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If we were to redesign the farm financial support system so that, instead of encouraging agro-industrial approaches, it required recipients to practise the sort of agro-ecological methods advocated by Felicity Lawrence (Hyperintensive farming will never feed the world, 3 October), we would be able to re-conceptualise it as not a “subsidy” or “welfare payment” (Letters, same day) but a management fee for essential ecological services. After Brexit, we will in principle have the opportunity to do this. But will Mrs May and Mrs Leadsom see things this way?
Richard Middleton
Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway

• In the early postwar years, Monsanto’s William Rand claimed that the chemical industry was a form of alchemy, unmatched in its dynamic power and therefore entitled to protection from criticism of its products’ potential dangers. Willard Dow, of Dow Chemicals, regarded the industry’s critics as “traitors to civilisation” and “economic parasites destined to destroy themselves”.

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Report by Global Commission on the Economy and Climate says world needs ‘urgent’ shift away from carbon-heavy infrastructure over the next 15 years

A gigantic overhaul of the world’s buildings, public transport and energy infrastructure costing trillions of dollars is required if dangerous climate change is to be avoided, according to a major new report.

The study by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, which is co-chaired by prominent climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern, found that the world is expected to invest about $90tn in infrastructure over the next 15 years, requiring an “urgent” shift to ensure that this money is spent on low-carbon, energy-efficient projects. Such smart investment over the next two or three years could help ameliorate the climate crisis, but “the window for making the right choices is narrow and closing fast”.

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Ministers heed expert advice warning that underground coal gasification poses ‘numerous and serious’ risks to the environment and climate

Scottish ministers have banned the use of a technique to extract methane by burning underground coal beds, after expert advice said it posed too many risks to the climate and environment.

Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish environment minister, said he was asking ministers in London to revoke six licences to find test sites for the technique, known as underground coal gasification (UGC), in central and south-west Scotland.

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Young African scientists show off their inventions, including a prototype of flying car, at an expo in the South African city of Johannesburg.

Campaigners in Lancashire say Sajid Javid’s decision to overrule council is an affront to local democracy

In Heather Speak’s immaculate back garden in the Lancashire village of Roseacre, the only sound was the tranquil rustling of trees and the singing of the budgerigar, finches and miniature Chinese quail in her aviary.

But a gloomy atmosphere hung over the picturesque village on Thursday after Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, overturned Lancashire county council’s rejection of plans for a fracking site on its doorstep, saying he was “minded” to permit the drilling if Cuadrilla provided evidence on road traffic issues.

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Scientific detective work on fossils collected in Victorian times has identified two new species of ichthyosaurs - the giant sea reptiles that swam at the time of the dinosaurs.

Half a century of the planet's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes go online in a unique animated app.

Half a century of the planet's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes go online in a unique animated app.

Fracking can go ahead in Lancashire, says the government, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.

Communities secretary, Sajid Javid, has accepted an appeal from Cuadrilla against an earlier decision to turn down their plans to frack on the Fylde

Sajid Javid has overturned Lancashire county council’s rejection of a fracking site, paving the way for shale company Cuadrilla to drill in the county next year and drawing outrage from local groups, environmentalists and politicians.

The council cited visual impact and noise when it turned down the company’s two planning applications to frack on the Fylde last year, but a month later Cuadrilla submitted an appeal.

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The UK government supports unproven, climate-polluting and unpopular fracking, while undermining proven, clean and popular renewables

Spot the difference. Fracking, which is climate-polluting and unproven in the UK, gets “all-out” government backing, with ministers steamrolling over local opposition. Onshore windfarms, proven to be low-cost and low-carbon, get undermined by the government, with local opposition given power to block applications.

The decision by the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, to overturn Lancashire council’s rejection of Cuadrilla’s plan to drill four fracking wells in the county is, therefore, nothing short of hypocrisy.

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The Wildscreen festival is the world’s biggest celebration of screen-based natural history storytelling which takes place every two years in Bristol. Among the highlights is the Witness the Wild open-air photography exhibition, which runs on College Green from 7-28 October and features large-scale images by several of the world’s top wildlife and conservation photographers

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Only 48% of Americans – and 15% of conservative Republicans – realize that humans are causing global warming

Climate scientists have 95% confidence that humans are the main cause of global warming over the past six decades. Their best estimate attributes 100% of global warming since 1950 to human activities. 90 to 100% of climate scientists and their research agree on this. Human-caused global warming is as settled as science gets.

Yet most Americans don’t realize it. Moreover, the more conservative a person’s ideology, the less likely they are to accept this scientific reality or to trust the scientific experts.

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The historical representation of pre-colonial indigenous life. Is the widely taught perspective as accurate as we think?

New, independent research seen by the BBC suggests Heathrow airport could build a new runway without breaking European pollution laws.

Footage released by the US Geological Survey has been released of the lava lake on top of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.

Francis Egan says process is best solution for fuel shortage as his company awaits government ruling on sites in Lancashire

A fracking boss has insisted drilling for gas is better than importing it as the government prepares to rule on two sites in Lancashire.

Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, the company behind the plans in Fylde, said the controversial process was the best solution for the UK’s fuel shortage.

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Study reveals ‘worrying’ 68% decline in all regions since 1985, with multiple factors to blame

Toad numbers have fallen by more than two-thirds in 30 years, according to a study using data from volunteer patrols set up to help the amphibians cross roads.

While the reckless but loveable Mr Toad in Wind In The Willows is a fan of motor cars, in real life common toads are vulnerable when crossing busy roads as they migrate to their breeding ponds.

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The theory that bike routes clog motor traffic has moved from the internet to the newspapers. It’s time to counter the myth

The headline on the front page of the Daily Mail definitely made me sit up and take notice. “Cycle lane lunacy!” it boomed, next to a photo of a cyclist on a bike lane, kept safe from a line of cars by a kerb.

My first thought was: ah, good, the Mail finally agrees it’s lunacy we have so few decent bike lanes. It seemed gratifying, if unlikely. But then I saw the smaller headline below, and my heart sank: “The new blight paralysing Britain.”

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FoI requests reveal ‘alarming discrepancies’ in the monitoring of particulate pollution outside schools by local authorities - despite government advice

Councils are failing to monitor most schools in Britain for dangerous air pollution despite government advice, freedom of information requests have revealed.

All Britain’s 433 local councils were asked by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) whether they placed pollution monitors within 10 metres of school grounds. Of the 322 which replied, only 140 said they did.

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