Rydal, Lake District The trees watch stiffly, the path a tunnel through their motionless squabble of branches, bare as picked bones. Coffins passed this way, for burial in consecrated ground in Grasmere.Winter on a fellside path, just a path between here and there. But there seems to be a disagreement in terms with this path, and those like it: the method of conveyance, or the thing being conveyed. Coffin Trail, or Corpse Road.Dread names spread branch-like from these old pathways, through folklore and onto maps. Church ways, bier paths, spirit lines, ghost walks. They eulogise an old passage: along corpse roads, the living carried the dead. Continue reading...

Oscar-nominated Hollywood actor tells PM he is making a ‘legacy mistake’ by supporting shale gas industryOscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo has called on David Cameron to abandon fracking and leave fossil fuels in the ground.A prominent opponent of fracking in the US, Ruffalo told the prime minister he was making “a legacy mistake” in supporting the controversial process of extracting gas by hydraulic fracturing. Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 12 February 1916The hoar frosts which came with the new moon do not appear to have been too unkind to the young corn on the chalk uplands of our southern border, where many acres of wheat are green. If the early-sown crops are forward, the frost, on the other hand, has not been exceptionally severe; when the rime has been drawn up by the Sun you see beads on the little spears, and there is no sign of withering at their sharp ends. They stand a change of weather better than some of the early shrubs in the farm garden. The wild currant (Mezereon) has curled a little, the tassels contract on the hazel, and yet an hour of sunshine puts everything in tune again.The blackbird has finished her nest near the top of the ditch bank in a hollow that looks like a disused rabbit-hole overgrown with coarse grass, the remains of last autumn’s growth, and she has begun to lay. The foundation of a thrush’s nest is fixed in the crook of a thorn, quite open, as if the mistaken bird thought that the quicks would bud and leaf enough to hide it before the young brood extend their yellow throats, always clamouring for more and yet more food. Or, perhaps, thrushes, like some other birds, do not care to make a secret of these matters any more than the Dorkings in the farmyard, where a couple of hens are this evening moving restlessly about making those continual odd cawing noises which inform you that the “broody” time is on them. The housewife shakes her head; eggs are so useful that she does not want sitting hens for a week or two yet. Out on the common the furze is in bloom, and a couple of finches are flitting about the prickly tops. They, too, will soon bring new life here. Continue reading...

In mid-January 2016 a three-day smog covered London, Nottingham, Leicester and Birmingham. January used to be a peak month for pea-souper smogs. Between 1952 and 1962 these killed nearly 15,000 Londoners and many people in other cities including Glasgow and Manchester. These days our winter smogs are full of nitrogen dioxide and particles from diesel exhaust rather than smoke from coal.Madrid is the latest European capital to introduce emergency measures to control pollution episodes. If Madrid’s new laws applied in London we would have had public health warnings on 19 January, lower speed limits and parking restrictions on 20 January followed by a ban on even-number-plate cars in central areas on 21 January. Continue reading...

While some praise the candidate’s visit for bringing attention to the city as its water crisis continues, others see a candidate plying a cause ‘just to get votes’Hillary Clinton has made every effort to make Flint her own. The water crisis afflicting this predominantly black Michigan city – ignored by Washington politicians for years – has become another battlefield in a progressive war between Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Race, class and the environment matter again in an issues-based, neck-and-neck race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

When bicycle courier Emily Chappell first rode through the capital 10 years ago, she discovered a side of the city hidden from other road users. With cyclists in central London forecast to soon outnumber drivers, she looks at how the streets, and her part in them, have changedI was shocked to realise last week that I’m approaching the 10-year anniversary of the day I started cycling in London, as a nervous first-time commuter with a lopsided backpack and a Transport for London cycling map stuffed down my top. As many do, I very quickly fell in love with the city as seen from the saddle of a bike, revelling in the curious sense of ownership that comes from knowing where things are, rather than just how to get there using the tube map.For many others, that love affair is just about to begin. Last week TfL released figures predicting that, on present trends, there will be more bicycles than cars entering central London during rush hour in the next few years. The number of rush-hour drivers fell from 137,000 in 2000 to 64,000 in 2014, while the number of cyclists trebled, from 12,000 to 36,000. Continue reading...

Efforts to stamp out the mosquito that carries the virus are undermined by poverty in the most vulnerable areasWith rubber gloves, a plastic container full of larvicide and the official badge of Rio de Janeiro’s epidemic control department, Gilberto de Souza gains permission to enter the home of a stranger in the Vila Canoas favela, in one of the latest missions against the Zika virus.As the bemused residents look on, he goes room to room inspecting every sink, flower vase and empty bottle, shining his torch behind fridges and washing machines, checking every corner for possible mosquito breeding areas. Continue reading...

Governor Andrew Cuomo orders review following detection of ‘alarming levels of radioactivity’ at nuclear power plant 40 miles north of ManhattanRadioactive material has leaked into the groundwater below a nuclear power plant north of New York City, prompting a state investigation on Saturday and condemnation from governor Andrew Cuomo.Cuomo ordered an investigation into “alarming levels of radioactivity” found at three monitoring wells at the Indian Point energy center in Buchanan, New York, about 40 miles north of Manhattan. Continue reading...

The Met Office has forecast up to 80mm of rainfall on Dartmoor, with winds of 40-50mph predicted across the south-west regionParts of the West Country have been placed on flood alert following heavy rainfall.There were 40 flood warnings in force on Saturday night across Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, as well as six in the Midlands and one in Wales. Continue reading...

The charity, known for its opposition to turbines, claims to have commissioned a model that will not threaten local pipistrelle and noctule batsIt is renowned for its opposition to the installation of wind turbines across the nation. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the machines’ blades pose too much of a threat to local species in many areas.But now the RSPB has joined the opposition. The organisation has agreed to the construction of an 800kW wind turbine at Sandy in Bedfordshire – the site of its headquarters and one of its most important nature reserves. Continue reading...

With outer space mining increasingly likely to become reality, firms are drawing up exploration plans. Here’s how one of them, Deep Space Industries, will tackle the job Continue reading...

From the plastic-wrapped Phalaenopsis crammed on the shelves of your local supermarket to the vanilla seeds in your ice cream, orchids are one of the biggest and most fascinating plant families. Find out more in our latest podcastThis week gardening editor Jane Perrone visits the annual orchid extravaganza at Kew Gardens in London, taking a guided tour with Elisa Biondi, botanical horticulturist at Kew, and Nick Johnson, manager of the Princess of Wales Conservatory. And she talks to wild orchid hunter and plant scientist Susanne Masters about some of the more unusual uses of orchids, and finds out the strange origins of the name

Withdrawing government investment from the £1bn clean energy project would be ‘utter madness’, says Tim FarronIt would be “utter madness” for the government to withdraw its support at this late stage from a £1bn revolutionary tidal energy scheme at Swansea Bay, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron will tell his party’s spring conference in Cardiff on Saturday.

Receding waters are just the beginning of the struggle for those affected by this winter’s devastating weather. We talk to some of the city’s residents and uncover feelings of anger and despair … and hopeIt’s been just over a month since York experienced its worst flooding for decades, bringing Christmas to an abrupt end for many. Heavy rainfall on Boxing Day, combined with a controversial decision by the Environment Agency to raise one of York’s major flood barriers, left almost 600 homes and businesses submerged in filthy river water contaminated with sewage for 48 hours.With little warning, hundreds of residents had to be evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night by Mountain Rescue teams as the water levels rose rapidly. Many were only able to take the clothes they were wearing with them. Continue reading...

At a charity event, instead of just saying, ‘Give us your money’, I recited from my Dante translation

Growing a wide diversity of fruit and vegetables is the best way to mitigate changeable weather, particularly by growing perennialsIt has been warm and wet, then windy and wet, then cold and wet, then the water froze, then it thawed, then it was warm and wet… and on winter’s wild furies raged. For some that meant biblical issues; flooding and all its detritus spewed over flowerbeds, wrecking gardens and much more. For others it was more prosaic; just a garden that wasn’t sure which season it was in.Initially, there is little to be done with a flooded garden. Sadly, the rule is that you shouldn’t eat vegetables that have been covered by flood water, even if you cook them. Continue reading...

St Dogmael’s, Pembrokeshire I could hear the haunting call of a curlew – faintly, distantly, yet it still had a power to arrest and hold my attention. It bubbled up as though from the water itself, swelled to a crescendo and gently died awayWalking along the estuary-side path on an ebb-tide, I kept an ear tuned for our “wet-footed god of the horizons”, scanned with my glass the shimmer around margins of emerging sand-banks for the bird whose curved-beak silhouette is as distinctive as its voice. These river-mouths of western Wales – Teifi, Dyfi, Mawddach, Dwyryd – have a startling textural beauty. Their swirling diurnal intricacy, their light-infused and tide-sculpted Celtic designs of water and sand were once a favourite wintering ground of the curlew.The haunting call of this largest of British waders, here and in its breeding grounds on commons and wetlands around the higher hills, is surely the most redolent sound of our relict wild country. WH Hudson described it seeming as if “uttered by some filmy being, half spirit and half bird”. Here on the Teifi I could hear one faintly, distantly, yet it still had a power to arrest and hold my attention. It bubbled up as though from the water itself, swelled to a crescendo and gently died away. Continue reading...

Federal review understood to recommend expanding areas permitted for commercial fishing which experts say will be ‘terrible for the environment’Australia’s leading marine scientists are appealing to the federal government to reject a review expected to recommend a significant reduction in the size of ocean sanctuaries and an expansion of areas permitted for commercial fishing.

The oil industry targeted business-friendly Democrats in the legislature to kill parts of a bill mandating a 50% reduction in gasoline use in the state by 2030The oil industry spent more than $10m lobbying state lawmakers in a massive push to kill California climate change legislation last year, new disclosures have revealed.Much of the money spent by big oil was targeted at a specific piece of legislation, SB-350, that would have mandated a 50% reduction in gasoline use in the state by 2030 in addition other climate change initiatives. Continue reading...

Two agencies’ survey via land, sea and air will hopefully help improve weather forecasts and models that predict the longer-term impact of climate changeAmerica’s two leading climate science agencies are conducting an unprecedented survey via land, sea and air to investigate the current El Niño event and better understand its impact on weather systems that have brought both parched and soaking conditions to North America.

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...

Toxic toads, a feeding wolf and rare Grevy’s zebras are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Volkswagen delays annual shareholder meeting and results as it tries to establish the cost of the emissions affairVolkswagen has postponed the release of its financial results and annual meeting with shareholders because of the diesel emissions scandal.The German carmaker said it was still trying to establish the cost of the emissions affair, which could run into tens of billions of euros. Continue reading...

Invisible pollution kills up to 9,000 people a year in the capital. But under government plans, from school gates to shopping streets, Londoners will be breathing dangerous air until 2025. What more can be done?“In the morning, this traffic island is packed with children and pushchairs and they are about a metre from all the exhausts,” says Shazia Ali-Webber. She is walking her three boys to school in Hackney, the eldest of whom, Zain, is eight and asthmatic.Crossing choked Mare Street, where the heavy traffic grinds slowly past, is her biggest concern. “Children’s lung development is affected by air pollution: they have smaller lungs for life,” she says. “The government’s new plan says pollution will not fall to legal levels till 2025. But I don’t have time to wait: Zain will be 18 by then. They are condemning a generation of children to ill-health.” Continue reading...

Sakurajima volcano erupts sending plumes of smoke and lightning-like flashes into the sky and burning lava down its slopes. Japan’s meteorological agency said the volcano, on the southern island of Kyushu, erupted at about 7pm local time (10am GMT). There were no immediate reports of injuries but entry to the area was banned and the existing no-go zone around the crater was increased to a 1.2-mile radius. Photograph: APRead: Sakurajima volcano in Japan erupts Continue reading...

More than quarter of population face food shortages as country hit by severe drought, with cattle dying and crops destroyedZimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, has declared a state of disaster in rural areas hit by a severe drought, as more than a quarter of the population face food shortages.

Box of imperfect in-season vegetables will feed a family of four for a week and costs £3.50 – 30% less than standard linesThe UK’s first supermarket ‘wonky vegetable’ box goes on sale on Friday, containing enough ugly potatoes and knobbly carrots to feed a family of four for an entire week for just £3.50.The Asda box is filled with in-season winter vegetables and salad ingredients at a price that is 30% cheaper than standard lines. Continue reading...

Investigators will take samples from sperm whale in attempt to explain spate of strandings off east coast of UKTests are to be carried out on a sperm whale that died after washing up on a Norfolk beach in an attempt to explain a spate of recent deaths.

Scientists name species of tarantula discovered near Folsom prison in honour of country music legendIt is big, hairy, and if one sinks its fangs in you it will burn, burn, burn like a ring of fire.Scientists have named a newly discovered species of tarantula after country music legend Johnny Cash. Continue reading...

The International Garden Photographer of the Year competition announces its winners today. Here’s a selection from their Greening the City category, showcasing the relationship between cities and nature around the world Continue reading...

Airport’s chief executive is not frustrated by the third runway impasse, he insists, but ‘working on being a good neighbour’If not quite digging a third runway, Heathrow was at least expecting by now to know whether the government would allow it. But if the airport’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, feels like banging his head on Westminster’s walls after years of its sputtering process, he’s not showing it.“Like Alan B’Stard,” he remarks, as he adopts the pose of Rik Mayall’s fictional MP beside parliament. Holland-Kaye is not averse to a bit of Union Jack-waving in the cause of business and has a certain floppy-haired, statesmanlike bearing. But otherwise, he appears disappointingly decent, or a particularly well disguised b’stard, declaring that Heathrow must be a good neighbour, clean up its act, and push diversity and opportunity. Continue reading...

Horsey Gap, Norfolk Close to us is one of the very last newborns, eyes without focus, white fur still slick and wetScaling the dune, we are smacked in the face by the wind, but we recover, and smile because we are not too late. They are still here. The beach below is busy with grey seals, and my quick count reveals about 30 from our vantage point.Here, as every year, the cows come ashore to pup on the sandy beach between November and early February. Close to us is one of the very last newborns; eyes dark liquid and without focus, white fur still slick and wet, a shock of blood on its back. The placenta lies on the sand like an inert purple jellyfish. The mother sniffs at her pup casually, raising that Roman nose which earned the species its scientific name, Halichoerus grypus, based on the Greek for “hooked-nose sea-pig”. Continue reading...

An adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown told residents near the leak that the final phase to intercept the ruptured well should start Monday.A California official outlined a plan Thursday to cap the massive Los Angeles-area gas leak by the end of next week.

The 73 companies posed too much of a social or environmental risk to the $794bn fund, the annual report said, as it steps up its divestmentsNorway’s huge sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, has sold out of 73 companies in the past year because their social or environmental policies could hurt profitability.

The severely underweight and dehydrated pup was taken to SeaWorld’s animal rescue center, and experts are cautiously optimistic about her recoveryA starving sea lion has been rescued after finding its way into the booth of a fancy San Diego restaurant.Experts at SeaWorld were called Thursday morning to The Marine Room, an oceanfront restaurant in La Jolla. Continue reading...

Sydney woman posts video on Facebook of spider crawling through her Italian-style packaged salad greens bought at WoolworthsAs meat production depletes the world’s resources and compounds the changing climate, eating insects and other creepy crawlies might well be in all our futures. But one Australian woman came closer than the rest of us when she brought home a sizeable spider in her bag of salad greens.Zoe Perry posted the video of the huntsman shifting around within the “Italian style salad” bag – with the on-screen caption “Jesus” – to Woolworths’ Facebook page on Thursday night.

People living along Callide creek near Biloela told to consider evacuation as severe weather warning issued for regions between Bundaberg and ProserpineFlood-prone residents along Callide creek in central Queensland have been told to consider evacuating their homes as water is released from a nearby dam.The Banana shire council issued the warning after SunWater began releases from the Callide dam, near Biloela, after heavy rainfall in the area, and amid forecasts for more over the next 24 hours. Continue reading...

Woolworths is being accused of being a little too fresh after a video was posted to Facebook showing a big live huntsman spider trapped inside a sealed bag of salad. Zoe Perry posted the clip to Facebook, captioning it: ‘Shopping as per usual for Italian style salad mix ... get it home ... Mum goes to open the packet and we are greeted by ...’ This unwelcome addition to the salad mix is another blow to Woolworths, who had to recall some pre-packaged lettuce yesterday after a link to salmonella was discovered Continue reading...

Experts say the huge mammal stranded on Hunstanton beach died, despite the tide refloating it

A sperm whale is stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk, the sixth to wash up on British shores in recent weeks. One bystander, who discovered the male whale early on Thursday morning, says its condition is rapidly deteriorating. Due to its size and weight, rescuers are unable to help the whale. Experts say the chance that the whale could survive is slim Continue reading...

Tagged male bird from nature reserve near Forfar spotted on a beach in west Africa after 18 monthsAn osprey that went missing from a Scottish nature reserve for more than 18 months has been found almost 3,000 miles away – on a beach in Senegal.The three-year-old male bird, known as Blue YD, was tagged with a lightweight satellite tracker in July 2012 at a Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) reserve near Forfar.

The Leap Manifesto is an unashamedly radical plan to convert the world to 100% renewable energy, fast. And you can be a part of itLeap day is coming up at the end of the month – remember this one?“Thirty days hath September,

Consumers assured that electricity supplies for this winter will remain unaffected by closure of most of Fiddler’s Ferry near ManchesterThe UK government and the electricity regulator moved on Thursday to reassure consumers that they will not face blackouts as the result of the closure of most of a major coal power plant.Operator SSE said the closure of three out of four generation units at the 2GW Fiddler’s Ferry near Manchester, which has made financial losses for two years, was likely to take place on 1 April. Continue reading...