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Senior environmental and agricultural figures cite lack of top-level experience, track record and policy approach as fears

Andrea Leadsom’s appointment as environment secretary has raised significant concerns among senior environmental and agricultural figures over her suitability for the role.

Leadsom’s lack of top-level political experience, absence of track record in farming or environmental areas and ideological approach to policy are all cited as fears. However, her junior ministers are viewed more favourably in terms of tackling the enormous challenges faced by her department.

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An international group of scientists have analysed the DNA of 6,000 year old barley, showing that it is remarkably similar to modern day varieties.

Improving co-operation between nations' farming and forestry sectors will help reduce deforestation and improve food security, a UN report suggests.

A pod of killer whales lived and hunted with local whalers around Twofold Bay, New South Wales.

The United Nations cultural agency Unesco names Iraq's southern marshes - once decimated by Saddam Hussein - a World Heritage Site.

IPPR analysis says capital will eventually need to phase out diesel cars and buses in order to meet EU air pollution targets

Diesel vehicles must be banned from London if the UK is to meet its air pollution targets, a thinktank warned on Monday.

Cars, vans and buses using diesel fuel are the leading cause of air pollution in the capital, and although steps are being taken to discourage their use, through the congestion charge and clean air zones, this will not be enough to clear the air, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found in a new report.

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From parrots in the snow and penguins waddling through the forest to dinosaur-like reptiles, a new three-part part series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit, narrated by actor Sam Neill, showcases the island chain’s rich and intriguing wildlife that has resulted from 80 million years of isolation.

• Episode one airs on Tuesday 19 July at 9pm on BBC Two.

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Nasa has sent a DNA sequencer to the International Space Station in an effort to help astronauts monitor their own health.

Area made up of four archaeological sites and three wetland marshes in southern Iraq was once ravaged by Saddam Hussein

Unesco has named Iraqi marshlands once ravaged by dictator Saddam Hussein as a world heritage site, a bright spot for a country where jihadists have repeatedly sought to wipe out history.

The area named “is made up of seven sites: three archaeological sites and four wetland marsh areas in southern Iraq,” Unesco said.

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The fossil fuel industry copied Big Tobacco’s racketeering playbook. They’re following the same path to court, where tobacco lost

Investigative journalism has uncovered a “web of denial” in which polluting industries pay “independent” groups to disseminate misinformation to the public and policymakers. The same groups and tactics were employed first by the tobacco industry, then fossil fuel companies. Big Tobacco has been to court and lost; now it’s Big Oil’s turn. Political leaders are choosing sides in this war.

Research by Inside Climate News revealed that Exxon did top notch climate science research in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which revealed the dangers its products posed via climate change. Soon thereafter, Exxon launched misinformation campaigns by funding “think tanks” and front groups to manufacture doubt about climate science and the expert consensus on human-caused global warming.

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The Amazon is the driest it has been at the start of the dry season since 2002 — and that probably means the rainforest is in for a particularly nasty wildfire season, reports Mongabay

Conditions created by the strong El Niño event that warmed up Pacific waters in 2015 and early 2016 altered rainfall patterns around the world. In the Amazon basin, that meant reduced rainfall during the wet season, plunging some parts of the region into severe drought.

According to NASA, the Amazon is the driest it’s been at the start of the dry season since 2002 — and that probably means the rainforest is in for a particularly nasty wildfire season, according to Doug Morton, an Earth scientist with the U.S. agency and a co-creator of the Amazon fire forecast, which uses climate observations and active fire detections by NASA satellites to predict fire season severity.

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A SpaceX cargo rocket is bound for the International Space Station after a successful launch from Florida.

Turnbull names pro-nuclear Josh Frydenberg to head combined energy-environment portfolio, climate denier Matt Canavan to head resources.

Climate change envoy singles out both countries for subsidising the fossil fuel industry and says the UK has lost its position as a climate leader

Ban Ki-moon’s climate change envoy has accused the UK and Germany of backtracking on the spirit of the Paris climate deal by financing the fossil fuel industry through subsidies.

Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and UN special envoy on climate change and El Niño, said she had to speak out after Germany promised compensation for coal power and the UK provided tax breaks for oil and gas.

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The Bass Rock, East Lothian As more offshore wind farms are built, the scientists want to know how high the birds fly before diving down to fish

Just over a mile off the coast of Scotland, within sight of the Forth Railway Bridge, is a truly wild place. The Bass Rock, 100m at its highest point, is white with guano and ringed with a halo of constantly honking seabirds. This is the largest colony of gannets on a single island on Earth, with up to 250,000 crowding into its three hectares in summer.

Scientists from Leeds University are studying their foraging habits. Crucially, as more offshore wind farms are built, they want to know how high the birds fly before diving down to fish.

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The weekly round up of the electricity market. Plus: What if both Hazelwood and Portland closed down?

The price spikes that hit South Australia were once common place in Australia, but have now all but disappeared since the build out of wind and solar. But the conservatives don't want to know.

South Korean company with biggest share of Australian grid-connected battery storage market has released new range, from stackable 3.3kWh lithium-ion to 9.8kWh.

Richard Branson says all cars on roads in 15 years will be electric vehicles.

UK residential battery storage upstart Moixa has recently attracted the interest – and funds – of three former leaders of Britain's old energy order.