EXPLAINED: 12 | Vintage Vibes

Country diary: For the gannets of Bass Rock, it’s a slow road to recovery

North Berwick, East Lothian: As I admire the aerial feats of house martins in Tantallon Castle, my eye is drawn across the water

The Guardian - UK · Aug 31

NSW may not be able to prosecute large-scale water theft due to doubts about licences for billions of litres

Successful legal challenge raises questions about hundreds of floodplain harvesting licences issued by former Coalition government

The Guardian - AU · Aug 30

Why solar bonds are a bright idea

Letter: A financial model that could cut the cost of installing solar panels for many homeowners is welcomed by Alexis Abramson

The Guardian - UK · Aug 30

Plug-in solar panels could save households up to $370 a year – if Australia made them legal as in the UK

A plug in solar kit that costs about $1,000 ‘pays for itself in three years’, one expert said

The Guardian - AU · Aug 29

Country diary: We’re going on a nurdle hunt

Whitley Bay, North Tyneside: A huge community effort is under way to clear up a spill of these disastrously resilient beads. We take a family trip to the beach to do our bit

The Guardian - UK · Aug 29

Is the environmental impact of datacentres finally cutting through?

In this week’s newsletter: Anti-datacentre sentiment is growing across the political spectrum in the US – and the public is only just finding out about the potential effects on their energy bills

The Guardian - UK · Aug 28

This US city only has one supermarket for 45,000 people. New legislation seeks to fix that

Big grocery can use anti-competitive clauses to block other stores from entering a market. Rhode Island is the second state to ban that practice

The Guardian - US · Aug 28

Corpus Christi Withholds Water to Wetlands While Lifting Restrictions on Lawns

Reservoirs have rebounded from critical levels, but an emergency order absolves the city of requirements to resume releasing water for the Nueces River Delta.

Texas Observer · Aug 28

'They were legends': Humpback whales make spectacular comeback off Brazil's coast

Once driven to the brink of extinction, humpback whales have thrived in the South Atlantic since a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling came into force in 1986, offering a bonanza to scientists who come each year to Brazil's Abrolhos archipelago to record and study the cetaceans.

France 24 · Aug 28

The chefs turning down the heat by switching from gas to electric

As well as being quieter, cheaper to run and easier to clean, induction cookers can cut kitchen temperatures by up to 10C

The Guardian - UK · Aug 28