Environment news

• Death toll for birds hitting buildings may be over 1 billion a year in US – report

  07-08-2024 20:00
  
  Only 40% of birds survive collisions with windows, researchers say, suggesting that mortality rates are far higher than previously thoughtLess than half of stunned or injured birds survive a collision with a window, research has found, pushing up estimates that more than 1 billion birds may die each year from flying into buildings in the US.In a new study published on Wednesday in Plos One, researchers examined how many birds recovered in rehabilitative care after a building collision. Older est
  
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• ‘It is OK to be content with your simple life’: is ‘underconsumption core’ the answer to too much shopping?

  07-08-2024 19:00
  Influencers are pushing back against consumerism by encouraging followers to repair or repurpose their stuff. But is this ‘trend’ just what many people call normal life?“This is your daily reminder that most of the content you see online is not the way most people live,” says sustainability influencer Sabrina Pare, in a video she posted to her 250,000 TikTok followers recently. “It is OK to be content with your simple life,” she continues as she makes her bed.
  
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• 400-year record heat threat to Great Barrier Reef

  07-08-2024 17:29 via bbc.com
  
  The highest sea temperatures in 400 years could threaten the reef's survival, say scientists.
  
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• Hottest ocean temperatures in 400 years an ‘existential threat’ to the Great Barrier Reef, researchers find

  07-08-2024 17:00
  
  Researchers say coral analysis shows recent extreme temperatures would not have happened without greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuelsGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastOcean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural wonder, according to new scientific research.Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a re
  
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• Hottest ocean temperatures in 400 years an ‘existential threat’ to the Great Barrier Reef, report finds

  07-08-2024 17:00
  
  Researchers say coral analysis shows recent extreme temperatures would not have happened without greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuelsGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastOcean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural wonder, according to new scientific research.Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a re
  
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• Greenwash Games? French public points finger at Coca-Cola over Olympics plastic waste

  07-08-2024 16:42
  Drinks giant under fire for over-use of bottles and cups despite organisers’ promise of greenest ever Games The Paris Olympics promised to be the most eco-friendly Games in history, reducing by half the amount of single-use plastic compared to London 2012.French environmental groups, however, have criticised what they called a “bizarre” and “surreal” sight at certain venues’ drinks stands run by the main sponsor, Coca-Cola. Servers can be seen filling plastic
  
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• For those with power and rich donors – the AC is always on, even if it’s melting outside | George Monbiot

  07-08-2024 13:30
  This has been a summer of extreme heat around the world. The Guardian is investigating how it harms our planet and leaves the world’s most vulnerable people exposed to its impact Support urgent, independent climate journalism todayA staple of dystopian science fictions is an inner sanctum of privilege and an outer world – chemical desert/airless waste/District 12 – peopled by the desperate poor. The insiders, living off the exploited labour of the outlands, are indifferent to t
  
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• The rise of ‘ento-veganism’: how eating crickets could help save the world

  07-08-2024 11:00
  
  They are a great source of protein and taste like beef or lamb when cooked. So are our kitchens and restaurants finally ready for the insect revolution?It is a warm summer afternoon in Finsbury Park, north London, and I am sitting in a restaurant preparing to eat a cricket ball. Fortunately for me, the object on the end of my fork is not five and a half ounces of cork, string and red leather; it’s only a meatball made out of crickets. Either way, it sounds like I just lost a bet.But the cr
  
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• Tropical Storm Debby deluges coastal US cities – in pictures

  07-08-2024 10:17
  The weather system has inundated parts of the country including Florida and Georgia, whipping up tornadoes and submerging streets in waist-high flood waters Continue reading...
  
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• UK failing to monitor apparently falling wasp populations, expert warns

  07-08-2024 08:27
  
  Gardeners and pest controllers say wasps, important predators and pollinators, appear to be in sharp declineThe UK is not doing enough to track wasp populations as numbers appear to plummet, a leading expert has warned.While there were national monitoring schemes for some invertebrates, including bees and butterflies, there was no such programme in place for wasps, said Dr Gavin Broad, principal curator of wasps at the Natural History Museum. Continue reading...
  
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• Specieswatch: Sand eel fishing ban offers hope of stock resurgence

  07-08-2024 07:00
  
  Overfishing has threatened not just sand eels, but seabirds and larger fish that rely on them for foodIf you have seen a sand eel, it is probably in a cute picture on a wildlife calendar hanging out of the beak of a puffin on the way to feed its young. Almost certainly you would have also eaten some, either in the form of fish oil, or because you have dined on farmed salmon.Raitt’s sand eel, Ammodytes marinus, is the most common of a number of species of sand eels that live round the coast
  
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• ‘I turned into a solar nerd’: money and fun were the unexpected benefits of installing panels

  07-08-2024 07:00
  
  Our former environment correspondent had solar panels installed in 2010 and later added a heat pump. He’s totted up the energy generated and cash saved over the yearsAn abiding memory of a day in August 2010, the first time my solar panels were connected to the grid, was of the builders downing tools and watching the electricity meter whiz round backwards.It was a sunny day and they were supposed to be finishing the plastering and insulation, but the novel sight of the old-style electricit
  
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• Country diary: A small market town, honeyed with sunset and old memories | Nicola Chester

  07-08-2024 06:30
  
  Rothwell, Northamptonshire: My connection to this place runs deep. What I loved most back then were the long walks with Mum and Nan, deep into the countrysideOn the way home from Birdfair in Rutland, England’s smallest county, we pass within three miles of a childhood “homeplace”. Rothwell, which we knew as “Rowell” in the Northamptonshire dialect, was home to my paternal grandparents and where Dad grew up. We arrange to meet my cousin Phil for an evening’s wa
  
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• Take a tour of the South Australian seabed on the back of a sea lion - video

  07-08-2024 06:15
  Eight Australian sea lions were enlisted to map the ocean floor by sticking cameras with satellite tracking to their backs. Almost 90 hours of footage and 500km later, conservationists hope to have much clearer ideas on how to protect the sea lions.  “I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”NSW shark nets to be removed a month early as more t
  
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• Royal Mint starts turning e-waste into gold

  07-08-2024 01:35 via bbc.com
  
  The UK’s coin-maker opens a new industrial plant to extract gold from old circuit boards.
  
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