President Trump is preparing executive orders that will curtail Obama-era policies on climate and water, the Washington Post reports, citing “individuals briefed on the measures”. The orders could come “as soon as this week” but will take time to implement, the paper adds. One would begin the process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan and lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing. The appointment of Scott Pruitt to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency sets the stage for a Trump “assault”, reports the Hill. Its story also says Trump could sign executive orders on climate an water this week. Separately, the Guardian profiles William Happer, the Princeton University physicist that could become Trumps science adviser. Happer, the Guardian says, is “pushing the same old [climate] denier myths”. It has canvassed the views of scientists on Happer’s climate views, which one describes as “not only unknowledgeable but…unmoored”.

It would be relatively cheap to retire Europe’s dirtiest coal-fired power stations using a carbon price floor of €30 per tonne, reports Bloomberg. The idea, supported by energy firms including EON, would cost EU citizens about €5 each per year through 2025, Bloomberg says, citing the Institute of Energy Economics in Cologne, Germany.

Saudi Arabia will begin seeking bidders next month in advance of an auction for 700 megawatts of wind and solar power, reports Bloomberg. The move is part of a planned $50bn renewable energy plan. Separately, the Times reports Saudi plans to float a stake in its state oil producer have been delayed until next year “at the earliest” because of the complexity of the transaction.

A 2008 lawsuit argued California “recklessly failed” to properly account for climate change when it drew up its long-term management plan for the Oroville Dam, reports Scientific American. The dam came close to failure last week after heavy rain. A special counsel on the lawsuit says “we anticipated that this crisis might come about”. Separately, Dana Nuccitelli writes in the Guardian that scientists “predicted decades ago” that climate change would add stress to systems like Oroville Dam. We should expect to see more emergencies of this kind, he adds.

Singapore will implement Southeast Asia’s first carbon tax from 2019, report Bloomberg and others. The move would raise energy costs by charging between $7 and $14 per tonne of CO2 and five other greenhouse gases. Announcing the move, Singapore’s finance minister called it the “most economically efficient and fair way” to cut emissions. Revenue will fund emissions cutting measures. The tax is likely to cover Singapore’s oil refineries, reports Reuters. Carbon Pulse also has the story.

The UK needs a more flexible electricity system if it is to make wind and solar cost-effective, says a UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) report covered by Reuters and others. The cost of generating electricity from renewables has fallen rapidly, the report notes. The additional costs imposed on the electricity system by renewables are “modest”, the report says, according to ReNews. The UK must take “urgent” action to increase system flexibility, UKERC says, according to BusinessGreen. Separately the Times reports on progress building an electricity connection between the UK and Norway, a move that will “bring reliable power supply under the sea” and help increase system flexibility.

Global warming is having devastating effects on coral reefs, researchers at the University of Exeter are warning, reports ITV News. Weather variability combined with rising temperatures is increasing coral bleaching, says the university’s professor Mat Collins.

Sydney just experienced its hottest January on record, with temperatures of up to 47C, says Paul Mason in the Guardian. Yet, he writes, “All over the world, know-nothing xenophobes are claiming – without evidence – that climate science is rigged.” He adds: “Opposition to climate science has become not just the badge of honour for far-right politicians like UKIP’s Paul Nuttall. It has become the central tenet of their appeal to unreason.” It is up to progressives to “fight back…and save the earth”, he says.

A “global furor among climate-change deniers” was triggered by “little more than lingering workplace bad blood” at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), says Hiroko Tabuchi in the New York Times. An “esoteric point” to do with archiving temperature data was amplified by David Rose in the Mail on Sunday, Tabuchi says, and used to suggest fraud at NOAA. The agency is now bringing in independent investigators to review the claims, Tabuchi notes.

The politically contentious issue of calculating countries’ contributions to climate change is strongly dependent on which method is used, a new study says. The researchers explore the different principles that can be applied for distributing efforts for reducing human-caused global warming. Their findings “support the view that there is no single correct answer to the question of how much each country has contributed.”

Warming conditions could see lakes and ponds take up less carbon dioxide and emit more methane, a new study suggests. In a first experiment of its kind, researchers warmed a series of ponds by 4-5C over seven years. At the end of the period, the ability of the ponds to absorb carbon dioxide was reduced by almost half, the researchers found, while methane release almost doubled. As the additional greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would cause more warming, such an impact of warming would create a positive feedback loop, the study says.

Atmospheric rivers — long, narrow streams of water vapour high up in the atmosphere — have played a role in up to 75% of extreme wind and rainfall or snowfall events over mid-latitude coastlines, a new study says. Between 1997 and 2014, landfalling atmospheric rivers occurred on around 30-35 days per year in western Canada, northern Europe, New Zealand and southern South America, the researchers say. For example, the majority of insurance losses over $1bn caused by extreme wind events in Europe over that time are linked to atmospheric rivers, the study notes.