A wild elephant in a city, a grey wolf in the snow and monk parakeets munching on guava are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Move by India’s popular tourist state could lead to mass culling of the country’s national birdIndia’s popular tourist state of Goa has ruffled feathers with its proposal to reclassify its national bird, the peacock, as vermin, reports said.The move, which is aimed at making the bird easier to cull, comes just weeks after Goa’s legislative assembly caused similar consternation when it ruled that the resort state’s beloved coconut trees were not in fact trees, but palms. Continue reading...

The inshore fishing fleet at Redcar originated in the early 14th century with crab, lobster and fish bringing much-needed income to local fishermen. As the industry has declined, the Teesside town’s fleet has reduced in size, so that today only a small number of boats are still put to sea to continue the fishing heritage on England’s east coast Continue reading...

Amateur footage shows the Thames Barrier after it was closed on Thursday in Greenwich as the river overflows its banks. The Environment Agency issued alerts for a vast stretch of the river, from the flood defence in Greenwich, south-east London, to Putney, in the south-west of the city. The river overflowed on to flood plains in Greenwich, and levels were high in suburban areas as well as at the Embankment in central London

Our exploration of the physical world is becoming an exploration of vulnerabilities to rapid climate changes

A non-profit is trying help farmers build a profitable almond sector in the West Bank, where water and government aid are in short supply

Thames Barrier closed after river overflows in Greenwich and water nears pavement level in some areas of central LondonFlood alerts have been issued across London after the river Thames overflowed its banks and the Thames Barrier was closed for the first time this winter.Related: UK's winter floods create 30,000 tonnes of landfill waste Continue reading...

80% chance that potentially fatal virus in sheep and cattle will arrive from France, carried by midges that transmit the disease, say scientistsBluetongue virus, a potentially fatal disease in sheep and cattle, is very likely to arrive in the England in 2016, according to the government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency.The virus, which does not affect humans or food, flared up in France in 2015 and the scientists estimate there is an 80% chance that the biting midges that transmit the disease will be blown across the channel this summer. Farms in southern England suffered the first ever outbreak in 2007 but the virus was quickly eradicated after a vaccination campaign. Continue reading...

Oulu in Finland and Winnipeg in Canada are two winter cities with remarkably different stories. Oulu is just like Winnipeg – except for the bike paths stretching for miles in every direction and the thousands of people riding bicycles in the snow – says Winter Bike to Work Day founder Anders SwansonIt happened for me three years ago in Turku: the moment I realised that cycling in the snow was going to become normal. I was winding my way up Finland, en route to the world’s first ever Winter Cycling Congress, hosted by a city called Oulu some 400 miles north. It had been snowing non-stop for a week.I thought I had already found somewhere quite special. Earlier that afternoon, I had watched what I believed to be an impressive number of people riding their bicycles on Turku’s main shopping street in the falling snow. I remember thinking, as I ran around with my camera taking as many pictures as possible before sunset: “Oulu must be like this.” Continue reading...

Though well needs to be permanently sealed and inspected, announcement marked first time leak has been under control since it was reported in OctoberA blowout at a natural gas well that gushed uncontrollably for 16 weeks and drove thousands of residents from their Los Angeles homes was plugged on Thursday, a utility said.The leak is expected to cost Southern California Gas Co, a division of Sempra Energy, at least $250m, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Continue reading...

National Trust installs wooden pellet boilers at Upton House in Warwickshire, once owned by petroleum tycoon Lord Bearsted

Certified native oysters, prized for their fuller flavour, will be sold at branches of Whole Foods MarketNative European oysters that are certified as sustainable have gone on sale for the first time in the UK.

Warblington, Hampshire One particular slab had always proved to be the most desirable dwelling, so I left this until last

Last month, 13 activists were tried in court for carrying out a peaceful protest against the expansion of Heathrow airport (Report, Opinion, 25 January, theguardian.com). They were found guilty of aggravated trespass, and await sentencing on 24 February.We believe it would be unjust for these people to receive prison sentences for their actions. Continue reading...

Photographer Bob Tabor specialises in horses – his minimalist portraits of them are powerful and emotionally resonant. His latest collection is Horse/Human: An Emotional Bond, which is published by Glitterati Incorporated in March Continue reading...

An investigation of a mine waste accident that polluted rivers in three states has found evidence that government workers knew a spill could occurAn investigation of a mine waste accident in Colorado that fouled rivers in three states with arsenic, lead and other toxic substances has found further evidence that government workers knew a spill from the gold mine was possible, according to documents released on Thursday by a US House of Representatives committee.Related: After Animas river spill, experts warn of next disaster: 'We were lucky this time' Continue reading...

Scientists find levels of mercury and cadmium in the whales’ brains increased with ageScientists have found clear evidence that whales are absorbing high levels of toxic heavy metals, with cadmium found in the brains of pilot whales which washed up in Scotland.

Kasiisi school in Uganda is harnessing the power from human waste. Journalist Matthew Jenkin explores the educational and environmental issuesStudents and teachers at Kasiisi nursery and primary school in Uganda have found an innovative way to save money and protect the planet when nature calls – by building a biogas digester that allows them to harness the energy contained in human faeces.

Roger Gower, 37, died when his helicopter was shot down during a patrol of the Maswa game reserve last monthNine Tanzanians have been charged in connection with the murder of a British conservationist whose helicopter was shot down while he chased suspected poachers, a senior prosecutor has said.Roger Gower, 37, died when suspected poachers gunned down his helicopter during a patrol of the Maswa game reserve in northern Tanzania, close to the Serengeti national park, on 29 January. Continue reading...

Photographer Will Burrard-Lucas spent three months in Namibia on assignment for WWF using a specially adapted DSLR camera trap to take close-up portraits of the country’s most elusive wildlife. His incredible images will help scientists better understand migration patterns and establish additional protected areas Continue reading...

Booming market grew 27% in 2015 edging past European Union for first time, says industry group. Climate Home reportsChina installed half of all new wind capacity worldwide last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).The country added an “astonishing” 30.5 gigawatts (GW) to boost installations to 145.1GW, the Brussels-based industry group said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Amid growing climate chaos, can we really afford, financially, ecologically, or morally, to be sowing tomato seeds in early February, just so we can pick fruits in June, asks John Walker

A New Jersey law makes it easier for cities to sell off municipal assets, setting a dangerous standard at a time when citizens face threats to water suppliesLast year was a disappointing year for many investors but over at American Water Works, shareholders were celebrating. They scored a 13.5% profit last year, and have continued to swim against the market tide so far in 2016.Great news if you happen to be a shareholder in the company. Not so much, perhaps, if you happen to believe that the business of providing water to our houses shouldn’t be about maximizing profits. Continue reading...

Warmer and wetter conditions facilitate transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, which may have added to spread, says lead climate change scientistThe outbreak of Zika virus in Central and South America is of immediate concern to pregnant women in the region, but for some experts the situation is a glimpse of the sort of public health threats that will unfold due to climate change.“Zika is the kind of thing we’ve been ranting about for 20 years,” said Daniel Brooks, a biologist at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “We should’ve anticipated it. Whenever the planet has faced a major climate change event, man-made or not, species have moved around and their pathogens have come into contact with species with no resistance.” Continue reading...

Furniture, kitchen goods and carpets ‘contaminated’ by floodwater can’t be recycled and will cost councils over an estimated £2 million in landfill taxAlmost 30,000 tonnes of damaged household goods have had to be dumped in landfill following devastating winter floods, town hall chiefs have said.A snapshot analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) estimates councils have been landed with a £2.25m landfill tax bill as a result of the clear-up after the floods. Continue reading...

Online grocery startups in Kenya, Rwanda and Gambia help farmers cut out the middleman, but challenges such as low internet access may hinder profitability

Antarctic scientist attacked by Republican Ted Cruz says Texas Senator “has confused which way is up”I have no clue how many climate science denial myths a Republican presidential candidate can fit onto the head of a pin, but given these zingers are generally huge it’s probably not that many.But we do now have some clue how many myths one of those candidates, Senator Ted Cruz, can fit into an eight-minute diatribe. At least six. Continue reading...

Officials from Michigan city testified to congressional leaders Wednesday to ‘help us restore our city’ after lead was discovered in drinking waterOfficials from the embattled city of Flint, Michigan, testified to Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday to reiterate their call for urgent upgrades to the midwestern city’s basic services.Abnormally high levels of lead were discovered in the city’s drinking water after an emergency manager, appointed by the state government, switched Flint’s water from Detroit’s supply to the Flint river, leading to extra corrosion in the old lead service lines that carry the city’s water. Continue reading...

Confusion surrounds the process by which Australia’s environment minister was crowned the world’s No 1, with the news agency denying it designed the schemeConfusion surrounds the selection process for the “best minister in the world” award bestowed upon Greg Hunt at the World Government Summit in Dubai for his efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Larry Marshall says the climate lobby ‘is perhaps more powerful than the energy lobby was back in the 70s’ and criticises ‘emotion’ in debateCSIRO chief Larry Marshall said the reaction to his planned cuts to climate science in the organisation is more like religion than science, and compared climate science with the oil lobby in the 1970s.Related: CSIRO climate cuts attack a national treasure when we need it most Continue reading...

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?When an Aedes aegypti mosquito bites you, she – because only the females, which need blood as nutrients for their offspring, bite – will probe your skin with her proboscis as many as 20 times. Two pairs of sharp cutting edges, the fascicle, break the skin and then search for a blood vessel, withdrawing and re-entering until a suitable target is found. When the blood starts to flow, a salivary tube delivers a protein that stops it clotting. The mosquito holds still and then begins to suck; in 90 seconds’ time, she feels full, and stops. And then, if you are in parts of South and Central America and bang out of luck, you will have Zika.It’s a horrible idea, and one that will draw shudders from anyone who has ever been bitten by a mosquito – which is to say, just about everyone. In the entire animal kingdom, the mosquito occupies a special place as receptacle for our hatred and disgust. Even the great and generous EO Wilson, author of the touchstone argument for preserving biodiversity, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, makes an exception for anopheles gambiae, which spreads malaria in Africa. “Keep their DNA for future research,” he writes, “and let them go.” Continue reading...

Be’s One album (G2, 8 February), featuring the sound of 40,000 honey bees, is an exciting reminder of a musical experiment first conducted 400 years ago by the Rev Charles Butler. “The father of English bee-keeping” was an accomplished musicologist, and in the seclusion of his Hampshire vicarage, he composed a four-part bees madrigal, which was published in his bees manual, The Feminine Monarchie. Like Kev Bales, Butler was fascinated by the magical sound of bees in the hive – he kept them in straw skeps in his garden – and his composition tries to capture that quality by using the unaccompanied human voice. A choir from two Oxford colleges sang the madrigal at the dedication of a Butler memorial window in Wootton St Lawrence church in 1954. It has been performed publicly in recent years, including Vancouver in 2013. Presumably the bees again waived their copyright fees on those occasions.

We welcome the call for an independent review into Prevent made by the independent reviewer of the UK’s anti-terrorism laws, David Anderson QC, last week (Report, 3 February). One year ago the Prevent duty became statutory through the Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015. This imposed a duty on public bodies to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.As a wide cross-section of Muslim community activists, academics, lawyers and politicians warned, the duty has in practice charged teachers, doctors and other professionals with monitoring people’s religious and political views. This is undermining the very ethos and relationships of mutual trust and openness that are fundamental to education and our public services while endangering other legal rights and protections. It is eroding civil liberties and deepening discrimination against Muslims. Continue reading...

The presidential election just got even more important – it will be a choice between a president in favor of climate action and one who would ignore itHours before New Hampshire’s primary voters made Donald Trump the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night – I can’t really believe this even as I type it – the US supreme court reminded us of why the upcoming presidential election is so important. On a party-line vote, the court temporarily stopped Barack Obama’s clean power plan from going into effect. This decision could well portend a future one that will have devastating consequences – not only for the climate but for the state of our lawmaking process.The decision also underscores the urgency of the November elections in two ways: it will be a choice between a candidate who supports taking action against climate change and one who believes it should be ignored, and it will present a choice between a president who believes that the federal government has the authority to effectively regulate and one who believes that the supreme court should arbitrarily throw monkey wrenches into the political process. Continue reading...

Two-year study finds more than 10% of children in England have not been to a natural environment in the past 12 monthsMore than one in nine children in England have not set foot in a park, forest, beach or any other natural environment for at least 12 months, according to a two-year study funded by the government.Children from low-income families and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) households are markedly less likely than white children and those from higher income households to frequently visit urban or rural wild places, according to the survey conducted by Natural England. Continue reading...