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Devon and Cornwall force’s idea to ease the pressure of policing the cull was termed ‘appalling’

A police force has been strongly criticised by animal rights campaigners after proposing the suspension of the law that protects badgers in areas where the government’s controversial cull has been taking place.

Devon and Cornwall police suggested that decriminalising the taking of badgers in cull zones would ease pressure on resources, save the public money and could help stop the spread of bovine TB.

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Paris remained on flood alert after the Seine burst its banks, leaving streets inundated and forcing part of the Louvre to close. Forecasters said the flooding should peak by the end of the day

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Co-op announces initiative to reduce Britain’s plastic waste

The war on plastic waste is extending to the UK’s favourite beverage, with a major retailer in the final stages of developing a fully biodegradable paper teabag that does not contain plastic.

The Co-op is to make its own-brand Fairtrade 99 teabags free of polypropylene, a sealant used industry wide to enable teabags to hold their shape, and the guilt-free brew is due to go on sale by the end of the year.

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We take a look at three sectors in which China is beginning to dominate: trade, artificial intelligence and energy.

Welburn, North Yorkshire: A spring from the lime-rich bedrock calcifies all in its path, from pine cones to snail shells

January has wrapped itself so tight around the valley that there is no view today. Even the short sightlines in the woods are cloaked and murky. The mud on the main track is tedious, so I’m tempted by the firmer footing of a leafy badger path. It starts well but soon becomes steep and hostile, with bramble snares every few paces. The hulk of a dead birch gives way as I grasp it for support; muddied and disheartened, I try to cut back.

I emerge instead in the swamp landscape of a dinosaur picture book, thick with dead horsetails banded bone-white and brown like okapi legs. A few more squelching steps and I reach what must be the source of the small spring we call the Trickle. Here, its early course runs white over a petrified woodland floor. Bathed in water sprung from the lime-rich bedrock, twigs, leaves, pine cones and needles are turning to stone.

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With more canals than Venice, Queensland’s Gold Coast is a highly altered environment, where remnants of untouched vegetation are few and far between. Yet, tourists still flock there seeking to experience nature first hand among the theme parks, high rises and nightclubs. This is a classic Off Track handpicked from the archives for your listening pleasure.

A fifth of more than 6,000 catalogued invasive animals and plants worldwide are causing harm.

Environment department says it will no longer consider changes that would provide greatest health benefit

Moves to introduce stringent regulations for Australian fuels have been excluded from the government’s most recent consultation paper in favour of cheaper options that would result in more damage to the environment and public health.

The Ministerial Forum on Vehicle Emissions is considering changes that would reduce emissions from motor vehicles, including regulations that would improve the fuel-efficiency of new cars and limits on pollution levels in fuel.

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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 second-hottest year recorded at Earth’s surface was the hottest in its oceans

Among scientists who work on climate change, perhaps the most anticipated information each year is how much the Earth has warmed. That information can only come from the oceans, because almost all heat is stored there. If you want to understand global warming, you need to first understand ocean warming.

This isn’t to say other measurements are not also important. For instance, measurements of the air temperature just above the Earth are really important. We live in this air; it affects us directly. A great commentary on 2017 air temperatures is provided by my colleague Dana Nuccitelli. Another measurement that is important is sea level rise; so too is ocean acidification. We could go on and on identifying the markers of climate change. But in terms of understanding how fast the Earth is warming, the key is the oceans.

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A major study in Hong Kong shows the risk of death rises sharply on hazy days, when air pollution is much worse

The risk of death for people with mental and behavioural disorders rises sharply on days when air pollution reaches toxic peaks, a major study in Hong Kong has found.

Researchers analysed a decade of death statistics and revealed a strong link, with the mortality risk rising 16% on the first day of haze and 27% on the second day compared to normal days. If the haze was accompanied by high ozone pollution, the risk of death increased by 79%.

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This winter the first wolf in 100 years arrived in Belgium, completing the animals’ return to mainland Europe. But can Europeans relearn how to live alongside the predators?

To some it is a roe deer that eats meat: an adaptable animal capable of living peaceably alongside humans. To others it is a demonic killing machine that ruins farmers – and whose presence is a symbol of the city’s contempt for rural life.

The wolf is on the rise in Europe. This winter it finally reconquered Belgium, the last mainland European country from which it had been absent after decades of persecution.

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Sumatran elephants, an injured bear and a wandering wallaby are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Drone footage is building up the missing data on dolphin populations that is crucial to ensuring their protection and long-term survival

The drone is hovering above the Amazon river, but its battery is running low. André Coelho, the chief pilot, steers it back to safety with skills perfected by playing video games. Long hours practising on Need for Speed have become a surprising asset in the effort to conserve the dolphins that live in the river.

Marcelo Oliveira, a conservation specialist at WWF Brazil, stands on the bow of the boat with arms aloft. He plucks the white drone from the air, changes the battery, and swiftly sends it back into the sky.

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RSPB says successful breeding season and kind weather could see many species faring well in this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch

Blue tits, great tits, greenfinches and chaffinches are set to bounce back into British gardens this winter after a successful breeding season and “relatively kind” conditions.

More than half a million people are expected to spend an hour this weekend spotting birds and other wildlife in the 39th year of the Big Garden Birdwatch, the world’s biggest wildlife survey.

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Plastic is one of the biggest risks to the future of coral reefs after ocean warming, say scientists.

Europe's normally highly dependable rocket, the Ariane 5, loses contact as it flies skyward.

After two bears are injured in California wildfires, a creative solution to get them back on their feet.

The Northern Territory Labor Government had commissioned the inquiry as part of its moratorium on fracking.

We use our fridges, washing machines and air conditioners every day. That means that we should consider much more than the up-front retail price when choosing to invest in a new one. Trivess Moore, Research Fellow, RMIT University Simon Lockrey, Research Fellow, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.