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Hail smashes into Parliament House and brings down trees in the ACT, with more wild weather due to lash NSW and Victoria

Parts of New South Wales could be hit by hail the size of tennis balls and destructive, damaging winds as three major storm cells hit populated areas on Monday afternoon.

Storms have already caused havoc in the ACT today, with large hailstones smashing car windscreens and causing widespread damage across Canberra.

Nearly 50 threatened species believed to have had more than 80% of their area affected, including seven critically endangered plants

Nearly 50 nationally threatened animal and plant species are believed to have had at least 80% of the area in which they live affected by bushfire, a federal environment department analysis has found.

Another 65 have had more than half their area in the fire zone. Scientists have warned some affected species could be pushed to extinction.

Some companies have taken steps to combat crisis but report says more could be done

The world’s energy watchdog has warned the oil and gas industry that it risks a public backlash by failing to act on the climate crisis in favour of making short-term profits.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said oil companies must balance their desire for near-term returns and a long-term future by playing a much more significant role in combating the climate crisis.

32 schemes eligible for funding despite being unnecessary under move from fossil fuels

The European Investment Bank risks wasting €29bn (£25bn) of EU taxpayers’ money by overinvesting in gas projects which will be unnecessary under Europe’s climate action plans, according to a report.

The EIB vowed late last year to end its support for fossil fuels within the next two years to become the world’s first “climate bank”, but 32 gas projects are still eligible for funding before the crackdown.

Videos posted to social media show the clouds turning day into night in some areas

Damaging winds produced by thunderstorms across central New South Wales have whipped up dust storms that turned daytime into night in some towns.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a series of severe thunderstorm warnings on Sunday evening for inland NSW with the associated winds generating massive dust clouds.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Joel Kerley, an American helicopter pilot and wildfire manager who has been fighting the wildfires in Australia.

"When we organize, we model the world we want to see," says teenager Xiye Bastida. Activist girls like Bastida have been especially visible in the fight against climate change.

(Image credit: LA Johnson/NPR)

The lions, which live on the edge of the national park, will be moved to avoid conflicts with people and livestock

Tanzania will find a new home for 36 lions following a slew of attacks by the big cats on people and cattle.

The lions, an increasingly endangered species, live on the edge of the safari mecca of the Serengeti national park, but have been affected by encroaching human activity.

A year after a 90 metre-wide spinning sheet of ice drew global attention, another disc appears to be forming in the same river

What goes around comes around.

An ice disc appears to be forming in the same Maine river where an unusually large one formed last winter and quickly gained international fame.

Planning experts call for state governments to buy back land from people in most bushfire-prone areas

State governments have been warned against promising to recreate some communities destroyed by the bushfire crisis and urged to consider preventing homeowners from rebuilding their homes in the riskiest areas.

Three planning experts, including two who appeared on a planning panel convened for the Victorian Black Saturday royal commission, told Guardian Australia to avoid repeating what they considered the mistakes of past bushfire recoveries.

Rain is coming to parts of Australia that have burned, flooding some areas, damaging the vegetation and increasing the risk of landslides.

In Washington state's Skagit Valley, a conflict is unfolding between Native Americans and farmers. Elk are making a comeback there. Local tribes are thrilled, but the agriculture industry is not.

(Image credit: Megan Farmer/KUOW)

Deadly interaction between insects, drought and fire damage have forced California’s park officials to trigger climate crisis plans intended for the 2050s

• ‘This is not how sequoias die. It’s supposed to stand for another 500 years’

Giant sequoia trees, the largest living organisms on the planet – some more than three millennia old – have started dying from beetle attacks linked to the climate emergency, the preliminary findings of a new study have revealed.

The deaths of the trees, some of which lived through the rise and fall of hundreds of empires, caliphates and kingdoms – not to mention the inauguration of every US president – have shocked researchers in their speed and novelty.

Giant sequoias were thought to be immune to insects, drought and wildfires. Then the unthinkable happened: trees started to die – and scientists began the search for answers

• Beetles and fire kill dozens of ‘indestructible’ giant sequoia trees

Photographs by Mette Lampcov

The fable of the giant sequoia tree is an enduring tale of America’s fortitude. Standing quietly on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the Californian giants can survive almost anything – fire, disease, insect attack, cold years, hot years, drought – so the story goes.

The largest living organisms on the planet can grow over 90 metres (300ft) tall. When they do die after 3,000 years or so, the oldest trees, known as monarchs, usually succumb to their own size and collapse. Their giant trunks will rest on the forest floor for another millennia.

The court said the nearly two dozen young people who were trying to force action by the government on climate change did not have standing to sue. The judges said climate change is a political issue.

(Image credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Ecologist fears the Macleay River may take decades to recover, with heavy rains likely to affect other waterways

Hundreds of thousands of native fish are estimated to have died in northern New South Wales after rains washed ash and sludge from bushfires into the Macleay River.

Parts of the Macleay River – favoured by recreational fishers – have been turned into what locals described as “runny cake mix” that stank of rotting vegetation and dead fish.

Court confirms government’s contribution to the issue, but judges find they lack power to enforce climate policy decisions

The ninth circuit court of appeals ordered dismissal of a lawsuit brought by 21 youth plaintiffs against the federal government over climate crisis, citing concerns about separation of powers.

The case was brought against the government in 2015, charging that it sanctioned, permitted and authorized a fossil fuel system that compromised the youth plaintiffs’ civil right to property. It implied a constitutional right to a stable climate, and alleged that the government violated the public trust by failing to protect assets held in trust, notably the atmosphere.

The pick of the best flora and fauna photos from around the world, including an iguana and an injured leopard