The Guardian

Researchers warn rapid action needed to prevent the extinction of an ancient fish species found only in Macquarie Harbour

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Scientists have warned an ancient fish species that has survived since the time of the dinosaurs could be one extreme weather event from extinction after its population crashed by nearly half in seven years.

The Maugean skate, described by marine scientists as a “thylacine of the sea”, is found only in Macquarie Harbour, a vast body of water on Tasmania’s remote west coast.

SA energy minister tells industry ‘we are here to help’ while federal resources minister Madeleine King promotes carbon capture and storage

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South Australia’s minister for energy and mining has told a conference of the oil and gas industry in Adelaide that his state government is “at your disposal”.

Tom Koutsantonis made the extraordinary comments during his address to the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association national conference on Monday morning.

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Use of pesticides and fertilisers identified as most significant factor behind loss of 550 million birds from skies

The use of pesticides and fertilisers in intensive agriculture is the biggest cause of the dwindling number of birds in the UK and the rest of Europe, scientists have said.

Compared with a generation ago, 550 million fewer birds fly over the continent, with their decline well documented. But until now the relative importance of various pressures on bird populations was not known.

Fertilised, it can hold things shaped as differently as: a snake, an auk, a platypus; an emu, a tortoise, a peacock

Things I have learned reading about eggs: that chickens have earlobes, and the colour of the earlobes correlates with the colour of the egg: white ear lobe, white egg; red ear lobe, brown egg. What can lay an egg? An orange-peel doris can lay an egg in a tidal pool; a bee hummingbird can lay an egg the size of an aspirin; an auk on a cliff lays a conical egg, which will roll around in a circle instead of forwards and off the edge; a spider wraps her egg in silk, places it on a stalk, then lays another.

To Linda Pastan, an egg was “a moon / glowing faintly / in the galaxy of the barn”. Approach it, and Louise Glück will tell you: “The thing is hatching. Look.” One egg looks – apart from its size, the sharpness of its point, or its colour – much like another: they are all pleasing in the same way, hard-shelled and soft-shaped. “An egg is the most beautiful of all / beautiful forms, a box without corners / in which anything can be contained”, wrote Elizabeth Spires. This one structure, variations on round, can hold things shaped as differently as: a snake, an auk, a platypus; an emu, a tortoise, a peacock.

Exclusive: Advertising watchdog to begin stricter enforcement on use of terms such as ‘carbon neutral’ amid concerns over offsets

Adverts that claim products are carbon neutral using offsets are to be banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog unless companies can prove they really work, the Guardian can reveal, as Gucci becomes the latest company to struggle with a high-profile environmental commitment based on offsetting.

Amid growing concern that firms are misleading consumers about the environmental impact of their products, the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) is to begin stricter enforcement around the use of terms such as “carbon neutral”, “net zero” and “nature positive” as part of a greenwashing crackdown later this year after a six-month review.

Refugee camps bear brunt of deadly category-5 storm, while temperature divide is expected in North America

Cyclone Mocha brought strong winds and torrential rain to parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar on Sunday, with refugee camps bearing the brunt of the category-5 storm, leaving at least five dead and causing half a million people to be evacuated.

The region was rocked by sustained winds of more than 160mph as Mocha made landfall, whipping up gusts closer to 200mph and a storm surge of up to 4 metres. The world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, was badly hit and more than 1,300 shelters were destroyed. Heavy rain triggered landslides and floods.

The acclaimed choreographer’s new production reimagines Jim Henson’s epic adventure film – take a look inside

Exclusive: Sunak urged to take urgent action to solve food crisis at meeting with Defra and farmers

Immigration and food prices must increase to solve the food crisis, ministers are to say at a summit.

Rishi Sunak will be joined by ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as well as farmers and industry leaders at the meeting at No 10 on Tuesday.

Class action suit alleged commonwealth did not adequately prevent toxic chemicals from firefighting foam contaminating soil and groundwater

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Thousands of landowners around Australia whose properties were contaminated by PFAS – toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals” – due to the use of firefighting foam on air force bases have secured a multimillion-dollar payout.

The settlement announced in the federal court on Monday still requires final approval from a judge.

Britain says it has no need for Biden-style green subsidies as it has a thriving renewables sector. The complacency is staggering

Countries that are serious about manufacturing have industrial strategies. The US and China have one. So do Germany and France.

Britain does not have an industrial strategy. Rishi Sunak talks about turning the UK into a “science and technology superpower” but that’s all it is: talk. It is a PR strategy masquerading as an industrial strategy.

It is no surprise that AstraZeneca recently announced it was building its new factory in Ireland.

The eco-minded king’s silence about the detention of climate activists at his coronation speaks volumes about his convictions

As a boy, in 1977, I made a stupid monkey face at Queen Elizabeth II as she drove past us in Solihull’s Mell Square on her silver jubilee perambulations. “You aren’t funny, Stewart,” my gran said of the subsequent photograph, unaware that I would one day be declared “the world’s greatest living standup comedian” (the Times).

But like Nick Cave ™ ®, whose best work we now realise was a glorious mistake made while smacked out of his brain in a baby’s nappy, I too was moved by the brown tide of history that flowed over the Queen’s funeral; I enjoyed the warm congratulations of Princess Michael of Kent at the 1984 National Lifesaving Championships in Coventry, where she clearly enjoyed watching my lithe teenage body repeatedly rescued as a volunteer corpse; and a minor royal recently attended one of my performances, where he was pleasant and polite when getting me to sign a DVD afterwards, despite having witnessed his relatives being ridiculed. They’re not so bad, I thought.

Basic Lee is on tour, including six dates at the Royal Festival Hall, London, in June and July, and a fun-size ™ ® version of the show at the Stand’s New Town theatre, Edinburgh, 11-20 August

Abusive, often violent tweets denying the climate emergency have become a barrage since Elon Musk acquired the platform, say UK experts

Some of the UK’s top scientists are struggling to deal with what they describe as a huge rise in abuse from climate crisis deniers on Twitter since the social media platform was taken over by Elon Musk last year.

Since then, key figures who ensured “trusted” content was prioritised have been sacked, according to one scientist, and Twitter’s sustainability arm has vanished. At the same time several users with millions of followers who propagate false statements about the climate emergency, including Donald Trump and rightwing culture warrior Jordan Peterson, have had their accounts reinstated.

Exclusive: Campaigners call for Scottish-style rights to reach nature, as figures show ‘hugely unequal’ distribution of access

People have no right to roam at all in 92 constituencies across England, new data shows, as campaigners call for an outdoor access code to link people to nature.

Next week, MPs will debate the “right to roam”, namely the ability to legally and responsibly walk through the countryside, leaving no trace behind. Currently, just 8% of England has this designation, which covers coastal paths, mountains and moorland.

Penrith and the Border (111,370)
MP: Neil Hudson, Conservative

Hexham (97,495)
MP: Guy Opperman, Conservative

Skipton and Ripon (76,028)
MP: Julian Smith, Conservative

Richmond (Yorks) (62,4935)
MP: Rishi Sunak, Conservative

Copeland (54,787)
MP: Trudy Harrison, Conservative

Westmorland and Lonsdale (48,4135)
MP: Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat

Berwick-upon-Tweed (43,663)
MP: Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Conservative

Bishop Auckland (34,918)
MP: Dehenna Davison, Conservative

Torridge and West Devon (30,295)
MP: Geoffrey Cox, Conservative

North West Durham (26,599)
MP: Richard Holden, Conservative

Officers arrest 27 people and seize tonnes of baby eels, seen as a delicacy but critically endangered

Police in Spain and France have arrested 27 people and seized 1.5 tonnes of live baby eels, as well as goods worth more than €2m (£1.7m), after breaking up a gang dedicated to breeding the critically endangered fishes and smuggling them to China.

Officers also recovered tonnes of frozen baby eels, called elvers, which are prized as a delicacy in Spain and parts of Asia, that had not been subject to any food safety checks and were not suitable for human consumption.

Chemicals yield profit of about $4bn a year for the world’s biggest PFAS manufacturers, Belgium-based NGO found

The societal cost of using toxic PFAS or “forever chemicals” across the global economy totals about $17.5tn annually, a new analysis of the use of the dangerous compounds has found.

Meanwhile, the chemicals yield comparatively paltry profits for the world’s largest PFAS manufacturers – about $4bn annually.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including a pollinating bee, injured owls and a pelican hungry for ice-cream

Businesses that put together bids for flood doors, non-return valves and waterproof floors say they have spent tens of thousands

A £50m scheme to protect thousands of homes from flooding by the autumn has been pulled by the Environment Agency.

Businesses that put together bids for the scheme to provide homes in England with flood defences including flood doors, non-return valves and waterproof floors, say they have spent tens of thousands preparing their bids.

Airborne ‘lidar’ survey would generate 3D map of the country and provide high-quality information on its ecosystems

Scotland may conduct an annual airborne laser scan of the country’s landscapes to monitor the health of its forest, peatlands and natural ecosystems, the Guardian can reveal.

The Scottish government is weighing up the benefits of annual 3D imaging flights to provide regular data on nature restoration across the temperate rainforests of the west coast to the peaks of the Cairngorms, akin to an annual CT scan for biodiversity.

Draconian new powers allow the police to shut down every form of effective protest. It’s a green light for even greater abuses

The more unequal a society becomes, the more oppressive its laws must be. This, I think, explains new acts that would not be out of place in a police state. So vague and broad are the powers granted to the police under last year’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and this year’s Public Order Act that it is no longer clear where their abuse begins and ends.

At two o’clock on the morning of the coronation, the Metropolitan police, using the Police Act, arrested three people in Soho for carrying rape alarms. The police claimed they were acting on intelligence that rape alarms might be used to frighten the horses that would later be parading elsewhere.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

Cavendish made to resist fungus threatening variety worldwide is seen as safety net for growers if industry wiped out

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Scientists have submitted Australia’s first genetically modified fruit – a Cavendish banana – to regulators for approval, saying it has been engineered to withstand a deadly fungus that poses a threat to banana growers worldwide.

The banana, known as QCAV-4, has been genetically modified to resist a fungus known as Panama disease tropical race 4 (TR4), which is threatening the multibillion-dollar Cavendish industry globally.

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