Environment news

• The Guardian view on Jair Bolsonaro: a danger to Brazil, and the world | Editorial

  05-04-2021 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The far-right president has given Covid-19 and the razing of the Amazon free rein. Now it looks like he plans to cling on whatever voters sayThe prospect of the rightwing extremist Jair Bolsonaro becoming Brazil’s president was always frightening. This was a man with a history of denigrating women, gay people and minorities, who praised authoritarianism and torture. The nightmare has proved even worse in reality. Not only has he used a dictatorship-era national security law to pursue criti
  
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• Create national parks around UK coastline, conservation group says

  05-04-2021 17:05 via theguardian.com
  
  National parks in sea could bring greater protections for habitats, says Blue Marine Foundation
  National parks should be created in the waters around the UK coast to help conserve fragile marine habitats and give people access to more of Britain’s natural heritage, a marine conservation group has said.Blue Marine Foundation has identified 10 areas around the coast that it said could be designated national parks within the next 10 years. Designation could bring greater protections for habit
  
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• What’s the buzz? Why the cottagecore garden trend is great for bees and biodiversity

  05-04-2021 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  The interiors trend will also be seen outside this summer – bringing colour, life and beauty to our green spacesName: Cottagecore gardens.Age: Very now, but inspired by then, if you see what I mean. Continue reading...
  
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• If the government cares about freedom of expression, why is it passing the police and crime bill? | Kirsty Brimelow

  05-04-2021 14:45 via theguardian.com
  
  The new legislation would crush the principle of policing by consent in the UK and stifle democratic changeKirsty Brimelow is a QC and barrister at Doughty Street ChambersThe timing of the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill has generated precisely what it was seeking to minimise: more protests. Police clashed with “kill the bill” protesters in Bristol for the fourth time in a fortnight this weekend, as more than 1,000 people gathered to oppose the new legislation, bringing tra
  
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• Bill Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. Why? | Nick Estes

  05-04-2021 14:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Gates has been buying land like it’s going out of style. He now owns more farmland than my entire Native American nationBill Gates has never been a farmer. So why did the Land Report dub him “Farmer Bill” this year? The third richest man on the planet doesn’t have a green thumb. Nor does he put in the back-breaking labor humble people do to grow our food and who get for far less praise for it. That kind of hard work isn’t what made him rich. Gates’ achievement
  
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• Meet Arizona's water one percenters

  05-04-2021 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In the deserts of Phoenix, two cities are emerging: one is water-rich, the other water-poorEvery two weeks, Dawn Upton floods her lawn. She treks into her back yard, twists open two valves big as dinner plates, and within minutes is ankle-deep in water.“You have to have irrigation boots, girl,” she says during a video tour of her property in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. She flips her camera to reveal green grass, then tilts her phone skyward at four towering palm trees. As she
  
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• Nuts for coco de mer: islanders rally to save world’s biggest seed

  05-04-2021 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The rare palm that bears this botanical icon grows wild on just two islands in Seychelles. Now locals are helping to save it in a new planting scheme“The coco de mer is a much-loved cultural and botanical icon of the Seychelles,” says Katy Beaver, a plant expert on the islands who has been studying the rare palm for many years. The coco de mer, also known as the sea coconut or double coconut, is endemic to the islands and produces the largest and heaviest seeds in the world, a fascin
  
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• Extinction Rebellion to step up campaign against banking system

  05-04-2021 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Group aims to highlight financial sector’s role in climate crisis through escalation in tactics this weekExtinction Rebellion is planning to step up its campaign against the banking system with a series of direct action protests and debt strikes in the coming weeks aimed at highlighting the financial sector’s role in the escalating climate crisis.Last week the group targeted Barclays Bank’s headquarters in London and the Bank of England as well as high street branches across th
  
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• Country diary: a Welsh noir film set, with the weather to match

  05-04-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: This cluster of farm cottages is the filming location for a dark drama, with the wet landscape amply providing the palette of stark tones and dour contrast the genre demandsThe growing bank of cloud to the west edged closer, further dimming the afternoon light and bringing the threat of rain. Returning from a long walk, I paused by the crossroads to decide the final part of my route. On a whim, I took a shortcut past the old house I used to rent, many years ago. One of a
  
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• Vitamin D: The truth about an alleged Covid ‘cover-up’

  05-04-2021 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The vitamin is being studied - but why do some claim evidence is being ignored?
  
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