No start date set for the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance underground mine north of Moranbah, which the company says will deliver 1,500 permanent jobsA new coalmine in central Queensland has received federal environment approval, but no start date has been given for the underground operation.Promoters say the Red Hill mine, north of Moranbah, will deliver 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent positions. Continue reading...

North Hill, Cornwall Ancient boundaries cross the moor, a stone row linking Fox Tor with a hill crowned in ring cairnsBeneath the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor, the sunken lane from Tolcarne is strewn with hazelnuts. Sun dapples the shady bedrock, ferns and mosses, and midges spiral in shafts of light.From the hillside, where abandoned settlements and enclosures are masked by patches of bracken and gorse, the vista widens and extends across the Lynher and Tamar valleys towards the blue skyline of Dartmoor. Continue reading...

Researchers with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy capture the moment a great white shark jumps out of the water as it chases a seal off the Massachusetts coast. The seal can be seen leaping out of the water and hitting the shark with its tail

Four new proposals are meant to reduce emissions over the next decade as part of the Obama administration’s broad effort to reduce greenhouse gasesThe US Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed a slate of measures meant to drastically reduce methane emissions over the next decade as part of the Obama administration’s broad effort to reduce greenhouse gasses.Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s office of air and radiation, told reporters that the agency hopes to cut heat-trapping methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. Continue reading...

Large areas of Yorkshire, north-west and east Midlands earmarked for oil and gas exploration as government announces it will offer licences for 27 new sitesLarge areas of Yorkshire, the north-west and the east Midlands are to be opened up to fracking after the government announced it will offer a fresh round of licences for oil and gas exploration.Areas near Leeds, Sheffield, Lincoln and Nottingham are to be offered to companies in an expansion plan that green groups predicted would trigger “hundreds of battles” over the future of the countryside. Continue reading...

Over 1,000 activists brought the vast machines at the Rhineland coalfields to a halt to protest against the fossil fuels that cause climate change Continue reading...

Religious scholars, experts and teachers from around the world unite to make emotive declaration on climate change ahead of crucial Paris summitIslamic leaders have issued a clarion call to 1.6bn Muslims around the world to work towards phasing out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a 100% renewable energy strategy.

Campaigners say Obama giving the green light to oil drilling ahead of his visit to the Arctic to highlight climate change is ‘hypocritical’The Obama administration has granted final approval for Shell’s Arctic drilling programme, clearing the way for the company to restart its stuttering search for northern oil and drawing criticism from presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton.Shell has been waiting since the beginning of August for the arrival of a key safety vessel, the Fennica, after it was damaged en route to the Chukchi sea. Arctic safety standards forbid drilling deep enough to hit oil without the Fennica, which carries a device designed to control a blowout. Continue reading...

Catholic leaders are pressurising the government to drop coal by working with activists and even installing solar panels on church roofsIn June, the Catholic church in the Philippines joined the One Million Against Coal Campaign, which aims to gather at least one million signatures nationwide in a bid to pressure the government to reverse the approval of dozens of coal power plants meant to address the country’s energy security concerns.“We are strongly opposing coal energy because of its negative effects on the health of the people and the environment. Coal plants are the primary cause of global warming,” says Father Edwin Gariguez, executive director of Caritas Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action, the church’s social action arm. Continue reading...

Government plans to expand agribusiness in north-east Brazil could see native babassu forests – already hit by crop plantations – dissapear, ending a traditional way of life for thousands of families who depend on the fruit for their survivalTereza Teodoro Sousa balances what looks like a small, hairless coconut on a hatchet and cracks it open with a wooden truncheon.“I can’t tell you how many years I’ve been doing this,” she says, sitting in a babassu palm grove in Maranhão state in north-east Brazil. “The babassu gives me everything. The bread I gave my children came from here.” Continue reading...

As Australian humpback populations rebound, an increasing number of tourists visiting Queensland are seeking ‘eye-to-eye’ experiences with the giant animals. But risks from predatory orcas and sharks are very real, say many experts, who are calling for stricter controls on tour operatorsOver the winter months an estimated 22,000 to 23,000 Australian humpback whales, thought to be a new record, will steam up the country’s east coast to their annual breeding grounds at unknown sites in the Great Barrier Reef.At the same time, following the introduction in the past year of tour operators offering a swim-with-whales experience, thousands of snorkellers are expected to step off vessels and slide into the waters of the Pacific at points along the humpbacks’ 10,000km migratory path. They are seeking “eye-to-eye” experiences with humpbacks and their calves, southern right whales, dwarf minke whales and Indo-Pacific and common bottlenose dolphins. Continue reading...

The Coalition’s ‘war on environmental vigilantes and saboteurs’ isn’t consistent: it’s waged against anti-coal activists but in support of anti-windfarm activistsEven for the Abbott government the inconsistencies in the latest “war on environmental vigilantes and saboteurs” are astonishing. And the slapstick nature of its attempt to use the issue as a political wedge is up there with Laurel and Hardy.When an environment group successfully uses 16 year-old national environmental laws to delay a project, the Abbott government tries to change the law to prevent them from ever doing it again. Continue reading...

Claxton, Norfolk Blackbirds lack the necessary coordination to master this snail-breaking technique but have found a way to enjoy freshly cracked molluscSummertime and the living is easy in our garden, except if you happen to feed on earthworms. Then the withered lawn and parched earth of August drive a number of our neighbours to take special measures. The most conspicuous indicator of summer drought is a bit of avian behaviour that’s more often heard than seen.It results in a small hollow hammering noise of shell on stone and, aside from the wider hush enveloping our flowerbeds, you could easily overlook its quiet rhythmic tap. Yet a song thrush at its anvil is as redolent of Claxton at this particular moment in summer as the bell-like notes of full-blown song on late July evenings. Continue reading...

Decision to place restrictions on environment groups that can bring legal action comes after federal court overturned approval for the Queensland coalmineThe government will remove the right of most environmental organisations to challenge developments under federal laws unless they can show they are “directly affected” – a direct response to the federal court decision this month on Adani’s Carmichael coalmine.Related: George Brandis: vigilante green groups destroying thousands of mining jobs Continue reading...

Footage shows Mupee, the first baby Lumholtz tree kangaroo born into the Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation’s captive management program on the Gold Coast. Tree kangaroos are seen as a threatened species owing to hunting and destruction of habitat in Papua New Guinea and far north Queensland. Among other unusual traits they do not sweat, but lick their forearms and allow the moisture to evaporate

As Royal Mail launches new bee stamp set, half of British people cannot name a single bee species – despite recognising the importance of the pollinatorsHalf of people cannot name a single species of bee even though the vast majority care about the country’s bees, a new poll suggests.The survey, which comes as Royal Mail launches a new set of stamps celebrating British bees, found that although many people recognise the value and importance of the pollinators, few know much about the insects. Continue reading...

The idea that the South Australian taxpayer should underwrite the cost of a nuclear waste dump or nuclear power station is as bizarre as it is expensiveThe South Australian government is conducting a royal commission into expanding the nuclear industry in the state. If the pro-nuclear positions taken by the majority of the commission’s advisory committee are anything to go by, this would mean two things: expensive nuclear power, and expensive nuclear waste.The economic case for nuclear power is already shaky. Respected financial advisory firm Lazard recently gave their assessment of the unsubsidised cost of energy. They found that existing renewable and gas technologies are already cheaper than nuclear power. Continue reading...

Elizabeth Truss calls for discussions on long-term contracts to protect farmers from milk price volatility and retailers having to put origin on packagingThe government could force supermarkets to state on labels whether their fresh food is from Britain and to agree to long-term contracts with farmers as part of plans to address the crisis in the dairy industry.

Radioactive Waste Management accepts social and political challenges must be overcome – but says government now has power to overrule local communitiesPlans costing £4bn to identify and create a geological disposal site for the UK’s radioactive waste are being hindered by a “nuclear perception problem” say experts.It is estimated that the lifetime cost of disposing of the radioactive waste accumulated to date will cost the taxpayer around £12bn, with £4bn estimated to be spent before the waste can be buried. Continue reading...

The country’s plan to build more than 100 new coal-fired power plants over the next five years could result in the premature deaths of nearly 30,000 people a year, according to new research by Harvard University and Greenpeace Continue reading...

Colorado mining spill that dumped 3 million gallons of toxic waste and turned river orange was the result of what industry experts call ‘a ticking time bomb’The mustard-tinged cloud of toxic wastewater that last week colored Colorado’s Animas river an unappealing tangerine was not the first spill to dye the river – nor is it likely to be the last, according to engineers, if government and private industry fail to take action as they have in the past.One expert called the mines north of Durango near Silverton and the abandoned mining town of Gladstone “ticking time bombs”. Another expressed relief that the Gold King spill was not larger – if a slurry of mine waste known as tailings had spilled from the area, he said, there could have been “100 times the volume” of waste. Continue reading...

Fox anchor Shep Smith calls out the same science misinformation tactics used by his own network

Attorney general says green groups used ‘lawfare’ to scupper Carmichael coalmine as he urges reform of national environmental protection lawsEnvironmental groups are threatening thousands of mining jobs with their “vigilante litigation”, attorney general George Brandis has said, paving the way for a tightening of laws governing environmental protection.The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has backed the attorney general’s comments, saying that environmental groups have engaged in an “unfair” campaign to scupper Adani’s Carmichael mine in north Queensland. Continue reading...

Glossop, Derbyshire It was immediately clear why the Peak District looked so verdant even in the height of what we must call summerA roaring log fire on a summer night might be considered an indulgence, but as the temperature dropped towards single figures it seemed more like a necessity. The previous half hour had been spent standing silently in the wooded gulley below the house watching the more obvious entrances of the badgers’ sett, at a discreet distance from across the stream.Related: The night visitors Continue reading...

Study reveals that owls’ flight feathers absorb aerodynamic sound and suppress vibrations, allowing them to swoop on their quarry in perfect silenceOwls are equipped with highly developed stealth technology that helps them swoop on prey undetected, a study has shown.The nocturnal hunters have feathers that absorb aerodynamic sound and suppress the vibrations that occur when a bird beats its wings. Continue reading...

The writer, who is coming to Australia on a speaking tour, says she cannot tell where the coal industry ends and the federal government beginsTony Abbott is a climate change “villain” who is repeating the slogans used by the coal industry in the US, according to bestselling author and social activist Naomi Klein.Related: Coal is the future, insists Tony Abbott as UN calls for action on climate change Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 18 August 1915It will seem strange to those who do not know suburban London that here in Chiswick (from which I write to-day) one may feel oneself to be in a quite country place, despite the endless number of railways, tramlines, and motor buses busy incessantly with traffic to the centre of London. All night a tawny owl was calling. He makes his home in the ivy-covered trunk of an old pear tree, and as the fox-terrier is able by great scrambling occasionally to get a footing very near his perch the owl now and then has a flight during the day-time. Usually, however, he scares off his enemies, hissing and using his claws most effectually. Between this house and the Thames, a quarter of a mile away, and extending almost unbroken for a mile in both directions along the river bank, is a dense orchard, chiefly composed of pear trees, now heavily laden with fruit. Birds are wonderfully numerous, and, judging by the number of species and young fledglings about, they must have had a good breeding season. The heavy thunderstorms of the past week culminated on Sunday, when till evening all sign of bird life had disappeared. All are cheery enough in the morning, and the flowers everywhere are a wonderful show.Yesterday I travelled through the low-lying dockside slums of East London, where smoke and heavy odours of chemicals are never absent, yet even there flowers are cultivated wherever a cottager can get a yard of ground. There were hundreds of hollyhocks and dahlias, still dashed to some extent by the recent storms, but showing good evidence of coming beauty. I think we gardeners in Manchester are a bit afraid of trying our atmosphere. Continue reading...

Forget the holiday traffic jams, put away the summer clothes and turn on the central heating – it may still be August, but in the bird world, autumn is officially here.The first sign of the season arrived in the last week of July. On an evening’s walk around my local patch, on the edge of the Somerset Levels, I heard a piercing call, almost as high-pitched as a dog whistle. Then a small wader swooped up into the sky, before disappearing into the distance: a green sandpiper. Continue reading...

The communities secretary, Greg Clark, says “no one benefits from uncertainty caused by delays in planning decisions” (Act quickly on fracking or we will, ministers tell councils, 13 August). Quite right. Will he now have a word with his colleagues in Defra who have so far spent 23 months considering an inspector’s report on whether to extend the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks? It is perhaps understandable that hard-pressed local authority planning departments struggle with fracking applications. They are hugely controversial and raise serious issues of public safety, water contamination, traffic movement and much else. It is much less clear why the government has sat on its hands on the Lakes-Dales extension, which is supported by local people and has clear economic and social benefits.

Anti-fracking alliance on Fylde coast digs in to resist new fast-track policy on drilling applications – but not everyone thinks it would be bad for the areaResting a hand on the shoulder of his nine-year-old daughter, Samantha, John Tootill shakes his head as he gazes over the lush green fields near Lancashire’s Fylde coast that have become the new focus in Britain’s battle over fracking.

With its holistic approach, biodynamics really makes a differenceYour chances of bumping into a biodynamic farmer who you can question about this form of sustainable agriculture are slim. The amount of land cultivated under biodynamic principles is minuscule compared to conventional agriculture, and even organic – though the Biodynamic Land Trust would love to change this: it offers shares in biodynamic farms and gardens.But head to a Steiner hotspot like Forest Row in East Sussex and you’ll increase your odds. The community takes its cue from Emerson College, a centre for agroecology that blends science, nature, universal laws and spiritual concerns. It’s worth taking the trip: you may not agree with them, but biodynamic practitioners are rarely dull. Continue reading...

Puffins always draw the summer crowds to the islands off Northumberland, which are the favourite UK wildlife site of Sir David AttenboroughA couple of miles out to sea, off the Northumberland coast, some uncut jewels in the firmament of England’s natural heritage shimmer. The Farne Islands, ancient and sanctified by the hands of St Cuthbert, can only be reached on one of a fleet of boats that ferry hundreds of visitors each day in high summer. Drive through country roads until pasture gives way to sand and you are in Seahouses, the little coastal village where time, when it reached 1969, liked what it saw and decided to tarry.Each summer the area rises anew out of coastal mists and returns you to childhood holidays of fish suppers and rococo confectionery. Gusts of petrol and herring lead you to a harbour braided by pastel-coloured dwellings. There, glorious Beryl Cook ladies, pink underneath straw hats and horn-rimmed sunglasses, chastise their children and say “sorry, love” as they barrel past you. Continue reading...

The novelist discusses his hopes for conservation after the death of Cecil the lion, and his memories of Mozambique’s bloody civil war

Wildlife photographer Steve Bloom shares some beautiful pictures from his book Elephants, showing elephants at their most playful, majestic and breath-taking Continue reading...

As a fight over 11 lime trees in Sheffield escalates, activists in cities all over the world are making the case for urban trees – to cut pollution, increase land value and even make you feel youngerRustlings Road is aptly named. The street in Sheffield is lined with mature lime trees. Their whispering leaves are brilliant green in spring, then cast cool, dappled shade in summer and turn bright yellow in the autumn. But Sheffield city council wants to prune the street, and a dispute about 11 lime trees has turned into a citywide campaign, with more than 10,000 people urging the council to halt its roadside felling. I has also sparked a broader debate about what 36,000 street trees bring to a place that claims to be the most wooded industrial city in western Europe.

Fordingbridge, Hampshire We’ve seen no sign of painted ladies this year. Nor have we been visited by the humming-bird hawk moths we hear reports of. So we wait

Firefighters took about two hours to bring the fire under control at the DrillChem plant on the eastern fringe of Conroe, near HoustonA series of explosions rocked an oil field chemical supply company north of Houston on Friday, setting off a fire that sent a broad, dense column of thick, black smoke towering into the sky.Authorities knew of no injuries from the explosions and blaze that erupted about 4.30pm, said Conroe fire marshal Mike Legoudes. Continue reading...

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Bernie Fraser says Greg Hunt’s claim about Labor’s climate policy is ‘misleading’The independent Climate Change Authority is engaged in a public war of words with the environment minister, Greg Hunt, over the government’s assertion that “Labor’s climate policy” would impose a “$600bn carbon bill”, saying the claim is “weird” and “misleading”.The prime minister on Tuesday unveiled a new greenhouse gas reduction goal of reducing emissions by between 26% and 28% of 2005 levels by 2030. Continue reading...

Cubs’ mother was killed because she ate part of hiker Lance Crosby and hid the rest of the body, say park officialsA zoo in the state of Ohio will take two cubs of a grizzly bear that was euthanized after it killed a hiker in Yellowstone national park.Park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said the cubs’ mother was killed in Montana because she ate part of hiker Lance Crosby, 63, and hid the rest of the body — an abnormal behavior for a female bear defending its young. Continue reading...

Coalition of campaign groups and businesses back cleanup plan in a letter to the Guardian, urging the government to ‘provide or stimulate funding’Litter is a problem that costs taxpayers nearly £1bn a year, and now some of the companies whose products end up as waste on the streets are calling on the government to create a national strategy to tackle it.A coalition of campaign groups and businesses including McDonald’s and chewing gum maker Wrigley, as well as soft drinks companies and national pub chains, have backed the cleanup plan, called the Litter Manifesto, in a letter to the Guardian. In it they urge the government to come up with a plan “that has teeth” by “providing or stimulating funding”. Continue reading...

As a nation the UK spends approximately £1bn a year clearing up litter. The vast majority of people believe that dropping litter is unacceptable, yet levels of littering are at their worst levels for a decade.Littering affects us all – making our local spaces dirtier, less welcoming, and encouraging antisocial behaviour. Reducing litter is fundamentally a question of changing behaviour, and it is up to all of us to take action. Continue reading...

The two female cubs would not survive on their own in the wild, officials say, and will be relocated to the Toledo zoo in the autumnTwo female grizzly bear cubs orphaned after their mother was euthanized because she was linked to the fatal mauling of a hiker in Yellowstone national park will be moved to a zoo in Toledo, Ohio, zoo officials said on Friday.

Nine days after 3m gallons of toxic mining waste turned river orange, officials report water has returned to ‘pre-incident levels’ but residents remain uneasyAuthorities are pushing residents to return to normal along the Animas river, where a spill of 3m gallons of acidic, heavy metal-laden mining waste turned the river a jarring yellow-orange for days.For hundreds of miles along the Animas and San Juan rivers, cities were forced to shut down municipal drinking water systems, farmers and ranchers had to find new water sources for crops and livestock, and tourist season was abruptly disrupted for river recreation-dependent towns. Continue reading...

A thousand people from across Europe aim to shut down opencast lignite mine in Rhineland that is a major source of carbon emissions, reports RTCCA thousand activists are expected to descend on the Rhineland coalfields in Germany this weekend in protest at the fuel’s climate impacts.They are targeting RWE’s opencast lignite mine. Together with the energy company’s three power stations in the area, it makes up Europe’s biggest source of carbon dioxide, activists say. Continue reading...

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...

As the climate changes, mountain snow is melting faster at the end of the winter – and that impacts millions of people in ways you might not expect. Take this quiz and find out how much you snow about snowmeltMuch of the western US is currently on fire, with 55 wildfires burning across the country. In the parched state of California, snowpack stood at just 6% of average by the end of last winter, followed by one of the driest summers on record. How does that translate into diminished water supply and increased fire danger? Test your knowledge below. Continue reading...

World Lion Day, a new species of tiny toad and kangaroos in the snow feature in this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Shifting funds out of coal, oil and gas could make ‘a very important contribution’ to Paris deal, says Connie Hedegaard. RTCC reportsThe EU’s former climate commissioner is backing fossil fuel divestment to support a UN carbon-cutting pact in Paris this December.Connie Hedegaard, who now chairs the KR Foundation, a climate focused funding platform, praised the movement to shift finance flows away from climate-polluting sectors. Continue reading...

Peter Kimpton tries out the new suspension Pinarello KS-8 road bike, a model similar to that ridden by Chris Froome in the Tour De France and tested by Sir Bradley Wiggins