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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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The council in Shenzhen’s richest city district has extended a funding scheme for local emitters based on how many CO2 permits remain unused when complying with the Chinese city's pilot emissions trading scheme.

South Korean carbon permits rose to their highest level of 2018 on Wednesday as many traders remain concerned whether supply will be sufficient for everyone to comply by the annual June 30 deadline.

Wasted water from leaking pipes and overuse in homes is causing damage to rivers and wildlife and putting increasing pressure on overstretched supplies, warns the Environment Agency

People need to use less water and companies must curb leaks to prevent future water shortages and damage to rivers and wildlife, the Environment Agency (EA) has warned.

Many sources of water supplies are already overstretched and, with climate change and a growing population, much of England could see significant supply shortages by the 2050s – particularly in the south-east.

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SA Liberal energy minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan vows to continue state's dramatic energy transition, and flags support for programs that could deliver 100,000 household batteries.

The day-to-day operation of the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme is managed by four co-regulatory arrangements, Australian and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP), Ecycle Solutions (Ecycle), Electronics Product Stewardship...

The day-to-day operation of the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme is managed by four co-regulatory arrangements, Australian and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP), Ecycle Solutions (Ecycle), Electronics Product Stewardship...

Bodnant Garden, Gwynedd: Rhododendrons and azaleas flash white, pink, red, orange and blue as the oaks awaken from a long winter dream

These oak leaves open like bloody beef. Not the “rich brown-umber hue the oaks unfold/ When Spring’s young sunshine bathes their trunks in gold” that John Clare described in his poem Wood Pictures in Spring. These are the emerging leaves of a Quercus robur “Atropurpurea” (they will mature to a deep red-purple), a form of English or common oak, growing in a Welsh wood on the ravine of a stream flowing into the Vale of Conwy.

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AEMO says reserve mechanism that ensured lights stayed on last summer cost just $6 per customer, and praises role of newly deployed technologies such as batteries and demand response.

Work begins on Risen Energy's 121MW Yarranlea Solar Farm, west of Toowoomba, which is going ahead without a PPA.

Exclusive: Study finds 12,000 items worth $4m, including ivory, live orangutans and a huge number of reptiles and birds for the pet trade

The online sale of endangered and threatened wildlife is rife across Europe, a new investigation has revealed, ranging from live cheetahs, orangutans and bears to ivory, polar bear skins and many live reptiles and birds.

Researchers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) spent six weeks tracking adverts on 100 online marketplaces in four countries, the UK, Germany, France and Russia. They found more than 5,000 adverts offering to sell almost 12,000 items, worth $4m (£3m) in total. All the specimens were species in which trade is restricted or banned by the global Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.

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