Theresa May talks big but doesn’t deliver on cleaning up Britain’s polluted citiesTheresa May recognises that air pollution is one of the biggest threats faced by millions of citizens: last November, after a judge ordered the government to produce a plan to tackle an avoidable cause of up to 40,000 premature deaths, she told MPs: “Nobody in this house doubts the importance of the issue of air quality. We have taken action, there is more to do and we will do it.” Roll forward six months to last Friday, and, after a further court appearance and another ruling, a plan was finally produced. It came out almost without warning on the day when most media organisations were preoccupied with the aftermath of the local elections. In the previous week, some ideas had been trailed all of which seem to have been too radical for inclusion in the plan, at least for a government on an election footing.What emerged was a vacuous, flimsy ragbag of half-formed proposals that try to pass the buck to local government while denying it the powers councils need to act. ClientEarth, the group of environmental lawyers that brought the case, says the plan is barely worth the paper it is written on. They think it is actually weaker than the plan that was ruled inadequate in November. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called it “woeful”. Continue reading...

Cross-section of MPs urge £612m pension fund to show greater leadership and “take climate change seriously”A campaign calling on parliament’s £612m pension fund to divest from fossil fuels has won the backing of 50 MPs from across the UK’s main political parties.The Divest Parliament campaign has announced it has secured support from a cross-section of MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens, SNP, SDLP and Plaid Cymru, who are all urging the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) to show greater leadership on tackling climate change. Continue reading...

Two forest patrollers have been killed and four hospitalised in what is believed to be retaliatory action from illegal settlers in Sapo National ParkTwo forest rangers have been killed by a violent mob in a Liberian rainforest after discovering a community illegally settling and hunting in the park, according to authorities.Related: Another day, another dead wildlife ranger. Where is the outrage? | Sean Willmore Continue reading...

A daring Australian Museum expedition to Balls Pyramid near Lord Howe Island has succeeded in its search for the rare and elusive Lord Howe Island stick insect Continue reading...

Villagers express delight after entire beach that vanished in Achill Island storms in 1984 turns back sands of time

A new study finds that explaining the techniques of science denial makes people resistant to their effects

The tragic death of Mike Hall, hit by a car in an Australian road race, left a hole in the world of endurance cycling. Craig Cunningham is one of many he inspired to ride an audax and experience the thrill of these most extreme ridesOn 31 March I remember waking and looking at my phone to find an abundance of posts commemorating the life of cyclist Mike Hall. Hall was hit by a motorist in Australia and killed, just hours from completing the Indian Pacific Wheel Race which saw contestants ride across Australia unsupported, with the hardest riders pushing themselves for as much as 20 hours a day.These incredible achievements aren’t done for giant cheques or coloured jerseys – the tangible rewards are just byproducts of a more personal journey. Such motives didn’t become clear to me until I took the plunge. I only realised the true extent on completing the London Wales London (LWL) audax – a 400km ride with a 27-hour time limit, vicious climbs including Yat Rock. The name alone held gravitas, bringing to mind professional races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the legendary audax events of Paris-Brest-Paris. Continue reading...

Email mix-up blamed after historically significant plant samples incinerated by quarantine officialsAustralian biosecurity officials have destroyed historically significant plant samples from 19th-century France and damaged the reputation of Australian researchers, the head of the peak herbaria body has said.In two separate incidents, quarantine officials have incinerated specimens sent to Australian research facilities from overseas. Continue reading...

Zed Seselja says Turnbull government committed to climate change agreement, but if the US pulls out, it would put a question mark over the dealA leading government conservative has put a question mark over Australia’s continued participation in the Paris climate agreement in the event Donald Trump decides the United States will pull out.

Clarach, Ceredigion Some like the smell, others endure it. In my case, the scent of Allium ursinum makes me feel hungryMy route through the beech woods was chosen to avoid the worst of the cold northerly wind that was cutting across the valley. Though the majority of leaves were still to open, the trees broke up the breeze and let me slacken the pace I’d needed to keep warm.The acoustic of this woodland is softened by its deep, moist leaf litter; outside sounds are dramatically attenuated, letting you focus on the spring birdsong and the occasional creak of high branches stirring in the wind. Continue reading...

World Bank argues structured migration program would prevent forced migration in future generationsAustralia and New Zealand should allow open migration for citizens of Pacific nations threatened by climate change, to boost struggling island economies and prevent a later mass forced migration, a paper from the World Bank argues.The policy paper, Pacific Possible, suggests as one climate change adaptation measure, open access migration from Tuvalu and Kiribati – for work and permanent settlement – to Australia and New Zealand. Continue reading...

With the UK government ending subsidies for onshore wind and the Trump administration pushing for a return to coal, you might think the wind power revolution had run out of puff. Far from it. The cost of energy from offshore wind in Britain has fallen by a third since 2012, and wind accounts for over 40% of new capacity in the US, representing an annual investment of $13bn. Now next-generation wind technologies promise to make wind energy safer and more affordable – if they can make the difficult jump from research prototypes to commercial products Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 11 May 1917The bees are exceedingly busy amongst the flowers, the stocks and flowering currants perhaps getting most attention in the garden, but the gooseberry bushes and other blossoms on the fruit trees also prove attractive. Enjoying their feast of honey, these insects bustle from flower to flower, poking in their tongues and dusting their hairy heads and bodies with pollen; they comb it off with their legs until their “thighs” are thickly loaded with yellow, brown, or white lumps. The earth bees, many of them ruddy-haired, are the smallest but most numerous; they but lately emerged from pupal sleep, but are now filling their newly-excavated burrows in grass plot, path, or sunny bank with pollen food for their infant grubs which will shortly emerge from the eggs. They have various parasitical enemies, and it is amusing to see them enter the burrow, see that all is well within, back out and back in again, remaining then looking out from their doorway, alert and on guard.The round-bodied flower bees, many of them with long, hairy legs, are larger; they too, inhabit burrows which they excavate themselves. The biggest of all are the bumble-bees, some banded with brown and black, some with white, some with reddish tails, others warm brown all over, and the biggest and handsomest of all black, with big red tips to their ample abdomens. Often after a feast these bumble-bees are so lethargic that they halt to snooze on the flower heads, the stones, or, at the peril of their lives, on the public paths. If we touch them gently they raise an expostulating leg, one of the second pair, waving away the approaching finger. They do not sting readily; they are far too busy when really awake and too sleepy at other times to be troublesome, but it is well not to handle them roughly. Continue reading...

Clean air and low emission zones, one proposal in the government’s new air pollution plan, are already in place across Europe. Do they work?Following a high court order the government have launched their new clean air plan. One proposal is for clean air or low emission zones in many UK towns and cities aiming to reduce traffic pollution by restricting vehicles with weaker exhaust controls.There are over 200 zones across Europe, but do they work? Europe’s largest is in London. Before the scheme the capital had one of the oldest delivery fleets in the UK. This changed in the run-up to the implementation of the zone and exhaust particles decreased alongside busy roads in outer London. Continue reading...

As environmentalists turn to the courts to make the government clean up its act, we survey a week of victories for ClientEarth and its founder, James ThorntonIt has been a richly satisfying week for James Thornton, founder and chief executive of the environmental law group ClientEarth. On Tuesday the government admitted defeat in its lengthy battle with the firm over atmospheric pollution and pledged that it would publish its strategy to improve air quality in Britain – which it did on Friday.Ministers have, for the past decade, resolutely refused to acknowledge their obligations in dealing with a problem that is believed to be shortening the lives of thousands of people in the UK. Their change of mind, enforced by Thornton and his team of young lawyers, was a major, humiliating climbdown for our leaders and a significant victory for ClientEarth. Continue reading...

Busselton Ironman 70.3 reduced to a duathlon after about 100 swimmers brought to shoreDozens of swimmers at a triathlon in Western Australia’s south had to be removed from the water after a shark was spotted.Most of the individual competitors in the Ironman 70.3 in Busselton on Sunday had already completed their 1.9km swim when the shark was seen, but those who remained in the water were removed by Surf Life Saving WA and the beach was closed. Continue reading...

Microfibres in synthetic clothing are one of the biggest menaces when washing your clothes, says Lucy Siegle. A mesh laundry bag is the best solutionI almost yearn for the days when 80% of a garment’s ecological impact was down to the phosphates and optical brighteners in detergent. Oh, and climate emissions from the energy used to heat the water.Cleaning up all that was straightforward: turn the machine down to 30C and use an eco detergent. Continue reading...

US president prepares to undermine historic deal on climate changeTheresa May is facing calls from Britain’s leading environment and development groups to use her influence to persuade Donald Trump that the US must remain committed to the Paris climate change agreement.In a strongly worded letter, the heads of Oxfam, the RSPB, Greenpeace, WWF, Christian Aid, Cafod and other groups have called on the prime minister to “pick up the phone” to the US president to warn him of the consequences of leaving the Paris accord, something Trump pledged to do within 100 days of coming to power, a timeline that passed last week. Continue reading...

Ministers’ latest proposals, published on Friday after high court intervention, criticised by climate groups calling for stronger action on illegal pollution levelsEnvironment lawyers are expected to take the government back to court over its controversial plans to tackle the UK’s air pollution crisis. They say the proposals are so weak they flout ministers’ obligation to protect public health.The government published its plans to cut levels of diesel fumes, nitrogen oxides and particulates in the atmosphere on Friday – after being forced by judges to act on the crisis. Medical experts say toxic air is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths every year. Continue reading...

Nashville and Blackburnian warblers among birds of more than 20 species that hit American National Building, possibly after mistaking lights for moon or sunNearly 400 migratory birds of brilliant plumage were killed when they smashed into an office tower in Texas while flying in a storm, officials said on Friday.

Feeding the gulls in this part of East Devon can now bring a hefty financial penalty. Will it stop the problem?Perry King takes a break from cleaning windows in the seaside resort of Sidmouth. “Some of the seagulls do look fat,” he muses. “You look at them and think, that’s a chip bird.”In this part of East Devon, however, the days of seagulls surviving on a diet of chips, doughnuts, ice-cream and pasties may be coming to an end. Last week the district council became the first in the country to attempt to control the birds’ fondness for junk food through financial sanction. Anyone found deliberately feeding the seagulls in five Devon seaside towns can now be fined £80 under a public spaces protection order. Continue reading...

The prospect of departure from the EU has thrown several key power projects – from emissions trading and undersea cables to nuclear research – into questionThe Brexit spotlight swung last week away from the familiar cast of bankers quitting the City and coffee-shop chains worried about recruiting staff to the fate of the energy industry tasked with powering the economy when the UK leaves the EU.The loudest warnings came from MPs, peers, engineers and the industry itself over the impact that blocks to trade or freedom of movement would have on the nuclear and oil sectors. Continue reading...

The world’s rapid population rise risks turning Africa into one giant farm with no room for wildlife. We need to think again, says the head of UN Environment

River Teifi, Cardigan They plunged into the water to emerge with twigs, which they threw in the air and caught like childrenAbove Pont y Cleifion, tidal reaches of the river Teifi run wide between banks of feathery, blond phragmites. White mist clung to the water as I walked along the southern bank, the sky an unsullied blue. Upriver the sun rose through thinning vapours. Gilded streamers followed the draining tide as it swirled through whirlpools under the bridge. The morning world glistened.

Penalising UK drivers in the heat of an election campaign promises a political car crash, so the government has hit the brakes and slammed clean air policy into reverseFor seven years, people in Britain have been forced to hold their breath and wait for a comprehensive plan to tackle the nation’s toxic air crisis. After a series of humiliating defeats in the courts, Friday’s government plan was meant to finally deliver.But instead ministers hit the brakes and slammed the policy into reverse – the farcical new strategy has even less detail than the one already ruled illegal. What was the impassable roadblock in the way of finally starting to cut the 23,000 early deaths diesel pollution causes every year? Nothing but pure political expediency. Continue reading...

The idea of towing an iceberg from Antarctica to the UAE sounds fantastical, but might not be entirely beyond the realms of plausibilityWho is doing what?

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...

Lawyers who forced ministers to deliver new proposals to tackle toxic air crisis say government is not taking responsibility for public health emergencyThe government’s new plan to tackle the UK’s toxic air crisis is “much weaker than hoped for”, according to the environmental lawyers that forced ministers to deliver the proposals.James Thornton, chief executive of ClientEarth, said the government was “passing the buck” to local authorities and said he failed to see how the central proposal – clean air zones for urban areas – would be effective without charges to deter the most polluting vehicles. Continue reading...

An albino orangutan, a wolverine and an oleander hawk moth are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Water company advises customers to cut back on use now to avoid restrictions laterHouseholds in southern England are being urged to save water after the driest winter period in 20 years.The driest October to March since 1995-96 has been followed by less than half the average rainfall for April, creating challenging conditions for farmers. The south-east has been worst affected and one water company has advised its customers to take action now to prevent restrictions being imposed later this year. Continue reading...

A new report breaks down climate impacts on health by US region

The Nicobar pigeon, which is native to islands in Indian and Pacific oceans, was found by Indigenous rangers near BroomeA rainbow-coloured pigeon native to islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans has been found on the Australian mainland for the first time, by Indigenous rangers working near Broome.The Nicobar pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, the closest living relative to the dodo, is named for India’s Nicobar Islands, more than 4,000km north of Broome. Continue reading...

Trump’s climate plans have sparked anger and upset – but businesses are finding alternative solutions. Oliver Milman runs down today’s top climate innovationsPeople in the US and beyond concerned about climate change may be alarmed at the Trump administration’s policies and attitudes – but there are plenty of businesses and innovators doing work at various scales.From solar to fake meat and low-carbon concrete, Oliver Milman explores some of the best examples of climate change-tackling innovations and innovators. Continue reading...

The announcement that new megacity Xiongan will be built near Beijing is the latest attempt to take pressure off China’s biggest metropolises. Can it work?Wu Shuhua sells flowers from the back of her bicycle in the pleasant, tree-lined streets of Shanghai’s Xuhui district. Originally from a village in neighbouring Jiangsu province, Wu came to the wealthy eastern city for its abundant economic opportunities.But it isn’t easy to make it big in Shanghai without education or connections. There are many flower sellers in the city – two other regulars work the same street – and most days Wu positions her bike on a strategic corner and waits patiently for customers. Continue reading...

Rothiemurchus, Strathspey Rustlings and flittings amid the calls hint at the rich biodiversity of the moor and pine forestTo me, at least, the Highlands dishes up its treats in small portions. On the first morning I stepped out of the lodge and heard the clucking undulations of a springtime black grouse somewhere to the south-east. I followed the noise but didn’t see him.Instead the sparse pine forest offered up a bright pair of crossbills. Their “fools’ colours” – him in red, her in green – were crisp in the early light. Continue reading...

Chairman Peter Coates says company’s plan is ‘consistent with good value’, but experts call it ‘a breathtaking failure to come to grips with a world in transition’The oil and gas company Santos has admitted its business plans are based on a climate change scenario of a 4C rise n global temperatures, at odds with internationally agreed efforts.Its chairman, Peter Coates, made the comments at an AGM in Adelaide on Thursday, telling shareholders it was “sensible” and “consistent with good value”. Continue reading...

As CO2 levels rise, controversial techniques including carbon capture and storage, enhanced weathering and reforestation may be solutionsIn the 2015 Paris climate agreement, 195 nations committed to limit global warming to two degrees above pre-industrial levels. But some, like Eelco Rohling, professor of ocean and climate change at the Australian National University’s research school of earth sciences, now argue that this target cannot be achieved unless ways to remove huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are found, and emissions are slashed.

Class action on behalf of asthma suffers may still go ahead over repeated failure to tackle illegal levels of nitrogen dioxideLawyers are taking a class action against the government over its repeated failures to clean up illegal levels of air pollution, the Guardian can reveal, as ministers publish a long-awaited plan to reduce diesel emissions.The unprecedented legal challenge on behalf of asthma sufferers could see ministers paying out significant compensation for allowing the nation’s air to exceed legal limits for so long. Continue reading...

Challenged by climate change, our most secretive butterfly could soon be getting a helping hand if a new campaign takes offRecent very butterfly-unfriendly icy winds remind me of an insect that endures horrendous weather every summer. The mountain ringlet is our only montane butterfly, meaning that you have to climb a mountain – or at least 400 metres up a Lake District fell – to see it.Some mountain ringlet caterpillars may live for two years so slowly do they grow, chewing grass in the most capricious British conditions, while the butterfly itself only survives for a few days in June and July. Continue reading...

Survey shows 41% of people support bank’s decision to rule out funding Adani’s Queensland mine, with only 14% against, as the resources minister vows to switch banks

Arrival of a female wolf, that trekked 500km from Germany, means the pack could have cubs by springA wolf pack is roaming wild in Denmark for the first time in more than 200 years after a young female wolf journeyed 500km from Germany.Male wolves have been seen in Denmark since 2012 and the new female could produce cubs this spring in farmland in west Jutland after two wolves were filmed together last autumn. Continue reading...

Ecologist and conservationist who helped save the threatened grey partridgeDick Potts, who has died aged 77, did more to bridge the gap between conservationists, farmers and the game shooting fraternity than any other figure. He combined his training as a scientist, his background as a farmer’s son and his passion for birds to help save the threatened grey partridge.From small beginnings in a Portakabin on a farm in West Sussex in 1968, Dick developed a long-term study into the ecology of the partridge, one of Britain’s most distinctive farmland birds. Even then, numbers of this attractive gamebird were beginning to fall and Dick was charged with finding out why. Continue reading...

Dozens of flights are reported cancelled and residents urged to stay indoors to avoid breathing in dangerous particlesA putrid, nicotine-shaded mist loomed over Beijing on Thursday after a massive sandstorm slammed into the Chinese capital bringing the latest “airpocalypse” to this smog-choked city.Dozens of flights were reportedly cancelled at Beijing’s airport, the world’s second busiest, and authorities urged residents to stay indoors after levels of PM10, a tiny inhalable particle linked to a variety of lung complaints, soared to above 2,000 micrograms per cubic metre. Continue reading...

Sunderland plant to produce new and recycled batteries from electric cars to serve as home energy storage unitsBatteries that have powered electric cars around the UK will get a second life providing energy storage for households, with the launch this week of a British-made home battery to rival the one made by Elon Musk’s Tesla.The cells will be made by the Japanese car-maker Nissan in Sunderland, where its popular Leaf electric car is built, and sold in partnership with the US power firm Eaton. Buyers will be able to choose cheaper, used batteries that are no longer fit for electric car use, or pricier new ones. Continue reading...

Thin film technology is touted as a gamechanger for the solar panel market, but it’s not without drawbacksSpray on, printable and other new thin film technology looks set to provide a major boost to the global solar market.Currently being developed by researchers and a small number of companies, the new film materials offer the potential of lighter and cheaper manufacturing. Continue reading...

After Trump’s revival of the Keystone XL pipeline project, some communities along its route are getting ready to fight back. Others see the US president keeping his promise to ‘make America great again’. The Guardian drove along the proposed route of the pipeline, through three red states – Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska – to hear what those who will be affected have to say about it

The Jali Ardhi, or ‘care for the land’ project, studies the impact of soil erosion on Maasai communities and their grazing lands. Photojournalist Carey Marks captures the changing landscape, its people – and the challenges they face

Part three: The Guardian’s pipeline road trip ends in Nebraska, where Trump has sold the project as a creator of ‘a lot of jobs’, but facts don’t support his claimsWords by Oliver Laughland, photos and video by Laurence Mathieu-Léger, graphics by Monica Ulmanu“Nebraska is the last hope for stopping this,” says Art Tanderup, sitting on the lawn close to the solar panels that provide most of the energy to his farm. Spring comes a little earlier here than in South Dakota and Montana. The 2ft deep snow drifts that had blanketed the farmland melted a month ago, revealing acres of harvested corn stubble that is now being readied for replanting.Related: Support the Guardian's climate change reporting: make a contribution now Continue reading...

Wolsingham, Weardale We were about to give up when we spotted the first morel, its convoluted, toffee-coloured, cap not much larger than a golf ballEvery winter this gently sloping bank on the outside of a bend in the Wear is swept clean by flood water. When spring arrives buried plant life reasserts itself through layers of sandy silt deposited when the river has swirled through the alders.First the snowdrops spear through the surface. Last time we passed this way yellow star of Bethlehem flowers had appeared among emerging wild garlic leaves. On this day, less than a month later, the vegetation was a waist-high mosaic of butterbur, sweet cicely, ground elder and cranesbill leaves. Continue reading...