Around The Web

Photographer Joshua Smith’s latest project, The Reef, is an aerial exploration of his experience with Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. Smith’s hope is to raise awareness of Australia’s connection with the reef and the impact humans have on it. The series is the the fifth instalment of Down Under from Above, a captivating film and aerial photo series sharing unique perspectives of Australian landscape while highlighting the importance of preservation

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North Yorkshire project halted for inquiry into stability of Third Energy, whose chairman is former chief executive of outsourcing giant

A controversial plan to start fracking for shale gas in rural North Yorkshire has been thrown into doubt amid mounting concerns over the finances and management of the company behind the scheme.

In a move that has encouraged anti-fracking protestors, energy secretary Greg Clark has ordered the start of drilling at Kirby Misperton to be put on hold pending an investigation into the “financial resilience” of Third Energy.

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Researchers have created a simulation of the red planet with the hope humans will one day live there.

Popular species like grouper and wrasse could be gone from dining tables in decades as trade drives wild populations to the brink of collapse.

The US$1 billion a year Live Reef Fish for Food Trade (LRFFT) is threatening the future of key reef predator species like grouper, coral trout and Napoleon wrasse, according to a recent study.

The study - published by WWF, the Swire Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and ADM Capital Foundation - urges swift action towards regulating an industry that’s decimating stocks of these species across the Coral Triangle, threatening poor communities that rely on the fishery for their livelihoods.

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Photographs of rare species from unexplored area of Antarctic seabed highlight need to protect life in one of the most remote places on the planet

The images below are the first of creatures found in a previously unexplored region of the Antarctic seabed offering a fascinating glimpse of life in one of the most remote and pristine places on the planet.

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Airedale, West Yorkshire: Neck held straight, upright and officer-like, the drake appears dressed in close-fitted tweeds, a fine houndstooth of tan and grey

I don’t know a bird book that has much to say about the gadwall (Anas strepera). Generally this unobtrusive winter duck is compared with the more common mallard, and comes off worse: smaller (just), duller (much), either shriller (the duck) or coarser (the drake) in quack. But like many a winter bird – think of the intricate copper-trimmed scalloping of a starling’s non-breeding plumage – the gadwall repays a little close attention.

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A water dragon with dappled markings like shadows through leaves tilts her head and waves her arm. It’s not a friendly wave. It’s the water dragon equivalent of the middle finger.

A water dragon with dappled markings like shadows through leaves tilts her head and waves her arm. It’s not a friendly wave. It’s the water dragon equivalent of the middle finger.

Elon Musk just launched the world's most powerful rocket. It's only a fraction of what he's up to.

Romeo, a 10-year-old Sehuencas water frog, has been given a dating profile as part of the search.

Figures released by the EPA show that 115 crime cases were opened in 2017, down from a peak of nearly 400 in 2009

The Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement activity against polluters has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, with the first year of the Trump administration seeing a sharp drop in fines for companies that break environmental rules.

Figures released by the EPA show that 115 environmental crime cases were opened in the 2017 financial year, down from a peak of nearly 400 in the 2009 financial year, which was largely under the Obama administration.

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Exclusive: Brexit fears and falling pound left fruit and vegetable farms short of more than 4,000 workers, with senior MPs warning of a ‘crisis’

Fruit and vegetable farms across the UK were left short of thousands of migrant workers in 2017, leaving some produce to rot in the fields and farmers suffering big losses.

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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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The asteroid, up to 40m in size and only discovered five days ago, passes by on Friday.

The Bloodhound supersonic car aims to run in South Africa this October, and there is a lot to prepare.

Galápagos marine iguanas, feeding penguins and a camouflaged owl are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Wilderness study areas are more wild and untouched than national parks. But a Republican proposal threatens this unique terrain, environmentalists say

The Big Snowy Mountains wilderness study area in Montana represents 91,000 acres of the wildest land left in America. Viewed from a limestone bluff high in a timbered gulch, no houses are visible. No transmission lines or roads interrupting the expanse of green. No smoke curling up from cabin stovepipes.

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A visit to the narrow lane of Ka Faroshi bird market brings comfort to war-weary Afghans

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Canadian government viewed Trump’s election as “positive news” for Keystone XL and energy industry

The Trudeau government treated Donald Trump’s election as “positive news” for Canada’s energy industry and welcomed the help of Canada’s main corporate oil group in lobbying the US administration, documents show.

Meetings conducted by senior government officials with TransCanada and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) reveal an one-sided approach more reminiscent of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s secret oil advocacy than Justin Trudeau’s green electoral promises.

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The International Garden Photographer of the Year is one of the world’s premier competitions specialising in botanical photography. There are 11 main categories and numerous special awards including Young Garden Photographer of the Year, and the mobile-only category Gardens on the Go. It is run in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where the winning pictures will be exhibited, followed by a rolling programme of touring exhibitions in the UK and abroad

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