The Guardian

In the wake of devastation caused by wildfires, most recently in Australia, experts are seeking ways of limiting their impact by managing forests better

Vast waves of fire have torn through Australia in recent months, leaving forests of skinned trees in their wake. The wildfires have been one of the most damaging in the country’s history – more than 11m hectares (27m acres) have burned, killing 33 people and decimating wildlife populations.

But they are just the latest in a succession of destructive blazes that have been flaring across the planet – even in the Arctic circle – in the past five years. The response from authorities, in Australia, the Americas and the Mediterranean often seems scrambled and ineffective.

Power baron questions whether there is sound business case for project, saying government would need to indemnify it

Politically connected power baron Trevor St Baker says there is no way a new coal-fired power plant will proceed at Collinsville unless the Morrison government agrees to shield the project from a change of climate policy.

A day after Scott Morrison left open the option of his government indemnifying a new coal plant in Collinsville from future carbon risk, St Baker told Guardian Australia no project at that scale could proceed without an indemnity from the commonwealth.

The combination of extreme weather events will have cascading impacts on fish, platypus and invertebrates, threatening some with extinction

Australia’s rivers are being hit by a “triple whammy” of impacts that will have serious and long-term effects on species and could push some to extinction, according to experts.

Drought, bushfires in river catchments and now widespread heavy rain in the east of the country have created a cascade of impacts on fish, invertebrates and platypus.

Burning gas, coal and oil costs global economy $8bn a day and particularly harms children

Air pollution from burning fossil fuels is responsible for more than 4m premature deaths around the world each year and costs the global economy about $8bn a day, according to a study.

The report, from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, found that burning gas, coal and oil causes three times the number of deaths as road traffic accidents globally.

Sam Rowley’s Station Squabble, featuring a pair of mice fighting over a scrap of food at a London tube station, has been crowned winner of the wildlife photographer of the year: Lumix people’s choice award. The image, among 25 shortlisted for the competition, will be displayed in an exhibition at the Natural History Museum until 31 May

• Officials say dolphins had what looked like bullet wounds
• Dead mammals found in waters off Naples and Pensacola

US federal authorities have offered a reward of up to $20,000 after two dolphins were found with gruesome and life-ending injuries along Florida’s Gulf coast in recent weeks.

Related: DDT and other banned chemicals pose threat to vulnerable dolphins on Great Barrier Reef

Campaigners concerned about lack of urgency over talks due to be hosted in Glasgow

Climate protesters and youth activists must play a leading role in the UN climate talks to be hosted in Glasgow this year, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as she vowed to find ways to include civil society more fully in the negotiations.

“It’s very important that we make sure COP26 is inclusive. I want a broad range of events to help ensure that everyone feels they have a part to play in this,” Scotland’s first minister said at a conference in London. “That’s the kind of movement we need to create around this, that can be a hugely powerful voice for change.”

Stress, financial hardship and ill-health among lasting effects, researchers find

Chronic ill-health, loss of financial stability and anxiety brought on by heavy rainfall are just some of the enduring effects of flooding on individuals, according to the first UK study to examine the long-term impact on communities.

As the aftermath of Storm Ciara brings disruption to Scotland and the north of England, the report highlights the importance of ongoing support for flooded households and communities.

At least 250 unaccounted for after heavy rainfall across Pacific north-west overwhelmed cage of fish waiting to be released

A pioneering tribal biodiversity project to restore the sacred Pacific lamprey population has been dealt a major blow after huge floods washed away hundreds of fish before they could be released into the wild.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) have spent two decades reintroducing the lamprey into tributaries of the Columbia River after US government dams and industrial fishing wiped out the endemic species.

Breathe GB warns of damage to lungs and performance in survey of training grounds

Britain’s future sporting performance could be hampered by air pollution because some training grounds are in areas with dangerously high pollution levels, a report has revealed.

The Breathe GB study analysed pollution levels at 94 sporting sites, with one of the highest recorded levels at Birmingham’s Perry Park, host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Minister refuses to comment on speculation he could take over UK’s COP 26 preparations

Michael Gove has implicitly criticised the US and Brazilian presidents for their scepticism about the climate emergency, as he refused to comment on speculation that he could be put in charge of government preparations for UN climate crisis talks.

Gove, a Cabinet Office minister with a wide-ranging government role, used a speech opening an event looking ahead to COP 26 to express strong views on the UK’s likely role at the summit it is hosting in Glasgow in November.

After Storm Gloria devastated one of the Mediterranean’s largest wetlands, an urgent search has begun for solutions to protect it from further floods and creeping water levels

A month after Storm Gloria battered the east coast of Spain, the extent of the devastation to the Ebro Delta is only now becoming clear. Those whose livelihoods depend on the region are demanding solutions amid fears that rising seas will further threaten the fragile ecosystems of the Mediterranean’s most important wetland.

Storm Gloria brought rain, snow and flooding to most of Spain, but it was the east coast that was hardest hit, with high winds whipping the normally placid Mediterranean with such ferocity that plastic containers of products that haven’t been on the market in decades washed up on Catalan beaches.

Co-chair of all-party parliamentary group on cycling and walking sets out a manifesto for active travel

The all-party parliamentary group for cycling and walking has, in collaboration with its 80 member groups, set out a manifesto for cycling and walking. The economic case for investment in these modes of travel is strong. We get £5.50 for every £1 we invest and the benefits are cross-cutting: a healthier population; stronger, safer local communities; better access to jobs and education; and lower levels of pollution.

Almost three years ago the government committed to a cycling and walking investment strategy for England, with a stated aim to return walking levels to 300 stages (ie part of a journey) per person per year, double cycling stages by 2025 and increase walking to school. As many people pointed out at the time, the investment strategy had little in the way of actual investment. Indeed, dedicated funding for cycling from government since then has been sporadic and meagre, with only a handful of cities investing at the levels required to catch up with the level we see in neighbouring, successful countries for active travel such as the Netherlands.

Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season has taken 33 lives, destroyed thousands of homes, shrouded cities in smoke and devastated the country’s unique wildlife. Guardian Australia surveys the damage

Victorian forest and wildlife officers, with the help of the Australian defence force, are using drone and infrared technology in a search and rescue operation for koalas affected by recent bushfires

A rash of newly approved mines could destroy swathes of the Hasdeo Arand forest – and with it the biodiversity local villagers depend on for survival

Words and photographs by Brian Cassey

Laksmi Shankar Porte emerged from the forest. In his hands were an axe, a small scythe and a large crop of grass. Like many of the Gond people living in India’s Hasdeo Arand forest, he will use the grass to make ropes, brooms and mats.

The Hasdeo Arand is one of the largest contiguous stretches of dense forest in central India, covering about 170,000 hectares (420,080 acres) of the state of Chhattisgarh. It is rich in biodiversity, contains many threatened species and is home to elephants, leopards and sloth bears.

Experts concerned young people’s mental health particularly hit by reality of the climate crisis

Over the past few weeks Clover Hogan has found herself crying during the day and waking up at night gripped by panic. The 20-year-old, who now lives in London, grew up in Queensland, Australia, cheekbyjowl with the country’s wildlife, fishing frogs out of the toilet and dodging snakes hanging from the ceiling.

The bushfires ravaging her homeland over the past few weeks have taken their toll. “I’ve found myself bursting into tears … just seeing the absolutely harrowing images of what’s happening in Australia – it is overwhelming and terrifying.”

Without urgent action, rising sea levels by end of century could leave cities under water

A series of detailed maps have laid bare the scale of possible forest fires, floods, droughts and deluges that Europe could face by the end of the century without urgent action to adapt to and confront global heating.

An average one-metre rise in sea levels by the end of the century – without any flood prevention action – would mean 90% of the surface of Hull would be under water, according to the European Environment Agency.

512,452 megalitre deluge across all the city’s catchments equivalent of nine months’ worth of water in less than a week

• NSW floods and weather: rain eases but chaos continues – live

The water level in Sydney’s dams has risen by more than 20 percentage points in one day after torrential rain on Sunday brought the best inflows for nearly three years.

More than 363,681 megalitres flowed into Warragamba Dam alone on Sunday as the dam rose from 43.8% to 61.8% of capacity. Across all of Sydney’s catchments, 512,452 megalitres poured in.

Wolf known as OR-54 left home in Oregon in search of a mate, and scientists tracked her progress – until she died last week

A young female gray wolf bid goodbye to her family, left home and crossed the state line into California to find love.

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