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New South Wales government says it paid $220m to reclaim licence for fertile farming area, and is in talks to do the same with neighbouring Shenhua

The New South Wales government has bought back BHP’s licence to mine for coal in the fertile farming regions of the Liverpool plains for $220m, and says it is in negotiations with the nearby Shenhua coalmine, which has sparked strong opposition from farmers and environmentalists.

BHP had planned to develop a huge underground coalmine at Caroona, which would produce 260m tonnes of coal over its 30-year lifetime. The mine was located beside the controversial Shenhua Watermark open cut coalmine, and was expected to share some infrastructure with it.

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High winds on Sunday boosted renewable energy output to provide all Scotland’s energy needs for the day

High winds on Sunday were strong enough to power the equivalent of all of Scotland’s electricity needs for the day, according to environmentalists.

The Met Office issued a yellow “be aware” weather warning covering much of the country as wind speeds reached 115mph on the top of the Cairngorms and gusts of more than 60mph hit towns in the north.

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Research shows the solenodon evolved more than 70 million years ago – in time to hang out with dinosaurs. But today these unique mammals face a barrage of threats including stray dogs, feral cats, invasive mongoose and deforestation.

If there was any justice in the animal kingdom – any at all – the solenodon would be as famous as the tiger. The solenodon is a rabbit-sized, shrew-like mammal that is only found on two Caribbean islands: Cuba and Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti).

There are a whole slew of reasons why the solenodon’s star should rise, including the facts that it’s one of the only venomous mammals and David Attenborough really likes it. But, most of all, the solenodon should be famous because it somehow survived the asteroid collision that killed off the dinosaurs, not to mention the next 66 million years of other catastrophes, from Ice Ages to the rise of bipedal destroyers named Homo Sapiens.

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Inquiry begins after conservationists point to systematic persecution by gamekeepers but landowners say this is a political ploy

Scottish grouse moor owners have been warned they face much tougher regulation after an inquiry was launched into the disappearance of legally protected golden eagles in the Highlands.

Related: England's last golden eagle feared dead

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Increasing land clearing could leave Australia hotter and drier. Wilderness Society

Land clearing is on the rise in Queensland and New South Wales, with land clearing laws being fiercely debated.

In Queensland in 2013–14, 278,000 hectares of native vegetation were cleared (1.2 times the size of the Australian Capital Territory). A further 296,000ha were cleared in 2014–15. These are the highest rates of deforestation in the developed world.

Land clearing on this scale is bad for a whole host of reasons. But our research shows that it is also likely to make parts of Australia warmer and drier, adding to the effects of climate change.

How do trees change the climate?

Land clearing releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but the effect of land clearing on climate goes well beyond carbon emissions. It causes warming locally, regionally and even globally, and it changes rainfall by altering the circulation of heat and moisture.

Trees evaporate more water than any other vegetation type – up to 10 times more than crops and pastures. This is because trees have root systems that can access moisture deep within the soil. Crops and pastures have 70% of their roots in the top 30cm of the soil, while trees and other woody plants have 43% of their roots in the deeper part of the soil.

The increased evaporation and rough surface of trees creates moist, turbulent layers in the lower atmosphere. This reduces temperatures and contributes to cloud formation and increased rainfall. The increased rainfall then provides more moisture to soils and vegetation.

The clearing of deep-rooted native vegetation for shallow-rooted crops and pastures diminishes this process, resulting in a warmer and drier climate.

We can see this process at work along the “bunny fence” in southwest Western Australia, where there is a moister atmosphere and more clouds over native vegetation compared with nearby farming areas during summer.

Studies in Amazonia also indicate that as deforestation expands rainfall declines. A tipping point may be reached when deforestation reaches 30-50%, after which rainfall is substantially reduced. Complete deforestation results in the greatest decline in rainfall.

More trees, cooler moister climate

We wanted to know how land clearing could affect Australia’s climate in the future. We did this by modelling two scenarios for different amounts of land clearing, using models developed by CSIRO.

In the first scenario, crops and pasture expand in the semi-arid regions of eastern and southwest Australia. The second scenario limits crops and pastures to highly productive lands, and partially restores less productive lands to savanna woodlands.

We found that restoring trees to parts of Australia would reduce surface temperatures by up to 1.6℃, especially in western Queensland and NSW.

We also found that more trees reduced the overall climate-induced warming from 4.1℃ to 3.2℃ between 2050 and 2100.

Replanting trees could increase summer rainfall by 10% overall and by up to 15.2% in the southwest. We found soil moisture would increase by around 20% in replanted regions.

Our study doesn’t mean replanting all farmed land with trees, just areas that are less productive and less cost-effective to farm intensively. In our scenario, the areas that are restored in western Queensland and NSW would need a tree density of around 40%, which would allow a grassy understorey to be maintained. This would allow some production to continue such as cattle grazing at lower numbers or carbon farming.

Political and social challenges

Limiting land clearing represents a major challenge for Australia’s policymakers and farming communities.

The growing pressure to clear reflects a narrow economic focus on achieving short- to medium-term returns by expanding agriculture to meet the growing global demand for food and fibre.

However, temperatures are already increasing and rainfall is decreasing over large areas of eastern and southwest Australia. Tree clearing coupled with climate change will make growing crops and raising livestock even harder.

Balancing farming with managing climate change would give land owners on marginal land new options for income generation, while the most efficient agricultural land would remain in production. This would need a combination of regulation and long-term financial incentives.

The climate benefits of limiting land clearing must play a bigger part in land management as Australia’s climate becomes hotter and drier. Remnant vegetation needs to be conserved and extensive areas of regrowth must be allowed to regenerate. And where regeneration is not possible, we’ll have to plant large numbers of trees.

Clive McAlpine receives funding from The Australian Research Council and the Queensland Government

Jozef Syktus receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Queensland Government

Leonie Seabrook receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Frydenberg says Coalition still intends to strip ARENA of grant funding, and expects Labor to support this. He also shoots down hopes that next year's climate policy review will be anything more than a "situation report", and will not be an opportunity to set new targets.

Full transcript of our interview with environment and energy minister Josh Frydenberg.

Scientists find a baby tooth in the fossilised faeces of an extinct shark, suggesting the animals practised filial cannibalism.

ESCOSA proposes to remove the minimum price retailers are expected to pay for rooftop PV exports in the state, starting January 2017.

PVsell users now get access to the Business Contact Details at their fingertips, embedded into your PVsell Dashboard.

Sandy, Bedfordshire The nest overflowed, the first baby spilled out. Did it fall or was it pushed? Its helpless fellows parachuted down at dawn

All through the sudden downpour the last survivor of the last brood of summer looked out from the dry recesses of a rosemary bush. The baby blackbird wore a pitiable frown, the downturned corners of its mouth enough to draw out all my paternal instincts. It rocked forward, raising little triangular appendages on its back that could barely pass for wings. Devoid of tail feathers, its rear end looked as if it had been involved in a shunt.

Only two days before, this spotty blackbird, still flecked with down, had been crammed against its siblings in the nest, patchily feathered, eyes newly open. Its single parent was returning with a beakful of food every three or four minutes, hour after hour.

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When completed, the 36-megawatt frequency regulation project will increase the total ESS capacity delivered by Kokam to South Korean utility KEPCO to 92-megawatts

SolarCity’s results call revealed plans to manufacture building integrated solar roofing, target Australia as key solar + storage market.

Treasurer Scott Morrison blocks sale of majority stake in Ausgrid to Chinese interests, citing national security issues.

Australia record small drop in electricity sector emissions as renewable generation rises, but is still well above levels when carbon price was in place.

Melbourne Energy Institute report sees evidence of "monopoly rents" in recent South Australia "energy crisis", adding up to $60m to electricity costs.

Researchers say that by 2050, regional sea-level rises in China’s three most vulnerable regions including the PRD will be half to one metre.

Malcolm Robert's utterances can teach us a great deal about the psychology of science denial.

Scientists are studying killer whales in an effort to understand the mysterious biology behind the menopause - in both orcas and humans.

Market operator uses "blackout" threat to push for new markets to encourage battery storage and other technologies. But the risk of blackouts? An extra 10 minutes a year in worst case scenario.