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Crook, County Durham: A dozen green-veined and small white butterflies flit restlessly between flower heads, pausing just long enough to uncoil their tongues and probe a floret

Two o’clock in the afternoon, the hottest, drowsiest time of day, and the air is saturated with fragrance from a gnarled old lavender bush that sprawls over the garden wall. It carries more than 200 flower spikes, and every bumblebee and butterfly in the garden seems to have fallen for their charms.

Constant movement makes them hard to count but there must be at least 30 carder bumblebees (Bombus pascuorum). Stems flex under their weight like vaulters’ poles, as they explore each floret for a second, before moving to the next, and then flying to another inflorescence. They are possessed with relentless urgency, and lavender has them in its spell, offering easy-access nectar but only in tiny doses, compelling them to move from floret to floret to make their visits worthwhile. It’s an evolutionary trade-off between flower and pollinator workforce, a balance between floral energy reward and insect energy expenditure. This afternoon lavender offers the best deal in the garden.

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Plastic bags are commonly mistaken for food by sea animals. They require a lot of energy and resources to be made, and have caused floods in some countries. Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Qamar Schuyler, Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmospheres, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New report aims to cut through noise on Australia's energy market transformation and give business leaders up-to-date, accessible information.

Italian energy giant teams with Honda in US to offer EV drivers incentives to recharge during times of low electricity demand.

Labor says there has been ‘no probity’ around awarding of grant to tiny charity

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is being pressed by Labor and the Greens to explain what was said in a private meeting that led to the awarding of a $443.8m grant to a small not-for-profit group for the Great Barrier Reef without a tender process.

It comes after new revelations that the environment and energy department secretary, Finn Pratt, was not present at an April meeting between Turnbull, the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation chairman, John Schubert.

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It's Europe's busiest airport but why is Heathrow also a magnet for hot weather?

The vast majority of lemur species, unique primates found only in Madagascar, are on the brink of extinction, say scientists.

Sydney and the Gold Coast emerge as hot spots for Tesla electric vehicle purchases, with NSW accounting for 2/3 of all Tesla sales.

Breakthroughs in satellite imaging are helping scientists in Scotland better understand wildfires in real time.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has named four economic sectors that will be deemed at high risk of carbon leakage as part of its output-based pricing system (OBPS), while also confirming other elements including a weakening of the programme reported by Carbon Pulse last week.

The Cambridge professor loses his 14-carat gold medal in Brazil minutes after receiving it.

Electricity sector emissions covered by the northeast US RGGI programme rose 5.5% year-on-year in the second quarter as reductions in most states were offset by increased output in Maryland.

ESB price assumptions don't make sense, and no company would make such a crucial decision based on such flimsy evidence.

European carbon prices jumped 2.2% to their highest since November 2008 on Wednesday, as the first in a month of smaller auctions indicated strong demand.

Data released by California regulator ARB late Tuesday showed that the first quarter of 2018 generated a record credit deficit in the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), but still fell short of some participants expectations.

We are currently looking for a Senior Economist to join our Climate Strategy practice, to support internal and external project management and develop our expertise in international carbon markets, climate policy design and implementation, and the competitiveness impacts of such policy.

State of the climate report found 2017 was the third warmest with a record high sea level and destructive coral bleaching

Last year was the warmest ever recorded on Earth that didn’t feature an El Niño, a periodic climatic event that warms the Pacific Ocean, according to the annual state of the climate report by 500 climate scientists from around the world, overseen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) and released by the American Meteorological Society.

Related: Rising temperatures linked to increased suicide rates

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Big emitters increased their buying in Germany's EU carbon allowance auctions in June, government data shows, though speculators and intermediaries still accounted for half of all purchases.

Findings come as part of a pledge by the owners of Canary Wharf in London to become world’s first plastic-free commercial centre

Retailers are likely to face a consumer backlash if they fail to take action to curb plastic use, according to a survey by the owners of Canary Wharf in London.

The operators of Canary Wharf are pledging to become the world’s first plastic-free commercial centre, in partnership with the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

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Environment secretary holds drought summit with farmers to address series issues of crop failure and lack of fodder for animals

Farmers will be allowed to take up more groundwater to irrigate parched crops during the ongoing heatwave, after a “drought summit” between farming leaders and the environment secretary, Michael Gove.

Farmers have suffered in the heat, with crops wilting or failing to reach their full size, and livestock running short of grass and fodder. Prices on some foods are already increasing, and price rises may be necessary for some staple goods later in the year, with the next few months crucial for the harvest.

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