Unusually strong El Niño, coupled with record-high temperatures, has had a catastrophic effect on crops and rainfall across southern and eastern AfricaMore than 36 million people face hunger across southern and eastern Africa, the United Nations has warned, as swaths of the continent grapple with the worst drought in decades at a time of record high temperatures.The immediate cause of the drought which has crippled countries from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe is one of the strongest El Niño events ever recorded. It has turned normal weather patterns upside down around the globe, climate scientists say. Continue reading...

Falling coal use in China and the US and a shift towards renewable energy globally saw energy emissions level for the second year running, says IEAFalling coal use in China and the US and a worldwide shift towards renewable energy have kept greenhouse gas emissions level for a second year running, one of the world’s leading energy analysts has said.Preliminary data for 2015 from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector have levelled off at 32.1bn tonnes even as the global economy grew over 3% . Continue reading...

Readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsFrom where on Earth, assuming optimium atmospheric conditions, is it possible to see furthest?

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn presses David Cameron on air pollution during prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Cameron responds by saying the government has a good record on green energy and is on track to get 30% of renewables by 2020

Company says there’s ‘substantial doubt’ it will go on after delaying $70m payment amid slowing global economy and tougher environmental standardsThe world’s largest private coal mining company is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, driven to the brink of collapse by plummeting energy prices around the world, cheaper and less polluting rivals such as natural gas, and widespread economic uncertainty.US mining giant Peabody Energy announced in New York on Wednesday that it is facing the prospect of filing for bankruptcy protection, a legal strategy to shield it from its creditors while it restructures, after failing to make a routine interest payment on its debts. Continue reading...

Conservationists urge EU to take action against Malta for continuing the spring hunt despite the birds recently being added to ‘red list’ of species at risk of being wiped outHunters in Malta will be permitted to shoot 5,000 turtle doves this spring despite the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently adding the migratory bird to the “red list” of species at risk of being wiped out.The Maltese government, the only EU member to allow recreational spring hunting, said it was taking “special measures” to minimise the impact of its shoot on the bird’s plummeting population, cutting the shooters’ allowance from 11,000 birds. Continue reading...

UK coffee drinkers use around 3bn disposable cups per year – but only one in 1,000 is currently recycled. It’s time to tackle this tide of needless wasteLess than 1% of takeaway coffee cups get recycled – or “dramatically less than 1%” in the striking phrase of Peter Goodwin, co-founder of the UK’s only paper-coffee-cup recycling business. It takes a specialist company, because the plastic used to laminate the cups has to be removed before the paper is pulped. A bit like the fruit juice cartons that, as any eager recycler will know, are not to be confused with cardboard and are processed alongside paper cups in Stainland, West Yorkshire, at the UK’s only carton recycling plant.Related: Caffeine hit: what happens to Britain's 3bn empty coffee cups? Continue reading...

Labour leader attacks PM’s record on green issues, saying poor air quality is killing hundreds of thousands at cost of £20bnJeremy Corbyn has said hundreds of thousands of people are dying as a result of poor air quality in the UK, as he attacked David Cameron’s record on the environment.The Labour leader accused the prime minister of failing to tackle pollution in an unexpected set of questions on green issues, from dirty air to carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Early figures from International Energy Agency show emissions from energy sector stayed flat in 2015 on renewables surge, reports ClimateHome

PM and Labour leader clash over air pollution (and Corbyn has a new suit)Jeremy Corbyn used all six questions to press the prime minister on air pollution, citing the fact that 500,000 people die as a result of the failure to meet targets. Corbyn said David Cameron once boasted about leading the greenest government ever: “No husky was safe from his cuddles. Why is the government failing people who work in the green energy industry?” Continue reading...

The daughter of Berta Cáceres, the Honduran human rights defender who was murdered this month, has spoken out about the country’s volatility and called on Europe and the US to stop investing in the controversial Agua Zarca dam

Rather than make the winter migration to Africa the birds are finding a constant source of food at Europe’s landfill sites, research showsWhite storks are giving up on their winter migration from Europe to Africa in favour of staying near rubbish tips all year round, where they are provided with a steady source of waste food and can boost their breeding chances, research shows.Some birds have even been tracked making round trips of up to 60 miles to get their junk food fix, a study led by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) has found. Continue reading...

Arpa-E project deploys drones and robots to breed fast-growing, drought-resistant and greener biofuel from sorghum which could replace corn ethanolA US government agency is trying to build a better biofuel, using a higher energy-producing plant with a lower environmental impact than corn ethanol or other known biofuels.Sorghum, a food and forage crop widely grown in Africa and Central America which has tens of thousands of varieties, has emerged as one of the most exciting prospects. Continue reading...

Mayors from Paris, Madrid and Athens say loophole in NOx emissions tests puts citizens’ health at riskThe mayors of 20 European cities including Paris, Madrid and Athens have attacked the European Union for allowing a loophole in diesel cars’ pollution limits, just months after the VW emissions scandal.

Bodinnick to Polruan, Cornwall The Hall Walk was first recorded in 1585 as an ornamental promenade that zig-zagged downhill towards the riverOff the steep street from the ferry, Hall Walk lives up to Richard Carew’s description in 1602 as a place of “diversified pleasings”. Sheltered from the blustering wind, the path of silvery slate is traced with tree shadows; warm sunshine entices a bumble bee to dandelions, intensifies the faint perfume of primrose, the brassiness of open celandines and the blue of the Fowey estuary below.This walk was first recorded in 1585 as an ornamental promenade that zigzagged downhill towards the river. It was also a placement for ordnance and, in 1644 during the civil war, Charles I just escaped being shot here while he was staying with the Mohuns of Hall Manor. Continue reading...

Drone footage released by Sea Shepherd Global shows authorities in Indonesia sinking the ‘Viking’, the last of the ‘Bandit 6’ poaching vessels. The Viking is notorious for illegally fishing Patagonian toothfish in the Southern Ocean. It was caught by the Indonesian government on 26 February, according to Sea Shepherd, before being sunk off Pangandaran, West Java Continue reading...

Thousands of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico for the winter each year, to find refuge from the cold weather in the country’s pine forests. But last week a rare snowstorm interrupted their sleep as freezing winds blew the butterflies out of their safe colonies, grouped together in the trees, and deposited many of them across the forest floor where they are at risk of freezing to death while still in hibernation. The species itself is not at risk but, as this film project by Univision Planeta shows, there is still no accurate number for how many of the butterflies have died Continue reading...

Susan Hedman was accused of doing nothing to protect Flint’s children – but in a congressional hearing she said state officials failed to act on agency’s concernsThe Environmental Protection Agency manager who resigned over the Flint poisoned water scandal has blamed state officials for the disaster during an acrimonious congressional inquiry.Susan Hedman, who was the regional EPA head for Flint, told the hearing she resigned due to “false allegations” in the media that she had failed to react to the crisis and sidelined Miguel del Toral, an EPA official who wrote a memo warning of the dangerous situation in Flint. Continue reading...

Britons drink more than 8m takeaway coffees every day – then throw away the cups. Why are so few recycled?The paper coffee cup is one of modern life’s consumer conundrums. It is ubiquitous, yet coveted, pricey yet just about affordable. It confers status in a world where you need to be busy to be important, while telling everyone you had time to wait in line while the beans were ground and the milk was steamed. And now there is one more contradiction to add to the list, because the paper coffee cup, it turns out, is recyclable - yet woefully, overwhelmingly, unrecycled.A conservative estimate puts the number of paper cups handed out by coffee shops in the UK at 3bn, more than 8m a day. Yet, supposedly, fewer than one in 400 is being recycled. Continue reading...

Amid the pressing demands of immediate political crises it is easy to forget the long-term changes in the climate. But no country, least of all the UK, can afford to“Normally I don’t comment on individual months,” tweeted Gavin Schmidt of Nasa on Sunday. “Too much weather, not enough climate. But last month was special.” And so it was: February’s global surface temperature was 1.35C warmer than the average temperature for the month between 1951-1980, a bigger margin than ever seen before.In the pressing confusion of world affairs, civil war, refugees, terrorism and even the workings of democracy, it can be hard to keep a focus on even greater long-term threats. Yet the consequences of climate change – sometimes drought, sometimes extreme weather events – already contribute to political instability, to pushing hard lives over the border into intolerable, fuelling the great flows of humanity across continents. Continue reading...

In December, David Cameron joined 195 other leaders to promise ambitious action on climate change. Achieving the Paris goals requires leaving most of the world’s fossil fuel reserves in the ground. A first step must be to stop subsidising fossil fuel production. Wednesday’s budget is an acid test of the government’s Paris commitment. In last year’s budget, the chancellor gave £1.3bn in new tax breaks and direct funding to the oil industry. The UK Treasury receives a smaller share of oil revenues than most other comparable countries. Meanwhile, the government has exempted a whole new fossil-fuel industry – fracking – from half of its tax, despite huge local opposition wherever it is proposed.The government has slashed support for wind and solar energy, costing thousands of jobs. Yet its free-market rationale does not apply when it comes to the oil and gas industry, which has received continued government support even in times of super-normal profits. The chancellor has to change course. He should scrap subsidies that keep the British economy hooked on fossil fuels, and instead set out a strategy to help communities currently dependent on fossil fuel jobs to diversify and to rebuild around world-leading clean technology.

Climate change has brought a myriad of issues to the far north, but rising sea levels are now threatening existing home owners and contributing to housing shortagesIn the spring, after the permafrost thaws and the ground settles, Wilson Andrew Sr takes a wrench to the metal pilings that hold up the foundation of his house in Atmautluak, Alaska, and makes it level again. He cranks the screws until the foundation flattens out, level with the ground. At least for now.

Environmental groups call president’s reversal an outsize victory after backlash from communities that fear Gulf of Mexico rig disaster could happen againThe Obama administration abandoned its plan for oil and gas drilling in Atlantic waters on Tuesday, after strong opposition from the Pentagon and coastal communities.The announcement from Sally Jewell, the interior secretary, to bar drilling across the length of the mid-Atlantic seaboard reverses Obama’s decision just a year ago to open up the east coast to oil and gas exploration, and consolidates his record for environmental protection. Continue reading...

Fort Yukon has recorded Alaska’s coldest ever temperatures but this winter temperatures have been much warmer than usual, leading to dangerously thin iceThis year’s record-breaking temperatures have robbed the Arctic of its winter, sending snowmobilers plunging through thin ice into freezing rivers and forcing deliveries of snow to the starting line of Alaska’s legendary Iditarod dogsledding race.Last month’s high temperatures – up to 16C (29F) above normal in some parts of the Arctic – flummoxed scientists, and are redefining life in the Arctic, especially for the indigenous people who live close to the land. Continue reading...

Until it divests from fossil fuels, McGill is betting its prestige on preparing youth for the world while betting its dollars on making it uninhabitableStudents have tried petitions, research briefs, faculty letters, camping for a week on campus. But for a university that considers itself the Harvard of the north, McGill’s administrators have shown little readiness to listen to reason. Or to heed the weather: February was the hottest month in a century by a “stunning” margin, according to Nasa.

M&S and Unilever among companies demanding urgent action over unsustainable water usage destroying ecosystem in Doñana regionA consortium of high-profile supermarkets and food companies is demanding urgent action to stop unsustainable water usage among Spanish strawberry growers.

UK Committee on Climate Change says Holyrood should aim to reduce greenhouse gases by 61% over next 14 yearsScottish ministers should aim to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by a challenging but achievable 61% by 2030, an influential advisory committee has recommended.The UK Committee on Climate Change (UKCCC) said that cutting emissions that deeply would mirror the Scottish parliament’s existing goal of reducing emissions by 42% by 2020: both targets would outstrip the UK government’s current pledges. Continue reading...

Prince William-led initiative to be signed by 40 organisations, including port operators and transport groups to curb $19bn illegal poaching tradeThe world’s largest shipping and airline companies, port operators and transport groups will commit on Tuesday to trying to shut down the main international wildlife trafficking routes.

Everything from carnivorous pitcher plants to acid-loving blueberries can be grown without peat. No more excuses: it’s time gardeners kicked the peat habitI used to be a staunch believer that some plants couldn’t be grown without peat.I couldn’t see how I could grow Proteas, Banksias and the like unless I used it. Its fibrous, moisture retentive and long lasting nature created just the right environment for their specialised root systems. I grow a lot of peat-loving plants such as Shortias and Vacciniums too. There certainly seemed no way these would grow without the substrate to which they are so inextricably linked in the wild. Continue reading...

The question that the scientists at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway have to answer is why it would not be in the best interests of the whole area to have marine reserve status as its default position (Targeted marine protection provides best hope for the Arctic, Letters, theguardian.com, 11 March)?This would mean that no fishing could take place (be licensed) unless that proposal to fish could prove that it was not injurious. This is exactly what all other human marine activities have to do, so why should fishing be exempt? Continue reading...

Isle de Jean Charles has lost 98% of its land and most of its population to rising sea levels – but as remaining residents consider relocation, what happens next is a test case to address resettlement needsWenceslaus Billiot, an 88-year-old native of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, remembers growing up on a much different island than the two-mile sliver of his ancestral home that remains today.“When I was a kid I used to do trapping in the back,” he said, gesturing towards the back of the small, one-story house that stands elevated on stilts to escape the floods that roll in from the bayou after nearly every storm. “You could walk for a long time. Now, nothing but water.” Continue reading...

We treat climate change records as we treat new fashions, phones or films. But we seem unable to understand that we are driving such changesAnd another one bites the dust. The year 2014 was the warmest ever recorded by humans. Then 2015 was warmer still. January 2016 broke the record for the largest monthly temperature anomaly. Then came last month.February didn’t break climate change records – it obliterated them. Regions of the Arctic were were more than 16C warmer than normal – whatever constitutes normal now. But what is really making people stand up and notice is that the surface of the Earth north of the equator was 2C warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. This was meant to be a line that must not be crossed. Continue reading...

Taiwan’s capital – notorious for elevated highways and swarms of scooters – is in the early stages of a cycle revolution powered by legalised sidewalk cycling and a bike-share scheme where more than half of users are womenA swarm of scooters forms at the head of a queue of traffic waiting for the lights to change. Visors down, engines revving, they jockey for position ahead of the cars, trucks and buses on a specially marked patch of tarmac reserved for cyclists in many parts of the world.The buzz rises to a high-pitched crescendo and, as the lights turn green, they shoot off. A minute later the lights change and the process begins again. Taipei is home to almost one million scooters – as well as 2.7 million people. Like many other large Asian cities, the roads here are seen as no place for cyclists. Continue reading...

Local authorities and retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco sign voluntary Courtauld 2025 agreement to reduce food and drink wasteBritain’s leading supermarkets have pledged to drive down food and drink waste by a fifth within the next decade.Retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons are backing a voluntary agreement, which also targets a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions created by the food and drink industry. Continue reading...

Australia’s ambassador to the US defends criticism of his country’s climate stance in an editorial – but how do the points he makes stack up?Australia’s former treasurer Joe Hockey has weighed into the debate about cuts to climate research at CSIRO, by writing a letter to the New York Times.

Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority alleges La Trobe Valley residents were exposed to toxic carbon monoxideVictoria’s Environment Protection Authority has charged four companies with air pollution offences following a comprehensive investigation into the devastating Hazelwood mine fire which occurred in February 2014 and burned for 45 days.Related: Hazelwood mine manager charged with 10 offences over 2014 Morwell fire Continue reading...

Harvesting fruit and vegetables is both educational and rewarding. We talk to schools that are digging in and offer ideas to get you startedWhen Chris Collins left school aged 16 in the early 1980s, he wasn’t sure where his life was heading. “I just couldn’t sit still in the classroom,” he says. “All I knew was that I wanted to be outside.”Today, Collins has come full circle, dedicating much of his time to championing gardening in schools after jobs including rainforest work in west Africa, garden design in Japan and head gardener at Westminster Abbey. He was also Blue Peter’s resident gardener from 2004-13. “It’s vitally important that kids understand where food comes from,” he says. “Learning is about so much more than being at a desk.” Continue reading...

The Law Society of NSW and the NSW Bar Association have strongly condemned an extension of anti-protest laws set to pass the NSW parliamentProposed laws that intend to increase tenfold the fines for coal seam gas and mining protesters in New South Wales have been strongly criticised by the Law Society of NSW and the NSW Bar Association, just as they are expected to be rushed through both houses of parliament.The reaction came as hundreds of protesters gathered outside Parliament House in Sydney to express their opposition to the proposals. Some of their placards read: “You gotta fight for your right to fight for your right.” Continue reading...

Calls for better policing of the industry as report finds licensed fishing vessels are responsible for majority of the illegal catchIllegal fishing in the Pacific Ocean is costing more than $600m a year and is mainly being carried out by legally licensed fishing vessels, a report has found.The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency released the 100-page report, which is the first in-depth attempt to investigate, quantify and place a monetary value on the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices (IUU) in the region. Continue reading...