Mudford, Somerset This roof was made in the local tradition. Its “undercoats” (the original layer of thatch) are probably about 400 years oldThe thatcher had almost finished his work on the roof of my friend’s house in the village, a few miles from Yeovil, and told me about his trade as he cleared up among heaps of straw. He was working with combed wheat-reed, he said, wheat being the traditional thatching material in Somerset.In the old days, the straw was just a by-product of cereal production. But that was when stooks of corn were built by hand, before the coming of combine harvesters and the mechanical baling up of straw. Now the wheat reed for thatching must be grown specifically for the purpose. He was using an old variety called Widgeon, grown locally at Ilminster; others were Huntsman and Victor. The ideal length was three feet, and a workable minimum would be twenty-seven inches. Continue reading...

Cutting subsidies in renewables is shortsighted and counterproductive. These industries are Britain’s future and must receive full government backingLast week there was dismay as the future of Britain’s nuclear sector was subcontracted to France and China. Now, as the impact of the cuts in subsidies for green energy hits home, the country’s future as a leader in renewable technologies risks going the same way as the nuclear expertise that used to be world-beating. Along with it could go its admired position as an effective voice in the climate-change negotiations. In Bonn last week, as diplomats met for the final round of pre-Paris talks, there was bewilderment at the abrupt change in direction. Suddenly the UK, so recently at the forefront of negotiations within the EU, driving through ambitious targets for carbon reduction, looks like a country that isn’t taking climate change seriously.The government says it just wants to keep energy bills down, and it is true that there is a case for tackling them. It is also true that the subsidies for solar favour wealthier homes, those with suitable roof space to fit solar panels; it would be fairer to spend more on making homes warmer. All the same, the impact on bills of the complex support structure that provides a stable price framework for the new technologies required to green the energy supply and incentivise providers has been greatly exaggerated. By the government’s own estimates, the planned cut in solar subsidies by an industry-destroying 87% will save the average household 50p a year. Meanwhile, energy costs have been blamed for the crisis in the British steel industry too. Yet it is dumping, and Treasury reluctance to challenge EU rules on state support for energy-intensive industries, that has done the real harm to workers in towns like Redcar and Scunthorpe. Continue reading...

Twenty ‘listening stations’ will be installed at beaches to provide real-time tracking data on tagged sharks, and eco-friendly nets will be rolled outIn-water sonar technology that warns when a shark is nearby and new “shark listening” devices will be enlisted by the New South Wales government to try to combat shark attacks this summer.A five-year $16m program has been announced by the minister for primary industries, Niall Blair, in a year when there have been 13 attacks on the north coast of the state alone and one fatality. Last year there were three attacks in the same area. Continue reading...

Chanonry Point, Highlands Bottlenose dolphins can regularly be seen breaching the waters here – particularly if there is a run of salmon on the making tideThis spit of land extending into the Moray Firth about 18 kilometres northeast of Inverness is one of the best places in Britain to see bottlenose dolphins without going to sea. They can regularly be seen breaching the waters here – particularly if there is a run of salmon on the making tide. Birdwatchers, photographers and onlookers of all ages gather by the Chanonry lighthouse to see the display.On my most recent visit, the dolphins were scything through the water with just their large fins showing. Experts say they can identify individuals by the variation in colour and markings, including nicks and clefts, on the fins, but, apart from one specimen with a large fin cleft, I doubt I would have been able to identify any of them again. Continue reading...

General Mills recently announced a commitment to cut its emissions by 28% in the next 10 years. Other companies can, and should, do the same

Huge aircraft such as Airbus A380 are now flying lower out of airport, independent study finds, creating higher level of disturbanceLow-flying “super-jumbo” passenger planes have increased noise for some communities around Heathrow, an independent study has shown.Research by PA Consulting, commissioned by Heathrow, confirmed complaints from residents that more planes were being concentrated on a flight path over Twickenham and Teddington, in the London borough of Richmond, with greatest disruption late at night and early in the morning.

In the run-up to the Paris climate talks, two books argue for drastic action to be taken to avoid a global calamityIn a few weeks, world leaders will gather in Paris in an attempt to reach a deal that will have critical implications for our species. At the COP21 climate talks, they will try to find a formula for reducing the world’s carbon emissions and give humanity an evens chance of holding global warming to a 2C rise above pre-industrial levels.Past efforts to negotiate such deals have been riddled with frustration and failures, in particular the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, which ended in disarray. However, there is a sense of guarded optimism in the air these days. Australian and Canadian premiers Tony Abbott and Stephen Harper – who led two of the planet’s worst fossil-fuel burning administrations – have recently been replaced by leaders who seem to understand our current plight. President Obama has begun to show some enthusiasm for the cause of climate-change action, while China and India, scheduled to become vast carbon emitters in coming decades, have made some promising pledges. Continue reading...

In an interview with Guardian Australia, the prime minister signals changes to make family benefits fairer as he promises pragmatic, ‘agile’ leadership

Mr Munro, the Fiordland crested penguin, stands patiently for his morning weigh-in, after some coaxing. He arrived at Sydney’s Taronga zoo in 2006, suffering from malnutrition and respiratory problems after swimming 2,000km across sub-Antarctic waters from New Zealand to New South Wales. Then, he weighed only 2kg but has since recovered to a healthy 3.3kg Continue reading...