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Identification of Galápagos tortoise celebrated by scientists as a big deal for island’s biodiversity

A rare Galápagos species, the “fantastic giant tortoise”, long thought extinct, has been officially identified for the first time in more than a century in what scientists called a “big deal” for the famed islands’ embattled biodiversity.

The animal is the first Chelonoidis phantasticus to be seen since a male specimen was discovered by the explorer Rollo Beck during an expedition in 1906. The newcomer has been named Fernanda, after the Fernandina Island, a largely unexplored active volcano in the western Galápagos Archipelago that she calls home.

Jair Bolsonaro’s dog-whistle politics is risking the lives of Indigenous people and the reporters who tell their stories

It’s now more than four days since veteran Brazil correspondent Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Araújo Pereira disappeared in the Javari Valley, a remote part of the western Amazon thought to have the world’s highest concentration of uncontacted people.

Pereira, a longtime defender of Indigenous rights who previously worked for Funai, Brazil’s government Indigenous rights agency, had reportedly received threats for his work monitoring illegal activities in the region.

Researchers call for recognition of latest online strategies used to derail climate action

Climate policy is being dragged into the culture wars with misinformation and junk science being spread across the internet by a relatively small group of individuals and groups, according to a new study.

The research, released on Thursday, shows that the climate emergency – and the measures needed to deal with it – are in some cases being conflated with divisive issues such as critical race theory, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access and anti-vaccine campaigns.

Elitism and hypocrisy: these posts focused on the alleged wealth and double standards of those calling for action, and in some cases referenced wider conspiracies about globalism or the “New World Order”. The study identified 199,676 mentions of this narrative on Twitter (tweets and retweets) and 4,377 posts on Facebook around the time Cop26 took place

Absolution: it found 6,262 Facebook posts and 72,356 tweets around Cop26 which absolved one country of any obligation to act on climate by blaming another. In developed western countries this often focused on the perceived shortcomings of China and, to a lesser extent, India, claiming they were not doing enough so there was no point in anyone acting.

Unreliable renewables: over a longer period – from 1 January to 19 November 2021 – the study found 115,830 tweets or retweets were shared, alongside 15,443 posts on Facebook, that called into question the viability and effectiveness of renewable energy sources.

We must restore our largely broken relationship with nature if we are to ensure the planet’s future – and our own

Asked to consider the value of animals, many people’s first thought would be about money. During the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, the price of dogs became a popular talking point. Others might think of the less tangible, but also very real, value they place on their relationships with companion animals, especially pets such as cats and dogs. Fewer would immediately consider the ways in which our entire civilisation rests on animals. The fact is, though, that our society and economy are embedded in a natural system that is maintained by the activities of animals, and without them, we would not be here.

Animals are vital to the functioning of the biosphere in innumerable ways. Their interactions with plants, fungi and microbes sustain the conditions on which we, along with all other life, depend. For example, the great whales that sit at the pinnacle of marine food webs are linked to some of the most fundamental processes that shape conditions in our world. They eat other marine creatures, including krill, and in the process take nutrients from deeper water to be released via their faeces into the ocean, where they fertilise blooms of planktonic algae.

European Chemical Agency’s positive assessment for continued sale of substance is flawed, say environmental campaigners

EU regulators dismissed key scientific evidence linking glyphosate to rodent tumours in a positive assessment they gave for continued sales of the substance last week, according to a new report by environmental campaigners.

Glyphosate is the world’s most widely used weedkiller and its EU relicensing has become a touchstone in a wider battle between environmentalists and agribusiness over the future of farming.

Even if Millmerran power station’s carbon capture plan succeeds, it will only eliminate 2.1% of emissions. Plus: nuclear still costlier than renewables

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The history of carbon capture and storage as a way to meaningfully cut greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels is littered with big and eye-wateringly expensive promises that have failed to deliver.

The new Nationals leader, David Littleproud, made a claim this week that some viewers may have taken to mean that one such CCS project was ready to go.

Consent decree would settle two lawsuits against EPA brought by Louisiana residents in one of most polluted parts of US

A proposed legal settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency EPA and residents of the town of Reserve, Louisiana could significantly reduce toxic emissions in one of the most polluted parts of the US.

Announced on Tuesday via the federal register, the proposed agreement, known as a consent decree, would settle two lawsuits partly brought against the EPA by members of the predominantly Black community in St John the Baptist parish, the epicenter of the region known colloquially as “Cancer Alley”.

UK cabinet minister who led Cop26 understood to have been approached and expressed interest in the role

Alok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister who led last year’s Cop26 climate summit, is in the running to be the UN’s global climate chief, at a crucial time for international action on greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN’s current top climate official, Patricia Espinosa, will step down next month, leaving a vacancy as the world prepares for the next stage in vital negotiations to stave off climate breakdown.

Biden officials make announcement on World Oceans Day in effort to stem huge tide of pollution from plastic bottles and packaging

The Biden administration is to phase out single-use plastic products on US public lands, including the vast network of American national parks, in an attempt to stem the huge tide of plastic pollution that now extends to almost every corner of the world.

The US Department of the Interior will halt the sale of single-use plastics in national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands, though not entirely until 2032, with a reduction planned in the meantime. The government will look to identify environmentally preferable alternatives to plastic bottles, packaging and other products, such as compostable materials.

Lib Dems and environmental campaigners condemn central government after Tory-run council overruled

Campaigners and the Liberal Democrats have condemned the government after a minister overruled a Tory-run council to approve gas drilling on the edge of the Surrey Hills, despite accepting the scheme would cause harm to the natural landscape.

The decision, formally announced in a written statement by the housing minister Stuart Andrew, gives the green light to three years of exploratory drilling at a site near the edge of the Surrey Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

Unchecked water use by companies like Exxon risks saltwater intrusion and undrinkable tap water

Flowers seem to live longer in vases filled with Baton Rouge water, according to Dominique Rogers, 36, a florist in Louisiana’s capital city with 14 years of experience.

The city pulls its water deep underground from the Southern Hills aquifer, which requires little to no treatment to drink, unlike other Louisiana communities such as New Orleans, which draws its water from the Mississippi River and requires heavy treatment.

New dash for gas driven by energy disruption and rising prices spurns warnings to cease exploration to meet 1.5 heating limit

Countries around the world are pouring funds into new natural gas facilities that could destroy the chances of limiting global heating, in response to soaring energy prices and the war in Ukraine.

Governments including the US, Germany, the UK and Canada are investing in new gas production, distribution and use as they seek to sanction Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, according to new research.

Parks Victoria intends to remove 500 horses from state’s eastern Alpine region this year as part of feral horse management plan

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Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has defended a decision to cull feral horses that are causing ecological damage to Victoria’s fragile Alpine ecosystems, as protesters campaigning against the planned shooting amassed on the steps of state parliament.

Parks Victoria plans to remove 500 horses from the eastern Alpine region this year as part of a feral horse management plan that includes the eventual removal of all horses from Barmah national park on the Murray River and from the Bogong high plains.

As Europe’s only Jewish farm faces closure, its founder explains why reviving Judaism’s ancient precepts of sustainable agriculture and conservation has never been more urgent

While for most British Jews, synagogue is the focal point for religious life, Talia Chain finds her faith in nature. It’s why, in 2018, she founded Sadeh Farm in Kent, currently Europe’s only Jewish farming community.

On the edge of Sadeh’s plot is its forest garden – a low intervention and sustainable agronomic system based on trees, shrubs and perennials. Perched on a seat, 33-year-old Chain is describing one of her most treasured Jewish customs. “It’s called the law of orlah,” Chain says, “where you don’t pick or eat the fruit from a fruit tree for its first three years producing. Instead, you let the fruit ripen and fall to the ground to rot naturally.”

This tiny, speedy winged predator has not been seen in my village as its food source dwindles and people remove nests

As it shears through the spring skies, sweeping up tiny insects, the house martin’s contrasting dark-blue and white plumage reminds me of a miniature version of a killer whale.

But not this year. Although I’ve caught up with virtually every other spring arrival – even the late-returning swallows and swifts – I’ve only seen a handful of house martins, and none so far in my Somerset village.

Discrepancy between aesthetic value and extinction vulnerability could have repercussions

There are plenty of fish in the sea, but “ugly” fish deserve love too, according to a study.

The reef fish people rate as most aesthetically pleasing are also the ones that seem to need the least conservation support, while the fish most likely to rank as “ugly” are the most endangered species, the research has found.

Lord mayor says residents should make green choices but tenant’s union says onus should be on owners and government

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Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, has urged renters and apartment dwellers to do their bit to help the city reach net zero by switching their energy supply to renewable sources.

Moore’s plea comes amid spiralling energy costs and increased pressure on household budgets, with the New South Wales Tenants Union noting while many renters wanted to make green choices, it was not always a simple equation.

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The sooner we shift away from ageing coal and expensive gas, the quicker electricity prices and emissions will fall

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A massive expansion in Australia’s gas production did nothing to make gas cheap for Australian homes and businesses. A decade of propping up ageing coal-fired power stations did nothing to ensure the reliability of our electricity supply. And the Coalition’s so-called “gas trigger” and “big stick” electricity reforms have done nothing to control Australian energy prices. It’s as if everything Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor did was announce things instead of fixing them.

There’s no shortage of coal or gas in Australia, there’s a shortage of generation capacity and the infrastructure to move energy to where it’s needed. Just as the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, Australians have now learned the hard way that the coal trains don’t always run and the coal-fired power stations often break down.

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Wildlife photographer Charles Davis has been photographing nature for more than a decade. Budgerigars can usually be seen in flocks of about 100 birds, but after rainfall can number in the thousands. Capturing such a gathering was something he had always wanted to do

Bird, named Noble X3C, landed unharmed and made successful first flight three days later

They are known as agile, powerful and rapid flyers. But a young peregrine falcon has undermined the image of its species after an ungainly tumble from a cathedral tower.

Named Noble X3C, the bird is one of four that hatched high on Salisbury Cathedral this spring, and was days away from being big enough to soar gracefully into the Wiltshire sky.