The Guardian

Storm Boris has caused several deaths, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia

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Soaring sea temperatures have made the celebrated gastropod lethargic and infertile, so scientists are helping the threatened species to reproduce

Of the many novel initiatives dreamed up by scientists to protect threatened species from the ravages of record ocean temperatures, Florida’s new “speed dating for shellfish” programme might be about the most extraordinary.

Researchers are acting as matchmakers for the queen conch, a mollusc with iconic status in the Florida Keys, by removing them from the heat of their nearshore habitat and relocating them to deeper, cooler waters where a plethora of potential new partners awaits.

River wildlife is on the up and there’s little evidence that storm overflows are being used more often. But protest is still vital

Public outrage over river pollution has been heartening to see. Over the past few years, stories about sewage contamination in rivers have captured public attention, and prompted campaigns and protests, such as the forthcoming River Action UK march for clean water on 26 October in London. It is important to protect our rivers because they are biodiversity hotspots and essential for human health. However, as a freshwater ecologist, I know there is more nuance to the story than you may have been led to believe. From my perspective, there is some good news when it comes to our rivers. I would even say that some rivers in England are in the best state they have been in for hundreds of years.

Many rivers in England are polluted, but we need to recognise that this is not an emerging issue but a much longer-standing one that has been largely ignored by the media and politicians for decades. Much of the recent furore over pollution has to do with increased awareness, rather than a sudden increase in pollution itself. It’s only by understanding how these ecosystems have changed over time and reflecting on previous successes that we can make real progress.

Michelle Jackson is associate professor of freshwater/marine ecology at the University of Oxford. Prof Jackson previously conducted one study that received funding from a wastewater treatment company, and currently has no industry funding.

Is there anything climate change cannot do?!

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Leaked government figures show proportion of assets in adequate condition has fallen ‘significantly below’ target

Thousands of flood defences in England that are supposed to protect properties from serious damage are in a state of disrepair, according to official figures leaked to the Observer before what is expected to be a wetter than usual autumn.

Data from inside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency about the so-called “asset condition” of key flood defences shows the proportion of those regarded as being in adequate condition now stands at just 92.6%, compared with 97.9% in 2018-19. This is the proportion of defences judged to be fit for purpose after rigorous inspection by experts.

From donning ‘pie-proof’ bike helmets to conversing with the songbirds, the key to avoiding avian conflict might be learning to speak their language, experts say

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Down a gravel track in the backblocks west of Ipswich ride six middle-aged women. Their bikes are black, their shorts and exercise tops nondescript – but strapped atop their helmets are party hats.

“You know those little cone hats you used to wear as a kid?” Christina Slik says. “With the streamers on top and the reflective colouring?”

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From Port Stephens to Illawarra, candidates are running against renewable schemes because of ‘lack of consultation’

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Part of what’s driving Mark Watson’s pitch for mayor is his opposition to a project he says is the talk of the town and the “biggest issue” in his coastal home’s history.

The former One Nation candidate for the state government is now running as an independent for mayor of Port Stephens. The coastal town just north of Newcastle overlooks the middle of the 1,800-square kilometre offshore windfarm zone off the Hunter, where the Albanese government plans a renewable energy hub to be operating by 2030.

The image of huge, glorious landscapes, where wildlife runs free under the protection of the state, is far from reality

• England’s national parks overseen by ‘bloated’, mostly white male boards

What do you think of when you think of a national park? Is it a wide area of glorious natural beauty, where wildlife runs free under the protection of the state? Or is it a wide area mostly farmed by private landowners, in which nature is faring worse than outside its boundaries, and largely off-limits to the public?

In England, the reality is the latter, and this matters. The country is one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world, in the bottom 10% of nations for biodiversity. “Nature is in freefall in our national parks,” says Dr Rose O’Neill, the chief executive of the Campaign for National Parks (CNP).

Exclusive: Campaigners call for overhaul as Guardian investigation shows nature rarely on agenda

• How national parks failed nature – and how to fix them

The boards that oversee England’s national parks are bloated, dominated by men and are severely lacking in diversity, a Guardian analysis has found. The analysis also found that farmers outnumber conservation experts by two to one, nature is rarely on the agenda at board meetings and only one national park can account for the ownership of all the land it covers.

Campaigners said a major overhaul of how national parks were governed was “fundamental” to the recovery of nature in the parks and to serving the public, for whom they were set up.

Government’s communication called ‘unconscionable’ after one of largest spills of toxic ‘forever chemicals’

A former US navy base in Maine has caused among the largest accidental spills of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” ever recorded in the nation, and public health advocates suspect state officials are attempting to cover up its scale by reporting misleading and incomplete data.

Meanwhile, state and regional officials were slow to alert the public and are resisting calls to immediately test some private drinking water wells in the area despite its notoriously complex hydrology, which could potentially spread the contamination widely.

Court rules against West Cumbria Mining’s fossil fuel development in Whitehaven

The UK’s first new coalmine in 30 years will not be allowed to go ahead after a ruling in the high court.

On Friday morning, Justice Holgate ruled plans for the facility to be built in Whitehaven, Cumbria will not proceed, in what campaigners called a “victory for the environment”.

The hazards of urban roads are familiar to many: from drivers itching to get in front, to corner cutters and e-bike dabblers

More or less anyone who has ridden a bike, particularly in a town or city, has a mental list of the types of road users or situations you really need to look out for. The more you cycle, the longer and more entrenched this list becomes, to the extent that you can almost sense a familiar peril lurking a good minute or two’s pedalling distance away.

Below are some examples from my list, the product of years cycling around several cities; London more than most. I’d say at least four are nonetheless fairly universal, at least to urban areas lacking proper cycling infrastructure. But there are others – do tell us yours below.

Nearly 5,000 primary school students took part in the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Wild at Art competition, which invites children to create an artwork depicting one of the country’s threatened native animals or plants

• ‘A symbol of our nation’: waratah among 20 more species added to Australia’s threatened wildlife list
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The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

The newspaper owned by billionaire Kerry Stokes has not been shy about attacking environmental reforms – but are readers getting the full picture?

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Kerry Stokes’ West Australian has not been shy about its support of mining and resources industries.

Last year an opinion piece by the Woodside chief executive, Meg O’Neill, spruiking the fossil fuel company’s interests was stretched into a front-page splash, a separate news story and an editorial without the tabloid troubling itself to include an alternative view on what she had to say.

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Activities such as mining, dredging and bottom trawling in most MPAs mean conservation targets will be missed, say researchers

Most of Europe’s marine protected areas, set up to safeguard species and habitats, will not meet conservation targets as they provide only “marginal” protection against industrial activities such as dredging, mining and bottom trawling, a study has revealed.

Low levels of protection in 86% of marine protected areas (MPAs) have left the EU far from reaching its 2030 biodiversity targets, which are designed to reduce the risk of species’ extinction, researchers said in a paper published in the One Earth journal. The EU aims to protect 30% of its seas by 2030, with 10% “strictly” protected from damaging activities.

In announcing the strategy, climate minister Chris Bowen also took a swipe at the ‘climate inactivism’ of critics of the nascent industry

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The Albanese government has set annual targets of at least 15m tonnes of “renewable hydrogen” by 2050 and dismissed critics who had “gloated” about setbacks to the nascent industry.

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said on Friday that Australia’s green hydrogen pipeline of projects was “alive and healthy” as he released the government’s new hydrogen production strategy, which updates the 2019 plan he inherited from the Coalition.

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Landslide in Greenland caused unprecedented seismic event that shows impact of global heating, say scientists

A landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days, a scientific investigation has found.

The seismic event was detected by earthquake sensors around the world but was so completely unprecedented that the researchers initially had no idea what had caused it. Having now solved the mystery, the scientists said it showed how global heating was already having planetary-scale impacts and that major landslides were possible in places previously believed to be stable as temperatures rapidly rose.

The government’s flood resilience taskforce has met for the first time to plan and discuss pre-emptive measures

The UK faces another autumn and winter of destructive floods, the Met Office has warned.

On Thursday, the government flood resilience taskforce met for the first time to discuss how to proceed when – as seems highly likely – homes, farms and businesses are flooded in the coming months.

Study suggests hydrogel microparticles increase survival by 30% in bumblebees exposed to lethal doses of neonicotinoids

Scientists have developed a “vaccine” for bees against pesticides – and it appears to work, according to an initial study.

According to the findings, published in Nature Sustainability, hydrogel microparticles fed to bumblebees in sugar water caused a 30% higher survival rate in individuals exposed to lethal doses of neonicotinoids, and significantly milder symptoms in those exposed to lower doses that would not usually be lethal but can cause harm.