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Sudden weather change after weeks of drought could cause flooding and crop damage

Farmers across many parts of the UK are bracing themselves for thunderstorms and outbursts of heavy rain after weeks of drought and high temperatures.

The sudden change in the weather, expected to affect eastern areas hardest but spreading to the north and Midlands over Friday, is likely to cause problems of flooding and potential crop damage.

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As the northern hemisphere endures record breaking temperatures,  scientists and meteorologists are looking at the possible causes. Climate change is partly responsible, but the summer has also featured unusual jet stream activity, which is bringing the subtropical heat north 

• UK ‘woefully unprepared’ for deadly heatwaves, warn MPs

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Approval of Chinese nuclear technology in the UK would act as a springboard to the rest of the world

China wants to become a global leader in nuclear power and the UK is crucial to realising its ambitions.

While other countries have scaled back on atomic energy in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, state-backed Chinese companies benefit from the fact that China is still relying on nuclear energy to reach the country’s low-carbon goals.

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The remaining wilderness areas, mostly in the remote Pacific and at the poles, need urgent protection from fishing and pollution, scientists say

Just 13% of the world’s oceans remain untouched by the damaging impacts of humanity, the first systematic analysis has revealed. Outside the remotest areas of the Pacific and the poles, virtually no ocean is left harbouring naturally high levels of marine wildlife.

Huge fishing fleets, global shipping and pollution running off the land are combining with climate change to degrade the oceans, the researchers found. Furthermore, just 5% of the remaining ocean wilderness is within existing marine protection areas.

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Researchers have found that only 13% of the world's oceans remain mostly undisturbed by humans.

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

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German utility EnBW advanced its Y+2 hedging considerably over the second quarter, but this still left the company somewhat less hedged overall compared to a year earlier.

The black hole at the centre of our galaxy has helped astronomers confirm a key prediction of Albert Einstein's ideas.

China’s biggest provincial pilot emissions trading scheme released its 2018 allocation plan on Thursday, keeping CO2 caps at last year’s levels as the central government has urged stability in the pilot markets.

The devastation continues after a hydropower dam collapsed in Laos, where 26 people have reportedly died and more than 100 are missing. The flood waters have also poured into neighbouring Cambodia, forcing thousands of people to evacuate

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Australia this week finalised the design of its proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG), including a decision to allow a limited number of domestic offsets, paving the way for a carbon pricing scheme of sorts to emerge in the power sector if the policy wins the backing of state ministers next month.

Republican-led changes to the Endangered Species Act put plants and animals across America at risk. Here are the ones you should be most concerned about

Republicans in the western United States have been trying to whittle away the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since Donald Trump took office, and their efforts reached a crescendo last week with help from the White House. The Trump administration has proposed significant changes to its enforcement of the bedrock environmental law. Under the new rules, wildlife managers would limit protections for species designated as “threatened” (a level below endangered), consider the economic costs prior to defending a species and de-emphasize long-term threats such as climate change.

The administration’s action follows bills and budget riders from congressional Republicans that would, among other things, in effect remove protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, exempt the controversial greater sage-grouse from an ESA listing for 10 years, and increase state involvement in conservation decisions. The flurry of measures is an attempt to change the law, long seen as oppressive to oil and gas interests, while the GOP controls Congress and the White House.

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According to UNICEF figures, over 1300 families are in need of emergency shelter.

Senate Select Committee on Electric Vehicles warned that failure to embrace global shift to EVs would ultimately cost Australian motorists.

From Greece, to the UK, to Japan and even Sweden, a slew of places in the Northern Hemisphere are suffering extreme heat. And the chances of extreme heat records tumbling are growing all the time. Andrew King, ARC DECRA fellow, University of Melbourne Ben Henley, Research Fellow in Climate and Water Resources, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

ESB modelling is false and misleading, claiming credit for projects already in pipeline. The latest NEG outline also penalises rooftop solar and large scale solar, does crazy things with offsets and will end up lifting prices.

Decision by energy market rule-maker could pave way for Tesla and others to develop virtual power plants, demand response, and combine electric vehicle load that can compete in the wholesale market with traditional peaking power plants.

Answer: It's not renewables, or the lack of them. Most are caused by network problems or failing fossil fuel plants.

Sandy, Bedfordshire: As with mosquitoes, the female is deadlier than the male, seeking a meal of animal blood so that she can grow her eggs

Many a fly has landed on my bare limbs this long summer, stretching out its minesweeper mouthparts to dab at my skin for something edible. Not thinking too hard about where those dirty feet have been, I tolerate them pattering about, sucking up, until the tickling sensation gets too much, and I shake them off.

What I worry about is the flies that don’t walk.

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Japanese car-maker behind world's biggest selling EV has quietly launched an all-electric camper van.