlefish – but some crucial behaviour had to be captured in lab conditionsFootage of captive wildlife inserted into the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 series remains “totally true to nature”, according to the makers of the flagship show that reveals new insights into life in the oceans.An octopus that armours itself with shells and rocks, fish that use sign language and tools and dazzling cuttlefish that appear to hypnotise their prey are among the new spectacles uncovered by the series, which starts later this week. Continue reading...

SSE and Drax tell Philip Hammond they need longer-term clarity on price floor if they are to replace coal power plantsTwo of Britain’s biggest energy companies have called on Philip Hammond to strengthen a carbon tax that has driven a dramatic collapse in coal power generation, arguing it is essential for the shift to cleaner energy.SSE, the UK’s second largest energy supplier, and Drax, which runs the country’s biggest power station in North Yorkshire, urged the chancellor to use his autumn budget to shed light on the tax’s fate into the 2020s. Continue reading...

Epping Forest For centuries commoners were allowed to lop the beeches here for firewood. Now this ancient pollard is big enough to create its own microclimatesCenturies of sunlight have solidified into this beech’s massive presence, which creates its own woodland world. I stand beneath the grandeur of its shaded columns in veneration. But it was not always this way. This great beast was made to bend to the will of generations of commoners, lopped for the humblest of produce, a 10-yearly crop of firewood. It was a labourer, a working tree.Until the mid 19th century, that is, when cropping ceased. Today, 20 poles, each the size of a mature tree, thrust skywards from the lumpen head of this ancient pollard. And around its great girth, in its crevices and creases, the microclimate changes with the compass. Dominating the trunk’s north-west curve, like a coral outcrop, the bracket fungus Perenniporia fraxinea fans out dramatically in three layers more than 120cm wide. For 20 years I’ve watched this veteran grow so large that its soft, skin-coloured underbelly is now punctured by a million tiny spore-producing pores. Continue reading...

Historical data from studies on museum bird specimens, combined with current research, gives us a picture of the long-term harm from air pollutionThere is growing evidence about the lifelong harm from air pollution. The air that we breathe as children can stunt our lung growth, potentially causing problems later in adult life. Air pollution breathed decades ago has been shown to shorten lives in the UK today. However, investigating these lifelong impacts is hampered by a lack of historic measurements.Can the natural environment help us? Starting with lichens in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris in 1886, biomonitoring has helped to track air pollution. In a new twist, researchers in the US have constructed a 135-year history of pollution in America’s rust belt by studying soot in the feathers of museum bird specimens. Tests on 1,347 birds showed that air pollution between 1880 and 1920 was worse than we thought. The birds also revealed useful data for climate modellers. It appears that soot pollution started to decrease around 1910, earlier than thought; with dips in the great depression and a rise for the second world war. Continue reading...

Some 10,000 young char have been released into Kielder Water with the aim of saving this ancient fish, an important relic of our pastThe Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus, is a remarkable survivor from the ice age in Britain, having been trapped in various lakes and Scottish lochs for 10,000 years. As a result, if you manage to catch one, the fish may look considerably different from those in other lakes, because they have had many generations to evolve to survive in local conditions after being cut off from the oceans when the ice retreated.Some scientists went to the trouble of designating each of these populations of Arctic char as separate species because of these different characteristics, but this idea has generally been dropped as too difficult, not least because there are dozens of cut-off populations, some yet to be described. Continue reading...

AAA says motorists are being misled by lab tests of emissions and fuel efficiency but green groups accuse it of delaying tacticAustralia’s motoring lobby is launching a campaign for “real-world” vehicle emissions testing, arguing the current system needs an overhaul because it is misleading consumers and regulators.The Australian Automobile Association will on Monday release results from emissions and fuel consumption tests on 30 passenger and light commercial vehicles showing discrepancies between real world and official fuel consumption established in laboratory testing. Continue reading...

Invasion of site in North Yorkshire comes as campaigners say they have seen letter stating exploration is due to startProtesters in a tiny North Yorkshire village have vowed to put their lives on the line to prevent the first fracking operation in six years from taking place this week.

ReachTel poll finds majority in three Liberal-held seats support carbon pricing, and more ambitious renewable policyVoters in the electorates held by Malcolm Turnbull, Josh Frydenberg and Tony Abbott would be more likely to support the government’s new energy policy if it ensured Australia had at least 50% renewable energy by 2030, according to a new opinion poll.

Placard-bearing angry activists have their place, but their are other, gentler ways to make a differenceActivists are the vital foot soldiers of the environmental movement. But is the classic activist model – placard-bearing and angry – actually effective? There’s a suggestion that if you’re not shouting in the face of The Man 24 hours a day, do you actually care?Sarah Corbett warns that angry activists are in danger of burning out Continue reading...

Energy minister says he believes Labor and Coalition can agree on reliability obligations but differ on emissions targetsThe energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, has stopped short of guaranteeing prices will come down under the Turnbull government’s new energy policy, but says he’s “absolutely confident” power prices will fall.

Adani and the loggers should watch out – we have a right to peaceful protest to protect our environmentThe high court has drawn a line in the sand against laws which burden the right of Australians to peaceful protest.The court made no judgement on Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman’s decision to flatten the Lapoinya state forest in northwest Tasmania against the wishes of the local community. But it struck down his Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014 aimed at stopping people from protesting effectively against such forests being logged. Continue reading...

The Antiquities Act has been used to preserve some of the most beloved US lands and landmarks but it is facing assault from Trump and CongressOne-hundred-eleven years and a few months ago, Theodore Roosevelt signed the landmark law that helped cement his place as America’s conservation president.Related: National park ban saved 2m plastic bottles – and still Trump reversed it Continue reading...

As events across the UK celebrate Apple Day this weekend, we talk to the growers preserving the country’s ‘lost’ harvestBritain is enjoying a remarkable apple boom, as hundreds of new community orchards revive lost varieties and contribute to a thriving heritage market.According to Steve Oram, who is the apple diversity officer at the wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species: “We are adding new orchards to the register all the time. Some are in allotments, others in schools and even housing developments. Continue reading...

Jesse Norman wants to make cycling safer, but sees local authorities and charities like Sustran as key facilitators, not governmentJesse Norman, the transport minister whose brief includes cycling, has only been in the job for six months but has already prompted controversy by insisting that cyclists follow the Highway Code, something criticised here on the Bike Blog.In his office at the Department for Transport in Westminster, he comes across as affable and open – and talks the talk when it comes to bikes for transport. Continue reading...

Bramshaw Telegraph, New Forest The heather is fading but there are so many fallen trees to explore, each with its diverse community of fungiWithout doubt, 200 years ago our walk would have made a slow start. We would have been watching with fascination the sliding shutters of the new signalling station, constructed as part of the chain linking Plymouth with London and Portsmouth. Skilful combination of its six panels could transmit messages at astonishing speed. Today only the place name, Bramshaw Telegraph, is left to remind us what once stood here.Patches of wire wool – actually the lichen Cladonia portentosa – lighten up the fading hues of the heathers as we cross Studley Head. A deeply rutted track forewarns of forestry work ahead. A notice as we enter the woodland confirms this and urges caution: thinning is under way again in the Island Thorns Inclosure. Continue reading...

Country’s treasured avian species puff up their plumage as nation votes on who rules the roostBird of the Year leaderboard – check the pecking orderFirst there was the “Jacinda effect” and a government to cobble together. Then came the mania for the jade Kākāriki, the shining cuckoo and the stern Ruru.New Zealand’s Bird of the Year Competition has kicked off, and it has galvanised voters with the same intensity as the recent election. Now in its 13th year, the poll pits the country’s rare and endangered birds against one another: the cheeky Kea versus the shy Kiwi, the dowdy Bar Tailed Godwit against the alluring Hihi. Continue reading...

It’s the final countdown to New Zealand’s Bird of the Year award, the annual contest for the most popular bird in Aotearoa. Here you can see the current leader in the contest, updated hourly

Bloomberg New Energy Finance says proposed guarantee could be ‘template for policy makers worldwide’The Turnbull government’s proposed national energy guarantee has been given enthusiastic support by the renewable energy analysis firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which has described the concept as “innovative and elegant” and said it could be “a template for policy makers worldwide”.Earlier this week Malcolm Turnbull persuaded the Coalition to support an energy policy that includes measures intended to drive down emissions (the “emissions guarantee”) and ensure reliability of the grid (the “reliability guarantee”). Continue reading...

In Sussex scientists have found that insecticide use has stabilised over the past two decades with an associated stabilisation of some insect groups, write Dr Julie Ewald and Prof John Holland of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. Plus Judith Wright says we should let verges growIt is with great interest that we read about the long-term decline in the biomass of flying insects on German protected areas (Scientists tell of alarm at huge fall in flying insects, 19 October).The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) carries out two long-term surveys of insects on farmland in England – the Sussex Study (1970 to present) and at our demonstration farm in Loddington (1992 to present). Continue reading...

Migratory birds, rutting stags and leaping salmon are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Roads minister Jesse Norman says government could push councils to do more to fight pollution and inactive livingThe UK government could potentially consider providing subsidies for electric bicycles and electric cars as part of a concerted policy effort to get more people cycling, the roads minister, Jesse Norman, has said.With the UK facing health crises from pollution and inactive living, other plans could include using electric cargo bikes to deliver packages from internet retailers rather than vans, Norman told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Landmark study finds toxic air, water, soils and workplaces kill at least 9m people and cost trillions of dollars every yearPollution kills at least nine million people and costs trillions of dollars every year, according to the most comprehensive global analysis to date, which warns the crisis “threatens the continuing survival of human societies”.Toxic air, water, soils and workplaces are responsible for the diseases that kill one in every six people around the world, the landmark report found, and the true total could be millions higher because the impact of many pollutants are poorly understood. The deaths attributed to pollution are triple those from Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Continue reading...

National Geographic’s #TellYourPollutionStory asks readers to share their images to shed light on new evidence that pollution – air, water, soil and workplace – is the leading cause of death in the world

Air pollution in Indian capital hits 18 times the healthy limit despite supreme court ban on sale of firecrackersAir pollution in Delhi has hit 18 times the healthy limit and left the city under a thick, toxic haze after Diwali was celebrated with a night of fireworks – despite a court-ordered ban on their sales.Residents of the Indian capital, which already ranks among the world’s most polluted cities, complained of watering eyes and aggravated coughs as levels of PM2.5, ultra-fine particles of less than 2.5 microns, rose alarmingly on Friday. Continue reading...

Big Moor, Derbyshire The stag ignores the passing lorries but isn’t ready for a photographic closeupRunning south from the old Barbrook reservoir, I found myself struggling against the strong south-westerly that had kept temperatures unusually high for several days and delayed wintering thrushes returning to the moors. The arrival of fieldfares and redwings is always sparkling compensation for the gloomy approach of winter but I would have to wait a little longer. At least the sun was out, turning the sprung shoulders of a kestrel to a vibrant caramel as it quartered the brook below me.Almost as I reached the Baslow road the sunlight picked out a red deer stag standing tall some distance away, antlers raised, breath steaming from its flared nostrils. At the same time I caught sight of another beast advancing towards the stag with an enormous-lensed camera held to his eye. Continue reading...