The name of my friend, Margaret Bowdery, who has died aged 83, will be forever linked with the public footpaths of east Berkshire.When she moved to Maidenhead in 1964 the paths were in a dire state. An officer from the former Berkshire county council told her that they were not needed and should not be maintained. Margaret was indignant and swiftly called a public meeting to form the East Berkshire Ramblers’ Group, with herself as footpath secretary. Continue reading...

Accused has ‘no memory’ of shotgun killings in Spanish olive groveTwo forest rangers have been shot dead in the Spanish region of Catalonia after approaching a hunter reportedly carrying an unlicensed shotgun.The rangers, who worked for the region’s agriculture department, were on a routine mission on Saturday when they met a hunter in an olive grove and asked to see his firearms licence, according to Roger Cole, from the International Rangers Federation. Continue reading...

Campaigners hoped case would pave way for lawsuits to be brought against corporations for actions abroadThe high court has ruled that tens of thousands of Nigerians affected by oil pollution cannot proceed with a legal challenge in the UK against Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary.The ruling is a blow for campaigners who called the ruling an “outrage”. They had hoped the case would set an important precedent on jurisdiction, paving the way for other cases to be brought against UK-based corporations for their actions abroad. Continue reading...

Jenny Hockey, 70, and Freda Brayshaw, 72, say they are relieved but angry after prosecutors drop public order chargesTwo pensioners who were arrested after a standoff with police over the controversial chopping down of trees in Sheffield have said they feel “relief, grief and anger” after prosecutors dropped the case against them.Jenny Hockey, a 70-year-old retired university professor, and Freda Brayshaw, a 72-year-old retired teacher, were held for eight hours in police cells following a dawn raid on their quiet residential street in November. Continue reading...

A campaign by locals and farming businesses to halt a large opencast mine highlights a far wider conflict over South Africa’s continued addiction to coalOn the horizon are the mountains, verdant rainforest on their well-watered, shaded southern slopes and arid scrub on the dry reverse slopes. Then there is the plain, studded with baobab trees and outcrops. Finally there is the river Limpopo. Beyond is another country: troubled, restive Zimbabwe.But here in the far north-east of South Africa, there is tension, too. In the Soutpansberg range and on the flat lands beyond, an improbable coalition of local farmers, villagers, big agricultural businessmen and activists are fighting to halt the development of a large opencast mine which, they say, would cause massive harm to the region. Continue reading...

Sandy, Bedfordshire Nothing seemed to have changed here in months. The stubble of skeleton stems appeared not so much dormant as deadOn one side of a straight farm track, winter held about 2.5m plants in a state of suspense. The land had been tilled and drilled in November, and vestigial warmth in the soil had tempted the first narrow leaves to rise 10cm high in a matter of days. Two months – and numerous visits– later, there was still a green baize, but the leaves stood no taller.My Scots-Irish ancestor was a coulter, a maker of plough blades. He might have marvelled at the idea of winter wheat. Here was a crop that sprouted in autumn, then needed months in the outdoor fridge to trigger further growth. And it would have its heads up even before spring arrived. I had paced out the length and breadth of this field to estimate this colossal number of plants. Surely here was a miracle – a plant that could grow, slow, then throw out ears of corn under the warming sun of spring? Continue reading...

OLED pioneer Andrew Holmes says science and technology are ‘just as important cultures as the arts’An Australian chemist who stumbled across a light-emitting plastic that could revolutionise solar technology and create printable football-field-sized televisions, says his appointment as a companion of the Order of Australia should be seen as an award for all Australian scientists.Andrew Holmes is a professor at the Bio21 Institute and the University of Melbourne, and president of the Australian Academy of Sciences. Continue reading...

Wilderness Society has funds to launch SkyScout craft in Queensland and NSW – and wants a third for Western AustraliaConservationists are raising funds to launch a drone program across three Australian states, aiming to catch farmers conducting broadscale clearing and to share the images with the world. Continue reading...

Rupture of 138,600 gallons is ‘not a major disaster’ but environmental advocates say it highlights their fears about the Keystone XL and Dakota Access projectsJust a day after Donald Trump signed executive orders to revive the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects, a pipeline rupture spilled 138,600 gallons of diesel fuel in northern Iowa.Magellan Midstream Partners, an Oklahoma company with more than 10,000 miles of oil and ammonium pipeline, acknowledged that the spill began Wednesday morning in Worth County, Iowa, and said it was “unsure of the cause of the incident at this time”. Continue reading...

Square Mile teams up with Network Rail, coffee chains and employers in effort to prevent 5m cups a year ending up in landfillA scheme to boost disposable coffee cup recycling has been launched in the City of London in an attempt to prevent 5m cups a year from the Square Mile ending up in landfill.The City of London Corporation, in conjunction with Network Rail, coffee chains and some employers, are introducing dedicated coffee cup recycling facilities in offices, shops and streets. Continue reading...

Review extended to content on agency’s website, including details of scientific evidence of climate change and that manmade carbon emissions are to blameThe Trump administration is mandating that any studies or data from scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.The communications director for Donald Trump’s transition team at the EPA, Doug Ericksen, said on Wednesday the review also extends to content on the federal agency’s website, including details of scientific evidence showing that the Earth’s climate is warming and manmade carbon emissions are to blame. Continue reading...

Proposal for 800-space car park approved after four-hour meeting, but plans face fierce opposition from residents and opposition councillorsA proposal to create a park-and-ride site on water meadows on the edge of Bath has been backed by the city’s Conservative cabinet despite claims that the project would put its world heritage status at risk.Related: Bath park and ride project will ruin historic landscape, say critics Continue reading...

A day after three climate-related tweets sent out by Badlands National Park were deleted, other park accounts have sent out tweets that appear to defy TrumpThe National Park Service employees’ Twitter campaign against Donald Trump spread to other parks on Wednesday, with tweets on climate change and a reminder that Japanese Americans were forcibly interned in camps and parks during the second world war.A day after three climate-related tweets sent out by Badlands National Park were deleted, other park accounts have sent out tweets that appear to defy Trump. One, by Redwood national park in California, notes that redwood groves are nature’s number one carbon sink, which capture greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Continue reading...

Greenpeace activists scale a crane in Washington on Wednesday and unveil a banner which reads ‘Resist’. The protest comes a day after president Donald Trump signed executive orders to allow the construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines

We cannot pollute our way to prosperity. If President Trump doesn’t own up to that, he will face a backlashFor those who still insist fossil fuels are the future, the Trump administration represents a new day for some old ideas. In an early sign of things to come, the president showed his faith in big oil when he signed documents Tuesday pressuring federal agencies to support construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. Each of these projects faced enormous protests and was put on hold by the Obama administration because of legitimate environmental and due process concerns.Congressional Republicans frequently howled at far less heavy-handed exercises of executive power under the previous administration. Today, they applaud Trump’s move on the mistaken premise that these pipelines are good investments. Not only will these projects not create long-lasting jobs – as CNBC, not exactly an anti-corporate mouthpiece, has noted: “Pipelines do not require much labor to operate in the long term” – they will further delay the inevitable transition to clean, renewable energy our economy needs and the American people demand.

Company predicts 100-fold rise in number of electric cars, but says fossil fuels will still account for 75% of energy mix in 2035Global demand for oil will still be growing in 2035 even with an enormous growth in electric cars in the next two decades, with numbers on the road rising from 1m to 100m, BP has predicted.The oil and gas giant predicted that despite electric cars spreading rapidly and renewable energy recording exceptional growth, oil demand would still rise because of rising prosperity in the developing world. BP said electric cars would not be a “gamechanger” for the oil industry.

Luxury group Kering says snakes will be raised in the ‘best conditions’ before they are turned into shoes, bags and beltsFrom Balenciaga’s £845-a-pair high-top black python trainers for men to a full-length trenchcoat sported by Rihanna, snakeskin – or python in particular – is having something of a fashion moment.Demand for the luxury patterned leather is riding so high that Kering – the company behind big brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen – has built its own python farm. Continue reading...

In today’s pass notes: the Twitter feed of the South Dakota park defied the Trump administration by posting facts about global warming. Was it an ex-employee or a rogue one?Name: Badlands national park.Location: South Dakota, United States. Continue reading...

Ordered indoors after flu outbreaks, hens are in danger of losing free range status if not allowed outside by end of FebruaryUK egg producers have warned that the future of the premium free range sector is at risk should the eggs lose their prized status because of the ongoing threat of bird flu.Flocks of free range hens are being housed indoors because of the bird flu outbreak and if they are unable to go back outside by the end of February the eggs will be downgraded to “barn produced”, the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has said. Continue reading...

Donald Trump’s revival of the Dakota Access pipeline is a stunning twist of fate, but the tribe and its supporters say now is the time to show strength

Europe and northern hemisphere are warming at faster pace than the global average and ‘multiple climatic hazards’ are expected, says studyEurope’s Atlantic-facing countries will suffer heavier rainfalls, greater flood risk, more severe storm damage and an increase in “multiple climatic hazards”, according to the most comprehensive study of Europe’s vulnerability to climate change yet.Temperatures in mountain ranges such as the Alps and the Pyrenees are predicted to soar to glacier-melting levels, while the Mediterranean faces a “drastic” increase in heat extremes, droughts, crop failure and forest fires. Continue reading...

Administration put de facto gag order on EPA and agriculture department staff, following similar guidance for USDA and Department of Transportation, reports say

Wenlock Edge The weather has carded the bits of sheep wool into swags and the mizzle fills them full of treasureWisps of sheep’s fleece snagged on barbed wire are full of pearls and crystal. The wool has lost its mattress-stuffing quality and, now wet, its lanolin makes the moisture from drizzle and damp stand out in droplets. These gleam with what little light is left, giving the fleece effulgence, as if it were a living substance like fungal threads or root hairs feeding on the fog.

Limited edition Head & Shoulders bottle to go on sale in France represents tiny proportion of global salesBeaches strewn with plastic waste have become a graphic illustration of just how much plastic we use in everything from food packaging to cosmetics, and how much of it gets thrown away.Consumer goods giant P&G has become the latest company to attempt to show it is tackling the problem, announcing plans for a limited run of Head & Shoulders shampoo in bottles made partly from plastic waste collected by volunteers on France’s beaches. Continue reading...

Company says it’s cheaper to pay the penalty, but the move is branded as ‘undermining of the objectives’ of the renewable energy targetThe Clean Energy Regulator has castigated a major electricity company for choosing to pay a $123m penalty rather than build or contract new wind or solar power.It said the move was “hugely disappointing” and customers would rightly be outraged to know the company wasn’t using money collected for investing in renewables in the proper way. Continue reading...

A female Nile hippo calf – born early and so underweight that it cannot feed by itself – receives critical care from staff at Cincinnati Zoo Continue reading...

Some birds have died and remaining animals at farm in Preston would be humanely culled after outbreaks of H5N8 strain, says DefraBird flu has been found in a flock of farmed pheasants in Lancashire, the UK’s chief veterinary officer has confirmed.Some of the birds at the farm in Preston had already died and the remaining live animals would be humanely culled after the discovery of the H5N8 strain, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a statement. Continue reading...

Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders Tuesday that will allow construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines to move forward. Both projects had been blocked by Barack Obama due in part to environmental concerns, but Trump hailed the thousands of construction jobs that he said would be created. He also signed an order ensuring the pipes themselves would be made within the US

SNP unveils plan encouraging motorists, homeowners and businesses to use low- or zero-carbon sources for half their energyThe Scottish government has taken the first steps to heavily cutting the country’s reliance on North Sea oil and gas after calling for 50% of Scotland’s entire energy needs to come from renewables.In a subtle but significant shift of emphasis for the Scottish National party after decades championing North Sea production, ministers unveiled a new energy strategy intended to push motorists, homeowners and businesses into using low- or zero-carbon green energy sources for half their energy needs by 2030. Continue reading...

Both projects were opposed by grassroots groups, mired in court battles and produced high-profile clashes between environmentalists and energy interestsBoth the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects – revived by Donald Trump by executive order on Tuesday – ran up against grassroots opposition fortified by support from the Barack Obama administration. The Keystone XL project was rejected by the president himself in November 2015 after the state department concluded that the pipeline promised no major benefit for energy security or pricing.Related: Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines to be revived by Trump administration Continue reading...

Contrary to all evidence, the new US president will ignore climate change science and proceed with aggressive pro-oil and gas policies

Native American and climate change activists condemn president for ‘pledging allegiance to oil companies and Wall Street’ after signing of executive ordersDonald Trump was sharply criticised by Native Americans and climate change activists on Tuesday after he signed executive orders to allow construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.Both pipe projects had been blocked by Barack Obama’s administration, partly because of environmental concerns. But Trump has questioned the science of climate change and campaigned on a promise to expand energy infrastructure and create jobs. Continue reading...

Decision on Fessenheim plant comes after pressure from Berlin and need to comply with legal cap on atomic energy generationEDF has voted to begin the process of closing France’s oldest nuclear power station after pressure from Germany and a law capping the country’s reliance on atomic power.The French energy firm’s board approved plans on Tuesday to close the 39-year old Fessenheim plant in north-east France, near the German border, allaying fears that the company, which is 85%-state owned, would drag its heels until President François Hollande left office later this year. Continue reading...

Scientists announce expedition to test theory that Nepalese earthquake took an inch off the world’s highest mountainAnyone who aspires to climb Mount Everest might already be one inch closer to their goal.

Motorists told to take extra care, flights are disrupted across south and air quality plunges in cities from London to BelfastThe ongoing cold, still weather is expected to send pollution levels soaring in London as freezing fog brings more disruption at airports and on the roads across the south of England.Related: How have you been affected by fog and frost in the UK? Continue reading...

At first glance the quiet town of Live Oak seems an unlikely venue for a stand against Big Energy. But in recent weeks it’s become a centre of oppositionA north Florida river that attracted the state’s first tourists a century before Walt Disney’s famous cartoon mouse is emerging at the centre of a fight against a contentious 515-mile natural gas pipeline that many are calling America’s next Standing Rock.One section of the so-called Sabal Trail pipeline is being laid beneath the crystal waters of the Suwannee river, whose pure mineral springs were once fabled to cure anything from marital strife to gout. Continue reading...

Campaigners threaten to stage biggest-ever protest over meadows development and urge UN heritage committee to intervenePlans for a major development on water meadows on the edge of Bath will ruin one of the city’s most historic and beloved landscapes and could put at risk its world heritage status, protesters claim.The city’s Conservative-led cabinet will meet on Wednesday to discuss a new park and ride scheme and is expected to back one of two sites on Bathampton Meadows to the east of the city. Continue reading...

In our current “post-truth” climate, inoculation may provide the key to making facts matter againIt’s fitting that as Donald Trump continues to flirt with anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, inoculation may provide the key to effectively debunking this sort of misinformation.That’s the finding of a new study published in Global Challenges by Sander van der Linden, Anthony Leiserowitz, Seth Rosenthal, and Edward Maibach. The paper tested what’s known as “inoculation theory,” explained in the video below by John Cook, who’s also published research on the subject. The video is a lecture from the Denial101x free online course, which itself is structured based on inoculation theory:

Writer and professor, Ashley Dawson, argues in his new book that capitalism is behind our current mass extinction crisis. But installing universal guaranteed income in biodiversity hotspots may be one remedy.

Climate change is not a controversial subject – the facts are established, whatever the Mail says. That’s why Charles helped write a Ladybird book about itLadybird books will this week publish a new title on climate change. Co-authored by the Prince of Wales, the polar scientist Emily Shuckburgh and myself, the book is intended as a plain English guide to the subject for an adult readership. Short, peer-reviewed text sits alongside beautiful new paintings by Ruth Palmer to illustrate the basic briefing.It has already been greeted in some quarters as another controversial intervention by our future king. But while it’s easy to fall behind that line of thinking, it is an increasingly mistaken one. For despite the impression created in some quarters, the truth is that climate change is not controversial. The basic facts are established and increasingly embedded in policy.

Tyne Green, Hexham: Through binoculars, it feels as if I’m watching a wildlife documentary in this country park, minutes from townThe sun comes out as I near Tyne Green, saturating everything in olive-gold light; the trees on the bank, the arches under Hexham Bridge, the billowing plumes of steam from the chipboard factory. As I slow down, I become aware of Sunday morning sounds. Bells are being rung in the abbey on the hill. A women’s eight slices upriver with a rhythmical dipping of oars. Chattering mallards are grouped hopefully by the waterside steps. A double note from a train, traffic on the dual carriageway, the muffled flow of the weir.Minutes from town, this linear park is busy with dog walkers, runners and golfers thwacking balls among undulating grassy tumps. On the river alongside, parallel lives are lived on the safety of the water or within its thick fringe of willows. A goosander scratches its cheek with an orange-red foot, before taking off, straight as an arrow to skim the surface. A cormorant holds its head up, watchful as a cobra. A shaggily white-chested heron stands motionless by a the calm of an inlet.

The proposition that new coal plants could be an effective solution to Australia’s energy needs should be treated with scepticismAre we going to renew Australia’s coal-fired electricity generators? It doesn’t seem likely. Here’s why.

Monash University’s Sustainable Development Institute aims to ensure water access for urban poorAn Australian project that aims to revolutionise water delivery and sanitation in urban slums has been awarded $27m in funding.Prof Rebekah Brown, the director of the Sustainable Development Institute at Melbourne’s Monash University, has been awarded a $14m research grant by the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health awards in the UK. A further $13m from the Asian Development Bank would cover infrastructure and construction costs. Continue reading...

Environment minister says RET adds $63 a year to household power bills but is a ‘far cry from the 50% target Bill Shorten is proposing’The Turnbull government has “no plans” to change the Renewable Energy Target, environment minister Josh Frydenberg has said in response to reports conservative Coalition MPs want the target dropped.In an interview on Radio National Frydenberg said the RET was “balanced” but “not cost free” – warning it added $63 a year to household power bills and attacking Labor for its 50% target on renewables. Continue reading...

Incident raises questions about how Trump’s administration would the country’s largest Superfund site from leaking its poisonous mix into other watersAt least 3,000 geese were killed by a toxic stew formed by a former copper mine in Butte, Montana, this weekend, raising questions about how the new Trump administration will handle the largest Superfund site in the country.Over the weekend, a large flock of geese making a late migration over Montana was blown off course by a snowstorm, which sent the birds toward the abandoned copper mine. They splashed down into the 50bn-gallon pool, polluted heavily by acidic chemicals and metals, and died en masse. Continue reading...

PM pledges extra support for life sciences and other sectors but unions say plans could be ‘hobbled’ outside single marketTrade unions, MPs and business leaders have questioned whether the government’s new industrial strategy will succeed if Britain leaves the single market in Europe, despite Theresa May pledging that it will create a platform for businesses to grow after Brexit.The industrial strategy, unveiled in Warrington, Cheshire, shows the prime minister is prepared to take a more interventionist approach in British industry than previous governments. Continue reading...

Camden, City of London, and Westminster hit 10 out of 10 on index, while pollution levels across UK also peakedLondon has been put on “very high” alert as cold and still weather, traffic, and a peak in the use of wood-burning stoves combined to send air pollution soaring in the capital and across swaths of the UK.

We asked the world’s climate leaders for their messages to Trump ahead of his inauguration as the 45th US presidentTo fulfil his campaign slogan of “make America great again”, Donald Trump must back the boom in green technology – that was the message from the leading climate figures ahead of his inauguration as president on Friday.Unleashing US innovation on the trillion-dollar clean technology market will create good US jobs, stimulate its economy, maintain the US’s political leadership around the globe and, not least, make the world a safer place by tackling climate change, the experts told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Readers have asked how to get involved after the Guardian’s 24-hour digital event last week. Opportunites abound to make a difference, from setting up an online petition, to joining a local green group, to entering politicsThe planet is getting hotter, leaving people hungry and fuelling wars around the world and you want to do something about it. But with a green movement to cater for every age, location, and type of plastic recycling, how do you turn your enthusiasm into action?We talked to campaigners and politicians to glean their top tips for getting started as a climate activist. Continue reading...

Denial and “alternative facts” haven’t stopped the Earth from warming to record-shattering levelsAccording to Nasa, in 2016 the Earth’s surface temperature shattered the previous record for hottest year by 0.12°C. That record was set in 2015, which broke the previous record by 0.13°C. That record had been set in 2014, beating out 2010, which in turn had broken the previous record set in 2005.If you think that seems like a lot of record-breaking hot years, you’re right. The streak of three consecutive record hot years is unprecedented since measurements began in 1880. In the 35 years between 1945 and 1979, there were no record-breakers. In the 37 years since 1980, there have been 12. The video below illustrates all of the record-breaking years in the Nasa global surface temperature record since 1880. Continue reading...