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Phillip Cullen sentenced for illegally capturing and killing specimens of the large blue, Britain’s rarest butterfly

An insect enthusiast who illegally captured and killed specimens of Britain’s rarest butterfly, the large blue, has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

The amateur entomologist and former body builder Phillip Cullen, 57, was caught after being spotted by volunteers and wardens acting suspiciously at two nature reserves in the west of England.

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New law allows private landowners to cut down any number of trees without applying for permission or even informing authorities

A controversial change to Polish environmental law has unleashed what campaigners describe as a “massacre” of trees across the country.

The new amendment, commonly known as “Szyszko’s law”, after Jan Szyszko, Poland’s environment minister, removes the obligation for private landowners to apply for permission to cut down trees, pay compensation or plant new trees, or even to inform local authorities that trees have been or will be removed.

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Cheating, dodging rules and heavy lobbying by motor manufacturers fuelled the toxic air the UK is struggling with today

Conniving car makers and their lobbying might, assisted by the 2008 financial crash, were the key factors in producing the diesel-fuelled air pollution crisis the UK is struggling with today, according to key observers of the disaster.

Earlier government decisions to incentivise diesel vehicles, which produce less climate-warming carbon dioxide, sparked the problem but were made in good faith. The heart of the disaster is instead a giant broken promise: the motor industry said it would clean up diesel but instead cheated and dodged the rules for years.

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Human activities are altering the jet stream, which leads to extreme weather patterns getting stuck in place

It was only a few weeks ago that I wrote about changes to extreme weather in a warming world. That prior article dealt with the increase of extreme precipitation events as the Earth warms. I termed the relationship a thermodynamic one; it was driven by local thermodynamic processes. But extreme weather can also occur because of large-scale changes to the atmosphere and oceans. This issue is the topic of another just-published paper that makes a convincing case for a whole new type of influence of humans on extreme weather. In a certain sense, this study confirms what was previously reported here and here. With the march of science, the tools, methods, and evidence get better each year.

Before getting into the study, a little background. The jet stream(s) are high-speed rivers of air that flow in the upper atmosphere. There’s more than one jet stream; they blow west to east and they mark the separation of zones of different temperatures. A good primer on jet streams is available here.

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Everything you know about memory may be wrong.

From basking gharial to stampeding muskoxen, these images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have been selected for a Natural History Museum book, Unforgettable Behaviour, and offer a unique glimpse into hidden worlds of animal survival and joy

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Dartmoor, Devon A thick cylindrical form, bent double like a trombone pipe, in a sheltered patch of grass, stops me short

Beneath the granite knuckles of this east Dartmoor tor the land spreads and softens high above the valley. Sheep-clipped grasses and scattered clumps of gorse cover the sides of the outcrop, punctuated by exposed boulders. After a lengthy spell of rain, morning sunshine makes a welcome change, and the temperature along this south-facing incline is climbing steadily.

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The fossil fuel industry’s scare campaign over renewable energy has seen households and businesses flocking to install solar on their roofs.

Yet another report highlights how fossil fuel generators have "melted" in the summer heatwave, with 3,000MW of capacity lost as use of air conditioners soared in early February.

Endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo treated by vets at Perth Zoo after it was badly burnt on a power line

Vets at Perth zoo have used matchsticks and glue to replace the flight feathers of a Carnaby’s cockatoo which was badly injured after it was burned on a power line.

Using a syringe to coat the donor feathers with superglue and a matchstick to shape the quill, vets replaced the juvenile bird’s feathers and cut away the burnt remains in an effort to help it fly again.

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SolarEdge is expanding its business in the Indian PV market with a new country manager, office, and recruitment of a local team.

Wind & solar PV will likely meet at least 15% of NEM demand by 2019. Even more remarkably,wind and solar could account for 64% of demand in South Australia - an unparalleled percentage.

A decision next week that could influence future of battery storage and peaking gas plants will be a major test of market rule maker's ability and desire to keep the energy oligopoly in check. And new evidence has emerged on why the change is so badly needed.

Iron Mountain Incorporated announced this week that its Data Centre business is now 100% powered by renewable electricity thanks to a newly signed 15-year PPA.

Transgrid says t has received enquiries for more than 6,000MW of large scale solar so far in 2017, and sees renewables making up 95% of demand by 2050.

Could edible caterpillars help fight malnutrition and food security problems in West Africa?

What's the role and responsibility of public health professionals in protecting the public's 'right to health' in an age of unprecedented global warming?

Before building a new coal fired, nuclear or renewable power station, Australia should look at energy efficiency first, says visiting expert Benoit Lebot

This year is unlikely to be a brilliant butterfly summer because 2016 was so poor. But insects can rapidly bounce back

Spring is an unquenchably optimistic time, and two weeks of plentiful sunshine – in the south, at least – has brought out the first butterflies of the year. My first, like last year, was a male brimstone, bobbing beside the old ivy-covered hedge beyond my garden.

On the next sunny March day came the small tortoiseshells and peacocks, which also hibernate as adult butterflies. It wasn’t until 2 April that I saw my first orange tip and holly blue – species which burst afresh from their chrysalises with the warming weather.

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Former Barrier Reef authority director Jon Day says the idea such an approach would save the reef from bleaching is ‘ridiculous’

A proposal to use $9m to pump cold water on to the Great Barrier Reef’s tourist hotspots to stave off coral bleaching has been described as a “band-aid” solution, which does little to address the fundamental threats to the world’s largest living structure.

The plan, proposed by the tourism industry and the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, seeks to protect six reefs with high economic or environmental value near Cairns and Port Douglas.

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