The Guardian

Local authorities have had to slash funding for maintaining their open spaces, and friends groups are picking up the slack

• Funding for England’s parks down £330m a year in real terms since 2010

Sparse. That’s how Chrisie Byrne describes the playground in Walton Hall park. The outlines of missing equipment scar its black rubber flooring. “It’s a huge footprint, with nothing in it, or at least very little in it,” says Byrne.

There is a set of swings, a low climbing frame with a slide for small children, and a roundabout. A couple of rocking horse-type contraptions date back to the 1990s, well past their usual lifespan, but local people have begged the council not to remove them. Another climbing frame that was burned by vandals was removed and never replaced.

Deep cuts by local authorities leaving green spaces in decline, with poorest areas losing out the most

• Parks at risk: ‘If it was not for the volunteers, we would struggle’

Local authorities in England are spending almost £330m less a year in real terms on parks and open spaces than they were a decade ago, with the most deprived areas experiencing the deepest cuts, a Guardian analysis has found.

Years of deep budget cuts have left bandstands and playgrounds deteriorating, buildings crumbling, staff numbers decimated and parks’ upkeep in the hands of volunteers, according to park workers, volunteers and visitors.

Alligator, shrimp and beaverslides … Holly Lynton’s beautiful photographs reveal the spiritual state of being that emerges from nature and tradition

Senior Tories rule out asking households to reduce energy use despite planning for winter blackouts

No 10 and allies of Liz Truss are resisting the idea that people should be asked to cut their energy use, with the government insisting that consumption of gas and electricity is a “decision for individuals”.

With the threat of shortages possible this winter, officials have raised the option of the UK public being requested to reduce their energy usage, after countries in the EU including France and Germany were asked to cut gas demand by 15%.

South32 says expected financial returns on project do not justify investment as green groups welcome decision

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Australian mining company South32 has abandoned plans to expand its Dendrobium metallurgical coalmine in the New South Wales Illawarra region.

In an announcement to the ASX, the mining company said the expected financial returns were not enough to justify the $1bn investment the extension would require.

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Target of 300,000 new homes a year not sustainable, finds researchers, with negative biodiversity and climate impacts

England would use up the entirety of its 1.5C carbon budget on housing alone if the government sticks to its pledge to build 300,000 homes a year, according to a new study.

The building of new homes under a business as usual scenario, coupled with current trends on making existing homes more efficient, would mean the housing system would use up 104% of the country’s cumulative carbon budget by 2050.

Untreated human waste dumped in waters containing shellfish 29,000 times last year, Environment Agency data shows

English shellfish could be contaminated with sewage as untreated human waste was dumped 29,000 times by water companies last year in the water where they are cultivated.

The new statistics found sewage was dumped into waters containing shellfish for 207,013 hours in one year. The worst offenders were South West, Southern Water and Anglian Water. There are fears that this could be happening again this year.

Population then exploded in what researches say was ‘the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded’

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The Australia-wide rabbit invasion resulted from a single introduction of just 24 animals in 1859, new research has confirmed.

Using historical and genetic data, scientists have pinpointed the origins of what they call “the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded”.

Unusually the violet helleborine is only pollinated by wasps and is thriving thanks to nectar that is irresistible to the insects

A rare orchid that reproduces by getting wasps drunk is thriving in the gardens of Charles Darwin’s house after a two-year restoration programme.

The violet helleborine is entirely pollinated by wasps, which are usually not perceived to be the best pollinators. They’re regimented and meticulously clean themselves, scientists say, which makes the process of pollination a fairly futile prospect – there’s nothing for the pollen to cling to.

Ofwat is criticised for failing to curb huge bonuses for CEOs of companies that pollute

Ofwat, the water regulator, is not using its full powers to clamp down on sewage pollution and leaks, ministers, MPs and charities have said.

The regulator has been criticised for giving water companies a “licence to leak” for years and not curbing massive bonuses for CEOs who preside over a system of pollution and chaos.

Million-pound salaries for bosses, billions for shareholders – all while sewage is dumped in our rivers and sea

Where there’s muck there’s brass. But rarely was muck filthier or money more brass-necked than in the case of the brown effluent pouring into the Channel off Seaford, or the green algae spreading over Windermere. The English water industry can make all the excuses it likes, but those who find themselves swimming in sewage tend to notice – and wonder why those responsible deserve million-pound salaries. Last year nine water chiefs pocketed over £15m between them, an annual rise of 27%.

The dumping of sewage into watercourses is caused simply by storage tanks overflowing. This is currently attributed by the industry to hot weather causing unexpectedly fast run-off. This is supposed to happen only exceptionally rarely. Southern Water has reportedly made four such dumps into the Channel in a week. In total 373,000 cases of sewage discharge were reported in 2021, even before this year’s heatwave. Something has gone wrong.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

Bee populations are in steep decline in UK but community funded projects have led to recovery of the ‘vital ecosystem engineers’

Encouraging numbers of bees have been recorded at a handful of locally funded wildflower projects in the South Downs, showing that populations can recover if given support.

For several decades, bee populations in the UK have seen a steep decrease owing to the stress of the climate emergency.

Gusts expected to move north, while extreme heat in parts of Europe forecast to ease this week

Strong winds are expected to continue to lash Australia this week and, while the peak speeds are not anticipated to be exceptional, the vastness of the area affected will be unusual.

As low pressure moves to the south-east, high pressure is likely to develop across Western Australia before heading eastwards.

While more extreme threats are unlikely to be realised, sticking to the precautionary principle is just plain common sense

• Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL

Our world is on course for a climate cataclysm. Or is it? Not long ago, the global heating battle lines were clear: you either believed it was happening, and that it resulted from the colossal volumes of carbon spewed out by human activities, or you didn’t. As the year on year breakdown of our once stable climate has become more apparent, however, denial has become increasingly irrelevant, and new battle lines are being drawn.

While widespread blistering heat, drought and wildfires have kept climate change in the public eye, they have also heightened tensions between those I call climate appeasers, who seek to minimise how bad climate breakdown will ultimately be, and others, disparagingly branded doomers (or doomists), who are honestly concerned that it may be catastrophic, perhaps even posing an existential threat to civilisation and possibly humankind itself.

Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL, and the author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com

Environment Agency figures indicate people could be swimming in human waste this summer without warning

Sewage monitors at some popular seaside destinations in England and Wales are faulty or not installed, Environment Agency data has revealed, meaning people could be swimming in human waste this summer without realising.

Seaside holidays this year have been marred by water companies pumping raw sewage into the ocean, with popular beaches in areas including Sussex and Devon having to close.

Clearing has risen by 73% since new laws allowing the clearing of native flora were introduced as independent MP criticises lack of action

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The New South Wales government has completed just two prosecutions into “unexplained land clearing” since 2017 when the Coalition introduced a much more liberal regime to allow clearing of native vegetation.

Clearing has risen by 73% since the new laws were introduced.

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Jacinda Ardern has warned about the impact of climate change during a visit to the city of Nelson on New Zealand's flood-battered South Island. The New Zealand prime minister called on the country to do all it can to lessen the impacts of climate change. 'We're asking the rest of the world to do that,' Ardern said. 'You can see the extreme weather events that we're experiencing as a result of a warming climate'

• New Zealand authorities warn more heavy rain to hit flooded South Island
• New Zealand flooding leaves streets and cars submerged after torrential rain – video
• The Guardian: climate crisis 

In Pacific countries people lived in harmony with nature for centuries, now even river bed mussels are affected by the way we live

As a marine biologist in Fiji I am used to seeing plastics in our waterways.

I’ve written of plastics in the sand, sea and surf, and researched the presence of plastics in fish. But my latest piece of research had me shocked.

Research from Onward outlines ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut energy bills

The two Conservative leadership candidates are failing to promise the policies needed to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, a right-leaning thinktank has warned, despite a clear need for measures that would cut consumer bills as well as carbon.

Insulating Britain’s draughty homes would cost the government just over £1bn a year in grants plus a similar amount in subsidised loans, while a 50% cut in stamp duty could encourage people to install low-carbon heat pumps when they move house, according to the proposals from Onward.