With no fossil flowers older than 130m years, their evolution has long been a mystery. A new structural discovery provides an important piece of the puzzleDelicate and upturned, with curving petals arranged in threes, it looks like the subject of a Monet painting. In fact, it is what scientists believe the bloom of the last common ancestor of all living flowers looked like.Flowering plants – or angiosperms – are thought to make up about 90% of all living land plants. There are more than 300,000 different species on the planet, from tiny forget-me-nots to glorious magnolias. Continue reading...

A new report shows toxins from suppliers to companies like Tyson Foods are pouring into waterways, causing marine life to leave or dieThe global meat industry, already implicated in driving global warming and deforestation, has now been blamed for fueling what is expected to be the worst “dead zone” on record in the Gulf of Mexico.

The electric utility sector is broken – but the transformation we need will be virtually impossible so long as a handful of wealthy elites are calling the shotsA new report from the US-based Energy and Policy Institute last week found that investor-owned utilities have known about climate change for nearly 50 years – and done everything in their power to stop governments from doing anything about it.From their commitment to toxic fuels to their corrosive influence on our democracy to their attempts to price-gouge ratepayers, it’s long past time to bring the reign of privately-owned electric utilities to an end. Continue reading...

Whether basking in sunshine in the northern hemisphere or fighting cooler temperatures in the south, we’d like to see the wildlife you discoverWherever you are in the world and however professional or amateur your photography set up, we would like to see your images of the wildlife living near you.Related: Otters, geese and grebes: your photos as the Wetland Trust turns 70 Continue reading...

There are parallels between today’s and past greenhouse gas-driven climate changes

Rare images of wild tigers in Bhutan, captured by camera traps, show tigers and other animals using high-altitude wildlife corridors which are lifelines to isolated tiger populations and critical to genetic diversity, conservation and growth Continue reading...

When Jakarta ditched its controversial ‘three-in-one’ car-sharing rule many in the city expected the traffic to get better. It didn’t. A Harvard and MIT study analysed before-and-after Google traffic data to find out what happenedDriving in Jakarta at rush hour is something of a nightmare. The city’s 9.6 million population swells each work day with an additional 3.5 million people travelling in from outskirts, mostly by car or bus. Driving 25 miles from the suburb Bogor takes on average two hours, or even three. By some measures, Jakarta has the worst traffic in the world. Others only put it in the top 25; regardless, Jakarta drivers are guaranteed to spend significant portions of their lives stuck in gridlock.To help alleviate the problem, the city implemented one of the world’s most stringent car-pooling policies. First launched in 2003, the “three-in-one” high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane rule required private vehicles to carry three people to drive on the main roads in Jakarta’s central business district, from 7-10am and 4.30-7pm. Continue reading...

Millers Dale, Derbyshire A galaxy of tiny purple globes sway where once the milk churns waited for the night train to LondonThe old railway station in this part of Derbyshire’s Wye valley presents an astonishing happenstance of mixed colour. There is the Van Gogh yellow of the ragwort and the dark mullein spikes. There are the blended lilacs of field scabious and the rose shades from wild marjoram and over most of the area towers a canopy of greater and black knapweed flowers creating a galaxy of tiny purple globes. In the wind, all these colours sway and mingle.My favourite of all is in the blooms of the bloody cranesbill. It is intriguing that botanists used body parts to invoke its hue while the makers of matte lipstick call the same shade “pink peony”. Look closely at the petals and they comprise fields of exquisite magenta veined with red. Continue reading...

Policy Exchange says EU agricultural policy should be replaced by system that makes imported meat cheaper for consumersBritain should abandon tariffs on American and Argentinian meat products after Brexit to bring consumer food prices down, according to a leading rightwing thinktank.Policy Exchange said the UK should phase out tariffs on agricultural products, saying they raise prices and complicate trade deals, although critics say that would pave the way for hormone-treated beef or chlorine-washed chickens, currently banned under EU law, to reach British supermarket shelves. Continue reading...

Rising temperatures and the resultant stress on India’s agricultural sector may have contributed to increase in suicides over the past 30 years, research shows

Bob Dinn urges councils and mayors regulate private landlords’ restrictions on access and use of spaceThe contradictions of Friedrich Engels’ newly installed statue looking down on the private “public” space of Tony Wilson Place would not have escaped the young man living in 1840s Manchester. Privatisation of public land by stealth (The insidious creep of London’s pseudo-public land, 24 July) is subtly altering access to the city and its amenities. Ambiguous road markings and street signs confuse the public, maximising the landowners’ profits and discriminating against people with disabilities. Close to Engels’ statue a penalty notice was issued for using a blue badge on a street without road markings – notices on building hoardings apparently overruled the absence of yellow lines and the rights of the disabled. In Spinningfields £100 penalties are threatened for stopping cars anywhere, without defining what constitutes “stopping”. Local councils and elected mayors must move quickly to enforce the same regulations on private space as those in public space, make private landowners accountable, end discriminatory practices and be fully open about changing land ownership.

Defence says it became aware of toxic chemicals in soil and groundwater at Oakey in 2010 but Shine Lawyers allege they knew of potential risks much earlier

Summer is the peak season for attacks by the UK’s only venomous snake, the common European adder. We asked a toxicology expert for the dos and don’tsAs any six-year-old will tell you, there is only one venomous snake native to Britain: Vipera berus, AKA the common European adder. Still, it can give you a nasty bite, and doctors have warned that bite victims are walking into a world of pain by not getting help soon enough.“I’m astonished by the number of people who know they’ve been bitten but just go home,” says Michael Eddleston, a professor of clinical toxicology at the University of Edinburgh and a snake expert. “Then they wake up with massive swelling, when treatment is far less effective.” Continue reading...

Researchers find that economic, emissions and population trends point to very small chance Earth will avoid warming more than 2C by century’s endThere is only a 5% chance that the Earth will avoid warming by at least 2C come the end of the century, according to new research that paints a sobering picture of the international effort to stem dangerous climate change.

Authorities race to identify bodies as rescue workers reach new areas and fear monsoon death toll will rise furtherSevere monsoon flooding has killed 213 people in western India with officials fearing the death toll would rise as receding waters revealed additional victims.Nearly 130,000 people have been relocated to safer ground in Gujarat state after hundreds of cities and villages were devastated by weeks of torrential rain. Continue reading...

2017 is behind only El Niño-amplified 2016.

Death rates of hares native to Highlands are not monitored and animals are widely persecuted for sport, OneKind saysUnregulated culling of Scotland’s mountain hares should be banned and the species protected, according to a report that says shooting the animals for sport is inhumane and uncontrolled.

The conservation sector is dominated by white faces, and for many people it looks a bit like colonialism. It’s time for new voices to take up the fightIn a few days it will be the 18th anniversary of the death of Michael Werikhe, the enigmatic African conservationist. You don’t hear or read much of him these days.Nicknamed “the Rhino Man” because his work and campaigns focused on the critically endangered black rhino, Werikhe’s main campaign tactic of choice was walking to raise awareness. His first walk, starting on Christmas Day 1982, took him from Mombasa to the Kenyan capital Nairobi – a distance of 484 kilometres – and lasted for 27 days. He later walked in East Africa, Europe and North America to raise awareness and money, raising nearly $1m and covering nearly 5,000km. Continue reading...

Cycling can be a huge part of the fight to tackle city air pollution. Tim Burns of Sustrans explains how their Active Travel Toolbox can help us get thereThe government’s air quality plan may make our air more breathable in the long run but it fails to tackle some of the biggest issues facing cities and towns in the UK, and more people on bikes are a huge part of the answer.At the heart of the plan is a move to ban all new diesel and petrol vans and cars from 2040, alongside a range of measures to support the electric car market and retrofit existing vehicles. It remains to be seen if the plan will be an effective measure to improve air quality, but it is almost guaranteed that this will be another missed opportunity to think about how we move about and live in cities and towns. Continue reading...

The river was once biologically dead but seals are back and a population survey will help guard against threats from disease and dredging“It’s a good news story,” says zoologist Anna-Christina Cucknell, as she watches seals glide smoothly through the water, their dark eyes watchful as their heads swivel like periscopes. “In the 1950s, the Thames was declared biologically dead. But the seals are coming back.”Cucknell will lead a land, air and sea survey of the seals in the greater Thames estuary which begins on Monday, including the harbour seals she is watching in the mouth of the river Stour, a short boat trip from Ramsgate marina. Continue reading...

Venetians regularly protest against the huge cruise ships docking in the city, but mass tourism is not the only problem they bring – the toxic air they pump out is harmful to locals and visitors alikeIf you’re heading to Venice on holiday this summer, don’t forget to pack your pollution mask. Worrying about toxic air might seem strange in a city with few roads and cars, but Venice’s air carries hidden risks.Every day five or six of the world’s largest cruise ships chug into the heart of the ancient city, which hosts the Mediterranean’s largest cruise terminal. These ships advertise luxurious restaurants, vast swimming pools and exotic entertainment – but keep quiet about the hidden fumes they pump into the city’s air. Continue reading...

Epping Forest, Essex The deep carpet of moss hides a watery void, and the sparkling sundews are busy trapping insectsThe Lodge Road bog is a pool of tranquillity at the centre of the commuter-traffic hum. Both my mobile phone and walkie-talkie radio signals have died, and only a few darting dragonflies break the stillness. Sponging up the sunlight, the bog glistens, a curve of brilliant green amid the deep summer gloom cast by surrounding beeches.On the outer orbit of London, the survival of this fragile place, the most important habitat of its kind in Essex, seems astounding. Carbon-dating reveals that the first layer of vegetation was laid down here more than 4,000 years ago. Ponded back by a Neolithic trackway, or just some natural lip of gravel, the area was deepened by road building for the various incarnations of nearby Copped Hall since the middle ages. Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 3 August 1917A caterpillar sent to me for identification had been place in a cardboard box surrounded by corrugated paper, and marked, “Do not crush”; nevertheless, the post office had done its best, and when I unwrapped the paper no caterpillar was visible in the smashed box. I was puzzled by its absence until I noticed a hard lump on the corrugated paper; the lava, released from the box, had employed its leisure by spinning a cocoon in which to pupate. The normal cocoon of the puss moth, the species which had been sent, is placed on the trunk of a willow or poplar, and the caterpillar mixes with its sticky and quickly hardening silk particles of wood and bark, so that the finished abode looks exactly like its surroundings; the present cocoon looks like a swelling of the paper. Here was a case for the advocates of protective resemblance, correct enough in a way, yet simply caused unconsciously by the caterpillar making use of materials at hand; many similar phenomena can be explained in the same way. Continue reading...

From New Zealand to India and North America, wet weather has brought misery to tens of thousands of peopleAfter wet winter weather across New Zealand, the South Island has suffered from a deluge of flooding in the past week. Severe storms caused widespread flash flooding and landslides, which led to a state of emergency being declared across the affected areas; including Canterbury and the island’s largest city, Christchurch.In the worst affected locations, about 200mm of rain fell in only 24 hours, inundating multiple roads and buildings, with members of the armed forces being rallied to help rescue people trapped in their homes. Continue reading...

Household vehicle charging will be the equivalent of running an electric shower for hours on end, argues Colin ReadThere seems to be little understanding of the simple fact that electric vehicles (EV) are, in the main, pollution shifters – from tailpipe to power generation facility (Ban from 2040 on diesel and petrol car sales, 26 July). The electricity generation and transmission system is already tested to its limits during a harsh winter. Only if objections disappeared to the mass building of thousands of the largest wind turbines, plus similar numbers of hectares of photovoltaic solar generation, could the pollution shifters’ argument be refuted. Even then, there would still be need for conventional or nuclear generation for when the sun doesn’t shine and wind doesn’t blow – doubling the capital requirement.Then there is the transmission system. Its capacity is based on “averaging”. It assumes that not everyone will be using the full load available to their house at the same time. Each EV charging station takes minimum 3.3kW for around 12 hours – or 7.2kW for fast charging. It would be the equivalent of every house having an electric shower in service for many hours, all at the same time. The distribution system is simply not designed to cope with these simultaneous loads. If the government is serious about no new hydrocarbon-fuelled cars after 2040, we would need to start a programme of upgrades or replacement to the entire electricity distribution system. Continue reading...

As the capital’s annual cycling marathon enters its fifth year, it is smaller and safer but still predominantly maleThis year’s RideLondon was the fifth time the event that now bills itself as the world’s biggest weekend of cycling has taken place.And as has become a tradition, here are my first thoughts – typed in the press centre, still in my bike gear – about the 100-mile event. As ever, feel free to disagree/add your own observations below. Continue reading...

Turnbull says he will seek agreement of all Murray-Darling states for independent review into compliance with the basin planThe Turnbull government has announced an independent basin-wide review into compliance with the Murray-Darling basin plan, with a report to be produced by December.

Britain has joined France and India in trying to ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars, but some say Australia’s size makes the transition too difficultIt is only a matter of time until every Australian car is all-electric. But while other countries are speeding up the transition, with plans to ban petrol cars within a couple of decades, Australia is stuck debating even modest cuts to vehicle emissions, let alone policies to encourage zero-emissions cars.But as the UK, France, India and other countries move quickly towards getting all-petrol cars off the roads, could Australia’s fleet be caught up in the winds of change? Continue reading...

Details of this year’s Observer Ethical Awards categories

The ethical experts judging your nominations

Ethical living columnist and awards founder Lucy Siegle on the 11th Observer Ethical AwardsIn the 10 years since An Inconvenient Truth, the Observer Ethical Awards have highlighted that change is not only desirable but possible too. Now in our 11th year, we want you to help unearth the new crop of talent working to make a better world.Activists like to say that the real job is to prepare the world for huge change, but we’re celebrating some of the positive shifts: away from a fossil fuel economy to one powered by renewables; away from irresponsible design, like single-use plastics, to products that stand the test of time. Continue reading...

With mining of cobalt and other elements politically and ethically charged, the hunt for alternatives is onBritain last week joined France in pledging to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040 in an attempt to cut toxic vehicle emissions. The move to battery-powered vehicles has been a long time coming. Environmental campaigners claim that charging cars and vans from the grid, like a laptop, is sure to be cleaner than petrol or diesel power. The government agrees and says it will invest more than £800m in driverless and clean technology, and a further £246m in battery technology research.BMW plans to build a fully electric version of the Mini at Cowley in Oxford from 2019. Volvo announced earlier this month that from the same year, all its new models will have an electric motor. Continue reading...

Oxford economist Dieter Helm said that the agriculture industry enjoys benefits ‘nobody else in the economy gets’Tax breaks for farmers have caused a “subsidy addiction” and are used to avoid inheritance tax, a government adviser has claimed.Economist Dieter Helm, chair of the Natural Capital Committee, which advises the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), called for a review of the current taxation rules for farmers and said the agricultural sector received a disproportionate level of government support.

Windermere, Lake District There’s a bullfinch aboard the steamer, and intriguing creatures in the waterThe moment my hands catch the bird so I can free it from the ship’s capacious saloon, I become dizzy. As the Windermere steamer Swan reverses out from the pier at Bowness and manoeuvres around it feels to me as though it’s the lake dotted with sailing craft and leafy islands that is pirouetting, not the boat itself.The moment passes. My diminutive charge’s heart pumps in sync with the beat of the engines reverberating below decks. The steamer heads down England’s longest lake towards Lakeside near its southern end. Continue reading...

The hawk, which is usually prey for eagles, is in excellent health after being taken in, and now ‘thinks he’s a bald eagle’, according to one expertBiologists and bird watchers in Canada are closely monitoring a young red-tailed hawk that has – against all odds – been adopted into a nest full of bald eagles and is seemingly thriving after taking on eagle-like behaviour.The chick was first seen in the nest in British Columbia in early June, said biologists – possibly after one of the bald eagles raided a hawk’s nest to provide food for their young. Continue reading...

European Union’s top court orders an immediate halt to large-scale logging in the Unesco-listed ancient forestThe European Union’s top court has ordered Poland to immediately halt large-scale logging in an ancient protected forest, one of many cases that has pitted the nationalist, eurosceptic government in Warsaw against the bloc.The EU’s executive commission earlier this year sued Poland at the European court of justice (ECJ) over logging in the Białowieża forest, a Unesco World Heritage site. Continue reading...

A £26m refit of a power station beside Smithfield market has made E.ON’s Citigen the largest urban combined heat and power plant in the UKThe beautiful, listed facades of the Port of London Authority and the Central Cold Store, which once held animal carcasses from Smithfield market opposite, stand as a reminder of London’s industrial and commercial past.But behind these brick walls in the heart of London is a hidden power station that could resolve how the UK heats, cools and powers business of the future. Continue reading...

The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...

A swimming jaguar, a new species of frog, and a racoon are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

They are one of the harshest environments on the planet and also one of the most important in terms of carbon storage. New research hopes to reveal the role these threatened bogs could play in the climate change storyRandy Kolka hands me a fist-sized clump of brownish-black material pulled up by an auger from a bog. It’s the color and texture of moist chocolate cake. When I look closely I can see filaments of plant material. This hunk of peat, pulled from two meters (7ft) below the surface, is about 8,000 years old. I’m holding plants that lived and died before the Egyptians constructed the pyramids and before humans invented the wheel. In my hand is history. And carbon gold. Continue reading...

Army and police investigate unexplained incident in which scientists tasked with fighting deforestation and illegal mining in the Amazon diedInvestigation is underway into an unexplained plane crash in the Amazon that left four dead, including members of Brazil’s special environmental protection forces.

A summit in Bali last week sought new strategies to help small scale fishers access global markets in an effort to alleviate poverty and improve sustainability

Smaller farms may be squeezed out if farmers switch to vast, intensive facilities due to the pressures the industry faces from leaving the EU, say farmers and campaignersLeaving the EU is likely to lead to an increase in the number of megafarms dominating the British countryside, campaigners and farmers agree, with far-reaching effects for farms, consumers and those who live in the countryside.

US president’s resort wants to build second 18-hole links in Aberdeenshire but critics say it breaches sewage and pollution rulesThe Trump Organization faces a long battle with Scotland’s environment agencies after they objected to its plans to build a new golf course on the coast of Aberdeenshire.The agencies have told Donald Trump’s company its plans for a second 18-hole course at his Trump International Golf Links Scotland resort north of Aberdeen breach strict rules on sewage pollution, environmental protection and conserving groundwater. Continue reading...

Spin-off foundation aims to create an Eden on every continent except Antartica – and one at an M5 service stationOther Edens, inspired by the set of giant greenhouses on a derelict clay pit that have become the most successful tourist attraction in Cornwall, could soon sprout up in an English motorway service station, a Tasmanian warehouse, a Chinese docklands and among the giant sequoia trees of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the US.“We’re not in the business of building theme parks, we’re in the business of building hope, inspiration and leadership,” said Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the original Eden Project, launching Eden Project International, which aims to recreate not just the tourist bonanza but its environment consciousness-raising mission around the globe. Continue reading...

Chair of its board, mining magnate Brian Flannery, says it ‘regrets’ use of logo in ads pushing for approval of controversial Acland mine expansionA major Queensland hospital has abandoned its role in a campaign endorsing a new coal project that a court recommended for state government refusal after the proponent possibly breached air pollution limits.The Mater hospital on Friday confirmed it had pulled its logo from an advertising campaign that called for government approval of New Hope’s controversial mine expansion at Acland. Continue reading...

Couples splash out an average of £3,245 on food but end up throwing about £500-worth away Continue reading...

Paying people not to cut down trees works, evidence shows – so can we really afford not to do so?For years some environmentalists and economists have argued that you could pay people to keep their forests standing, maintaining carbon sources and habitat for threatened species. Yet, the idea – known as payments for ecosystem services or PES – has faced critics, who argued it wouldn’t live up to the hype. A new study in Science this week may make them think twice.“We needed better evidence about how well this approach worked in order to know if we should be scaling it up or rethinking it,” said Seema Jayachandran, lead author and development economist with Northwestern University. Continue reading...