New research is first to establish the link and builds on other evidence that children are particularly vulnerable to even low levels of pollutionA major new study has linked air pollution to increased mental illness in children, even at low levels of pollution.The new research found that relatively small increases in air pollution were associated with a significant increase in treated psychiatric problems. It is the first study to establish the link but is consistent with a growing body of evidence that air pollution can affect mental and cognitive health and that children are particularly vulnerable to poor air quality. Continue reading...

The Stiperstones, Shropshire We might have been walking towards a future devoid of the riveting, other-worldly call of the curlewA few Sundays ago, Mary Colwell-Hector and I were walking with a bunch of ornithologists and conservationists along the Stiperstones ridge. The scent of gorse drifted on warm air. Sunlight moved over the heather and farmland finding sheep, meadows and cattle. But our talk was more of what wasn’t there. We should have been seeing curlew, returned from the coast to breed here in the Shropshire-Powys borderlands.The British Trust for Ornithology estimates that 68,000 breeding pairs remain in the UK – about 46% of the 1994 figure. “But where are they? They’re not here, and they’re not in Wales or Ireland,” said Mary, the former producer of Shared Planet, who is walking 500 miles through Ireland and England to highlight fears about the decline of these distinctive waders. Continue reading...

It can be easy to tune out when you think a problem is too big to solve, but there are five things that need to happen now to save the reefWe’ve been hearing a lot lately about the state of the Great Barrier Reef and the major threat it faces. Sometimes it feels overwhelming – reefs are dying and it seems nothing can be done.Actually there is much that can be done, from the Australian government really putting our money where its mouth is, to understanding that science must be at the basis of all action. Continue reading...

Election 2016: Labor unveils broadband pledge as Coalition promises more money for the Great Barrier ReefLet’s start today with a game: how would you rather spend $1bn?

Amid a series of reports detailing the poor state of the reef, Malcolm Turnbull is promising improved water quality and clean energy for the regionMalcolm Turnbull has promised that a re-elected Coalition government will protect the Great Barrier Reef by tackling its two biggest challenges – climate change and water quality.The prime minister will pledge to set up a new $1bn reef fund with $1bn – taken from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s $10bn special account – to invest in projects that will improve water quality, reduce emissions and provide clean energy in the reef catchment region. Continue reading...

The 19th century glassblower’s intricate sculptures of marine life are a window on the ocean 150 years ago, says ecology professor Drew HarvellIn the 1860s, when the Bohemian glassblower Leopold Blaschka began sculpting models of underwater creatures, the Industrial Revolution, population growth and climate change had yet to take their toll on marine biodiversity. Over three decades, using techniques that still baffle experts, Leopold and his son, Rudolf, handmade about 10,000 marine sculptures, each one rendered in minute detail: impossibly delicate anemones, livid orange cuttlefish – creatures at once alien and unnervingly lifelike.In a world before scuba diving, underwater photography or ocean life surveys, the Blaschkas’ models proved an invaluable educational resource, with universities worldwide purchasing collections of glass specimens. One of the largest, with 570 models, belongs to Cornell University in the US, where until recently it was all but forgotten, stowed in a warehouse in a state of disrepair. As a young professor in the 1990s, Dr Drew Harvell began cataloguing the collection, discovering a “time capsule” of 19th-century marine biology. “There’s value in the entire collection,” she says. “It’s what you could see 150 years ago, frozen in time.” Continue reading...

The death of Wei Zei, a student seeking cancer cures online, raises questions about the responsibility of tech companies for the health data they provideChina’s equivalent of Google is under fire. Search engine Baidu has been criticised following the death of 21-year-old student Wei Zai, who used the search engine to research esoteric treatments for his cancer.After Wei Zai’s death, the state-run People’s Daily attacked Baidu, claiming it was ranking search results in exchange for money. “There have been hospitals making profits at the cost of killing patients who were directed by false advertisements paid at a higher rank in search results,” the article claimed, adding, “profit considerations shall not be placed over social responsibility”. Continue reading...

Every hour 10,000 people are born. Fortunately a new crop of eco innovations will help tackle the pressures on our planetThe regularity with which I’m contacted by population worriers – people who think it’s pointless discussing green energy, climate change and ethical pensions when the elephant in the room is actually the new human in the room – is impressive. They say that the planet needs fewer people. End of.The numbers are indeed eye catching. Today there are 7 billion humans alive (twice the number who were alive in 1965) – and each hour we add 10,000 more. By 2050, UN demographers predict, there will be at least 9 billion of us putting a strain on life-sustaining resources. Continue reading...

The shipping industry burns fossil fuels on a grand scale, and scarcely even tries to reduce its emissionsA seafaring adage goes: “If the winds are shifting, adjust your sails.” But even with the disturbing winds of climate change, the shipping industry, with its combustion of fossil fuels (accounting for 2.4% of global emissions), remains outside binding emissions-reduction agreements.There have been some eco efforts, but the Carbon War Room points out that ship owners feel little need to green their fleets, as those hiring the vessels pay the fuel costs. When the price of bunker fuel (the sludgiest oil left over from refining) drops, as it has, eco resolve disappears. Continue reading...

Bubbles was in her early 50s and had lived at the park in San Diego for nearly 30 yearsBubbles, a female pilot whale at SeaWorld in San Diego that was believed to have been the oldest animal of her species in a zoological park, has died.In an online statement, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc said Bubbles was in her early to mid 50s and had been at the park for nearly 30 years. Continue reading...

As the economy grows weaker, the fight over a massive titanium mine near the village of Xolobeni is a symbol of the struggle between traditional industry and a sustainable futureThe dunes appear endless. Behind them lie rolling grassy hills, banana trees, sweet potato fields and thatched huts. There are horses, goats and dogs, but no roads, no towns, and the only constant sound is the crash of the breakers from the Indian Ocean.This is Xolobeni, a remote village on the eastern shore of South Africa and the focus of a bitter dispute over a massive titanium mining project. The outcome will have far-reaching consequences for South Africa – redefining the place of the country’s most famous industry in a rapidly changing nation hit by weak economic growth and deep social problems – and also for the continent. Continue reading...

Digital tracking of creatures from tiny birds to whales offers up new data on the epic trips some species make, and their role in ecology and economicsAristotle thought the mysterious silver eel emerged from the earth fully formed. The young Sigmund Freud could not understand how it reproduced, and modern biologists puzzled for years over whether it ever returned to the Sargasso Sea, where it was known to breed.Last year a team of Canadian scientists found conclusive proof of that extraordinary journey. They strapped tracking devices to 38 eels and followed as they migrated more than 900 miles at a depth of nearly a mile to the Sargasso, in the Atlantic near Bermuda. This year French researchers used geolocators to watch them descending European rivers and passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, heading for the same spot. Continue reading...

Change in government’s energy policy blamed for job losses just as solar power eclipses coal in electricity generationThe solar power industry says it has seen the loss of more than half its 35,000 jobs due to recent changes in government energy policy, just at a time when solar power has eclipsed coal as a major generator of Britain’s electricity.Experts believe ministers had cut subsidies too far and too fast, praising the “seismic”, record-breaking growth of solar in recent years. Continue reading...

Among elite mountain climbers, summiting Everest sans oxygen has become the latest challenge in an already grueling journeyAnother climbing season has finished on Mount Everest, with the inevitable tales of tragedy and triumph.Since 2000, an average of seven people a year have died on Everest. The past two years were especially grim: 19 people were killed by an earthquake-triggered avalanche in 2015, and 16 died in 2014. Continue reading...

The UK spends more than £2bn on cut flowers per year, but around 90% are imported. Now a new breed of growers are determined to grab more of that market, by persuading the public that local and seasonal are the ways to goGeorgie Newbery sometimes has to dodge a hunting barn owl when she rises at 5am to harvest flowers on her seven-acre plot near Wincanton in Somerset. Picking sweet rocket, foxgloves and cornflowers as dawn light streaks over the fields may sound idyllic, but grabbing a cup of tea on a late-May afternoon after despatching her exclusively British-grown posies and bouquets, Newbery laughs at the thought. “If you imagine it’s all standing around in a flower garden with a Roberts radio and a robin singing, you couldn’t be more wrong,” she says, possibly a little tartly.Related: Is crowdfunding the future of horticulture? Continue reading...

South Uist The plant’s uses are many, but the sight of a sunlit field full of daisies is perhaps what we should value mostDaisies are one of our best known and most widely distributed wildflowers, and maybe this is why we sometimes pass them by with barely a second glance. This morning, though, they have stopped me in my tracks and brought a smile to my face.They line the edge of the path, spangle the open grassland, and have so thoroughly covered one fenced pasture that almost all signs of grass have vanished beneath a blanket of white. In the warm sunshine each and every one turns a bright and open face skywards, a response that gave them their name “day’s eye”. Continue reading...

Comedian says she put out an announcement because of the need to protect oceans and the reef, and cannot understand what the fuss is all aboutThe US talkshow queen Ellen DeGeneres is bewildered her call to protect the Great Barrier Reef has sparked a backlash in Australia.DeGeneres made headlines earlier in the week with the release of a video public service announcement as part of the Remember the Reef campaign. Continue reading...

Dale Vince agrees to pay ex-wife Kathleen Wyatt £300,000 after she lodged £1.9m claim more than 20 years after their divorceThe Green energy tycoon Dale Vince has called for a time limit on divorce cash claims after agreeing to pay his ex-wife £300,000 in a financial settlement.

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

A poll of environmental professionals showed most think the UK benefits from EU air pollution rulesThe UK’s air pollution crisis would get worse if the country votes to leave the European Union, according to a new poll of environment professionals.The UK already has levels of air pollution above legal EU limits in many cities, resulting in 40,000 early deaths a year, while ministers are currently lobbying in Brussels against lower air pollution limits. Continue reading...

Tibetan antelopes, tussling Indian rat snakes and Europe’s last primeval forest are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Stretch of water in Ross Sea is ideal place to study marine life and climate change, say scientistsA major diplomatic effort is under way to persuade Russia to agree to a conservation zone in the Ross Sea, a stretch of water in Antarctica that is home to large populations of whales and penguins as well as dozens of species of fish.The Ross Sea is one of the world’s most important ecosystems, a largely untouched marine area which scientists say is the ideal place to study life in the Antarctic and the effects of climate change.

Multiple award-winning Makoko Floating School was a beacon of hope in this Lagos slum until its collapse this week. Now some fear the whole area and its 300,000 residents are at renewed risk of being cleared out for redevelopmentLike most Lagos residents, I was familiar with Makoko Floating School. Its steep, three-storey triangular roof was visible from the Third Mainland Bridge, which cuts dramatically across the Makoko lagoon, the city’s vast waterworld slum. Designed by the Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi, the Floating School was the winner of multiple awards for architecture and urbanism, attracting great international attention and acclaim.But I had never actually been up close until yesterday, when I approached in a rickety wooden canoe piloted by a young man in a burgundy T-shirt and grungy shorts. Continue reading...

Manmade global warming greatly increased the risk of extreme rain affecting the French capital, analysis showsThe Paris floods, that saw extreme rainfall swell the river Seine to its highest level in decades, were made almost twice as likely because of the manmade emissions driving global warming, scientists have found.A three-day period of heavy rain at the end of May saw tens of thousands of people evacuated across France, and the capital’s normally busy river closed to traffic because the water levels were so high under bridges. As artworks in the Louvre were moved to safety and Paris’s cobbled walkways were submerged, the French president, François Hollande, blamed the floods on climate change. Continue reading...

Decision to allow shale gas tests in village of Kirby Misperton could be challenged in court, Friends of the Earth saysAnti-fracking campaigners have claimed that a decision to allow energy companies to drill for shale gas in Yorkshire could be challenged in court.The fracking firm Third Energy was given permission last month to carry out test drilling at a site in Kirby Misperton in Rydale, North Yorkshire, even after locals opposed the application. Continue reading...

Coral bleaching is becoming an increasingly frequent and severe problem in a hotter world

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire The breeding season has started late and male great bustards are still performing their elaborate courtship displaysWe follow a pitted farm track over the brow of the hill and into the valley, then climb off-road to the hide. The 38,0000 hectare chalk plateau is a haven for wildlife with its patchwork of close-cropped grass, golden oilseed rape and small strips of soil ploughed bare to create stone curlew nesting plots.In 1998 the Great Bustard Group began exploring the possibility of reintroducing this vulnerable species, which became extinct in the UK in 1832. Annual releases of imported bustards began in 2004 and the first eggs were laid by reintroduced birds in 2007, but the population is not yet self-sustaining. Although breeding has taken place every year, survival rates are low and not all surviving juveniles are recruited to the adult population. Lekking usually peaks in April, but this year the breeding season started later than usual and I’ve been told that there is still a chance of seeing the males perform their elaborate display. Continue reading...

Scientists say finding is alarming, and shows that harm caused by air pollution to the lungs, heart and brain has been underestimatedAir pollution has become a major contributor to stroke for the first time, with unclean air now blamed for nearly one third of the years of healthy life lost to the condition worldwide.In an unprecedented survey of global risk factors for stroke, air pollution in the form of fine particulate matter ranked seventh in terms of its impact on healthy lifespan, while household air pollution from burning solid fuels ranked eighth.

Exclusive: Proposed mines to produce aluminium are putting the habitat of vulnerable Cape York palm cockatoo at risk, sparking calls for stronger environmental lawsAustralia’s spectacular palm cockatoo is being put at risk by proposed bauxite mines, conservationists have said.The Cape York palm cockatoo, Australia’s largest cockatoo, is listed as vulnerable under Australia’s federal environment laws. About 3,000 mature birds are thought to exist, and their numbers are declining. Continue reading...

Radical new technique promises a cheaper and more secure method of burying CO2 emissions underground instead of storing it as a gasCarbon dioxide has been pumped underground and turned rapidly into stone, demonstrating a radical new way to tackle climate change.The unique project promises a cheaper and more secure way of burying CO2 from fossil fuel burning underground, where it cannot warm the planet. Such carbon capture and storage (CCS) is thought to be essential to halting global warming, but existing projects store the CO2 as a gas and concerns about costs and potential leakage have halted some plans. Continue reading...

Tiny Spanish island takes first delivery of electric vehicles as it sets out to become the first in Europe to banish petrol and diesel cars from its shoresThe tiny Mediterranean island of Formentera has taken delivery of six electric cars as part of an ambitious plan to be the first island in Europe to banish traditional cars from its shores.

Toxic air set to cause as many as 9 million premature deaths a year around the world in the next four decades, with economic costs rising to trillions a yearAir pollution is becoming a “terrifying” problem around the globe, one of the world’s leading economic organisations has warned, and will get much worse in the coming decades if urgent steps are not taken to control the pollution.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday that pollution of our air from industry, agriculture and transport was set to cause as many as 9 million premature deaths a year around the world in the next four decades, and the economic costs are likely to rise to about $2.6 tn (£1.8tn) a year over the same period. Continue reading...

Wildlife hospital uses washing-up liquid to clean bird that was scavenging for food at factoryA seagull turned bright orange after it fell into a vat of chicken tikka masala.The bird fell into the container while trying to scavenge meat from a food factory bin on Monday. It was rescued by workers at the site in Wales, and picked up by a volunteer for Vale wildlife hospital, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Continue reading...

Copenhagen-based company happy with IPO while in process of moving from fossil fuels to renewablesDong Energy, a Danish company that owns offshore windfarms around the UK, was valued at Kr 98.2bn (£10bn) as it successfully pulled off Europe’s largest stock market flotation this year.

New low-carbon heating network is first stage of a plan to transform Bristol into a carbon-neutral city by 2050, reports BusinessGreenBristol’s newly elected mayor, Marvin Rees, has approved the city’s first major step towards becoming carbon neutral by 2050, giving the go-ahead for £5m in capital funding to build a low-carbon district heating network to serve the city.

EU vessels to catch shrimp, tuna and other fish in return for funds, but critics say there is little evidence that EU cash is helping Mauritanian fishing communitiesThe EU has renewed a four-year fishing agreement with Mauritania that will allow more than 100 EU vessels into Mauritania’s waters in return for funding that will support local fishing communities. But the deal has its critics.The agreement, which has just been greenlit by the European parliament, is an avenue for member states to help meet a burgeoning demand for fish that the bloc is unable to satisfy. Since 2009, EU fish imports have risen by 6% each year. In 2014 alone, the bloc imported €21bn (£16bn) – quadruple that of meat imports. Continue reading...

Sixty years on since the introduction of measures to reduce air pollution we’d like to hear your smog recollections

Bills introduced by city council members would require landlords to warn renters about lead piping and require testing by daycares and schoolsAs the Philadelphia water department faces continued scrutiny over how it tests for lead, bills introduced by city council members could push the city to the fore in warning residents about the dangers of lead in water.Related: Philadelphia water department faces class action lawsuit over water testing Continue reading...

The NGO accuses Malaysian palm oil company IOI of failing to act in accordance with its own sustainability policies and Indonesian law

Warmest spring on record helps push states’s year-to-date temperature more than 10F (5.5C) above average, reports Climate CentralAlaska just can’t seem to shake the fever it has been running. This spring was easily the hottest the state has ever recorded and it contributed to a year-to-date temperature that is more than 10°F (5.5°C) above average, according to data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).The Lower 48, meanwhile, had its warmest spring since the record-breaking scorcher of 2012. Continue reading...

Independent candidate for New England speaks of donations from mining company to federal Nationals

Huge sections of the UK coastline were too polluted for swimming until EU legal action forced the government to clean upIn the 1980s, the British government tried to claim that the beaches of Brighton, Blackpool, Skegness and many other resorts weren’t used for bathing, to avoid dealing with the sewage, condoms and tampons that polluted them. Of the 27 beaches it agreed were used for swimming, nine were too dirty to reach the minimum bathing standard.Today, after legal action from the EU and directives on bathing water and urban waste water, 99% of the UK’s 632 designated beaches have been deemed safe for swimming. Continue reading...

Environment committee report criticises lack of long-term planning and raises doubts whether target of protecting 300,000 homes by 2021 would be metThe government is failing to protect communities at risk of flooding, according to a highly critical report from MPs, who said they were sceptical that the target of protecting 300,000 more homes would be met.

Dartmoor, Devon The beetle’s forelimb seemed to give a cheery wave to the world as it scooped at thin air then arced forwardWider than a thumbnail, almost as thick as a thumb, a black beetle with a shell like polished shoe leather was lumbering along a well-trodden path.Striking out in slow motion for the grassy edge with a six-legged doggy paddle, this bloody-nosed beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa) gave the impression of a wind-up toy winding down. Watching this great tank on sticks was akin to seeing the open workings of a mill – a collection of mechanical parts moving in sequence to drive the greater whole. Continue reading...

Premier Daniel Andrews says Labor will legislate targets and reduce emissions via ‘pledge program’Victoria has announced a plan to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050.The move places Victoria at the head of the pack of states and territories, along with South Australia, which has the same 2050 target, and the ACT, which has other strong emissions and renewable energy targets. Victoria’s move could be more significant, though, since it contributed significantly more to Australia’s overall emissions. Continue reading...

Nescafé’s one-use cups are aimed at busy commuters who want cheap on-the-go coffee, but we already have reusable cups for thatNestlé has made it possible to skip the queues and make coffee-to-go in the comfort of your own kitchen. For £4.30 you can buy a box of four disposable coffee cups, pre-filled with a mix of instant coffee and ground coffee sealed under some tin foil.

Greg Hunt defends conservative government’s actions in torrent of posts to the Finding Dory starThe Australian environment minister, Greg Hunt, has bombarded Ellen DeGeneres with tweets after she appealed to Australia to do more to protect the Great Barrier Reef.Following news of the death of almost a quarter of the coral on the reef this year, DeGeneres, who plays the fish Dory in the 2003 film Finding Nemo and its upcoming sequel, Finding Dory, released a video message as part of a campaign called Remember the Reef. Continue reading...

Policies and rhetoric around the Great Barrier Reef have rarely matched reality as the natural wonder suffers under the stress of pollutionIn late November 2015, as corals across the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef started to bleach white, the game was finally up.

In attributing the rise in air pollutants in London to the EU, Nigel Pollitt is being disingenuous (Letters, 6 June). As chairman of the UK Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards for a decade to 2002, I was regularly asked by journalists as to whether diesel or petrol vehicles were better, and always gave the same answer: it depends whether you wish to increase air pollution or to accelerate global climate change, since diesel was more efficient but also more polluting. Thus it would have been Hobson’s choice, were it not for the unasked alternative, which was to get out of the car or, if that was not always possible, to drive the car with the smallest possible engine and to do so with minimal use of accelerator and brake.Mr Pollitt should also know that all the evidence-based air quality standards that our panel proposed to the UK government were passed into law and then used by the EU for setting pan-European standards, resulting in a general reduction of pollution across Europe and in the UK. The recent rise in pollution in London is related to the selfish behaviour of those who purchase large diesel vehicles and use them for short journeys when efficient electric and hybrid vehicles are now available.

Environment committee criticises voluntary action to end the tiny plastic particles that pollute seas, and slam the lack of labelling on microbead productsVoluntary action by the cosmetics industry to phase out the use of microbeads in Europe came under strong attack from MPs on Wednesday, who criticised loopholes in the pledges and slammed the lack of labelling on products containing the plastic particles.Tiny plastic beads are widely used in toiletries and cosmetics but thousands of tonnes of them wash into the sea every year, where they harm wildlife and can ultimately be eaten by people. The US has banned microbeads and a petition signed by over 300,000 people asking for a ban in the UK was delivered to David Cameron on Wednesday. Continue reading...