‘Historic’ agreement between the state’s largest utility company and environmental groups follows safety debates over proximity to seismic faultsCalifornia’s last nuclear power plant will close by 2025 under an accord announced Tuesday, ending three decades of safety debates that helped fuel the national anti-nuclear power movement.The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co (PG&E), and environmental groups reached an agreement to replace production at Diablo Canyon nuclear plant with solar power and other energy sources that do not produce climate-changing greenhouse gases. Continue reading...

Justin Schmidt sampled the stinging power of ants, bees and wasps. His reviews – from ‘blinding, fierce’ to ‘hot and smoky’ – have now been published in their entiretyEver wondered what it’s like to be stung by an artistic wasp? (This being an actual insect species of the order Hymenoptera, as opposed to a Turner-nominated waspish type with a vendetta.) “Pure, then messy, then corrosive,” according to entomologist Justin Schmidt, otherwise known as the King of Sting. “Love and marriage followed by divorce.” Or what about something with a little more bite? Like the sting of the fierce black polybia wasp, which apparently feels like “a ritual gone wrong, Satanic. The gas lamp in the old church explodes in your face when you light it.”Now that summer is sort of here, and wasps are blithely buzzing around the nation’s Coke cans (or San Pellegrino, if you want to be posh about your pop), check out the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, the exquisite life’s work (and pain) of a biologist at Southwest Biological Institute and the University of Arizona who appears to be a cross between Steve Irwin and Jilly Goolden. As in he likes to stick his hand into a hornet’s nest and then sample the venom as though as it were a glass of classic vintage barolo. Continue reading...

London mayor has told TfL to develop system of alerts and signs to increase awareness of air quality blackspots, BusinessGreen reports Roadside signposts and online alerts could be used to inform Londoners of air pollution hotspots and periods of poor air quality, under proposals announced today by the capital’s new Mayor Sadiq Kahn.Londoners should be much better informed when air pollution reaches dangerous levels in the UK capital, Kahn said, announcing he has directed Transport for London (TfL) to “urgently” develop a package of public alerts and signs aimed at increasing awareness of poor air quality in the city. Continue reading...

Total greenhouse gas emissions fell by 24% between 1990 and 2014 but road transport emissions rose by 17%, European Environment Agency data showsRoad transport has bucked a downward trend in European greenhouse gas emissions, growing by 17% between 1990 and 2014, at the same time that emissions from other sectors fell by almost a quarter.Cars, vans and lorries reported the biggest absolute increase of any sector in CO2 emissions over the last 25 years, growing by 124 megatonnes (Mt), European Environment Agency (EEA) data published on Tuesday shows. Continue reading...

Environment and energy minister of small island state, one of the countries most at risk of global warming impacts, says ‘no time to waste’ on Paris dealRich countries must ratify the climate change agreement reached in Paris last December, one of the world’s most at-risk nations has warned.Thoriq Ibrahim, environment and energy minister of the Maldives, told the Guardian that there was “no time to waste”, in ratifying the agreement that was reached more than six months ago, and that it should be a matter of urgency for industrialised countries. Continue reading...

Residents in the Ukip stronghold of Clacton-on-Sea are rightly proud of their clean beaches, fresh air and wildlife. Would they still vote leave if they knew the things they love about their town are thanks to EU membership?Audrey James and and Mary Chivers, skirts hitched and shoes off, are paddling with their grandchildren by the pier at Clacton-on-Sea. A huge offshore windfarm spins in the distance and all around them are clean beaches, clear water and protected nature reserves.But Groyne 41, the name of the beach on the “Essex sunshine coast” where they are picnicking, is the exception, having failed to meet tough new EU water quality tests last year possibly because of the many seagulls living below the pier. Continue reading...

Off-grid communities such as those in sub-Saharan Africa can pay thousands of times as much as the rest of us for their energy. Designer Jim Reeves has developed a simple, low-cost gear-train and generator that uses a descending weight to power a perpetual light source. Children can do their homework and study, families and friends can eat together and interact after dark adding new dimensions and possibilities to their lives Continue reading...

Aigas, Highlands The pine marten undulated through the trees in such soft eel-like loops that one could imagine it was an animal lacking in boneFor all their recent spread – they now skirt the edges of several Scottish cities and pop up occasionally even in England as far south as Shropshire – pine martens are still rare and hard to see. Aigas field study centre, with its dedicated hides and long-established feeding programme, must be one of the best places in the country to see them.The closest I’d come in the previous 40 years were glimpses of a close relative, the beech marten, dead at the sides of Greek roads. So when one came bounding through the shadow towards us, it was a wonderful moment. Continue reading...

Voracious predator with sting that has been known to kill humans is spotted in waters off Turkey and CyprusThe lionfish – a tropical creature with poisonous barbs and a painful sting that can kill humans in rare cases – may be spreading through the Mediterranean, a conservation group has warned.The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (UICN) said the fish had been spotted in waters around Turkey and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Continue reading...

The death of the young animal, known as ‘Snowy’ for its ‘notably white face’, comes at a fraught time for grizzly bears and their advocatesThe sole cub of one of the US’s most beloved grizzly bears was reportedly struck and killed by a car on Sunday evening in Grand Teton national park in Wyoming, prompting mourning among lovers of the mother animal known as 399.Wyoming Wildlife Advocates announced the news in a Facebook post: “399’s cub, known as Snowy or Spirit by the bear watchers of Grand Teton, was adored for its antics and notably white face and will be sorely missed.” Continue reading...

New studies show that alarming numbers of tiny fibers from synthetic fabrics are making their way from your washing machine into aquatic animalsThe first time professor Sherri Mason cut open a Great Lakes fish, she was alarmed at what she found. Synthetic fibers were everywhere. Under a microscope, they seemed to be “weaving themselves into the gastrointestinal tract”. Though she had been studying aquatic pollution around the Great Lakes for several years, Mason, who works for the State University of New York Fredonia, had never seen anything like it.

US weather agency says bleaching is now the most widespread on record and is likely to continue for unprecedented third yearThe coral bleaching event sweeping the globe and destroying vast tracts of valuable coral reef is now officially the most widespread in recorded history, and is likely to continue for an unprecedented third year, according to the US weather agency.For the coming four months, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration says its forecasts show warm ocean temperatures are expected to cause bleaching in the northern hemisphere, including around Hawaii, Micronesia, the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico. Continue reading...

New dietary guidelines could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1bn tonnes by 2030, and could lessen country’s problems with obesity and diabetesThe Chinese government has outlined a plan to reduce its citizens’ meat consumption by 50%, in a move that climate campaigners hope will provide major heft in the effort to avoid runaway global warming.

Survey shows a majority of Chinese tourists and about a third of US and UK visitors will travel to somewhere other than AustraliaIf the bleaching continues on the Great Barrier Reef, tourists say they will pack their bags and go elsewhere, taking with them an estimated $1bn a year and costing 10,000 jobs in regional Queensland, according to a new poll.The majority of Chinese tourists, and about a third of UK and US tourists, said if severe bleaching continues, and “some of the reef dies completely,” they would be more likely to visit somewhere other than Australia, according to the online polling of more than 4,000 people commissioned by the Australia Institute Continue reading...

Experts in Malawi will move 500 elephants 185 miles across the country to a sanctuary that will act as a ‘reservoir’Wildlife experts in Malawi will next month start moving up to 500 elephants to a sanctuary that they hope could eventually serve as a reservoir to restore some elephant populations in other parts of Africa where the threatened species has been heavily poached.The massive relocation, slated for completion next year, will involve darting the elephants from a helicopter, hoisting the slumbering animals by crane and loading them in crates on to trucks for a ride of about 185 miles (300km) to Malawi’s Nkhotakota wildlife reserve. Continue reading...

Today is a once in a lifetime event: the longest day of the year, first day of summer and a full ‘strawberry’ moon – which means it’s time to go outside

German discounter joins rival Aldi in signing up to farmers’ union-backed code that aims to boost profitability of suppliersLidl has become only the second grocer to sign up to a 12-month-old scheme to back British farmers by promising to buy more of their produce and offer long-term supply deals.The German discounter joins its close rival Aldi, which almost a year ago became the first retailer to sign up to the National Farmers Union-backed “fruit and veg pledge”, which aims to boost the profitability of British farmers and suppliers. Continue reading...

Braunschweig prosecutor’s office looking into Martin Winterkorn and another senior figure over suspected market manipulationGerman prosecutors have opened an investigation into the former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn over allegations of market manipulation in relation to the company’s diesel emissions scandal.According to the state prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig, there was “sufficient concrete evidence” that Volkswagen had deliberately delayed informing shareholders of last year’s emissions scandal and the potential financial damage it could cause. Continue reading...

Global Witness says at least 185 activists were killed and anti-mining activities were the most deadly – with 42 deaths related to protestsAt least 185 environmental activists were killed last year, the highest annual death toll on record and close to a 60% increase on the previous year, according to a UK-based watchdog.

Report says figures could rise to nearly one-third with power sector reforms, making it the world wind energy leader by a large marginChina is on track to generate more than a quarter of its electricity from wind power by 2030, and the figure could rise to nearly a third with power sector reforms, a new study has found.Within 14 years, more new generating capacity – mostly clean energy – will come online in China than currently exists in the whole of the US, further cementing the country’s image as a burgeoning green giant. Continue reading...

A recent aerial survey has revealed that the numbers of all three saiga populations in Kazakhstan are going up, Mongabay reportsLast year, catastrophe hit saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan. About 200,000 of these critically endangered antelopes died in Betpak-Dala in May, deeply worrying conservationists. The deaths, scientists eventually found, were most likely caused by bacterial infection.But there may be hope for these severely threatened migratory mammals. Continue reading...

Global Witness figures show last year was the deadliest for environment and land campaigners since 2002Three environmental activists were killed per week last year, murdered defending land rights and the environment from mining, dam projects and logging, a campaign group said on Monday.In 16 countries surveyed in a report by Global Witness, 185 activists were killed, making 2015 the deadliest year for environment and land campaigners since 2002. Continue reading...

Solar-powered plane sets off from JFK airport on the transatlantic leg of its record-breaking flight to promote renewable energyThe sun-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft set off from New York’s JFK airport early on Monday, embarking on the transatlantic leg of its record-breaking flight around the world to promote renewable energy.The flight, piloted by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, is expected to take about 90 hours - during which Piccard will only take short naps - before landing at Spain’s Seville airport. Continue reading...

Improvements to ocean temperature measurements are making good measurements greatI have often said that global warming is really ocean warming. As humans add more heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, it causes the Earth to gain energy. Almost all of that energy ends up in the oceans. So, if you want to know how fast the Earth is warming, you have to measure how fast the oceans are heating up.Sounds easy enough at first, but when we recognize that the oceans are vast (and deep) we can appreciate the difficulties. How can we get enough measurements, at enough locations, and enough depths, to measure the oceans’ temperatures? Not only that, but since climate change is a long-term trend, it means we have to measure ocean temperature changes over many years and decades. We really want to know how fast the oceans’ temperatures are changing over long durations. Continue reading...

Saxlingham Nethergate, Norfolk Known as “toe-biters”, the water scorpion will pinch unsuspecting paddlers, while preferring small fish, tadpoles and other pond insectsI reach into the tepid, brackish pond, right up to my shoulder. My daughter crouches next to me, hoping I will find her a pond snail shell. Eventually, in the squishy mud, I discover an uninhabited one. It’s small and a little cracked but beautifully whirled. Now we part the duckweed with nets, swishing in a figure of eight, then emptying our haul into a clear tub. A dragonfly nymph eyes us like a soggy grasshopper while a water boatman sculls to hide.There among the diverse creatures is a brown, flattened insect, only one centimetre long but with grasping scorpion pincers and a sharp prong of a tail. “Will it sting me?” Annie asks, watching it suspiciously in her net. This is the water scorpion Nepa cinerea, luckily stingless and no relation to actual scorpions but equally ferocious in behaviour. They are known as “toe-biters” as they will pinch unsuspecting paddlers, although they normally feed upon small fish, tadpoles and other pond insects. Those pincers grip the prey while their powerful mouth parts suck the victim dry. Continue reading...

The Business Council and Minerals Council of Australia have been silent about the bleaching of the reef but not all miners have to take the same pathAs the scale of the recent catastrophe on the Great Barrier Reef has become widely known, a clamor has occurred across Australia.People are grieving and furious about the devastation of our reef. I have lost count of the number of distressed people I have talked with, distraught at what has happened, hardly knowing what to say. Continue reading...

Working group on investment responsibility argues it is better to keep investments in oil and gas companies, rather than divest £5.9bn endowmentThe University of Cambridge has rejected calls to divest its £5.9bn endowment from fossil fuels, as students, academics and the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams have called for.In a report on Friday, the university ruled out future investments in coal and tar sands, although it currently has no direct holdings in either, and only negligible holdings in coal by investments managed externally.

Documents seen by Guardian show that the commission’s in-house science service told it in 2010 that tests had uncovered what researchers suspected to be a ‘defeat device’The European commission was warned by its own experts that a car maker was suspected of cheating emissions tests five years before the VW emissions scandal.A documents cache seen by the Guardian show that the commission’s in-house science service told it in 2010 that tests had uncovered what researchers suspected to be a “defeat device” that could cheat emissions tests. Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 20 June 1916June 19.

The willow warbler, easily confused with other visitors, breeds throughout Britain, from Cornwall to ShetlandWhat’s the commonest summer visitor to our shores? The swallow perhaps, or the swift? The house martin, or the blackcap?Actually it’s the willow warbler – a bird not all that many people have heard of, let alone heard. Yet the silvery, shivery song of this tiny, leaf-like sprite is the accompaniment to the burgeoning of spring – from the Isles of Scilly in the south to Shetland in the north. Continue reading...

Interview with environmental activist Victor Zambrano on his work protecting the Tambopata National Reserve in Madre de DiosThe World Travel and Tourism Council predicts that travel and tourism’s “total contribution” to Peru’s GDP will exceed 11% by 2026, but how well, in the long-term, is Peru protecting its best tourist assets? Among foreign tourists easily the most popular destination in the country’s lowland Amazon region is the 274,000 hectare Tambopata National Reserve (TNR) - yet it currently stands invaded by gold-miners.The TNR is in the Madre de Dios region in the south-east of Peru. Over 632 bird species, 1,200 butterfly species, 103 amphibian species, 180 fish species, 169 mammal species and 103 reptile species make it one of the most biodiverse places in the world, according to the Environment Ministry, but those numbers don’t compare to the gold-miners. According to Victor Zambrano, president of the TNR’s Management Committee and the recently-announced winner of the 2016 National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Leadership in Latin American Conservation, there are 8,000 miners in the reserve itself and more than 35,000 in its buffer zone. Continue reading...

World heritage site of St Kilda, 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides, is suffering a dramatic fall in species due to warming seasA fundraising appeal to help preserve St Kilda, the acclaimed world heritage site off the west coast of Scotland, has begun after research showed catastrophic crashes in seabird numbers linked to climate change.The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is asking for donations to help fund the £270,000-a-year costs of conserving the once-populated archipelago, which sits in the Atlantic 41 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. Continue reading...

The world heritage site of St Kilda, 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides, is suffering a dramatic fall in species because of global warmingA fundraising appeal to help preserve St Kilda, the acclaimed world heritage site off the west coast of Scotland, has begun after research showed catastrophic crashes in seabird numbers linked to climate change.The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is asking for donations to help fund the £270,000-a-year costs of conserving the once-populated archipelago, which sits in the Atlantic 41 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. Continue reading...

Hinkley Point delays mean projects such as Bradwell in Essex should be fast-tracked, says former energy select committee chairMinisters need to talk to the Chinese about fast-tracking the planned reactor at Bradwell in Essex because the future of the £18bn Hinkley Point project is so uncertain, according to a leading pro-nuclear campaigner.Tim Yeo, a former chair of the energy and climate change committee, said the government should also consider whether the Russian state operator, Rosatom, or the British state could build new atomic plants. Continue reading...

Dry weather in California and growing fire risks are prompting a new effort to cull dead trees affected by bark beetles and use them to make electricityCalifornia’s record four-year drought has primed its coastal forests for a bug invasion. Millions of native bark beetles, which thrive in warm conditions, are burrowing into trees weakened by a lack of water, leaving in their wake dry, dead wood that becomes natural tinder. The beetles and drought have already killed off 29m trees, with tens of millions more expected to become casualties.

Government is accused of pouring money away with payments to companies including Shell and DraxThe government has handed out almost £30m to Shell and other companies for work on carbon capture and storage (CCS) despite scrapping their projects that could have played a role in beating climate change.The payments, revealed in a written parliamentary answer, come as the UK government is about to host the international Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum even though it has just mothballed a £1bn CCS research programme. Continue reading...

Lobby group says ‘guerilla street nannas’ are out in the PM’s electorate hanging climate change posters below Turnbull’s ownWhile the ordinary voters of Wentworth sheltered from the rain on Sunday afternoon, a small group of activists set out on a stealthy campaign against their local member, the prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.Dubbed the “guerilla street nannas” by GetUp climate campaign director, Sam Regester, the group, mostly comprised of women in their 60s, braved the weather to check on their latest endeavour: a set of corflute signs showing the torso of a man in a business suit crossing his fingers. Continue reading...

As one of our best-loved charities, the RNLI attracts enormous public support. But is it making life difficult for Britain’s independent lifeboat crews?It’s a sunny day on the Isle of Wight. Mark Birch is building an extension for a local shop when his pager goes off. He scans the device briefly then turns and starts running. His colleagues are not surprised. They’re used to it. Within minutes he arrives at the local lifeboat station in Sandown on the southeast coast. Soon he and his two crew are at sea, powering towards Culver Cliff, where two swimmers, men in their 30s, are trapped against the rocks by a heavy swell.It’s a tricky operation to steer the rigid inflatable boat close enough without it, too, being smashed against the rocks. Mark has to bring it in quickly then hover, balanced carefully at 90 degrees to the swell. The crew hoist one man out and Mark swings the boat round for the other before turning for home. With both men delivered safely to the emergency services, the boat is rehoused, washed and prepared for the next incident. Within two hours Mark is back at the building site. Continue reading...

Single-use packaging is still normal practice, but every reusable receptacle saves about 100 disposable versionsI recently bought a set of top-of-the-range reusables. For coffee I got a KeepCup (keepcup.com), which fits neatly under any coffee machine, ensuring baristas don’t hate you during the morning rush. For water, famously available for free from a tap, I bought a Jerry Bottle (jerrybottle.com) and to add bubbles, a SodaStream (sodastream.co.uk) – each carbonator displaces 40 bottles.For every reusable receptacle you bring into your life, you save about 100 disposable versions. Plus, I’ve made new friends. When I bring my KeepCup to the coffee stand people want to know where I got it. Single-use packaging is so normalised – the average UK household gets through 500 plastic bottles a year – that it turns out you have to re-make the case for reusables quite often. Continue reading...

In Cairns, north Queensland, coral bleaching isn’t the real worry – it’s the fear that tourists won’t come because they think the reef is already deadAnyone in the Cairns tourism industry who might be feeling a sense of panic about the largest destruction of coral on the Great Barrier Reef since divers first strapped on snorkels is not letting it show.The north-eastern Australian city – a global holiday destination where the natural wonder’s name festoons everything from the signs greeting airport arrivals to the local casino – is celebrating a storming tourist trade over the last 12 months. Continue reading...

Knightwood Inclosure, New Forest This clearance was done so long ago that many of the stumps dotting the area are punctured with holes made by wood-boring larvaeWe crossed the ditch together into the clear-felled area of this inclosure. At once, she dropped at my feet and disappeared into the heather. She didn’t budge as I gently pulled the stems apart to find her, and no doubt would have been more active on a warmer and less overcast day.The common heath moth Ematurga atomaria atomaria comes in a variety of colours. This female is the dark form; her wings, barely two centimetres in span, are crossed by ragged black lines set against a weave of tawny scales. No doubt her pheromones are already wafting on the breeze, inviting suitors to come and mate. Continue reading...

Senior figures at French energy company declare in letter that delay is needed until issues including reactor design are solvedSenior managers at EDF have told MPs that they remain convinced that the French state-controlled group should postpone the Hinkley Point project until it has solved a litany of problems, including the reactor design and multibillion-euro lawsuits over delays on similar schemes.The letter from EDF managers to the UK parliament’s energy and climate change committee is the latest setback for the proposed £18bn nuclear plant, a flagship government energy policy that is intended to provide 7% of Britain’s electricity from about 2025, at a time when old coal and atomic plants are closing down. Continue reading...

In Bangladesh, one of the world’s most polluted cities has led the way globally in ridding itself of harmful PM10 particlesOnce, Rajshahi’s sweltering summers were made worse by a familiar problem on the Asian subcontinent: windows would have to be shut, not because of the wind or monsoon, but because of the smog.Dust blown up from dry riverbeds, fields and roads, and choking smog from ranks of brick kilns on the edge of town helped to secure the place a spot in the top tier of the world’s most polluted cities. Continue reading...

From soaring temperatures in Alaska and India to Arctic sea ice melting and CO2 concentrations rising, this year is smashing records around the world1) Arctic sea ice is melting at a rate that by September could see it beat the record low set in 2012. The maximum extent of sea ice in winter was at a record low, and the extent in May was the lowest for that month ever, by more than 500,000 sq km. Continue reading...

Unprecedented temperature levels mean more heatwaves, flooding, wildfires and hurricanes as experts say global warming is here and affecting us nowMay was the 13th month in a row to break temperature records according to figures published this week that are the latest in 2016’s string of incredible climate records which scientists have described as a bombshell and an emergency.Related: Seven climate records set so far in 2016 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...

Its 170,000 pieces of aluminium are a hive-like structure of latticework, controlled by the vibrations of honeybees in a hive at Kew that is connected to the sculpture“My approach to a sculpture seeks to frame nature so one can experience it more intimately,” says British artist Wolfgang Buttress, whose 17-metre high Hive installation opens at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, in London on Saturday. “I want visitors to feel enveloped, wrapped-up and involved in the experience, rather than adopting the position of an external observer.”Related: How much do you know about bees? - quiz Continue reading...