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Sandpaper figs are the swiss army knife of Australian flora. Danica-Lea Larcombe, PhD Candidate in Biodiversity and Human Health, Edith Cowan University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The second quarterly WCI auction of 2018 cleared above the floor price with buyers again purchasing all current units available, countering worries that political uncertainty in Ontario would lead to an under-subscribed result.

Feral cats kill a million native birds every night and have caused extinction of 20 native species since introduction

The world’s largest cat-proof fence has been completed in central Australia, creating a 94 square kilometre sanctuary for endangered marsupials.

The 44km fence – made of 85,000 pickets, 400km of wire and 130km of netting – surrounds the Newhaven wildlife sanctuary, a former cattle station that has been bought by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

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When scientists exposed the crop to higher levels of carbon dioxide vitamin levels fell significantly

Rice will become less nutritious as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, potentially jeopardising the health of the billions of people who rely on the crop as their main source of food, new research suggests.

Scientists have found that exposing rice to the levels of carbon dioxide that are expected in the atmosphere before the end of the century results in the grain containing lower levels of protein, iron and zinc, as well as reduced levels of a number of B vitamins.

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European carbon prices held around €16 and within sight of recent highs despite two fairly weak auction results on Wednesday.

Almost all nations would benefit economically from keeping global warming to 1.5C, a new study indicates

Achieving the toughest climate change target set in the global Paris agreement will save the world about $30tn in damages, far more than the costs of cutting carbon emissions, according to a new economic analysis.

Most nations, representing 90% of global population, would benefit economically from keeping global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the research indicates. This includes almost all the world’s poorest countries, as well as the three biggest economies – the US, China and Japan – contradicting the claim of US president, Donald Trump, that climate action is too costly.

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Undercover footage recorded more than 100 incidents over 10 days, with workers apparently kicking pigs in their heads and stomachs

The RSPCA has launched an investigation after the release of footage that appears to show farm workers brutally kicking and punching pigs at a farm in Lincolnshire.

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The slower-than-planned uptake of forest-based carbon offsetting in the US could be buoyed by a reverse auction system that provides cost certainty and flexibility for landowners, according to experts.

Water shortages could stretch into the 2050s, according to the Environment Agency. It’s time to do your bit

The sun is shining and we are due a hot bank holiday Monday, so it must be time for a drought story. And not just any old drought, but one stretching into the 2050s and beyond, according to the Environment Agency, which warns that our use of water is unsustainable. While the agency puts much of its focus on the need for companies to change their behaviour, especially by reducing leakage, there are practical steps we can all take.

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The European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition in Brussels, which is under the umbrella of International Institute for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), is seeking an Research Assistant to work for 6 months starting in June/July 2018, with a possibility for extending the contract.

The news that Mediterranean whales have died after ingesting our plastic waste comes as no surprise – but seems to be an omen for fallout from our disruption of the natural world

Plastic bags have been blamed for the deaths of sperm whales in the Mediterranean. The Athens-based Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute found that more than a third of the sperm whales found dead in Greek waters had stomachs blocked by plastic waste. But this comes as no surprise to whale watchers.

In a plangent 2011 report by same researchers on a mass sperm-whale stranding, a combination of factors – noise from naval exercises, dehydration and stress that caused toxic chemicals and heavy metals to be released from the whales’ body fat – was found to have caused them to beach. The scene of the dying whales moved the scientists to unusually emotive language as they recorded finding them “agonising on the shore”.

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Enough water to meet the needs of 20 million people is lost through leakage every day, the report says.

Eleven people protesting over pollution from a copper plant have been killed by police in Tamil Nadu in south India

Another person has been shot dead during violent protests in south India against a copper plant operated by a British mining giant residents say is polluting the local environment.

Opposition politicians in the state of Tamil Nadu have accused the police of committing mass murder against protesters opposed to the expansion of a copper smelting facility in the port city of Thoothukudi.

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DNA research team say sampling of Loch Ness could uncover evidence of new creatures.

DNA research team say sampling of Loch Ness could uncover evidence of new creatures.

Australia’s Energy Security Board backs a limit of around 10% on banking emissions over-achievement under the proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG), but it has posed a number of questions regarding the use of flexibility options to stakeholders while leaving the use of offsets up to the government.

The Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) has held its first auction of non-fossil fuel power certificates, which some observers say might spark more interest in using market-based tools to meet carbon targets.

China will for the first time include environmental capacity and economic return as factors in restricting new investment in coal-fired power generation, according to a leaked note from the National Energy Administration (NEA).

Farmers take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation, and at twice the rate of military veterans. Two bills to help farmers were included in the federal farm bill

In early May, Kansas farmer John Blaske is waiting for the rain to stop so he can begin planting. From the front door of his farmhouse, a green yard decorated with bird feeders slopes down to a series of fields where the corn will be planted. Beyond the fields, there’s a tree line and a small bridge with a creek running below. It’s peaceful here, and mostly quiet, except for the sound of the occasional car or tractor, or the cows calling from the paddock.

The waiting makes him restless, he tells me. And it’s not just the rain. He’s also waiting desperately for the opportunity to talk to fellow agrarians or to legislators about the stress, depression and suicidal ideation he experiences as a farmer.

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Hot oceans fueled Hurricane Harvey, generating more intense rainfall

Last summer, the United states was pummeled with three severe hurricanes in rapid succession. It was a truly awesome display of the power of weather and the country is still reeling from the effects. In the climate community, there has been years of research into the effect that human-caused global warming has on these storms – both their frequency and their power.

The prevailing view is that in a warming world, there will likely be fewer such storms, but the storms that form will be more severe. Some research, however, concludes that there will be both more storms and more severe ones. More generally, because there is more heat, there is more activity, which can be manifested in several ways.

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