The Guardian

Wenlock Edge I listen for owls and smell the wet leaves that awaken some wordless feeling like a very misty memory

This has been one of the most vivid autumns I can remember. Days of clear skies and bright sunlight have been plenty this year, and apart from some fog there have yet to be many washouts or frosts. This warm, sunny, weather has been wonderful in the trees, and the furnace colours of oak, birch and beech, the buttery sycamores and field maples, lemony ash and golden syrup limes, have been spectacular. But surely this happens every year, more or less?

Every year the deciduous trees change colour before falling. Every year before winter there is a burst of transition that looks beautiful, and our feelings for it have something to do with an increase in wild food mammals need to bulk up for the winter. The absence of chlorophyll to mask leaf pigments before the tree jettisons them hardly captures the significance of autumn colour or that sense of wonder in seeing the woods shine brightly like a bedtime story before the long sleep.

CloudCAM technology allows operators to reliably predict the output of solar farms 15 minutes ahead of time

A new way to tackle the much-maligned unpredictability of solar energy is being deployed at a solar farm opening today in Western Australia – cloud-tracking cameras.

Three battalions ready to avert crisis after storms last year caused severe damage across north of England

Theresa May has placed three battalions of up to 1,200 soldiers on 24-hour standby to help if England suffers flooding this winter.

Last winter torrential rain affected thousands of families, resulting in criticism of the government. The storms forced the evacuation of homes and caused severe damage across the north of England. Somerset was badly affected by floods a year earlier.

Legislation to be trialled at Lighthouse beach, Sharpes beach and Shelly beach at Ballina, Seven Mile beach at Lennox Head and Evans Head beach

Five New South Wales beaches will soon be trialling mesh shark nets under legislation to be fast-tracked into parliament.

The legislation will be tabled by the NSW primary industries minister, Niall Blair, on Wednesday.

Proposal to cut emissions controversially emits several appliances on the grounds that economic benefits would not be worth the negative publicity

The EU has dropped plans to force toaster-makers to improve the energy efficiency of their products over fears of the political costs of being seen to be intruding in people’s daily lives, it has emerged.

But while a new EU plan to cut emissions controversially emits several appliances, the manufacturers of electric kettles, refrigerators and hand driers will have to make their future products consume less energy.

Increased growth of plants fertilised by higher CO2 levels is only partly offsetting emissions and will not halt dangerous warming, scientists conclude

A global “greening” of the planet has significantly slowed the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the start of the century, according to new research.

More plants have been growing due to higher CO2 levels in the air and warming temperatures that cut the CO2 emitted by plants via respiration. The effects led the proportion of annual carbon emissions remaining in the air to fall from about 50% to 40% in the last decade.

As a huge crater opened up in the Japanese city of Fukuoka this morning, we take a look at the largest urban sinkholes – from Guangzhou to Guatemala City

Dry summer, tighter regulations and more spending by water companies sees 98.5% of beaches monitored by the Environment Agency meet EU standards

England’s bathing waters are the cleanest ever recorded thanks to a dry summer, tighter EU regulations and increased spending by water companies.

Of the 413 beaches monitored up to 20 times a year by the Environment Agency for their pollution, 98.5% passed the minimum EU limit. Of these, 69% were rated “excellent” and 27% “good”. Water at five persistently failing beaches met the minimum standard for the first time, but six beaches failed.

Waltham Brooks, West Sussex The bird bobs its squat body up and down, then launches low across the water, the light catching its shimmering back

The still pool reflects the blue sky. The kingfisher sits in the low willow branch. It flicks its tail up and down, up and down, like a switch, while it looks down, transfixed by something in the water below. It suddenly blurs into movement, there’s a splash, and the colourful missile returns to its perch with a tiny silver fish in its bill. It bashes the minnow on the branch twice, and swallows it.

Related: Kingfisher bonds will loosen as summer fades

A media conference from Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts sparks debate about how journalists should respond to climate science deniers

On 28 April 1975, Newsweek ran a story on page 64 that became one of its most popular.

Under the headline, “The Cooling World”, the story ran for just nine paragraphs but suggested the world could be heading for a major cooling phase, putting food production at risk.

Plane gets priority landing after large serpent appears on ceiling of the cabin before dropping to the floor

Passengers on a commercial flight in Mexico were given a start when a serpent appeared in the cabin in a scene straight out of the Hollywood thriller Snakes on a Plane.

The green reptile emerged suddenly on an Aeromexico flight from Torreon in the country’s north to Mexico City on Sunday, slithering out from behind an overhead luggage compartment.

Naomi Klein clashed with Georgina Downer of the Institute of Public Affairs and Liberal senator James Paterson, also formerly of the IPA, when she appeared as a panellist on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night. Downer and Paterson rejected the assertion of the Canadian journalist and author that climate change undermined the free-market assumptions of centres such as the IPA and the US Heartland Institute. The Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese and the author Don Watson were also on the panel.

Reports of Sahara dust in late autumn are a signal to search for birds displaced from the desert and on to our shores

Some Novembers see southern Britain bathed in unseasonably warm sunshine, in that phenomenon known as an Indian summer. But few can match the events of early November 1984, when temperatures reached highs of 19°C, and balmy, southern breezes made it feel more like June than late autumn.

Then, on 9 November, car-drivers from Sussex to Yorkshire discovered their cars covered with a thin layer of fine, pale yellow dust. Amazing though it may seem, this really was sand blown here from the Sahara desert, more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) to the south.

Iconic southern coastline is eroding 10 times faster than the past few thousand years due to human management and changes in storm intensity

The iconic white cliffs of southern England are eroding 10 times faster than they have over the past few thousand years, a new study has revealed.

The cause of the huge acceleration is likely to be human management of the coastline, which has stripped some cliffs of their protective beaches, as well as changes in storm intensity. Climate change, which is bringing higher sea levels and fiercer waves, will make the erosion even worse, say scientists.

My former colleague Palmer Newbould, who has died aged 87, was a champion of scientific nature conservation, an innovative university teacher and a generous, warm-hearted man with broad interests.

His nature conservation work was based mainly in Northern Ireland, where wide-ranging conservation legislation was introduced only in 1965. Palmer served on two statutory committees in the 1970s – the Nature Reserves Committee and Ulster Countryside Committee – before becoming chairman of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside in 1989, for which he was appointed OBE. He was also a Northern Ireland representative on the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee and served on Ireland’s Nuclear Energy Board.

Research suggests ecological impact assessments carried out for windfarms are not adequately predicting bat activity or risks

Hundreds of bats are being killed in collisions with wind turbines in the UK each month, despite ecological impact assessments predicting that many windfarms were unlikely to affect such animals, according to a new study.

All UK species of bats are protected by law, and ecological impact assessments - carried out before construction of windfarms or other sites - should weigh up the risks for local habitats and wildlife. But new research suggests that such assessments are simply not up to scratch.

Surcharges of 40% on beef and 20% on milk would compensate for climate damage and deter people from consuming as much unhealthy food

Climate taxes on meat and milk would lead to huge and vital cuts in carbon emissions as well as saving half a million lives a year via healthier diets, according to the first global analysis of the issue.

Surcharges of 40% on beef and 20% on milk would account for the damage their production causes people via climate change, an Oxford University team has calculated. These taxes would then deter people from consuming as much of these foods, reducing both emissions and illness, the team said.

As the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust celebrates its 70th birthday we would like to see your pictures from around the country – in all seasons

Almost 70 years ago to the day Peter Scott – son of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott – opened Slimbridge, the first of nine Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) centres across the UK.

Related: David Attenborough unveils UK's newest nature reserve in east London

Marrakech summit buoyed by gathering momentum but threatened by the possibility of climate change denier Donald Trump entering the White House

UN talks to implement the landmark Paris climate pact opened in Marrakech on Monday, buoyed by gathering momentum but threatened by the spectre of climate change denier Donald Trump in the White House.

Diplomats from 196 nations are meeting in Morocco to flesh out the planet-saving plan inked in the French capital last December.

From science denial to xenophobia to misogyny, Trump brings out the worst in Americans, and wants to reverse 50 years of progress

In September, Hillary Clinton came under fire for suggesting that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belonged in “a basket of deplorables” consisting of “the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it.”

Labeling people in such a disparaging manner is not a constructive approach. However, research has shown it’s true that Donald Trump brings out the worst characteristics in Americans. Only about half of Trump supporters think global warming is real, and twice as many Republicans are unsure about the evidence as they were a year ago. Hostility towards women and racial resentment correlate with Trump support almost as strongly as party affiliation. Xenophobia, misogyny, and denial of science and facts are the defining characteristics of Donald Trump’s candidacy.