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Conservationists say 48 new protected areas are needed to fill the gaps in the ‘blue belt’ coastal network to ensure wildlife can flourish

Conservationists have called for the creation of a further 48 protected areas in English waters that would “fill in the gaps” of a national network designed to ensure healthy and productive seas.

If designated, they would add to the 50 existing marine conservation zones (MCZs) and create an “ecologically coherent network” where habitats and wildlife could flourish, according to a report from the Wildlife Trusts.

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Politicians and others were fast to use SA storms as an opportunity to pin the situation on renewable energy, before anyone even knew what had happened.

Symonds Yat Rock, Forest of Dean This is an old world forest; organic, unwieldly, fecund, oaky – forest as nature wanted

Summer’s end, and the forest is thick. Beneath the leaves, the sun creates puddles of bright and black, through a canopy still swollen enough to block most of its light. Roads are green tunnels. Paths are dark and have a warm smell, the dense flotilla-dust of bug, web and sap lit brilliantly in the air. Soon the forest leaves will burn, through every shade of russet, to glorious autumnal death.

The Forest of Dean is an old world forest; organic, unwieldy, fecund, oaky. Forest as nature wanted, not the sterile, shadowed ranks of spruce that too often masquerade as such. In high summer a walk under the canopy seduces, in autumn one through its fresh decay beguiles. But now the more subtle charms of September’s change-month call for a higher lookout.

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It's remarkable how quickly a national conversation can fall into the gutter of bipartisanship and ignorance. But the legacy could be damaging: dumb politics could leave Australia with an even dumber grid.

13 game-changing initiatives from around the world were announced today as winners of the United Nations ‘Momentum for Change’ climate change award.

Turnbull amongst many to point the finger at renewables for South Australia's power outage. What else can we blame renewables for? Twitter answers.

The Lyon Group announces a partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation to roll out 1GW of solar and up to 1GWh of battery storage by 2020.

Australian academics give their views on how to constrain fossil fuel supply as part of efforts to tackle climate change.

New DOE report details latest advances in solar, wind, LED lights, batteries, and electric cars.

Labor states accuse Turnbull of peddling "ignorant rubbish"about wind and solar in the wake of the South Australian blackout.

ABC's Chris Uhlmann doubles down on attacks on renewable energy by predicting the whole nation is at risk of a blackout if we pursue wind and solar. Doesn't the ABC have editors?

Safeguards to the UK's domestic marine life should be as strong as they are around Britain’s overseas territories, conservationists say.

Female snakes, hungry after waiting for their eggs to hatch, are heading indoors in search of food such as rats

A shortage of volunteer snake-handlers is starting to bite in north Queensland, where an end-of-breeding-season influx of hungry reptiles into homes is driving an increase in the number of calls for help.

The need for sustenance by female snakes that have shed weight while waiting for their eggs to hatch has driven them indoors in search of food, including rats.

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How much time do you spend thinking about cyber security? Probably not as much as you should. We are all vulnerable to attack, and as the internet becomes more pervasive, the threat is growing

When a 20-year-old hacker broke into US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account during the 2008 presidential campaign, it didn’t take a great deal of computer expertise.

“The hacker simply used the password reset prompt and answered the secret questions,” says Dr Nalin Gamagedara Arachchilage, a lecturer in cyber security at the Australian Centre for Cyber Security, part of the University of New South Wales, based at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.

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Superintendent Don Neubacher, who is accused of publicly ‘humiliating’ and intimidating workers, stepped down as California park faces misconduct scandal

The head of Yosemite national park is stepping down in the wake of reports of “horrific working conditions” and rampant sexual harassment, the latest in a controversy that has brought national shame to one of America’s most beloved landmarks.

Superintendent Don Neubacher, who is accused of publicly “humiliating” and intimidating workers, said in an email to staff that he “regrets” leaving but wanted to “do what’s best” for the popular California park that has faced a widening misconduct scandal in recent months.

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Exclusive: bank turns down owners’ application for $500,000 bridging loan on grounds that Queensland property has four coal seam gas wells on it

Australia’s biggest mortgage provider has declared a Queensland property with coal seam gas wells “unacceptable” as security for residential lending, raising fresh concerns that people living in the state’s gasfields may be unable to sell their homes.

But Queensland Gas Company (QGC), which owns the wells on the Chinchilla acreage, has insisted that no properties that host its infrastructure have had their values negatively affected.

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Climate Council member Andrew Stock says political conflict over renewables risks their future in Australia.

Science editor David Shukman goes on board the plane measuring the jet stream to find out how it affects our weather.

The Rosetta probe, which has been beaming back spectacular pictures of a comet, is to end its journey by crash landing.

Most painted ladies have already headed south, and new research reveals just how far these butterflies travel

The last red admirals and commas are feeding on ivy flowers in autumn sunshine and Britain’s butterfly year is drawing to a close once more.

One butterfly, though, is on the move. I’ve seen several painted ladies this month, but most have already headed south for the winter. The fate of British-born generations of painted ladies was a mystery until recently, when radar finally documented how they ascend to great heights before beginning their reverse migration.

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