The Guardian

High court rejects request to temporarily block Cuadrilla operation in Lancashire

The first fracking in the UK for seven years will start on Saturday, the shale gas company Cuadrilla has confirmed, after campaigners lost a last-minute legal challenge to block the operations.

Lancashire resident Robert Dennett won an interim injunction last Friday against Lancashire county council, putting a temporary halt to the start of fracking at a well outside Blackpool.

‘Inseparable’ Sphen and Magic show ‘great excitement caring for their egg’ and are natural parents, aquarium says

Two male penguins have “proposed” to each other in a Sydney aquarium, and are now the proud foster parents of an egg.

Sphen and Magic, two gentoo penguins, have built a bigger nest than any other couple, take turns incubating, and have been praised by staff as model parents.

Farmers are ‘up for radical thought’ following bad harvests due to extreme weather, NFU says

From low-emission cows to robotic soil management, the farming industry will have to explore new approaches in the wake of a UN warning that the world needs to cut meat consumption or face worsening climate chaos.

That was the message from Guy Smith, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), this week as policymakers began to discuss how Britain can address the challenges posed by the recent global warming report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Academic Penny Olsen suggests ecologist John Young staged discoveries related to endangered night parrot

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is investigating claims that photos it published which point to sightings of the endangered night parrot were staged.

Former AWC ecologist John Young is credited with taking the first photograph of what has been dubbed the “world’s most mysterious bird” in Queensland in 2013. Last year Young said he had found a feather from the night parrot on Kalamurina Station, around northern Lake Eyre in South Australia, describing the July discovery as significant “beyond what I could have imagined”.

Group, which received surprise $443m government grant, seeks more money by highlighting possibility for companies to enhance reputation

The Great Barrier Reef foundation has announced plans to raise up to $400m on top of its controversial $433m federal government grant, including from fossil fuel companies and other corporate donors who give money for “reputation scoring”.

The foundation has consistently made it clear it will not play a role in pushing for stronger emissions reductions targets, despite consistent and repeated scientific warnings that no reef program will be worthwhile without action on climate change.

Strict new standards in Canada aim to end winter smogs caused by wood burning that have plagued cities such as Montreal

This October the city of Montreal will draw a line under a 20-year air pollution problem that started with the 1998 ice storm. Considered one of the worst disasters in Canadian history, around 35 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured. At its peak, more than 3 million people were without electricity as pylons and power lines collapsed under the weight of encrusted ice. Some homes had no power for many weeks. People rushed to install wood burners to keep warm and to be prepared for a repeat of the crisis.

Exclusive: Kingvale station’s proposed clearing of 2,000 hectares could be held up for months

Federal approval to clear more than 2,000 hectares of Queensland native forest in the catchment for the Great Barrier Reef could potentially be held up for months after the Environmental Defender’s Office launched court action to prevent it.

The federal court proceedings against the state environment minister and the owners of Kingvale station come as the federal environment minister, Melissa Price, extended the time to make a decision on the controversial Kingvale proposal to 31 October.

If you believe the red-tops, these colourful creatures are heading for our bedrooms. But, can they be all bad? Here’s why we should try and live peacefully with them

‘Invasion of cannibal ladybirds carrying STIs wreaks havoc,” screams the Sun. Should we scoff at such sensationalism? Well, the red-tops are mostly correct. Except for the havoc bit.

There are plenty of ladybirds about this autumn and many are flying into our homes. Unlike our native letterbox-red ladybirds, these creatures are often orange or yellow and possessing many spots, or none.

Seven multinationals unite in drive to improve supply chain standards, though campaigners warn only firm commitments will make an impact

Pressure from consumers and investors has pushed seven of the largest names in the food industry to join forces in improving animal welfare standards, the first industry-led coalition of its kind.

The members of the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) are Aramark, Compass Group, Elior Group, Ikea Food Services, Nestlé, Sodexo and Unilever, which jointly serve 3.7bn customers daily, and have combined revenues of $165bn (£124bn).

Ongoing animal slaughter must be treated with same severity as drug and people trafficking, say leaders from 80 nations gathered in London

The mass trafficking of wildlife impoverishes everyone in the world and must be treated with the same severity as drug and people trafficking, according to leaders from 80 nations gathered at the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference in London on Thursday.

“The illegal wildlife crime makes us all poorer, not just those countries robbed of their wildlife, natural habitat and resources, but all of us who are cheated of our natural inheritance, the rich diversity of our living world,” said Theresa May, UK prime minister, on Thursday. “We need to treat this billion-dollar criminal enterprise in the same way we do other serious and organised crimes.”

Elections have consequences. Denying science has consequences. And we are reaping what we sow.

Floridians are staring down a very powerful Category 4 typhoon that is causing extensive damage.  The high winds, heavy rains, and storm surge will cost billions of dollars.

We know that climate change is making these storms stronger.  The storms feed off of warm ocean waters, and those waters are much warmer now because of climate change. I have written about the science in more detail here and here.  But basically, Michael strengthened because it passed over really warm waters.  Waters that were hotter because of human-caused warming.

Hundreds of millions of pounds must be spent to achieve 80% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, report shows

Hundreds of millions of pounds must be spent on the UK’s draughty housing stock to meet the government’s climate change targets, with progress so far too slow to make the difference needed.

Repairing existing homes to a high standard, with insulation and renewable energy technology, would cut consumer bills and bring health improvements, a new report shows.

Study highlights ‘shocking contribution’ of domestic wood and coal fires to air pollution, which causes 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK

People burning wet wood on inefficient stoves are poisoning themselves and their neighbours, according to a new report from a leading thinktank.

The IPPR study highlights the “shocking contribution” domestic wood and coal fires make to the UK’s air pollution crisis, which causes 40,000 early deaths a year and devastating health problems for hundreds of thousands of others.

Minister says plan to coordinate climate response in absence of government policy interferes with democracy

Big business has entered discussions about a self-regulated suite of measures to help Australia meet its Paris commitments, weeks after the Morrison government abandoned the national energy guarantee.

The resources minister, Matt Canavan, accused Australia’s biggest energy companies of interfering in the democratic process, as climate experts and environmental groups lashed the government over the development on Thursday.

Mandatory environmental labels would change how we produce and consume in three far-reaching ways.

• Huge reduction in meat-eating ‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdown

If you buy a washing machine, a fridge or a television in Europe, it comes with a sticker. Thanks to a 1992 EU directive, all appliances must be labelled with their energy efficiency.

So why has our food system – which threatens 10,000 species with extinction, emits about 30% of greenhouse gases, and drives 80% of our nitrogen and phosphorus pollution – only ever had voluntary ecolabels?

Major study also finds huge changes to farming are needed to avoid destroying Earth’s ability to feed its population

• We label fridges to show their environmental impact – why not food?

Huge reductions in meat-eating are essential to avoid dangerous climate change, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of the food system’s impact on the environment. In western countries, beef consumption needs to fall by 90% and be replaced by five times more beans and pulses.

The research also finds that enormous changes to farming are needed to avoid destroying the planet’s ability to feed the 10 billion people expected to be on the planet in a few decades.

Top climate adviser says UN warnings will force the government to act in ways that will be controversial and politically fraught

The UK’s obligations in response to this week’s warnings from the UN over global warming will be controversial and politically fraught, taking the country into “uncharted territory” and testing the political consensus on climate change, the its top climate adviser has warned.

The government will have to regulate industry and intervene in the market in ways that will prove controversial in parliament, predicted Chris Stark, chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). He is charged with advising ministers on how swift and how deep cuts in emissions should be and how they can be achieved, and his committee will start work on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) advice shortly.

Exclusive: UN group responds to Scott Morrison’s statement that Australia won’t be ‘throwing money’ into fund

An official United Nations grouping of 47 of the world’s poorest countries has urged Australia to “honour its international commitments” after the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the country would not be “throwing money” into a key international climate change fund.

Australia has previously pledged $200m to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), set up through the UN’s climate convention to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.

‘This is not good news,’ Bureau of Meteorology says, warning drought conditions could get worse

Heatwaves and bushfires are predicted in southern Australia thanks to a 70% chance of El Niño weather conditions, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned. Although cyclones may ease up in the north by the end of the year, the outlook for drought-hit areas is not good, according to the bureau.

“Between the [above average] temperature and the lack of rainfall, this is not good news,” climatologist Robyn Duell said. “This outlook on the back of such little rainfall and dry conditions makes it such a worry for people.”

Seattle residents had hoped to use ‘necessity defense’ in Minnesota court, arguing threat to planet was so great they had no choice

A Minnesota judge abruptly dismissed charges against three climate change activists during their trial on Tuesday, saying prosecutors had failed to prove that the protesters’ attempt to shut down two Enbridge Energy oil pipelines caused any damage.

The Clearwater county district judge Robert Tiffany threw the case out after prosecutors rested their case and before the protesters could use their defense: that the threat of climate change from using crude oil drilled from Canadian tar sands was so imminent that the activists’ actions were not only morally right, but necessary.