Conservationists say 100 elephants sold in July were sentenced to life of inhumane treatment and criticise plans to sell more wildlifeZimbabwe plans to sell more elephants and lions to China as part of a scheme to raise funds for conservation, its environment minister has said.

Police divers search for camper missing in Aberdeenshire and Newcastle estate residents flooded out for sixth timeFlood warnings remained in place across almost all parts of Britain on Wednesday, with the north-east of England worst hit overnight.Torrential rain flooded out residents on one Newcastle estate for the sixth time in less than a decade, while police divers in Aberdeen joined the search for a missing camper thought to have been caught up in the floods that swept Aberdeenshire. Continue reading...

Andy Johnson rides a jetski under a railway bridge and past a flooded bus stop on Euxton Lane near Chorley, Lancashire, while locals watch. Kieron McLaughlin filmed the moment on New Year’s Eve after canoeing down the waters. The clip has since picked up more than 100,000 views on Facebook Continue reading...

The party needs to put internal politics aside and focus on the vital issues affecting the country, from housing to floods to the NHSJeremy Corbyn, the Arsène Wenger of politics (copyright J McDonnell), completed his shadow cabinet reshuffle in the early hours with the appointment of his north London neighbour Emily Thornberry, a sceptic about Trident, to shadow defence secretary. Maria Eagle, not a sceptic about Trident, is moved to culture. She replaces Michael Dugher, the sacking of whom had happened more than 12 hours earlier. Pat McFadden’s removal as shadow Europe minister, was the only other significant change in a reshuffle more remarkable for what didn’t happen – Hilary Benn is still shadow foreign secretary this morning – than what did. It will go down in history more for the time it took than the impact it had. It’s over now – or at least it is for the moment (Twitter is already awash with rumours of resignations from the defence team).Corbyn grew up while Harold Wilson was Labour leader. It was probably one of the defining experiences of his politics, for within a couple of years of Labour’s famous victory in the mid-60s, its leader was vilified by the left as a miserable example of failure and betrayal. Continue reading...

In December, the world’s nations agreed on an aggressive plan to combat climate change. But what, if anything, will the landmark Paris agreement do for thousands of species already under threat from global warming?

Severe weather warnings remain in place as emergency services respond to thousands of calls, with rain expected to abate on ThursdayA man is missing after being thrown off a yacht in rough seas as wild weather and unrelenting rain cause havoc across the east coast of NSW.The yachtsman, in his 60s, was wiped off the vessel after being struck by a huge wave near Broughton Island on the NSW mid-north coast on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

State officials tell residents not to revert back to pre-drought habits even after parade of storms from strong El Niño weather systemForced by drought to conserve water, Californians were warned against reverting to old habits on Tuesday as the first of several storms spawned by a record-tying El Niño began drenching the state.Related: How one man plans to make billions selling Mojave desert water Continue reading...

Researchers warn that the damage done by the amount of food and feed coming from abroad has an environmental impact on poorer countriesMore than half of the UK’s food and feed now comes from overseas, which is burdening poorer countries with the related environmental impact, a new study says.More than two-thirds of the land needed to produce the UK’s food and feed is based abroad, researchers said, meaning 64% of the related greenhouse gases are emitted on foreign soil. Continue reading...

Fears grow for Terence Kilbride, 48, who was reported missing on Monday, as flood-stricken communities remain on high alert across Scotland

Environment minister Liz Truss defends response to disaster as Labour claims government is underestimating risk

The risible inadequacy of the government’s £40m “extra” spending on flood defences (Cameron’s £40m flood money criticised as ‘sticking plaster’, 4 January) means that it’s time to seriously address how to find the countless billions needed to effectively mitigate this inevitable consequence of climate change. One answer is to be found in the recent extension of the European Central Bank’s €60bn-a-month quantitative easing programme, which included the crucial innovation that this money could be used to buy local government bonds.The Bank of England’s governor, Mark Carney, is on record as saying that if the government requested it then future QE in the UK could buy assets other than government gilts. In that case it is entirely possible for George Osborne to ask Mark Carney to buy local-authority-issued “climate bonds”. Local authorities have the power to issue such bonds, and with increased devolution they should be encouraged to do so to fund flood defences and to reduce carbon emissions by improving energy efficiency in all the nation’s 30 million buildings. Continue reading...

This weekend, hundreds of pink plastic bottles landed on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. What else has made the south-west the undisputed capital of washed-up treasures?We’ve seen Blackpool swamped with chocolate biscuits and Worthing almost buried under mounds of wood, but the the undisputed capital of British beachcombing is the south-west. The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, the weather down there can get extremely wild and, of course, this is often the first bit of Britain to be reached by the Atlantic current, which then drops much of what it is carrying on the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Cornwall – where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pink plastic bottles washed up at the weekend.Sadly, and contrary to popular belief, there is no loophole that makes you the legal owner of anything you find washed up on a beach. You may get a reward if you correctly report your finding to Alison Kentuck, the receiver of wreck. If the owner does not claim it within 12 months, you may even get to keep it. Otherwise, in the eyes of the law, taking wreckage is simply stealing. Even so, the thrill of finding some things should be enough to encourage a lot more walks by the seaside. Continue reading...

A school bus is recovered after becoming stuck in several feet of floodwater in Newton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire. The bus appears to have been swept off the road by the overflowing river and rested at an angle against a hedge. Firefighters rescued around 26 pupils from the bus Continue reading...

Rupture of Aliso Canyon well has released more than 77,000 metric tons of methane and refocused attention on America’s accident-prone infrastructureThe single biggest contributor to climate change in California is a blown-out natural gas well more than 8,700ft underground, state authorities and campaign groups said Monday.

Wine could be the ultimately safe subject to communicate climate change where even great deluges of rain failProtesters standing in floodwaters hold a sign that reads: “Can we talk about climate change now?” Scant media coverage of the link between increasing weather extremes and a warming world suggests it’s a conversation still seriously waiting to begin.

Power plant conversion project in North Yorkshire is one of several state-backed renewable energy projects in the UKThe European commission has launched an investigation into the UK’s plans to support the conversion of part of its Drax coal power plant to biomass.The commission, which late last year gave approval for the German energy group RWE to undertake a similar conversion at its Lynemouth plant, wants to ensure the Drax plans are in line with EU state aid rules. Continue reading...

Latest figures from the Met Office show double the average amount of rain fell last month, with temperatures 4.1C higher than averageDecember was the wettest month ever recorded in the UK, with almost double the rain falling than average, according to data released by the Met Office on Tuesday.Last month saw widespread flooding which continued into the new year, with 21 flood alerts in England and Wales and four in Scotland in force on Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

Flood rescue officers in North Yorkshire smash back window to rescue 26 children in Newton-on-Ouse on Tuesday morningMore than 20 children have been rescued from a school bus that became trapped in several feet of flood water after the driver ignored a road closure sign.Firefighters were called by some of the 26 pupils on the bus when it tilted into a verge and began to fill with water in Newton-on-Ouse on Tuesday morning. Flood rescue officers smashed a back window to rescue the children.

In the Tian Shan mountains, an ambitious ‘ice mining’ project has led to protests among local communities, with claims from activists of threats and violenceThe remote Issyk Kul province in eastern Kyrgyzstan, on the border with China, is home to some of the most stunning vistas of the rugged Tian Shan mountain range that cuts through much of Central Asia. Mountain goats and endangered snow leopards roam the rocky slopes, while rare species of dandelion and wild tulip bloom in alpine meadows.

John Swinney says flood forecasting services are ‘absolutely protected’ amid concerns over plans to reduce funds to environment protection agencyFlood-stricken communities across Scotland remained on alert as Scotland’s finance minister rebutted claims that cuts were threatening the efficiency of the country’s flood forecasting agency.With persistent heavy rain on saturated ground causing river levels to remain unusually high and over-top in some areas overnight, John Swinney insisted that forecasting service resources would be “absolutely and totally protected”. Continue reading...

Video from Ross Hocking, the manager of the Pohldu cafe in Cornwall, shows a clear-up operation near the cafe on Tuesday after thousand of pink plastic bottles began washing up on Pohldu beach. Kat, a National Trust ranger, says the bottles arrived in small numbers but this soon escalated across the county’s coastline Continue reading...

Environmental authorities say the Chinese capital’s air quality in 2015 was better than the year before despite the city’s first two red alerts for pollution late in the yearEnvironmental authorities in Beijing say the Chinese capital’s air quality in 2015 was better than the year before despite the city’s first two red alerts for pollution late in the year.China has been setting national and local targets to reduce its notorious air pollution as citizens have become increasingly aware of the health dangers. Beijing’s municipal government has been replacing coal-fired boilers with natural gas-powered facilities, forcing older, more polluting vehicles off the road, and closing or moving factories that are heavy polluters. Continue reading...

ClimateHome: Heatwaves and droughts in a hotter planet to cripple power stations within decades without adaptation measures, researchers warnThousands of power plants around the world may face severe reductions in their ability to generate electricity by mid-century due to water shortages, according to new research.Hydro- and thermo-electric (nuclear, fossil-fuelled, biomass-fuelled) power plants are vulnerable to dwindling rivers and reservoirs as the planet warms, a study published in Nature on Monday said. Continue reading...

A threatened bluefin tuna has sold for US$118,000 (£80,000/AU$164,000) at the first auction of the year at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market on Tuesday. It was bought by sushi restaurant chain boss Kiyoshi Kimura who took the fish back to one of his restaurants and posed with it for the cameras. Photograph: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images Continue reading...

The Dutch and Danish cycling utopias of Amsterdam, Groningen, Utrecht and Copenhagen are high up the list – but what about the rest of the world?The future of cycling in the UK was dealt a bad hand when George Osborne’s Spending Review revealed a new commitment of £300m to cycling investment to 2020/21. While that might sound like a lot, it equates to around £1.40 per person per year in England (outside of London), and a significant step backwards from previous commitments to minimum funding of £10 per person per year. To put this in perspective, the average investment in the Netherlands is around €30 (£22) per person per year.But while the UK government may be limiting the chances for British cities to become the most cycle-friendly in the world, across the globe many metropolises are taking huge steps to improve conditions for people on bikes. One Danish study reveals that for every kilometre cycled, society enjoys a 23 cent (16p) profit, while driving the same distance produces a net loss of 16 cents (10p). Of course, cycling also increases fitness, tackles stress levels and one less car on the road will help to lower pollution levels. Continue reading...

Are you about to make sweeping generalisations about a mass of people? Have you mistaken north London for the whole of the UK? We’re here to help

The forests of the Mekong region have become a battleground as rangers try to stop poachers from driving the Siamese rosewood tree to extinction

Sale of 200kg fish to restaurant in Japan comes despite campaigners’ warnings that species is heading for extinctionA sushi restaurant in Japan has paid US$118,000 (£80,000/AU$164,000) for a bluefin tuna at the first auction of the year at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market, despite repeated warnings that the prized fish is heading towards extinction.

Wybunbury Moss I squelch among bushes and clawing briars, stopping to admire the chocolate-brown bulrushesOn this raw winter’s day a scalpel-sharp wind slices across my face as I head down the ancient steps in St Chad’s churchyard, each one created from gravestones, all slippery with leaves. And there it is in the distance, a bowl-like depression, wreathed in mist: Wybunbury Moss, a national nature reserve famed for its floating peat bog carpeted in sphagnum moss and its invertebrate populations.I open a wooden gate and walk into a marshy field. The wind snatches at my woollen hat and bullies me down the hill. I pass a huddle of sheep, bleating pitifully, drizzle now pearling their grubby fleeces. A heron takes off on silent, silvery wings. A fetid stink hangs in the air. I squelch among bushes and clawing briars, between reeds, stopping to admire the tall, velvety, chocolate-brown bulrushes, standing stalk-stiff. In spring, when their heads split open, the air is filled with seeds; and in early summer, its flower looks like a cat’s tail, hence its American name, cattail. Today, they remind me of hot dogs on sticks. Continue reading...

A motorist in Perth says she ‘had to look twice’ when she noticed a 2m-long dead shark strapped to the front of a white four-wheel-drive vehicle in Safety Bay. Julie Wright shared video footage of the car on the Perth & WA Fishing Reports Facebook page on Monday afternoon, where it has been viewed more than 200,000 times. It is unclear what species the shark was, and whether it was a legal size, although some have suggested it was a tiger shark Continue reading...

The Justice Department alleges that international scandal in which car manufacturer put illegal emissions devices in vehicles defied Clean Air ActThe US government has sued Volkswagen over allegations that the German company illegally installed special software to cheat emission tests.

Warnings issued in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana after flooding from heavy December rainfall caused death and destruction in Missouri and IllinoisSouthern US states are bracing themselves for major flooding as surging waters that have inundated parts of Missouri and Illinois head south down the Mississippi river.

Bad weather cuts off some villages, while train service between Carlisle and Glasgow will be closed for at least a monthHeavy rain and high winds have battered central and north-east Scotland with homes again threatened by flood waters and some villages in Aberdeenshire remaining cut off after Storm Frank caused damage to transport routes last week.Local MSPs praised the “huge community spirit” as residents of a sheltered housing complex in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, were evacuated to the village scout hut on Monday afternoon, while the local Asda supermarket supplied food to the makeshift emergency centre. Continue reading...

Those who drop rubbish will increasingly be ‘hit in the pocket’. But only a change of attitude will work, and that means confronting themIt’s over three years ago that I threw a plastic bottle back through the car window whence it came. I thought little of it at the time until I tweeted about it and a small media storm erupted. Apparently, it was not normal to stand up to litter louts. Which is not to say that the issue is not important to people. It is clearly something many of us feel very strongly about. We just don’t take any action.Now I hear that the Department for Communities and Local Government is planning to increase fines for dropping litter. The minimum fine is set to double to £100, with communities minister Marcus Jones claiming that those who drop litter would be “hit in the pocket”. Continue reading...

Zookeepers have started the annual headcount, which takes a week to complete. They will tally up every mammal, bird, reptile, fish and invertebrate from 750 different species for the audit, a requirement for the zoo’s licence.All of the information is shared with zoos around the world via the International Species Information System, where it is used to manage worldwide breeding programmes for endangered animals.

Weather caused 94% of catastrophes including storms, floods and earthquakes last year, according to data from reinsurer Munich ReAround $27bn (£18bn) was paid out by insurers for natural disaster claims last year, with weather causing 94% of incidents, according to data from reinsurer Munich Re.While the climate phenomenon known as El Niño reduced the development of hurricanes in the north Atlantic, storms and floods still caused billions of dollars worth of damage in Europe and North America, the world’s largest reinsurer said in an annual review. Continue reading...

Newly formed Uniper will assume control of the German energy giant’s fossil fuel assets, with E.ON focusing on renewables and energy networks, reports BusinessGreenGermany energy giant E.ON has officially separated its fossil fuel assets into a new company, dubbed Uniper.The move, which became effective on January 1st, will see the energy company focus on renewables, energy networks, and energy efficiency services. Meanwhile, the independent Uniper will assume control of the company’s fossil fuel and hydro assets, as well as its global energy trading activity. Continue reading...

A new initiative is arming coastguards with satellite intelligence that allows them to target their search for pirate fishing vessels in remote marine areasPirate fishing vessels plundering fish from the world’s marine reserves, such as the one around Ascension Island announced on the weekend, can now be watched, tracked and brought to justice using satellite technology.Despite a proliferation of huge, publicly lauded marine reserves, actually stopping fishing in many remote areas has previously been almost impossible. Continue reading...