If I were David Cameron, I would fast-track flood defences ahead of HS2, and say: ‘These are the people’s priorities – I get it’Ever since at least the time of King Canute, and probably long before that, those in authority have had an uneasy relationship with the forces of nature. And with good reason, as this week has once again reminded many parts of Britain.Floods, like the ones that have coursed through so many communities in northern England and southern Scotland this week, have a way of uprooting more things than the cars, trees and bridges that have been the stuff of the week’s television news bulletins. Water can sweep away the metaphysical as well as the physical. It can carry away authority, trust, and some of the certainties of ordered life with them too. And floods are no respecter of reputations either. King Canute understood this. It is not so clear that David Cameron does. Continue reading...

Angel Gurria takes a swipe at India for accusing OECD of dubious accounting methods over climate aid flow to poor countriesSome developing countries risk destabilising the UN climate negotiations in Paris by trying to rerun old battles over climate aid that have already been resolved, the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation has said.Angel Gurria, the OECD’s secretary general robustly defended the organisation’s assessment of global climate finance and said that developing countries should accept that most funding due to them under international agreements was already flowing. Continue reading...

Langstone, Hampshire A pair of tiny goldcrests hover-glean, plucking spiders from the underside of leaves and branchesAs the days have grown shorter and the weather colder, dwindling natural food resources have drawn the birds back to my garden. The dunnock that roosts in our unkempt bay tree pauses to sip rainwater from the base of an upturned coal scuttle, before scouring beneath the bird table for spilled seed.I glimpse a foraging wren scuttling mouse-like through the labyrinth of ivy that covers the fence. A song thrush skulks behind the wood pile sucking up worms like spaghetti, while a trio of magpies take turns to sidle up and steal a peanut from the mound I have left by the back door for our visiting squirrel. Continue reading...

Researchers ran climate modelling experiments and found that climate change made flooding 40% more likelyManmade climate change was partly responsible for Storm Desmond’s torrential rain which devastated parts of Scotland, the Lake District and Northern Ireland, scientists have concluded.The researchers at Oxford University and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) calculated that climate change had made the flooding event 40% more likely, with the estimate of the increased likelihood ranging between 5% and 80%.

This personal and reflective documentary recounts the mission of a pioneering scientist to find evidence of climate change in the ice of the AntarcticThe title of this nature documentary says it all – all about scientific data mined from the Antarctic telling you what is happening up there in the sky or in the air around us. It is the story of the pioneering climate scientist Claude Lorius, now 83, whose lifelong passion for the Antarctic began in his 20s when he signed on for a scientific expedition to that remote region.Lorius was able to take samples deeper and deeper in the ice, which effectively contained fossilised records of its ambient temperature hundreds or thousands of years ago: the evidence showed an unmistakable upswing in the last century, and Lorius realised that mankind’s CO emissions were heating up the atmosphere. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Laurent Fabius says end in sight as talks on global agreement go into another all-night meetingNegotiators in Paris are embarking on another all-night meeting to try to reach a new global climate agreement, with the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, telling them they were “extremely close to the finishing line” as he presented yet another draft text.

Negotiators from governments around the world continue to work to iron out their differences over a draft text of the COP21 agreement to stop dangerous global warming9.21pm GMTThat’s all for today, folks, thanks for reading. Negotiators are heading in to closed overnight meetings, so we’ll restart out live coverage on Friday morning to see if the nearly 200 governments here in Paris can agree a deal that’ll keep dangerous global warming in check.See you then.9.19pm GMTTim Gore, Oxfam’s head of policy, says the “main area of progress are definitely on finance. That seems to be a big step forward. There are some strong changes to the text that will increase finance from rich countries towards the $100bn target for 2020.”He notes, with a raised eyebrow, that human rights have been purged from the text completely just one day after gender equality was stripped. Continue reading...

That the government is still delaying at this point in the political cycle shows how toxic an issue the third runway isEven by the government’s standards of inaction on the airports debate, six months to simply blandly agree with the Airports Commission’s superseded shortlist from 2013 is quite a feat.Air quality remains a real issue, and government sources were keen to point out that there is still time to make a decision in six months and meet the 2030 deadline before runway capacity becomes a crisis. And the official statement does affirm that it now definitely believes a runway somewhere is needed. But this further delay until next summer will prompt resigned fury, yet little surprise, in a sector that has seen this all too often before. Continue reading...

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visits the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth on Thursday, which was badly affected by floods following Storm Desmond. Corbyn praises the community spirit he has witnessed and urges positive action on climate change, which he says has a clear impact on extreme weather events in the UK. He also calls on the government to do more to strengthen flood defences in areas vulnerable to flooding

China’s strategy for dealing with air pollution is a cosmetic exercise cynically timed to coincide with the Paris summit on climate change (Airpocalypse now: factories and schools in Beijing shut by unprecedented smog alert, 9 December).The 24-hour WHO limit for small particulates is 25 microgrammes per cubic metre of air, though recent studies have demonstrated adverse effects on foetal development at levels well below this. During recent pollution episodes, levels as high as 900 have been recorded in Bejing and other large cities such as Baoding. China’s ruthless determination to grow its economy has therefore rendered its cities wholly unfit for human habitation, and especially dangerous for pregnant women. Continue reading...

Storm Desmond flooded Cumbrian house of 15-year-old cancer sufferer, but an unknown benefactor has stepped in to helpA good samaritan has come forward to offer a property to a couple with a son who has cancer after the family were forced out of their home in Cumbria by flooding.Andrew Williams, a self-employed window fitter, had to leave his house in Kendal on Tuesday when the water reached knee height. His wife was 80 miles away at Alder Hey hospital, where their 15-year-old son, James, had received chemotherapy for osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer most common in teenagers and young adults. Continue reading...

Willie Walsh, head of British Airways’ parent company, says he believes there will still be only two runways at airport by 2050Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways’ parent company, has criticised Heathrow airport and David Cameron as the government considers building a third runway at the London hub.The IAG boss accused Heathrow of wanting to build a “gold-plated airport to fleece its customers”. He said other options were being considered only to “satisfy the ego” of the prime minister who had “spoken before he understood” the runway debate. Continue reading...

Orphaned tiger who was rehabilitated and released back into the wild has given birth to two cubs in Russia, raising hope for the species’ survivalAn orphaned Siberian tiger who was rehabilitated and released back into the wild has given birth two cubs, conservationists in Russia said on Thursday.It is believed to be the first time a released tiger has gone onto become a mother and raises hope for the survival of Siberian tigers. Also known as Amur tigersjust 500 individuals remain in the wild following decades of illegal poaching and deforestation.

Maatalii Okalik is taking the young voice of the Canadian Arctic to the global climate change talks in Paris: ‘We’re the ones really affected by it’Maatalii Okalik is tired of seeing polar bears as the face of climate change. “Make it an Inuit face. We’re the ones that are really affected by it,” she told the Guardian in a phone interview from Paris.

A Siberian tiger called Zolushka is filmed in the Bastak nature reserve in east Russia playing with two young cubs. Zolushka was found orphaned in 2012 and after a year of rehabilitation was retuned to the wild. Now it seems Zolushka has given birth to cubs in the wild. The Siberian tiger is one of the most endangered species in the world with as few as 500 left in the wild Continue reading...

A ‘red alert’ for air quality and a leaked online documentary show there is still an urgent need to cut levels of pollution in the Chinese capitalIn February, a Chinese documentary called Under the Dome was leaked online and threatened to shake up China’s environmental status quo. Likened to An Inconvenient Truth, the film by journalist Chai Jing recounted the story of her daughter’s health complications, which were attributed to air pollution. Chai also got political, citing environmental research and calling for government leaders to take action. A viral video was born.Related: Smog-hit Beijing residents told to stay positive and drink more tea Continue reading...

The Kichwa tribe in the Sarayaku region of the Amazon in Ecuador believe in the ‘living forest’, where humans, animals and plants live in harmony. They are fighting oil companies who want to exploit their ancestral land. A delegation of indigenous people are at the Paris COP21 climate conference to make sure their voices are heard. Can they win their battle? Continue reading...

Climate Home: American people back flagship clean power plan despite lawsuits and Republican assaults, says Barack Obama’s top environmental regulatorThe Obama administration’s climate centrepiece is bulletproof, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told Climate Home on Thursday.The legislation upon which it rests – the Clean Air Act – is sound in the face of legal appeals by states and industry groups, Gina McCarthy said on the sidelines of the COP21 summit. Continue reading...

Effects of sea level rise hit close to home for Americans as US army corps of engineers report finds that Tangier Island is crumbling into the seaYou don’t have to travel to a balmy Pacific island to hear the anguish of people whose land and culture is under threat from climate change. In Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay, the idiosyncratic, and historic, community of Tangier Island is facing an uncertain future as the sea gnaws away at the land beneath them.A bird’s eye view of the island, just three miles long and one mile wide, would once have taken in a hook-shaped piece of land jutting out from the middle of the bay. The shape is more a teardrop these days, with erosion occurring at a bewildering rate. Continue reading...

From presidents to poets, female delegates at the UN climate conference reflect on how global warming is affecting women, and how grassroots movements are leading the way in climate-proofing communitiesI saw my mother working in women’s clubs – to increase incomes, do childcare, keep girls in school. I was very aware as a little girl that I had to claim rights. It is a life story – it only became my job much later. Continue reading...

Some urban trees won’t be hemmed in by walls, pavements or concrete, their roots slowly working their way into the very structure of the city Continue reading...

Japanese technology firm in talks with financial institutions to support atomic construction programme after share price tumblesToshiba, the technology company at the centre of plans to build more nuclear reactors in Britain, is looking for outside help to fund its £8bn programme after a collapse in its share price.The Japanese group is in talks with local financial institutions to support the construction of an atomic plant near the Sellafield facility in Cumbria, after running up losses following an accounting scandal. Continue reading...

The Guardian environment editor John Vidal reports from the UN climate change conference in Paris, where gritty but positive negotiations to broker an agreement are nearing a conclusionThere has been a discernible shift in attitude towards global warming among world leaders since the last major climate conference, held in Copenhagen in 2009. The will to act is stronger, and the majority of the 196 countries in Paris have lodged their intended contributions with the UN. But while there is a cautious optimism about the talks, it remains to be seen whether world leaders will move far enough, fast enough.The former Labour leader Ed Miliband, British climate secretary at the time of the Copenhagen talks, reflects on how our understanding of global warming willingness to take action has moved on over the past six years. Mary Robinson, the UN special envoy on climate change and president of the Climate Justice Foundation, expresses hope that an agreement can be struck. Meena Raman from the Third World Network, an international NGO based in Malaysia, argues that rich countries must take responsibility for their historical emissions, while Shiferaw Teklemariam, Ethiopia’s environment, forest and climate change minister, explains how his country is already feeling the effects of global warming. Dessima Williams, a former Grenadian ambassador to the UN who is advising Oxfam on climate change, talks about the ways in which global warming has affected agriculture, tourism and other aspects of life in Grenada. Continue reading...

Anti-food waste proposal, described as ‘a crucial measure for the planet’, passed unanimously in the Assemblée NationaleFrench MPs have voted unanimously to force supermarkets to give away unsold food that has reached its sell-by date. Shops will also be banned from destroying food products, as they have in the past – sometimes by soaking them in bleach – to prevent them being distributed.The proposal was passed as part of another law in May but was subsequently annulled by France’s constitutional court because of procedural faults.

From cheating emissions tests, recalling cars, Leonardo DiCaprio threatening to make a film to tumbling sales ... here’s what’s happened so farThe Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal broke on a Friday in mid-September and continues to deepen. Here is how it unfolded. Continue reading...

Whale in sperm family named ‘albicetus’, meaning white whale, after whale in Herman Melville’s novel after 15m-year-old fossil is re-examinedResearchers have identified a new species of whale that they are naming after the mythic beast of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.In a study published on Wednesday in the journal Plos One, lead researcher Alex Boersma corrected a 90-year-old error and created a new branch of the sperm whale family tree for the fossil. She and co-author Nicholas Pyenson, the Smithsonian’s curator of marine mammal fossils, named the genus “albicetus”, meaning white whale. Continue reading...

From 1.5C or 2C limit, to climate aid and public reporting of emissions, here are the main differences in the draft textNegotiators at the UN climate talks in Paris are now into their eighth day of talking in search of a global deal on climate change. The mood is upbeat but there are still significant disagreements over some key issues. They came out in the publication on Wednesday of the draft negotiating text.

Algunos son estudiantes y otros trabajan como periodistas o como coordinadores comunitarios, pero todos impulsan el debate antes de la cumbre climáticaUna serie de jóvenes activistas y autores de blogs de todo el mundo están fomentando el debate público durante la cumbre climática de París, siguiendo de cerca a negociadores, coordinando las campañas de desinversión en los combustibles fósiles en universidades y explorando los vínculos que existen entre los problemas sociales y los medioambientales. Algunos son estudiantes, mientras que otros trabajan como periodistas o coordinadores comunitarios. A continuación indicamos aquellos a los que leer y seguir. Continue reading...

Situation in Glenridding described as ‘extremely dangerous’ as local MP and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron says ministers must learn from disasterPolice have urged people to stay indoors after a Cumbrian village was flooded for the second time within a few days. The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, a local MP, said the government must learn that flooding is likely to become more frequent.

The Royal Norwegian coastguard rescue a humpback whale trapped in a large rope at sea, west of Tromso. The footage shows the whale with the rope wound around its body and the coastguard crew using a hook to gradually remove it from its mid section and tail. Lieutant Commander Jimmy Haugland confirmed that the whale was eventually cut free and swam away unhurt. Continue reading...

David Cameron and senior ministers meet to consider proposals but may decide that further consultation is needed before final decision is madeThe government is to announce its decision – or lack of one – on Heathrow expansion later on Thursday when David Cameron and key cabinet ministers meet to consider the Airports Commission’s recommendation to build a third runway.Heathrow’s hopes are likely to remain in the balance with the government expected to give no more than a lukewarm endorsement of the commission’s verdict, and say that further consultation and environmental safeguards are needed. Continue reading...

Beijing may hit headlines, but European cities such as Paris also regularly exceed safe limits for pollutants such as NO2, with impacts on health and climate change. John Vidal takes to the skies to get a clearer pictureThe air quality is officially “good”, 400ft above Paris in a balloon at rush hour. From that height you can see the ring road and many of the city’s 37 bridges blocked with traffic, the commuting trains coming in, and – on the first cold day of winter – water vapour rising from several power stations as thousands of central heating systems fire up .

German carmaker says for first time there was a ‘whole chain’ of errors and a mindset that tolerated rule-breakingVolkswagen has admitted for the first time that the diesel emissions scandal was the result of systematic failures within the company, rather than just the actions of rogue engineers.Hans Dieter Pötsch, the VW chairman, said there had been a “whole chain” of errors at VW and a mindset within it that tolerated rule-breaking. Continue reading...

Despite a state of emergency ban on demonstrations following attacks in the French capital, people from around the world staged colourful and creative protests to call for climate justice and a strong global deal Continue reading...

Deep water flows through Glenridding on Wednesday night after fresh heavy rainfall. Volunteers in diggers and emergency service teams worked through the night to reinforce defences. It is the second major flood to hit the Cumbrian town in less than a week, with many homes and businesses suffering extensive damage during Storm Desmond over the weekend

Leading scientists and former ministers say the country has undermined its record as a world leader on climate change and is ‘moving backwards’The UK has given up its leadership role at the UN climate talks in Paris and is “moving backwards” with a string of cuts to green domestic policies, according to Prof Anne Glover, the former chief scientific adviser to the European commission.Her comments were endorsed by business people, NGOs, an ex-diplomat and two former ministers who are worried that the government is squandering the UK’s international standing on climate issues. Continue reading...

A flurry of conceptual art has provided an eloquent visual counterpoint to the sound and fury of political negotiations at the UN climate summit

Investigators uncover widespread fraud which allows traders to register ivory as ‘legal’ despite coming from endangered sourcesJapan is fuelling the trade in illegal ivory and undermining international efforts to protect Africa’s elephants by failing to crack down on illegal registration practices, according to a report released today.

Foreign affairs minister earns mock award for claim that ‘coal will remain critical to promoting prosperity, growing economies and alleviating hunger for years’Australia has finally won the “fossil of the day” award – bestowed each day by young climate activists at big international climate summits.

In the third in a series of films for Guardian Australia, Olandi Pearson, an elder from the island of Poruma in the Torres Strait, walks the shoreline of his home to show the effects of erosion caused by climate change. Pearson was born on Poruma but was forced to leave in 1964 owing to a water shortage. Since his return in 1985 he has kept a close eye on rising sea levels and coastal erosion, hoping something will be done to stop the sand disappearing Continue reading...

After more than 20 years of negotiations, the next 48 hours are seen as crunch time in reaching a deal to avoid dangerous temperature riseAustralia has warned against stripping the Paris climate agreement of ambition in order to get some kind of deal as negotiators met to consider yet another draft agreement.

When disasters happen we look for an explanation. This week’s extreme rainfall in the north-west of the UK will be no exception. Honister, in Cumbria, had a record-breaking 341mm of rainfall within 24 hours, breaking the previous record of 316mm set at nearby Seathwaite in November 2009. More than 5,200 properties have been affected by the recent flooding, and insurers estimate a bill of as much as £250m to clean up the mess.Just like November 2009, Cumbria this season has been affected by an “atmospheric river”, a narrow ribbon of very moist air, stretching back over thousands of kilometres. About 10 potentially damaging atmospheric rivers pummel the UK each winter, but this one was particularly strong. Continue reading...