The Guardian

Anj Sharma, 16, and her team hope to force change they say is not coming quickly enough from government

Eight teenagers and an octogenarian nun head to an Australian court on Tuesday to launch what they hope will prove to be a landmark case – one that establishes the federal government’s duty of care in protecting future generations from a worsening climate crisis.

If successful, the people behind the class action believe it may set a precedent that stops the government approving new fossil fuel projects.

Spanish officials say animals must be put down after two months at sea as owners struggled to find buyer because of disease fears

• Cattle stranded on ship in Spain must be destroyed, say vets

Spanish authorities are about to begin slaughtering hundreds of calves that have spent months crisscrossing the Mediterranean, said a lawyer for the cattle shippers.

The 864 cattle due for slaughter are onboard the Karim Allah, which is docked in the Spanish port of Cartagena. It is one of two vessels that left Spain in mid-December to deliver live cargoes of young bulls. The second vessel, Elbeik, loaded almost 1,800 cattle from Tarragona.

Aerial video released on 26 February reveals a huge iceberg has separated from the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, almost 10 years after scientists first discovered cracks.

The berg has been compared in size to the English county of Bedfordshire, measuring 1,270 sq km, according to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

Scientists were expecting the calving of the iceberg to happen, after daily monitoring of the area with GPS instruments and satellite imagery, the BAS's director, Prof Dame Jane Francis, said

• Iceberg size of Greater London breaks off Antarctica

Analysis shows emissions from 31 FTSE 100 companies are well above what’s needed to hit Paris targets

Three out of 10 of the UK’s biggest public companies emit carbon dioxide at a rate that would contribute significantly to the climate crisis, according to analysis that shows the scale of the challenge for corporate Britain to cut emissions to zero.

Thirty-one members of the FTSE 100, the index of Britain’s largest listed companies, are emitting carbon dioxide at a rate consistent with global temperature increases of 2.7C or more by 2050, according to analysis by Arabesque, a company that provides climate data to investors.

Invasive bug that creates marks on fruit and vegetables probably hitched ride into Britain on packaging crates

It is brown, stinky and will strike fear into the hearts of apple and other fruit growers.

Scientists have now confirmed that the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), a small flying insect that emits an unpleasant almond-like odour, has arrived in Britain, after most probably hitching a ride on packaging crates.

Agency seeks guarantee it will be reimbursed for the estimated $250m already spent if the dams are not built

Cost blowouts on Wyangala and Dungowan dam upgrades are putting at risk the credit rating of WaterNSW, the agency tasked with building the dams.

The New South Wales water minister, Melinda Pavey, faced questions on the controversial projects in the upper house on Monday.

Male called OR-93 makes longest tracked journey of any wolf in a century but elsewhere in US killing of wolves resumes

A grey wolf has made the longest tracked journey of any wolf over the last century, venturing hundreds of miles from its home range in Oregon to California’s Sierra Nevada.

Related: 'There's a degree of mistrust': a third of US military personnel refuse Covid vaccine

Large land protection package combines various bills that languished under Trump – but now must pass a divided Senate

The US House of Representatives has passed a historic public lands preservation bill that pledges to protect nearly 3m acres of federal lands in Colorado, California, Washington and Arizona.

The act combines various bills that languished without Senate approval during the Trump administration. Key provisions include permanently banning new uranium mining on land surrounding the Grand Canyon, giving wilderness designation to 1.5m acres of federal land, and preserving 1,000 river miles by adding them to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

The revised emissions data reflects better understanding of the role highly potent methane gas plays in global warming

The Australian government has acknowledged it previously underestimated the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and has increased the official estimate for every year on record.

Revised data in the latest quarterly emissions update shows Australia pumped out the equivalent of 272.5m more tonnes of heat-trapping gas between 2000 and 2020 than suggested in the last report three months ago.

Judge says firm’s breach of environmental standards in 2016 amounted to ‘high negligence’

Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, has been fined £2.3m for a pollution incident in 2016 that resulted in the death of 1,200 fish and damaged the environment.

The incident, involving a leak of untreated sewage with a high ammonia content into the Fawley Court ditch and stream that flows into the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, happened between 21 and 24 April 2016.

Without modifying human behaviour we run the risk of violent weather swings and a drastic effect on crops and ocean life

The ocean circulation that keeps our relatively northern corner of Europe warm(ish) is often likened to a gigantic conveyor belt bringing warm equatorial water northwards at the surface, balanced by cold southward flow at great depth. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short, brings heat energy northward at the equivalent rate of 10 Hiroshima bombs every second and keeps our weather mild, and just a little bit too damp, and is critical to the wider climate.

New research has provided important long-term context for scientists’ observations of these Atlantic currents that bring warmth and climatic stability to our shores, with concerning implications for the coming century. Changes in the AMOC in the geologic past have caused significant local and global impacts, and for several decades now oceanographers have been monitoring its strength.

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures, including a bat rescue mission and knitted nests for injured birds

Secretary general António Guterres says first assessment of promises amounts to ‘red alert for our planet’

The first assessment of countries’ pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, a vital component of the Paris climate agreement, has found they are only a fraction of the effort needed to avoid climate breakdown.

If all of the national pledges submitted so far were fulfilled, global emissions would be reduced by only 1% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. Scientists have said a 45% reduction is needed in the next 10 years to keep global heating to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris agreement.

By dropping boulders on the bottom of the seabed, Greenpeace is preventing trawlers from ploughing up vital habitat

Our oceans are in crisis. I saw it for myself while I was making my television series Hugh’s Fish Fight for Channel 4 over a decade ago. I saw the most destructive fishing practices first-hand, as I dived over the sea floor within minutes of fishing boats dragging their metal-toothed gear along the bottom and scraping everything in their path. And I witnessed the desert they created.

Related: Global freshwater fish populations at risk of extinction, study finds

Project aims to inspire UK equivalent of hanami – the Japanese custom of relishing fleeting sight and scent of blossom

The joyful sight of trees bursting into blossom during the first Covid lockdown last spring gave comfort and hope to countless people confined indoors or only allowed to roam very briefly outside.

Almost 12 months on a conservation charity is leading a major project to create “blossom circles” in cities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to provide spaces for reflection and optimism to aid the emotional recovery from the pandemic.

Scheme will issue vouchers to just 49,000 people by end of March at current rate, analysis finds

The government’s flagship green homes grant scheme will help just 8% of its target 600,000 households switch to renewable energy by the end of March, analysis reveals.

The £2bn for the scheme is being withdrawn at the end of next month. Analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank reveals that at the current rate it will issue vouchers to just 49,000 members of the public by that time.

Whistleblower says birds are dying ‘in a pretty rough way’ from heat stress and lack of water on journeys in England and Wales

Chickens are “dying like flies” in their millions while being transported from farms to abattoirs because of poorly ventilated lorries, a whistleblower has told the Guardian.

Around one million chickens are dead on arrival at slaughterhouses in England and Wales every year, according to data collected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and analysed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Guardian.

Although the number of deaths in transit is just a fraction of the one billion birds slaughtered every year in the UK, the government said this week that the figures were “worrying” and reducing deaths was a driving force behind its new proposals to restrict the transport of live animals. A consultation on the issue closed this week.

Auditors say emissions down just 1% since 2011 and target of zero emissions by 2050 is a long way off

Carbon emissions from passenger cars across Britain have fallen by just 1% since 2011, despite a steep rise in the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has said.

The National Audit Office said the popularity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and an increase in road traffic were among factors that have cancelled out expected reductions from low-emission car sales.

A ‘confronting and sobering’ report details degradation of coral reefs, outback deserts, tropical savanna, Murray-Darling waterways, mangroves and forests

Leading scientists working across Australia and Antarctica have described 19 ecosystems that are collapsing due to the impact of humans and warned urgent action is required to prevent their complete loss.

A groundbreaking report – the result of work by 38 scientists from 29 universities and government agencies – details the degradation of coral reefs, arid outback deserts, tropical savanna, the waterways of the Murray-Darling Basin, mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and forests stretching from the rainforests of the far north to Gondwana-era conifers in Tasmania.

Males use vocal trickery to fool females into thinking a threat is lurking, giving them time to sow their genetic seeds

Male lyrebirds in the throes of sexual union will mimic the sound of a distressed mob of other birds to fool their mate and stop her from escaping, new research from Australia has found.

The remarkable discovery was made after analysing audio and video of superb lyrebirds – a species known for extravagant dance routines and an ability to imitate the calls of more than 20 other species.