Environment news

• Storm Bella helps Great Britain set new record for wind power generation

  28-12-2020 18:47
  
  On Boxing Day more than half of country’s daily electricity came from wind turbines More than half of Great Britain’s daily electricity came from wind turbines for the first time on Boxing Day, as the country headed for its “greenest year on record”, due in part to the coronavirus.As Storm Bella arrived, bringing gusts of up to 100mph, wind provided 50.7% of Great Britain’s electricity according to data charting the power generation mix. Continue reading...
  
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• Lockdown awakened our interest in nature, but it mustn't be at the expense of wildlife | Isabella Tree

  28-12-2020 16:00
  
  A surge in outdoor activity in the UK has exposed how vital it is to balance human needs with those of the natural worldIt has been a year of extremes for nature. Under the first lockdown in spring, wildlife was suddenly left to its own devices. There were wild goats in the streets of Llandudno, peacocks in Bangor, sheep cavorting on playground roundabouts in Raglan in Monmouthshire. With verges left unmown by councils, roadsides erupted with wildflowers. There was respite for the estimated 100,
  
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• New nectar: could artificial pollen make life sweeter for bees?

  28-12-2020 15:41
  
  In winter, starved of pollen and lacking natural forage, honeybee colonies can easily falter. But nutritious substitutes may be the answer
  When beekeepers from across the US drive millions of hives on trucks to pollinate California’s almond crops in January, there simply isn’t enough food for them to eat until the million-plus acres of almond trees start to bloom in early spring.California’s booming almond industry has created a vast monoculture, with little natural forage. The
  
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• Atlantic discovery: 12 new species 'hiding in the deep'

  28-12-2020 13:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A dozen ocean species new to science could already be threatened by climate change, scientists find.
  
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• UK beach clean: disco ball and pink pants among oddest items found

  28-12-2020 11:32
  
  Crisp packets, cup lids and wet wipes among the more mundane objects commonly encountered
  A full-size disco ball, a plastic Christmas tree and a double mattress were among the more unusual objects found by volunteers cleaning up the UK’s beaches this autumn.The most common polluting items retrieved in the Marine Conservation Society’s annual clean of coastal areas were pieces of plastic or polystyrene, plastic takeaway cup lids and wet wipes. Continue reading...
  
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• Is nuclear fusion the answer to the climate crisis?

  28-12-2020 11:00
  
  Promising new studies suggest the long elusive technology may be capable of producing electricity for the grid by the end of the decadeIf all goes as planned, the US will eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity sector by 2035 – an ambitious goal set by President-elect Joe Biden, relying in large part on a sharp increase in wind and solar energy generation. That plan may soon get a boost from nuclear fusion, a powerful technology that until recently had seemed far out of
  
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• I couldn’t stop Brexit, but I could do my bit to save the planet

  28-12-2020 08:00
  
  I needed something to fight for after the People’s Vote campaign collapsed. So I unleashed my inner ecowarriorAnyone who objects to my incessant posting of tree photos on social media can blame Georgia Gould, the leader of Camden council and the daughter of the Labour strategist Philip Gould (RIP). Last year, as the People’s Vote campaign collapsed, Georgia – who is always looking out for the health and happiness of others – was very clear about where she thought my energ
  
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• Alastair Campbell: I couldn’t stop Brexit, but I could do my bit to save the planet

  28-12-2020 08:00
  
  I needed something to fight for after the People’s Vote campaign collapsed. So I unleashed my inner ecowarriorAnyone who objects to my incessant posting of tree photos on social media can blame Georgia Gould, the leader of Camden council and the daughter of the Labour strategist Philip Gould (RIP). Last year, as the People’s Vote campaign collapsed, Georgia – who is always looking out for the health and happiness of others – was very clear about where she thought my energ
  
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• Call the cavalry! Horses ride to rescue of an inner city garden

  28-12-2020 07:30
  
  Mounted City of London police receive a surprise order: to help trample in wildflower seeds at the Barbican‘Nature survives in the tiniest corners’: the City of London’s wild heartRead more in our series Biodiversity: what happened next?It’s not often that the City of London’s police horses are asked to trample on someone’s garden. But when the request came, it wasn’t made by a spiteful neighbour but a group of community wildlife gardeners who wanted div
  
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• Year of extreme weather creates confusion for Britain's flora and fauna

  28-12-2020 07:00
  
  National Trust review has warned that the climate emergency is clearly leading to more erratic conditionsIt was a year of extremes as far as the weather was concerned: pounding rain, violent summer storms, some mild winter months and periods of searing sunshine.An annual audit of how this year’s weather has affected flora and fauna in the UK has concluded that it was, to say the least, a challenging 12 months. Continue reading...
  
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• How a 'tree mortgage' scheme could turn an Indian town carbon neutral

  28-12-2020 07:00
  
  Kerala villagers are reaping the benefits of a scheme that pays them to leave their trees rooted, reducing risk of deforestationIn the misty, hilly terrain of Wayanad, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the people with any access to land in the quiet town of Meenangadi have been out counting their trees.Sheeja CG, a 46-year-old farmer, has lived among coffee, coconut and pepper plantations all her life but last month she increased her income dramatically by mortgaging 53 of her trees at the
  
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• Country diary: nature shakes and shimmers in this watery world

  28-12-2020 06:30
  
  Slapton Ley, Devon: After drawing for an hour I have only a page of scribbles – pathetic attempts to describe this placeThis is a disappearing watery world – always on the verge of surrender to the churning belt of brine beyond the shingle bank.The path in midwinter is flooded and, standing with my sketchbook, feet like the reeds’ in the clear dark water, I think of Elizabeth Bishop’s poem Sandpiper: “… that every so often the world is bound to shake”.
  
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• Climate change: Extreme weather causes huge losses in 2020

  28-12-2020 00:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Hurricanes, floods and wildfires wreaked havoc, causing deaths and a huge financial impact.
  
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