The Meadows, Chester The brightest colours drew my novice eyes: a vivid yellow ladybird, a tiny blue weevil and the polished emerald of a dock beetleA gentle breeze shimmers through the grass and the babble of the breeding season surrounds me. This patch of water meadows, just across the river Dee from the city centre, invites us to take things easy. But last time I visited I was carrying a petrol-powered leaf blower, helping Julie Rose of the Friends of the Meadows users group and entomologist Clive Washington with their beetle biodiversity survey.

Terry Selwood was hurt when 2.7-metre shark, which weighed 200kg, leapt into his boat near Evans HeadA fisherman who watched a 2.7-metre great white shark land in his boat has downplayed the experience, calling it “just a mundane thing”.Terry Selwood, 73, was caught by surprise while fishing off Evans Head, on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday afternoon when the shark launched itself into his 4.5-metre boat. Continue reading...

Surveys taken throughout 2016 show escalating impact from north to south, with 70% of shallow water corals dead north of Port DouglasCoral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef last year was even worse than expected, while the full impact of the most recent event is yet to be determined.Queensland government officials say aerial and in-water surveys taken throughout 2016 had confirmed an escalating impact from north to south. Continue reading...

Originally published on 29 May 1967KESWICK: There is quite a lot of hardwood tree felling going on round here at present, not in State-owned woods but on private land. There are few sights more distressing to the senses (and sometimes the common sense) than a felled woodland, especially when most of the replanting (if any is done at all) will probably be of coniferous trees to replace these lovely oaks, beeches, and sycamores. I visited one such ravaged wood last night towards dusk in ignorance of its fate and found trees down, small fires burning, and a great quiet.Related: Rebirth of a native woodland Continue reading...

Thailand experiences the heaviest rainfall in a decade while in Russia, a prolonged dry spell results in devastating wildfiresThe city of Bangkok has been inundated after a massive low pressure system encompassing North, Central and East Thailand produced heavy rainfall and widespread flooding last Thursday morning.The district of Wang Thong Lang was hit the hardest with 169mm of rain, making it the heaviest rainfall event in the province over the last decade, while 90-130mm of rain fell across the city on average. Twenty three major roads, including Lat Phrao and Ratchada, were under more than 20cm of water, causing rush hour chaos. Continue reading...

Almost a century of lead mining and smelting has poisoned generations of children in the Copperbelt town of Kabwe in Zambia

Solarcentury turns to Europe and Latin America as it transforms into an international firm to maintain growth hit by green cuts in home marketBritain’s biggest solar power company has shrugged off the cloud of drastic UK subsidy cuts by reinventing itself as an international firm with more than £3bn of projects planned.More than 12,000 solar jobs were lost in the industry after the government slashed support in 2015, but Solarcentury has survived by turning outward to target markets in Latin America and Europe. Continue reading...

Report says Trump has told confidants he will pull US out of agreement but defense secretary Mattis says ‘president is wide open on this issue’Donald Trump’s intentions regarding US participation in the Paris climate deal remained unknown on Sunday, as one report cited “confidants” saying the president had made up his mind to pull out while a senior cabinet figure said he was “quite certain the president is wide open on this issue”.Related: Donald Trump will make 'final decision' on Paris climate deal next week Continue reading...

Green campaigners warn Conservative efforts to undermine energy targets will lead to weaker climate policies after BrexitThe UK is lobbying Europe to water down a key energy-saving target despite the fact it will not take effect until after Brexit, according to leaked documents that sparked warnings that energy bills could rise and jobs put at risk.On the day Theresa May triggered article 50, government officials asked the European commission to weaken or drop elements of its flagship energy efficiency law. Continue reading...

Solar power is soaring, wind goes from strength to strength. Look for a mighty surge in renewables over the next few yearsOne day in late March, during a sunny weekend, something spectacular happened. Solar power broke a new record. The demand for daytime electricity in UK homes fell to night times levels – thanks to solar panels in roofs and fields. Thanks to the sunshine, solar power created six times more electricity than coal-fired power stations that day.One day in late March, solar power created six times more electricity than coal-fired power stations Continue reading...

Environment minister says Coalition takes emissions targets seriously and US climate change policy was ‘a matter for the Trump administration’The Turnbull government will support the Paris agreement on climate change regardless of whether or not the US president, Donald Trump, pulls out, the environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, has signalled. Trump upset world leaders on the weekend by refusing, at the conclusion of the G7 summit in Italy, to declare his support for the UN’s landmark treaty signed in Paris in 2015. Continue reading...

Our throwaway habits are wreaking havoc on the planet. Here are six ideas from designers working to reduce waste in our everyday livesModern life is wasteful. From the plastic packaging that fills our kitchens – and ends up in our oceans – to the 40m tons of e-waste we generate per year, our throwaway culture is alive and kicking. And it’s wreaking havoc on the planet.But a host of designers, researchers and startups are on the case, coming up with new ideas to cut waste and make life more efficient. Here are six of our favourites.

Annastacia Palaszczuk says the Indian mining group will have to pay ‘every dollar’ of state royalties for the proposed mineThe Queensland government has announced it will not act as a “middle man” to funnel federal infrastructure funding to support the Adani Group’s proposed coalmine.The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has also confirmed the Indian mining group would have to pay “every dollar” of state royalties for the proposed mine, a significant departure from a previous deal to give the company a “royalties holiday”. Continue reading...

The biggest environmental campaign seen in Australia since the 80s is causing bumps in the road for both sides of politicsWhen it comes to the Adani Carmichael coalmine, the spotlight this week has been trained on Queensland as the state government battled an internal split on whether to give the project a royalties holiday. There have also been murmurings in Canberra, where Labor MPs are starting to express public opposition to a project many have been privately wringing their hands about.But to fathom the next phase in the political battle against the project, we need to train our eyes a bit further south. Continue reading...

RMIT hydrologist Matthew Currell says environmental impact statement for Narrabri gas project is missing analysis and contains conflicting informationUp to 130 spills of toxic waste could occur if the Santos Narrabri coal seam gas project goes ahead, potentially endangering high-quality drinking and irrigation water, according to a leading academic.

Kierra Box, Maureen Wood and Margaret Cliff on protecting a precious resourceThis weekend Brits will flock to our beaches. Thanks to EU pressure, visitors to more than 95% of our bathing beaches can paddle safe in the knowledge that nothing nasty lurks beneath the waves – a massive improvement since 1987, when it was judged safe to enter the water at just 55% of our favourite swimming spots. However, the European Environment Agency is right to raise a red flag (UK bathing water ranks next from last in EU beach table, 23 May). The UK continued to pump gallons of untreated effluent into some of our most beautiful seaside areas every year right up until 1998. Even today, only 65% of our beaches are rated as excellent by the Environment Agency, compared with 91% in Italy and 89% in Spain. And these are at risk if EU standards which guarantee clean bathing water are weakened or abandoned after Brexit.No one wants to see Britain return to being seen as the dirty man of Europe. Let’s ensure this election doesn’t mark the end of our summer holidays by the sea and ask that all political parties commit to retaining EU bathing standards and ensure our future is safe from sewage.

Thousands of photovoltaic panels across the UK generate 8.7GW, smashing previous high of 8.48GW earlier this monthSolar power has broken new records in the UK by providing nearly a quarter of the country’s electricity needs, thanks to sunny skies and relatively low summer demand.National Grid said the thousands of photovoltaic panels on rooftops and in fields across the UK were generating 8.7GW, or 24.3% of demand at 1pm on Friday, smashing the previous high of 8.48GW earlier this month. 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...

Cars that emit up to 18 times the official NOx limit in real-world conditions are still being sold, 20 months after the emissions scandal broke and amid an ongoing air pollution crisisDiesel cars that emit up to 18 times the official limit for toxic pollution when taken on to the road are still being sold, 20 months after the emissions scandal erupted and amid an ongoing air pollution crisis.In real world conditions, the Nissan Qashqai produces 18 times more nitrogen oxides than the official lab-based test allows under EU directives, while Nissan’s Juke pumps out 16 times more NOx pollution than the limit, according to data from vehicle testing company Emissions Analytics seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Schemes aim to tackle fashion’s huge waste problem but critics say they are a token gesture and could encourage ‘guilt free’ consumptionWhen you walk into a high-street shop, you’re probably looking to snap up a bargain, not get rid of an old jumper. But clothing retailers and brands are increasingly asking shoppers to dump their cast-offs in store.Britain alone is expected to send 235m items of clothing to landfill this spring, the majority of which could have been re-worn, reused or recycled. Major retailers are coming under pressure to tackle the waste.

Bloody Oaks Quarry, Rutland Sitting on a salad burnet flower head is a dingy skipper, then I find the royal blue chalk milkwortThis tiny nature reserve, a long thin quarry, is no bigger than two football pitches, yet it is an essential home for many types of plants and animals. The colourful name apparently dates back to the Wars of the Roses and a 1470 battle between the Yorkist King Edward IV and the Lancastrian Welles family. The king opened by beheading Lord Welles, then launched a volley of new-fangled cannon fire, causing a rout, and concluded by slaughtering captured Lancastrians in the nearby wood. Continue reading...

Activist groups warn that swathes of farmland are at risk since the holiday would cover the Galilee basin and two other undeveloped mining regionsThe Adani Carmichael project will reportedly receive a reduced royalty “holiday” offer from the Queensland government under a policy that activists say would subsidise other vast new coal projects that imperil swathes of farmland.The state treasurer, Curtis Pitt, declined on Friday to confirm a report by the Australian that the Palaszczuk government had settled on a plan to give Adani a pause in royalties for up to six years. Continue reading...

Land Tawney, president of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, explains why the fight for national monuments is a battle sportsmen and women must winSigned into law by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the Antiquities Act has been used by 16 presidents – eight Republicans and eight Democrats – to safeguard millions of acres of exceptional public lands and waters, including outstanding fish and wildlife habitat that provides some of the best hiking, camping, floating, hunting and fishing in the country.

We compare the manifesto pledges of the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Ukip and the Greens to see who comes top on cycling policyAmid fevered discussions of Brexit, the NHS and social care, not to mention the suddenly renewed importance of security and tackling terrorism, it might seem a bit niche – almost frivolous – to ask what the party manifestos are saying about cycling.But I’d argue it’s interesting and worthwhile for a couple of reasons. To begin with, as I’ve endlessly argued on this blog, getting significantly more people on to two wheels can bring enormous benefits to the nation.

Martindale Hause, Lake District A tug-of-war occurs as a rook grabs one end of a crooked stick and a jackdaw just half its size seizes the otherBump. A stick bounces off my scalp. I touch it with a finger. Blood! More sticks rain down. On goes the beanie hat. A cacophony of harsh cawing ensues. Rooks are robbing their decrepit old nests of twigs to add to more recent homes they are refurbishing on adjacent treetops.Related: Feathered blades and feathered wings Continue reading...

Documents suggest that a major spill from the Rover pipeline in Ohio described as 2m gallons of ‘drilling fluids’ might now be more than twice as largeThe oil company behind the Dakota Access pipeline is facing intense scrutiny from regulators and activists over a series of recent leaks across the country, including a major spill now believed to be significantly bigger than initially reported.

A new study helps civil engineers account for ongoing climate change in infrastructure design

59% give thumbs down to state or federal assistance for Carmichael mine as state government faces factional fight over whether to give project a royalties holidayQueensland voters have given the thumbs down to taxpayer support for the controversial Adani coalmine, with 59% saying they were opposed to state or federal assistance.

Anglo-Swiss chemicals firm hails acquisition as ‘very logical’ as Danish firm makes progress in switch to renewablesAnglo-Swiss chemicals firm Ineos has bought the oil and gas business of Dong Energy for £1bn, a major milestone in the Danish company’s switch from hydrocarbons to renewable energy.The acquisition is the latest in a buying spree by Ineos, which recently bought a significant North Sea oil pipeline for £200m from BP, and takes it from 28th biggest oil and gas producer in the region to the top 10. Continue reading...

Europe by night, Canada’s vanishing river and the Netherland’s tulip fields are among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthFrom space, the strait of Gibraltar appears tiny compared to the continents it separates. At the strait’s narrowest point, Africa stands just 14km (nine miles) from Europe. But the narrow waterway is a complex environment that gives rise to striking phytoplankton blooms when conditions are right. The intricate swirls of phytoplankton trace the patterns of water flow, which in this region can become quite turbulent. For example, water moving east from the North Atlantic into the Mediterranean has created turbulence in the form of internal waves. These waves – sometimes with heights up to 100 metres – occur primarily deep within the ocean, with just a mere crest poking through the surface. At the same time, water flowing west helps stir up water in the North Atlantic, including the Gulf of Cádiz. While most of the swirls of colour are phytoplankton, the ocean scientist Norman Kuring of Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center notes that some of the colour near coastal areas could be due to sediment suspended in the water, particularly near the mouths of rivers. Continue reading...

Sandy, Bedfordshire The jingle-jangle of a corn bunting rings out as skylarks criss-cross the path, chasing each otherThe car door opened in a farm layby and the fat bird sang. Described in ornithology books as sounding like the jangling of keys, the two-second salvo always seems higher and looser to my ears, and is more of a jingle than song. I find I can reproduce it best with four 10p coins shaken in a half-closed fist.The jingle-jangle rang again and I spied the corn bunting – the “fat bird of the barley” – near the crown of a blossoming hawthorn bush, perched between two thorny sprays. Its slack-jawed beak moved, the lower mandible oddly placed as if it had been unhinged then badly refitted. Continue reading...

Environmental lawyers say advice means reef might finally be listed as a ‘world heritage site in danger’The central aim of the government’s plan to protect the Great Barrier Reef is no longer achievable due to the dramatic impacts of climate change, experts have told the government’s advisory committees for the plan.Environmental lawyers said the revelation could mean the Great Barrier Reef might finally be listed as a “world heritage site in danger”, a move the federal and Queensland governments have strenuously fought. Continue reading...

Select Tesco stores will sell only reusable bags in a 10-week trial that could lead to the single-use bags being phased out in all of its storesShoppers at a handful of Tesco stores in the UK will no longer be able to buy 5p “single-use” plastic carrier bags, in the first such trial by a supermarket.If successful, it could lead to the bags being phased out completely, less than two years after the law was changed in England to force larger stores to charge for them.

If you go down to Uffmoor Wood today, you’re sure of a big surprise – you won’t be able to get in. Has the Woodland Trust made the right decision to temporarily padlock the Worcestershire woodland?It’s Britain’s baddest woodland. Two hundred acres of bluebell-infested forest so naughty that the Woodland Trust has taken the rare step of shutting it down until it improves.Uffmoor Wood, near Halesowen in the West Midlands, is padlocked as of today, after becoming a focal point for sheep-worrying, dirt bike scrambling, dog fouling, drug peddling and sex dogging. Continue reading...

Exclusive: European Food Safety Authority dismissed a study linking glyphosate to cancer following counsel with an EPA official allegedly linked to the company and who figures in more than 20 lawsuitsThe European Food Safety Authority dismissed a study linking a Monsanto weedkiller to cancer after counsel from a US Environmental Protection Agency officer allegedly linked to the company.Jess Rowlands, the former head of the EPA’s cancer assessment review committee (CARC), who figures in more than 20 lawsuits and had previously told Monsanto he would try to block a US government inquiry into the issue, according to court documents.

Cyclists hail experimental scheme – that sees the dangerous intersection closed to all but buses, cyclists and pedestrians – as a turning pointBank junction, one of London’s most dangerous intersections, was closed this week to all but buses, and people on bikes and foot, from 7am to 7pm on weekdays, in an 18-month experimental scheme that could be as ground breaking as New York’s Times Square or Paris’s Left Bank.In 2015 Ying Tao was hit from behind by a lorry and killed as she cycled across the six-armed crossroads. Cyclists make up to 50% of Bank traffic during peak times, and from 2010-14, 46 cyclists were injured at the junction, six seriously. There were also eight serious pedestrian casualties in that time. Continue reading...

Stop the Machine aims to put an end to methods of farming that are endangering biodiversity and wildlife the world over

Changes in food distribution and not falling ocean temperatures could hold key to shift towards giant lengthsThe blue whale has a body the length of a jet airliner, a heart the size of a car, and a tongue the same weight as an elephant.

Exclusive: Britons fail to eat 178m bags of salad every year, say Tesco and government waste body Wrap, in study highlighting food wasteBritons throw away 40% of the bagged salad they buy every year, according to the latest data, with 37,000 tonnes – the equivalent of 178m bags – going uneaten every year.The figures from the government’s waste advisory body Wrap are being published on Wednesday by the supermarket giant Tesco to highlight that prepared salads are still among the UK’s most wasted household foods. Past studies have shown that the average UK family throws away £700 of food each year. Continue reading...

Crowds cheer as ‘Big Don’, a massive sea turtle, is released off the Florida Keys on World Turtle Day after being rehabilitated from injuries from an encounter with a fishing line. The 200-pound (91 kilogram) loggerhead turtle was nursed back to health with antibiotics, vitamins and a healthy diet of squid and fish Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire This is the cow parsley moment, its blossom making foamy bow waves against hawthorn hedges along the roadThe lanes are luminous with the white pulse of May: cow parsley, hawthorn, hogweed, garlic, stichwort. In fields there are pale lambs and dandelion clocks and stands of horse chestnut in candle. White on green. Green on white.

Plastic was the disruptive technology of its day but now we know the mess will never be cleared up, writes Professor John Holford. Plus letters from Chris Gee and Harold ForbesIs anyone cheered by your report of the extent and intensity of plastic pollution (38 million pieces of plastic waste found on uninhabited South Pacific island, 16 May)? The plastics industry, perhaps? It is, after all, a sign of how much they have changed the world. I recall my first encounter with a transparent plastic bottle, 50 years ago this year. I also recall the “information” films, sponsored by firms such as BP and Shell, and widely shown in schools at the time, extolling the benefits that plastic brings. The industry put petroleum byproducts to good use. It was cheap. It was scientific. It was new. It was innovation. Today, the ideology of innovation is every bit as powerful. The future, we are told, belongs to the “disruptive innovators” – Uber and their ilk. They make billions, but neither political nor economic systems have evolved ways of dealing with or costing the havoc they cause. Plastic was the disruptive technology of its day: half a century later, we know the mess will never be cleared up. We also know that those – animal and vegetable – who pay the price will not be those who squirrelled away the profits. It is time society found a way of holding innovation and innovators to account.

James Basson’s display – lauded by judges as ‘faultless’ – is designed to show how humans and nature interact on MaltaIt was not supposed to be pretty, but the judges certainly found it impressive. James Basson’s take on an abandoned Maltese limestone quarry has won best in show at this year’s Chelsea flower show.The construction, which includes slabs of limestone and evergreens, perennials and ground cover, was designed to show the interaction between humans and nature on the island, Basson has said, and draws attention to the balance that needs to be maintained. Continue reading...

Polish government is accused of pushing Białowieża forest ecosystem to point of no return with state-sanctioned logging in Unesco world heritage siteScientists and environmental campaigners have accused the Polish government of bringing the ecosystem of the Białowieża forest in north-eastern Poland to the “brink of collapse”, one year after a revised forest management plan permitted the trebling of state logging activity and removed a ban on logging in old growth areas.Large parts of the forest, which spans Poland’s eastern border with Belarus and contains some of Europe’s last remaining primeval woodland, are subject to natural processes not disturbed by direct human intervention. Continue reading...

Rocky outcrop reported to have collapsed is covered in snow but intact, says chair of Nepal Mountaineering AssociationNepalese climbers have disputed reports that a famous rocky outcrop near the peak of Mount Everest has collapsed, saying the so-called Hillary Step is covered in snow but intact.

Son símbolos de orgullo nacional, pero dado el aumento en las protestas y los costos medioambientales ahora se cuestiona el futuro de las mega represas

Frequentemente tida como motivo de orgulho nacional, a matriz hídrica da América Latina gera custos ambientais cada vez maiores e é alvo de protestos crescentes. Será que as mega-hidrelétricas da região estão com os dias contados?

Protests against Latin America’s pursuit of hydropower are increasing as the environmental costs mount up. Is the end of the region’s mega dams in sight?