Guardian picture editor Fiona Shields explains why we are going to be using fewer polar bears and more people to illustrate our coverage of the climate emergency

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At the Guardian we want to ensure that the images we publish accurately and appropriately convey the climate crisis that we face. Following discussions among editors about how we could change the language we use in our coverage of environmental issues, our attention then turned to images. We have been working across the organisation to better understand how we aim to visually communicate the impact the climate emergency is having across the world.

Related: The Guardian's climate pledge 2019

If you’re gardening more than usual, try not to disturb the legless lizard, which can mate for up to 10 hours at a time in May

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Under a small, sun-baked mat, a curled metallic-gold slow worm lies basking in the heat, the dark stripe running down its body revealing its youth. Sensing attention, it begins to wriggle away, revealing a companion, which speeds rapidly into the grasses in the opposite direction.

After a winter of social distancing, slow worms – a type of legless lizard that grows up to half a metre long and is often mistaken for a snake – have been venturing out of hibernation to enjoy warming their cold-blooded bodies in the spring sun.

Lockdown has allowed us a glimpse of how different our cities could be in a carbon-neutral world

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“When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”

Never can John Wyndham’s opening lines from The Day of the Triffids have been quite so apt. My friends in London tell me that the heart of the city, like other great conurbations all around the world, is eerily quiet. It is almost as if a neutron bomb has struck, removing in an instant all signs of human life, while leaving buildings, roads and other man-made artefacts perfectly intact.

The Guardian investigates fire in the state of Pará - to reveal the loopholes that allow deforestation to be legitimised

We found the first fire without looking, crackling and roaring on farmland beside the busy Amazon highway, the flames consuming a road sign with its name – BR-163 – lying in the grass. Trucks thundered past, ferrying soya and corn from the agricultural heartlands of Brazil’s central-west to the ports of Santarém and Miritituba. Nobody was around.

Every year fires roar across the Amazon, and in just a few months they will be here again. But last August the number of blazes reached a nine-year high, and sparked an international crisis for Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Months later, their traces hung over the forests in the Amazon state of Pará, leaving blackened logs and charred tree stumps where there was once rainforest.

From making their own toothpaste to foraging locally for edible plants, more and more people are learning to cut the amount of rubbish they throw out. Here’s how they do it

Through my work, I have seen the huge amount of waste and recycling that we produce. Watching an incinerator for half an hour shocked me and made me want to take action. I was standing on a balcony wearing a full body suit and goggles watching gigantic grabbers emptying waste from trucks. The scale is so shocking and you realise how tiny we are compared to the amount of waste we create. I don’t want to contribute to that wastefulness and it has made me want to take action.

Tapirs in South America, hirolas in Somalia, hornbills in Indonesia, chimps in Nigeria, tamarins in Brazil and frogs in South Africa ... the ‘green Oscars’ recognise and celebrate the achievements of the animals’ grassroots protectors

The 46-year-old actress is now revealing the agony she went through before receiving a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) last August."Ever since my son was born, I was in an MS flare-up and didn't know, and I was giving it everything to seem normal," Blair told Robin Roberts in an interview that aired Tuesday on "Good Morning America." "And I was self-medicating when he wasn't with me. Blair recalled that she would get so fatigued prior to her diagnosis that she would need to pull over to take a nap after dropping her son, now 7, off at his school one mile away from their home. During her interview with "GMA" at her Los Angeles home, Blair was in an "exacerbation" of MS, or an attack that causes new symptoms or the worsening of existing symptoms.

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A health economist who has taught on both sides of the border examines the difference between Canada and the United States.

Los avistamientos del avispón asiático gigante han provocado temores de que el insecto se establezca en Estados Unidos y extermine a las poblaciones de abejas.

This six-bedroom house on the coast of Prince Edward Island sits on an isolated nine-acre lot. It is on the market for $1.67 million.

Canada’s smallest province remains one of its most affordable, despite a shortage of inventory exacerbated by the pandemic.

I support release of the Mueller report — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 4, 2019

Nielsen: "I just want to thank the President, again." pic.twitter.com/5m8WSU9Xej — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 8, 2019

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Monday called for ousted Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles to testify before...

Following the ousters of the Homeland Security secretary and Secret Service director, and the withdrawal of the would-be ICE director’s...

Rep. Mike McCaul was tapped on to head a GOP House panel scrutinizing China. Disclosures show his family holds stock in a Chinese internet company.

Millions more coronavirus tests will be needed to safely reopen the country, the chairman of the Senate HELP Committee said at a hearing Thursday.

The co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation cited a lack of national coordination.

Using data from the COVID Tracking Project, we’re following how each state is responding to COVID-19.

“Returning these funds will allow truly small businesses ... to obtain the emergency loans they need to avoid layoffs," they write.

“I stood up for the truth and performed at the highest levels,” Sessions said.

Countries scramble to fill the plates of the most vulnerable.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn is asymptomatic and tested negative for the virus on Friday, one senior administration official said.

Compared to the Great Recession, fewer male and blue-collar workers have lost jobs, while women, Latinos, African Americans and young workers have been hit hardest.

The California governor, who previously endorsed Sen. Kamala Harris, had yet to formally throw his support behind Biden.

Republicans are raising Brett Kavanaugh to criticize Democrats over what they say is hypocrisy over a sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden.

In a recording obtained by POLITICO, Michigan Senate hopeful John James criticizes the president over his 'shithole countries' remark and other comments.

HEART attack are serious medical emergencies which could be fatal. When it comes to reducing your risk of developing the condition, avoiding this type of food is strongly advised.

HAY FEVER is an allergic reaction to pollen. Expert nutritionist Hannah Braye details seven anti-inflammatory foods to include in your diet that may minimise symptoms.

For this Colorado retirement community, living near a fracking site has been a nightmare. Now they can’t even leave.

The Pentagon can't prevent a pandemic.

Two new reports argue that renewable energy and battery storage can make so-called peaker plants obsolete.

All good things must end, and although The CW’s cast for The 100 has survived several apocalypses in the course of the series, the seventh season is its last. The trailer for the 16-episode final season, which starts on Wed. May 20 at 8 PM ET/PT on The CW, has just been released. Upon completion […]

Actor Nick Cordero’s wife, Amanda Kloots, has once again posted on her husband’s condition as he battles the COVID-19 virus. Cordero has had horrible complications since being hospitalized more than a month ago. His struggle has been memorialized by Kloots on Instagram, and she has again updated his health status. Kloots shared in an Instagram […]

Bill Maher’s final “New Rule” on Friday’s Real Time With Bill Maher was, as usual, a doozie. “The liberal media and liberal party,” said Maher, “is doing…exactly what Republicans want: for us to go down the rabbit hole of ‘Joe Biden, sex monster.'” Maher was of course referring to allegations made by Tara Reade, who […]

UPDATE, 10:31 PM: Joe Biden finally received an official endorsement from Gavin Newsom tonight, but the California Governor was the recipient of some high praise from the former Vice-President and the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for his executive electoral move against coronavirus earlier Friday. “Gavin, you’ve done one helluva job, and thank you for your support […]

Chinese authorities will allow further leisure venues, including cinemas, to gradually re-open now that the coronavirus pandemic has largely been controlled in the country, the top administrative body said on Friday. This comes after movie theaters were shuttered nationwide in January, ultimately dealing a $2.5B+ loss to the box office in just the first quarter. […]

Little Richard, the wild singer/pianist/songwriter who was one of rock ‘n roll’s pioneers, has died at age 87. His death was confirmed by his son, but the cause was not given. Little Richard’s catalog of hits is still performed by many bar bands to this day, and the songs were recorded by such acts as […]

Terminally ill serial killer Ivan Milat is transferred from the medical wing of Long Bay Jail to Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital to receive pain relief as his health takes a turn for the worse.

The Labor Party has walked out of the NSW Legislative Assembly after Opposition Leader Jody McKay is thrown out by the Speaker.

With the all clear to begin clearing land at Mount Gilead for a 1,700-home housing estate, there have been renewed calls for a national park isolating the area's koalas.

Jacob Fuller, the son of NSW's top cop Mick Fuller, pleads guilty to drink driving while on a suspended license. The P-plater blew 0.031 when he was tested on the Prince's Highway last month.

On a property hidden in bushland are old cars, tractors, motorbikes, trucks and sulkies from a bygone era that once belonged to an Australian politician and obsessive collector.

New documents raise questions over UNSW's investigation of its star cancer researcher, Levon Khachigian.

Farmers are entitled to a new, one-off payment from the Federal Government to help them decide if their farm is sustainable or could be sold.

MORNING BRIEFING: Archbishop Glenn Davies says anyone in favour of same-sex marriage should step away from the church and not "ruin it", while a Sydney prison officer is charged with having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate.