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We know that warm waters fuel hurricanes, and Dorian was strengthened by waters well above average temperatures

The Bahamas, for those who live there, is simply a place to call home. For many Americans, it’s a dream vacation spot. But Hurricane Dorian turned that dream into a nightmare. And the worst part is this is only the beginning. Because unless we confront the climate crisis, warming will turn more and more of our fantastic landscapes, cities we call paradise and other dream destinations into nightmarish hellscapes.

Related: Hurricane Dorian edges 'dangerously close' to Florida after battering Bahamas

Germany leads complaint against plan to leave polluted remains of Shell rigs in place

The British government is facing growing outrage from the European commission and five EU member states over its plans to leave some decommissioned oil rigs in the North Sea, with one senior German official describing the UK’s proposal as a “grotesque idea” that amounts to a “ticking timebomb”.

Several hundred oil drilling platforms in the North Sea are due to be decommissioned over the next three decades as they approach the end of their operational lifetime.

Why didn’t a traffic-light scheme stop the recent fracking-induced tremors near Blackpool?

In theory, the chances of your house being shaken by a fracking-related earthquake are incredibly slim. In the UK, a traffic-light system is designed to minimise the risk of larger quakes occurring, with fracking halted if a tremor of magnitude 0.5ML (local magnitude) or above is recorded. So last week’s 2.1- and 2.9-magnitude fracking-related tremors near Blackpool came as a surprise, given a “red-light” 1.55-magnitude quake had occurred the previous Wednesday, and fracking at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site had been suspended.

“It suggests that the traffic-light scheme, even with what seemed like a conservative limit of [magnitude] 0.5, might not be appropriate,” says Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at Imperial College London. Trials in Finland have shown traffic-light schemes can help prevent quakes, so why didn’t it work on this occasion?

Hurricane Dorian hit Sunday as a Category 5 hurricane and then essentially parked itself over the island.

(Image credit: ICEYE)

‘The fight goes on,’ say activists after ignoring injunction at Cuadrilla site in Lancashire

Three anti-fracking activists have been given suspended prison sentences after breaking a ban on demonstrations which their lawyers argued “severely curtails the right to protest”.

The trio were convicted after ignoring an injunction brought by the energy company Cuadrilla to protect its Preston New Road site near Blackpool, Lancashire.

Amid questions over his eco-credentials, Harry has joined forces with travel industry firms to look at improving conservation and benefitting local communities

Prince Harry’s new charitable foundation, Sussex Royal, has helped launch an initiative to raise awareness of, and promote, sustainable travel. Travalyst is a collaboration between five companies – Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa – aimed at improving conservation efforts, protecting the environment and helping develop the economies of communities involved in the tourist industry.

John Browne, Lord Browne of Madingley, used to be the CEO oil and gas giant BP. In 1997, he talked about the existence of climate change.

(Image credit: © 2018 David Levenson)

Macron called on to legislate against ‘wackos’, including tourist who took dog to summit

A mayor in the French alps has urged Emmanuel Macron to take action against “wackos” climbing Mont Blanc, after incidents including a British tourist abandoning a rowing machine on western Europe’s highest peak.

Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais, who for years has sounded the alarm against overcrowding on Mont Blanc, said a member of the British “Royal Commandos”, thought to mean the Royal Marines, hauled up the exercise machine for a stunt on Saturday.

Hotter neighborhoods tend to be poorer in dozens of major U.S. cities. That extra heat can have serious health effects for those living there.

(Image credit: Sean McMinn/NPR)

Depths of lakes that hold about 90% of US’s freshwater spiking to record levels, from 14in to nearly 3ft above long-term averages

This summer, as rain relentlessly poured down on the Great Lakes region, Detroit declared a rare state of emergency. The swollen Detroit River had spilled into the low-lying Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood – an event not seen near this scale since 1986.

Volunteers sandbagged the area as the city’s overwhelmed sewer system spilled raw sewage into the river, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Across the channel from Jefferson Chalmers, water damaged the historic boathouse on Belle Isle, a 982-acre island park that remains partly shut down because of flooding.

Galicia has agreed to a cull of the creatures, which are turning up in unusually large numbers and feasting on the region’s key export

Galicia, in north-west Spain, has declared war on an apparently inoffensive creature that is putting livelihoods under threat.

The region’s shellfish farmers say that an unusually large population of starfish has begun devouring their crop of mussels, cockles and clams. They recently obtained permission from the regional government to cull the starfish, and divers have been hauling up hundreds of kilos a day.

It’s a lie that humanity has to choose between prosperity and protecting the future, former US secretary of state tells Australian conference

The former US secretary of state John Kerry has warned that humanity risks marching off a cliff unless governments take immediate action to fight the climate emergency.

In a keynote address to the Global Table food and agriculture conference, Kerry made veiled swipes at the Australian government’s lack of climate and energy policy. He also weighed in on the heated debate about the massive Adani coalmine proposed for north Queensland.

Las Vegas is the fastest-warming city in the United States. The city’s poorest residents are most at risk in the heat

The Clark county death investigator Jill Roberts vividly recalls the sunny 115F (46C) afternoon last summer when she entered a Las Vegas home with no functional air conditioning. The indoor heat felt even worse than the broiling temperature outside. She climbed up the stairs, through thick, stifling air, landing in a third-story bedroom where the resident had died in sweltering conditions. The room had no fan and the door was shut. It felt as if it couldn’t get any hotter.

“Our elements are unforgiving. Especially on those 115F days, it doesn’t take a lot,” Roberts told the Guardian. “In that situation I’ll go stand in the sun in the 115F heat to do my paperwork as opposed to staying in the house because it’s that hot.”

Newspaper says event ‘gives us cause for concern’ after protests outside its offices

The New York Times has scrapped plans to sponsor one of the world’s biggest oil industry conferences after pressure from climate campaigners including Extinction Rebellion.

There were protests outside the newspaper’s offices in Manhattan this month over the Oil and Money conference, which is in its 40th year and which green groups have called a “climate crime scene”.

Concern in New Zealand that trend of taking photographs with penguins and other creatures is having impact on feeding, breeding and birth rates

At the International Penguin Conference in New Zealand, the experts were worried. Among sobering discussions about the perils of the climate crisis and habitat loss, the unlikely issue of wildlife selfies photobombed the agenda, with increasing concern that the celebrity-fuelled search for that perfect shot is affecting animal behaviour.

Professor Philip Seddon, the director of Otago University’s wildlife management programme, said: ‘We’re losing respect for wildlife, we don’t understand the wild at all.”

Future Super, KeepCup and clean energy retailer Amber among 20 firms to join Not Business as Usual alliance

Australian tech company Atlassian is encouraging its workforce to take part in global climate strikes this month that will be held to coincide with the United Nations climate summit.

The software company is among an alliance of Australian and global companies urging businesses to support employees who want to strike in solidarity with students on 20 September.

Exclusive: AMA points to ‘clear scientific evidence indicating severe impacts for our patients and communities’

The Australian Medical Association has formally declared climate change a health emergency, pointing to “clear scientific evidence indicating severe impacts for our patients and communities now and into the future”.

The AMA’s landmark shift, delivered by a motion of the body’s federal council, brings the organisation into line with forward-leaning positions taken by the American Medical Association, the British Medical Association and Doctors for the Environment Australia.

Barclays and HSBC targeted on final day of protests against fossil fuel investments

Environmental protesters have glued themselves to banks in Manchester to protest against fossil fuel investments on the final day of Extinction Rebellion’s action in the city.

Nine activists stuck themselves to the pavement outside Barclays in Piccadilly Square, with a further two following suit at HSBC in St Ann’s Square on Monday.