The Guardian

In the USA, the southeastern states are most vulnerable to the costly impacts from human-caused climate change

Humans are causing Earth’s climate to change. We know that. We’ve known it for decades. Okay so what? The follow-up questions should be directed to what the effects of warming will be. What will the costs be to society, to the natural biosystem, and to human lives? Let’s be honest, if the consequences of warming are not large, then who cares? But, if the consequences are severe, then we should take action now to reduce the warming. This really comes down to costs and benefits. Are the benefits of reducing emissions greater or less than the costs?

But there is a nuance to the answer. The costs are not uniformly distributed. Some regions will suffer more and other regions will suffer less. In fact, some regions will actually benefit in a warming climate. We understand that the world is interconnected and costs will inevitably be shared to some extent. But it is clear we won’t all suffer the same.

Sandy, Bedfordshire Nectar shoppers flutter out of nowhere, a mass of moths, midges and mosquitoes chopping across the torchlit path

Under a moonless, starless, benighted sky, head torches were switched on and we struck out across the riverside meadow. We had walked for several sure-footed minutes along a closely grazed towpath where white yarrow rosettes glowed like solar garden lights. The only hazards on that firm ground had been the nearly invisible giant plates that I stepped on and found to have hard crusts and soft hearts.

Related: Country diary: Sandy, Bedfordshire: The river is my guiding light

Special report: The pace of coal plants shutting down in Australia could mean the country’s fleet could be gone before 2040. The transformation is enormous – and seems inevitable

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For a glimpse into the future of coal power in Australia, go west. The country’s last major investment in coal-fired electricity was in Western Australia in 2009, when Colin Barnett’s state government announced a major refurbishment of the Muja AB station about 200km south of Perth, far from the gaze of the east coast political-media class.

The plant was 43 years old and mothballed. Reviving it was meant to cost $150m, paid for by private investors who would reap the benefits for years to come. But costs and timeframes blew out. An old corroded boiler exploded. The joint venture financing the project collapsed; a wall followed suit. The bill ultimately pushed beyond $300m, much of it to be stumped up by taxpayers – and once completed, the plant was beset with operational problems. It ran only 20% of the time.

Bicycles offer endless opportunities for modification, both practical and decorative. We’d like you to share your bicycle projects with us

From converting a multi-speed hub into a fixed gear, adding downtube shift levers or simply a comfy seat, a bicycle offers endless opportunities for the DIY enthusiast. We’d like you to share your bicycle modifications with us.

Whether it’s to help those with mobility problems, to transport your children or just to look like the coolest rider on the street, there are any number of ways to make your bike even better.

Government officials and fellow conservationists paid tribute to Wayne Lotter at a special memorial yesterday

Hundreds of people gathered at Baobab Village in Dar es Salaam to pay tribute to Wayne Lotter on Tuesday evening, as tributes continued to come in from around the world.

Lotter, 51, was shot and killed last week while travelling in a taxi from the airport to his hotel on Dar es Salaam’s Msasani Peninsula. Lotter, who co-founded PAMS Foundation, a conservation nonprofit, was responsible for supporting anti-poaching efforts that had led to the arrests of more than 2000 ivory poachers and traffickers, and had taken down several key poaching syndicates in the country. He had received numerous death threats since starting the organization in 2009.

Charlie Alliston should have had a front brake but 18mph is a cautious speed and double standards are at work here

A heavy-handed prosecution against a cyclist for manslaughter has failed but a charge of “wanton and furious driving” has succeeded.

In 2016 more than 400 pedestrians were killed on UK roads. Each a terrible tragedy to those involved and almost all avoidable. One of these casualties, Kim Briggs, died after a collision between herself and a teenage cyclist, Charlie Alliston.

Big Wasp Survey encourages volunteers to build homemade traps then send dead wasps to entomologists to monitor populations

Drowning wasps in beer in the name of science may seem a socially acceptable way to exterminate a seasonal pest. But a citizen science survey “harnessing the public’s dislike of wasps” has been criticised for its “hateful language” and for unnecessarily killing rare insects.

The Big Wasp Survey is encouraging 2,000 volunteers to build homemade bottle traps before posting the dead wasps to entomologists to produce a clearer picture of the much-maligned insect’s decline.

Wildlife protection has become an increasingly dangerous business as rangers face armed gunmen and poachers

Three rangers have been killed in separate countries in a deadly month for wildlife defenders.

A ranger at Serra da Capivara national park, in Brazil’s north-eastern Piaui region, was killed by hunters on 18 August. Edilson Aparecido da Costa Silva and two other colleagues were patrolling the park when they were ambushed by a group of four armed men who are believed to have been hunting in the park illegally. Costa Silva was killed in the shootout that followed, while the other two rangers were injured.

Farmer sends gift of sausages to thank Wiltshire firefighters who rescued piglets and two sows from fire in barn

A farmer whose piglets were saved from a barn fire has served the animals up as sausages to thank the firefighters who rescued them.

The baby pigs and two sows were freed by firefighters from Pewsey in Wiltshire when a barn went up in flames in February.

A new study finds a stark contrast between Exxon’s research and what the company told the public

Read all of these documents and make up your own mind.

That was the challenge ExxonMobil issued when investigative journalism by Inside Climate News revealed that while it was at the forefront of climate science research in the 1970s and 1980s, Exxon engaged in a campaign to misinform the public.

London’s historic food market also aims to achieve zero landfill with biodegradable packaging and compostable leftovers

London’s Borough Market is to introduce free drinking water fountains as part of a new pledge to phase out sales of all single-use plastic bottles over the next six months.

The renowned foodie haven – the only fully independent market in the capital – is aiming to become the UK’s biggest food shopping destination that is entirely plastic-free.

Glastraeth, Gwynedd A vastness of light and water, the sea’s immensity and the intimacy of the creeks, overwhelms the self

Among the glittering spillways, a vastness of light and water, the self is overwhelmed by the immensity of mountains and sea, and the intimacy of samphire lawns, sea aster flowers and creeks. We wander into the salt marsh with sheep, a drift of Canada geese, an egret sharpening its idea of the strike, a group of Romany foragers, a raven and a story.

When the monastery at Bangor-is-y-Coed was sacked in the early seventh century, on account of its allegiance to the Pelagian heresy, the surviving monks fled to what is now the magically circular walled church of Llanfihangel-y-Traethau on a little hill above the Dwyryd and Glaslyn estuary.

As the motor car industry is at the forefront of environmental degradation both globally and locally, it is only right that manufacturers take a lead in tackling the problem (Ford launches £2,000 scrappage scheme, 22 August). Instead, they offer only a scheme to sell more cars based on an unproven theory. This appears to posit that the pollution created by running an “old” car is so much greater than that of running a “new” one, that an environmental disaster might be delayed if we buy new cars more quickly. If Ford will reveal their figures for this old/new pollution differential and compare them with an evaluation of the pollution created in manufacturing a brand-new vehicle, then we might establish whether or not they know what they are talking about.
Dr Kevin Bannon
London

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Two baby apes were discovered in tiny cages in Ketapang, Borneo. A man has been arrested for trafficking wildlife via social media

A UK charity has helped rescue two baby orangutans who were found by police in West Borneo caged and ready to be sold through social media to illegal buyers.

The two apes, a one-year-old male and an eight-month-old female, who were discovered in tiny cages are now in the care of International Animal Rescue (IAR) at its centre in Ketapang, Borneo.

Research finds endangered Antarctic blue, fin and southern right whales struggling to recover despite hunting bans

Populations of the endangered blue and fin whales, which were hunted nearly to extinction in the 20th century, will not have recovered to even half of their pre-whaling numbers by 2100, according to a new Australian study.

The research, published in the Fish and Fisheries journal next month, analysed 122 years of whaling data from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and current population survey data to project future population growth, based on predicted food availability in the southern oceans.

Report reveals improvement but also details danger posed by tourist-generated pollution, oil extraction and climate change

Just below the surface of the turquoise sea, coral flutters majestically amid schools of puffed up porcupinefish and fluorescent blue and yellow angelfish.

The gangly staghorn and fanning elkhorn corals are thriving in swimming distance of Laughing Bird Caye, a tiny Caribbean sandy islet in southern Belize, thanks to a restoration project that is yielding striking results.

The Sill, Once Brewed, Northumberland Planting at the National Landscape Discovery Centre aims to recreate the area’s rare whin grasslands

Standing on the roof of the Sill with the wind in my hair, I have a new view of familiar countryside. For years I’ve driven along Hadrian’s Wall, enjoying the way the land forms a series of waves like a frozen sea.

Now, from the highest point of this building, I watch a buzzard circling above the Roman quarry at Barcombe Hill, see walkers labouring up the craggy steps at Steel Rigg, glimpse far-off bales in a recently cut hay field and cows tail flicking in the summer heat.

Taronga Western Plains zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales, has welcomed two brand new additions to the giraffe herd, born within one week of each other. This video was shot within minutes of the first calf’s birth and shows it taking its first steps and bonding with adult members of the giraffe herd. The first calf is named Zuberi, which means strong in Swahili, and the second calf is Kibo, which means the highest. The zoo says that in just 30 years the global giraffe population has fallen by up to 40% due to poaching for bush meat and habitat encroachment. The zoo aims to spread awareness of their plight and raise money for conservation in Kenya

Common moss changes shape in areas of high nitrogen pollution and drought and has potential to be big bioindicator, say scientists

Delicate mosses found on rocks and trees in cities around the world can be used to measure the impact of atmospheric change and could prove a low-cost way to monitor urban pollution, according to Japanese scientists.

Moss, a “bioindicator”, responds to pollution or drought-stress by changing shape, density or by disappearing, allowing scientists to calculate atmospheric alterations, said Yoshitaka Oishi, associate professor at Fukui Prefectural University.

Noxious byproducts from slurry spill at Crouchland biogas farm poisoned neighbouring land and animals

Lynda and Richard Whittemore bought Quennells farm in the quiet Sussex countryside six years ago. They were hoping for what Lynda calls “an idyllic lifestyle”, tending their flock of 400 pedigree sheep and 45 cattle on 180 acres of farmland.

“We have an undulating field at the back of the stream, winding to the other corner,” Lynda says. “Usually it has lovely clear water, with a gentle slope down to the water supply. It’s picturesque – the [livestock] don’t need troughs, they can walk down to drink the water.”