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The environmental scourge of plastic has shot to the top of the political agenda. We talk to the creatives and campaigners behind five imaginative new ventures

Among retailers and manufacturers, they talk of “the Blue Planet effect”. The BBC series, screened late last year, was the moment that many of us realised the catastrophic impact our use of plastics was having on the world’s oceans. Scenes such as a hawksbill turtle snagged in a plastic sack, the albatrosses feeding their chicks plastic or the mother pilot whale grieving for her dead calf, which may have been poisoned by her contaminated milk, are impossible to unsee.

It’s a crisis that affects us all, and the facts make for dispiriting reading. If nothing changes, one study suggests that by 2050 our oceans will have more plastic swimming around, by weight, than fish. It’s already estimated that one third of fish caught in the Channel contain plastic; another piece of research found that “top European shellfish consumers” could potentially consume up to 11,000 pieces of microplastic a year.

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Removing a thick fishing rope from a highly fertile whale’s jaw was a priority for scientists who fear the species may be in terminal decline

A mission to disentangle a particularly important North Atlantic right whale from a thick rope wrapped around its jaw has proved a partial success, amid growing fears that the endangered species is approaching a terminal decline.

The individual female whale, known as Kleenex, is considered one of the most productive North Atlantic right whales left in existence, having given birth to eight calves. Its condition has deteriorated, however, since it was spotted off the coast of Delaware in 2014 with a thick fishing rope wrapped around its head and upper jaw.

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A Nasa flight analyst explains three things you need to know about going to Mars.

Taps in capital city of Maputo being turned off every other day as climate change exacerbates southern African drought

In the township of Chamanculo, in Maputo, Mozambique, a network of household taps made the community water pump obsolete years ago, freeing residents from the daily burden of lugging massive jerrycans of water long distances.

But a water crisis, partly caused by an ongoing drought affecting much of southern Africa, is already reversing progress in this coastal city. An emergency “orange alert”, declared last February by the country’s disaster management council after failed rains, has triggered such strict water rationing across the capital city that the taps are turned off every other day and irrigation is banned.

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Decision on Tasmanian, NSW and Queensland woodlands’ on hold despite advice from expert committee

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Farmers’ associations, the Tasmanian deputy premier and a Tasmanian Liberal senator lobbied the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, not to grant critically endangered status to woodlands eligible for protection under Australia’s national environment laws.

In 2017 the independent threatened species scientific committee, which provides scientific advice to the government about conserving threatened species, recommended two new woodlands be listed as critically endangered ecological communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

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The endangered animal died in Italy during an attempt to fit him with a collar to track movements.

The best and worst space films, according to Nasa

Marshwood Vale, Dorset: ‘Askers’, great crested newts, used to be common here but the number of suitable breeding pools has more than halved

It’s the yellow that catches my eye. Bright egg-yolk splotched with black warts, glistening against wet asphalt. Long, striped toes. A forearm flung out, fingers drooping, thumb hanging down, elegant as a lady offering her hand for a kiss. A great crested newt, Triturus cristatus, squashed.

The pattern of pulping suggests a big, ridged tyre, probably a tractor. The driver would never have seen it in the dark, perched up high on his plastic seat, roaring up the lane to feed the heifers, one last job before turning in.

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If a koala bellows in a forest and a scientist isn’t there to record it, does the koala exist at all?

Waterholes throughout the parched Australian interior are being dominated by camels and destroyed as camels trample delicate areas.

Psychology explains why some people deny climate science.

Measures would demand ‘all reasonable measures’ are taken to ensure handlers are licensed

People who have their rubbish dumped illegally could face fines of up to £400, even if they do not personally engage in fly-tipping, under proposals being considered by ministers.

The measures are aimed at tackling people who charge householders to take away their rubbish and then dump it illegally. They build on existing powers to issue on-the-spot fines to save the hefty court costs often involved in pursuing offenders.

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Horses help patients deal with anxiety and stress issues; beach sculptures brings smiles to Shelley Beach; we visit a boutique duck farm; and meet a dog with an acute sense of smell.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

European carbon prices dropped heavily for the second straight session, as a weak auction and slumping power prices triggered selling in choppy trade.

EU countries have now handed out nearly 90% of their allocations of free 2018 carbon allowances, data released late Friday showed.

The government has pledged to review its long-term climate targets. Renewable energy, housing and and transport are just some areas where new policies could cut emissions fast

More wind farms, solar power and electric cars: these are likely to be the future of the UK, under government plans announced this week to seek a zero-carbon economy in the next 30 years.

Some of the less obvious effects could be just as transformative, however, involving innovations such as smart houses and smart roads, widespread changes to the countryside wrought by new tree-planting and new farming practices designed to conserve soils.

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The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

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California faces many challenges in guaranteeing a carbon price to help livestock and dairy farmers struggling to cut emissions despite having access to buyers willing to pay over $100/tCO2e for credits.

Ensuring that a change in the Ontario government this June will not lead to the province’s exit from the WCI carbon market will require separating the political elements of cap-and-trade from the pragmatic need to act on climate change, according to stakeholders.