The Guardian

Ninety female wildlife and landscape photographers from around the world are marking primatologist Jane Goodall’s 90th birthday with a print sale of environmental pictures. The Jane Goodall Institute and the nonprofit Vital Impacts have collaborated on The Nature of Hope: 90 Years of Jane Goodall’s Impact, a 90-day sale with 60% of the proceeds going to the institute

Welcome to the Invasive Species Conference!

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Rate of decline in 2023 thought to be linked to climate breakdown as UK-wide survey shows mixed picture across 58 species

The small tortoiseshell butterfly has suffered its worst year on record in England, and has declined by 82% across the UK since 1976, according to the annual scientific count of butterfly populations.

The sharp decline in numbers of the once-common garden butterfly has puzzled scientists, but it is thought to be linked to climate breakdown. It had its worst year on record in England, its second worst in Wales and its joint-fifth worst in Scotland in 2023 but did well in Northern Ireland, logging its second-best year.

An old flooded slate mine used as a dumping ground for cars in north Wales, the eeriness of which attracts Instagram photo seekers, is in danger of being destroyed by visitors trashing the site, it has been claimed. The flooded cavern, part of the Gaewern slate mine, became a dumping ground for old cars, TVs, microwaves and other rubbish after its closure in the 1970s. It was rediscovered by urban explorers who posted stunning photographs of the scrap illuminated by shafts of sunlight, leading to others braving a perilous 20-metre (65ft) descent and using inflatable dinghies to cross the lake to reach the scrap

• Instagrammers under fire over litter at Welsh ‘Cavern of Lost Souls’ mine site

Modelling points to ‘huge’ soil emissions in interior rangelands, which are more sensitive to a warming climate

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Intensifying extreme heat and drought due to climate change will make Australia’s soil a net emitter of carbon dioxide, impeding the country from reaching its climate goals, new analysis has found.

Soil carbon sequestration has been identified as a way to help Australia meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets of 43% by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

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Recent $74m investment made alongside assessment that 10% of electricity could be generated by geothermal by 2050

A limitless supply of heat exists beneath our feet within the Earth’s crust, but harnessing it at scale has proved challenging. Now, a combination of new techniques, government support and the pressing need to secure continuous clean power in an era of climate crisis means that geothermal energy is finally having its moment in the US.

Until recently, geothermal has only been viable where the Earth’s inner heat simmers near the surface, such as at hot springs or geysers where hot water or steam can be easily drawn to drive turbines and generate electricity.

Letters revealed under FoI laws show council asked environment secretary to investigate plan

The government has been accused of quietly shelving a delayed plan to restore the polluted River Wye after letters from the government show it is incomplete with no publication date in sight.

Letters revealed to the Guardian under freedom of information (FoI) laws show the then environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, told stakeholders in August that the government was “close to finalising” the plan to save the Wye and measures would be published within three months.

Reducing cattle populations and restoring native ecoystems is our best chance to tackle global heating. Here’s one way to do it

There is a simple, cost-effective and scientifically sound way to turn back the clock on global warming and reverse the catastrophic collapse of biodiversity: pay ranchers to raise trees instead of cattle.

By mass, the world’s 1.7 billion cows are the dominant animal species on Earth, far outweighing the human population, and outweighing all the wild terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians left on Earth by more than 15-fold. More than a third of Earth’s land is used to feed livestock.

Environmental pledges are being shredded to please agribusiness and appease extremists. It’s a terrible mistake

The EU’s great green deal cave-in has been nothing less than spectacular. As aggressive lobbying and violent farmers protests ramped up in the last year, Brussels has killed plans to cut pesticide use by half, to green farming practices, to ban toxic “forever” chemicals, to rein in livestock emissions and, last week, to restore nature to 20% of Europe’s land and seas.

The aim may have been to create breathing space. Predictably, that hasn’t worked. The bloc’s anti-deforestation regulation seems likely to be the next green reform for the chop, with 20 agriculture ministers reportedly calling for it to be pared back and suspended on Monday, citing “administrative burdens”.

Increase in fairtrade sales to £13m shows shoppers still prioritising environment and workers’ wellbeing

British consumers might have faced the sharpest increase in living costs for four decades, but despite the cost of living crisis, concerns over the environment and the treatment of farmers in poorer countries has fuelled a steady increase in ethical shopping.

As households across the country rein in their spending to deal with rising bills, Michael Gadney, the chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation trade body, said consumers were still prioritising ethical products.

Woman has a narrow escape after falling into a flooded drain in Daylesford, as central Victoria and western Melbourne hit by flooding and building damage

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Victoria’s emergency services fielded almost 500 requests for help as thunderstorms, damaging winds and heavy rain pummelled Melbourne’s western suburbs and the centre and east of the state.

There were close to 250 reports of building damage and 110 food-related incidents across the state in the 24 hours to 7am, the State Emergency Service said.

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CAP scheme, which pays more to farms that occupy more land, drives ‘perverse outcomes for a food transition’, says study

The EU has made polluting diets “artificially cheap” by pumping four times more money into farming animals than growing plants, research has found.

More than 80% of the public money given to farmers through the EU’s common agriculture policy (CAP) went to animal products in 2013 despite the damage they do to society, according to a study in Nature Food. Factoring in animal feed doubled the subsidies that were embodied in a kilogram of beef, the meat with the biggest environmental footprint, from €0.71 to €1.42 (61p to £1.22).

Dutch court ruling that KLM misled customers ‘wakeup call’ that decarbonisation plans should be credible, climate advocacy group says

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Australian airlines could be found to have misled consumers in the way they present their net zero goals and market offset options during flight bookings, climate advocates have claimed, following a landmark legal decision on aviation “greenwashing”.

The warning from Climate Integrity, a new Australia-based advocacy group, follows a Dutch court late last month ruling that airline KLM misled customers with vague environmental claims, and that its affirmation to the goals of the Paris Agreement was “misleading and therefore unlawful”.

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Hot and dry conditions could force measures despite country experiencing wettest 18 months since records began

• Why is the UK facing water shortages despite record rainfall?

The UK could face water shortages and hosepipe bans if this summer is hot and dry, despite having experienced the wettest 18 months since records began.

Leading scientists have said that because the UK is not storing its water properly, the country is vulnerable to the “all or nothing” rain patterns being experienced more frequently due to climate breakdown.

Charity publishes survey findings as it calls for youngsters to be no more than a 15-minute walk from green spaces

More than three-quarters of children want to spend more time in nature, the National Trust has found, as the conservation charity pushes ministers to ensure youngsters are no more than a 15-minute walk from green spaces.

Nearly two-thirds – 63% – of parents are able to take their children to nature spaces only once a week or less, citing accessibility as the main barrier, the survey of 1,000 children aged seven to 14 and 1,000 parents by the trust and the children’s newspaper First News found.

Other endangered animals rescued in 2023 included a burrowing parrot, an African spurred tortoise and a blood-eared parakeet

Specialist wildlife police in eastern Spain have rescued an exotic list of endangered animals over the past year, including a pair of Nile crocodiles, an African spurred tortoise weighing 25kg and a two-metre Burmese python.

The Seprona division of the Guardia Civil said in a statement on Sunday that its officers had recovered “numerous examples” of species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora during 2023.

Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies

Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has said.

The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, and Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, which is the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, said Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.

Smalltooth sawfish are behaving oddly, eliciting a first-ever plan to rescue and rehabilitate species from wild

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is launching what the agency described as an emergency response effort in south Florida after emerging reports of smalltooth sawfish spinning, whirling and displaying other abnormal behaviors.

In a statement released last Wednesday, NOAA said that in addition to the abnormal behaviors, there have been reports of fish deaths in the lower Florida Keys, including more than 28 smalltooth sawfish as of 24 March.

Labour party analysis of figures since 2010 shows raw sewage was discharged for more than 3.6m hours last year

Waterborne diseases such as dysentery and Weil’s disease have risen by 60% since 2010 in England, new figures reveal.

Analysis of NHS hospital admissions by the Labour party has found that the number of people admitted to hospital with diseases transmitted via waterborne infection has increased from 2,085 in 2010-11 to 3,286 in 2022-23.

Germans want to ban ‘torture breeding’ for extreme characteristics. Plus: don’t even think about swimming in British waters this Easter

I’ll say this for the Germans: when they’re right, they’re so right. Word reaches us that dachshunds are to be banned in Germany.