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Bayer and Syngenta criticised for secrecy after unpublished research obtained under freedom of information law linked high doses of their products to damage to the health of bee colonies

Unpublished field trials by pesticide manufacturers show their products cause serious harm to honeybees at high levels, leading to calls from senior scientists for the companies to end the secrecy which cloaks much of their research.

The research, conducted by Syngenta and Bayer on their neonicotinoid insecticides, were submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency and obtained by Greenpeace after a freedom of information request.

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Oil Change International argues there is a compelling case for six proposed Queensland projects to be axed in ‘managed decline’ of fossil fuel

Miners seeking the green light to dig up Queensland’s Galilee basin should be stopped as a priority, according to a new report showing existing fossil fuels projects worldwide are enough to push global warming beyond 2C.

The report by the research and advocacy group Oil Change International argues there is a compelling case for the six Galilee coalmining proposals in the hands of Australian regulators to be axed in line with a “managed decline” of global coal, oil and gas supplies already on tap.

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Exclusive: Bleaching may be standard by 2020s says leading reef researcher as new images show the damage to areas around Japanese islands of Okinawa

Coral bleaching in Okinawa gallery

The worst global bleaching event on record could simply be the new normal, according to one of the foremost experts on coral reefs and their response to warming oceans.

Mark Eakin, head of the Coral Reef Watch program at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has told the Guardian he was hopeful the current global bleaching event would end in 2017, but said it was possible it would just roll on, alternating between the northern and southern hemispheres as the seasons changed.

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Images of this year’s coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef shocked the world. Some tour operators expressed concern that the extensive and sometimes simplistic media coverage would hurt their businesses.

The reef was a hot-button issue during the federal election, with both major parties pledging funding for programs to enhance water quality. Some politicians and tour operators expressed optimism about the reef’s ability to recover.

It was the culmination of the longest, most extensive and most severe mass coral bleaching event ever recorded – an event that began in the North Pacific in mid-2014. The Great Barrier Reef was not spared, this year experiencing its hottest sea surface temperatures since records began – 29.1℃ in February (1.1℃ above the 1961-90 average), 29.1℃ (1.3℃ above average) in March and 27.8℃ (1.0℃ above average) in April.

Evidence of bleaching was found on 93% of the more than 900 individual reefs surveyed that month, with the most severe impacts on the most pristine and isolated reefs of the far north. A preliminary estimate is that 22% of coral has now died, with 85% of these deaths occurring between Cape York and just north of Lizard Island.

Map of the extent of coral bleaching observed on the Great Barrier Reef. GBRMPA/AIMS/Commonwealth Government/Queensland Government

At the height of the bleaching, the Climate Council’s chief executive, Amanda McKenzie, and councillor Tim Flannery visited a reef off Port Douglas that local tour operators have long regarded as one of the best – the quintessential underwater wonderland.

Amanda and Tim reported their shock and anger at what they saw – extensive areas of corals bleached brilliant white (see the Climate Council’s May 2016 report for a summary of the bleaching).

Several months later, the public’s shock and outrage has largely dissipated, but the question remains: are there signs that the reef’s hoped-for recovery is actually happening?

Reef revisited

This week, I joined Tim and Amanda in revisiting the site that had so dismayed them back in April. We were guided by the passionate conservationist John Rumney, who has been diving here for more than 40 years. John’s son-in-law Dean Miller was our videographer, above and below the water.

It was a beautiful day on the reef – calm and sunny. We noted that it was three years to the day since the incoming Abbott government sacked the Climate Commission – which in turn led to the establishment of the ongoing Climate Council.

Wet-suited, we slipped into the water and paddled towards the coral, our progress monitored by a drone buzzing overhead like some giant, demented mosquito.

So what did we find? Structurally, the reef appears intact, but the whole landscape is, well, subdued. While pockets of brilliant blue staghorn remain, much of the coral that bleached earlier this year is dead, the white skeletons filmed over by greenish-brown filamentous algae.

The fish community has also changed. Algae-eating species such as surgeon fish are doing well, but coral-feeders are hardly to be seen – I spotted only a single parrot fish in an hour of snorkelling. Meanwhile, the corals themselves seem to be showing symptoms of white spot and white band diseases, conditions associated with their diminished immune systems after the stress of bleaching.

The mood on the boat after the snorkelling was also subdued. The locals had not visited this particular reef since the height of the bleaching. Having now seen the extent of the coral death that has resulted, they fear this will eventually weaken the structural integrity of the reef, making it susceptible to future damage from storms.

This November’s spawning will hopefully reseed the reef, but our companions on the trip acknowledged that any repeated bleaching within the next few years will greatly reduce the chances of recovery.

As our boat pulled away from the reef, another took its place, full of tourists donning their snorkelling gear. I found myself hoping that most of them were first-timers – unencumbered by memories of the reef’s former glory.

Back in the real world, Australia’s greenhouse emissions continue to rise (by 1.1% in 2014-15) and the government’s current target of reducing emissions 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2030 is manifestly inadequate, even if achieved.

The continued burning of coal, oil and gas is estimated to have made the bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef this year at least 175 times more likely. At present rates of climate change, this level of bleaching could occur every two years by the 2030s. That would make recovery between events virtually impossible.

The forlorn, diminished state of Australia’s greatest natural treasure must continue to serve as a visible warning of what we stand to lose. The new normal is a very sad place to be.

Lesley Hughes is affiliated with WWF-Australia (Board member and member of Eminent Scientist Advisory Group), Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Climate Council of Australia

Sir James Bevan, head of the UK’s Environment Agency, says waste crime offers huge profits while costing England £1bn a year

Waste crime is the “new narcotics” according to the head of the Environment Agency (EA), offering huge profits as the authorities race to catch up with the damage caused to society.

Illegal waste activity costs England £1bn a year and more than 1,000 illegal waste sites were discovered last year, more than in the previous two years combined, with 662 still active as of the end of March.

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From Bangalore’s water riots to Russia’s “river of blood”, rivers are under threat from many sources including industry, agriculture and climate change

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As the worst global bleaching event on record stretches across its third year, coral reefs around Okinawa in Japan are being hit hard. Experts warn this type of bleaching event may become the new normal. These images from the XL Catlin Seaview survey reveal the devastating effect warming water is having on coral in the area

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Henley, Oxfordshire The palaeontologist and author offers a tour of Grim’s Dyke Wood, which he bought in 2011

Five years after the palaeontologist Richard Fortey bought Grim’s Dyke Wood, a small Chiltern beech wood, he shows no diminution in enthusiasm for his “nature reserve”. He gives me a tour, though in truth we delight in each other’s discoveries. I find him a ring of bright feathers on a pile of rotting pine logs, a raptor’s kill, the buffs and browns speaking of a song thrush forever silenced. He finds bracket fungi that have insinuated themselves into the thin, horizontal lesions on a cherry tree’s trunk.

Related: Writers' rooms: Richard Fortey

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Decision by AEMC will push more local generators and prosumers to reduce their use of the grid, to look at private wires and microgrids, and potentially to disconnect.

Inclusion of the Illawarra and south coast lowland forest and woodland on the list of threatened ecological communities, in the critically endangered category.

Inclusion of the Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain on the list of threatened ecological communities, in the endangered category.

Our analysis suggests that wind exported from South Australia is pushing down prices across the National Electricity Market by a much as 10 per cent.

Research shows that the introduction of emission standards for light vehicles has considerable benefits for motorists and Australia more broadly.

A proposal for a massive solar plant paired with pumped hydro storage in an old gold mine has taken a big step forward.

The Kramer experiment - flying through the air on sweet winding roads on our Zeros, and our 100% electric motorbike trip.

Wood Mackenzie estimates seaborne thermal coal use would have to fall by 40 per cent by 2035 to meet the 2° target.

The Western Rivers Alliance is calling on the Queensland Government to make good on its election promise to protect the unique rivers of the Channel Country.

Australia commits to ratifying Paris climate deal, which will come into force by the end of the year - a speed of action almost unprecedented on the international stage. But that means Malcolm Turnbull will have to match words with action. But how?

Research says genetically modified enzymes, which allow products to be still labelled as ‘natural’, should be tested like potentially hazardous chemicals

Genetically modified enzymes used in food, perfumes, medicine and cleaning products are “potent allergens” and should be tested like other potentially hazardous chemicals, experts have said.

There has been an explosion in the use of enzymes to boost flavours and aromas, including in low-fat foods, helping to create a sector worth about $10bn (£7.7bn), according to a study published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

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The defining 'boom and bust' flooding cycles of Australia's inland Great Artesian Basin desert river systems are under threat from the development of unconventional gas mining, according to a new report.