Environment news

• One of four lynx captured in Scottish Highlands dies

  11-01-2025 18:01
  
  Postmortem will be carried out on wild cat, one of four humanely captured in Cairngorms after illegal releaseOne of the four lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands this week has died. The animal, which had been illegally released, was caught on Friday near Kingussie in the Cairngorms national park.The Eurasian lynx was one of four that had been discovered running wild in the Dell of Killiehuntly area. Two were captured on Thursday and are being kept in quarantine at Edinburgh zoo. The other pai
  
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• In utterly unsurprising news, Maga blames diversity for the Los Angeles wildfires | Arwa Mahdawi

  11-01-2025 15:00
  Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation, is saying it, so it must be trueWomen, eh? They’re simply not to be trusted. Eve ate that apple; Pandora opened that horrible little box; and now women are to blame for the devastating wildfires in California. I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s what Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation – and one of the most powerful people on Earth – is saying, so it must be true. Continue
  
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• In utterly unsurprising news, Maga blames diversity for the Los Angeles wildfires

  11-01-2025 15:00
  Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation, is saying it, so it must be trueWomen, eh? They’re simply not to be trusted. Eve ate that apple; Pandora opened that horrible little box; and now women are to blame for the devastating wildfires in California. I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s what Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation – and one of the most powerful people on Earth – is saying, so it must be true. Continue
  
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• How the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires: ‘We have tweaked nature and pissed it off’

  11-01-2025 15:00
  John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, explains why fires such as those in Los Angeles are different from those beforeWhen writing about the hot, dry Santa Ana winds and how they affect the behavior and imaginations of southern Californians, Joan Didion once said: “The winds show us how close to the edge we are.”I’ve lived here my entire life. I evacuated my family’s hillside home as a teenager. I’ve experienced the surrealism of watching ash rain down from the
  
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• We built our world with fire. Now heat is destroying our lives | John Vallant

  11-01-2025 14:43
  We fell in love with the power and speed that fossil fuels brought us. But the price being paid in California, and around the world, has become too highZero per cent contained. In layperson’s terms, that means “out of control and burning at will”. It’s a common designation for a wildfire – in the wild. But when a fire like this enters an urban area such as Los Angeles County, the most highly populated metropolitan area in the US, it becomes an exploding bomb, and th
  
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• We built our world with fire. Now heat is destroying our lives | John Vaillant

  11-01-2025 14:43
  
  We fell in love with the power and speed that fossil fuels brought us. But the price being paid in California, and around the world, has become too highZero per cent contained. In layperson’s terms, that means “out of control and burning at will”. It’s a common designation for a wildfire – in the wild. But when a fire like this enters an urban area such as Los Angeles County, the most highly populated metropolitan area in the US, it becomes an exploding bomb, and th
  
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• Temperature falls to -18.9C in north Scotland, a 15-year low for UK

  11-01-2025 12:27
  Altnaharra in Highlands recorded -18.9C on Friday night, the coldest January overnight temperature since 2010Friday was the coldest January night in the UK in 15 years after temperatures plummeted to -18.9C in a hamlet in northern Scotland, the Met Office said.Altnaharra, in the Highlands, recorded the temperature on Saturday morning, the Met Office said. Continue reading...
  
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• Los Angeles is on fire and big oil are the arsonists | Tzeporah Berman

  11-01-2025 12:00
  Every barrel of oil, every cubic meter of gas, and every ton of coal burned brings us closer to environmental catastropheApocalyptic flames and smoke are raging through southern California in the worst fire in Los Angeles county’s history. At least seven people have died. Thousands of structures have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. The private forecaster AccuWeather estimates initial damage and economic loss at more than $50bn and has the potential to
  
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• Why wildfires are becoming faster and more furious

  11-01-2025 10:05 via bbc.com
  
  With the risk factors increasing, is it still safe to live in areas prone to these disasters - and can fireproofing ever work?
  
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• Temperature falls to -18.7C in north Scotland, a 15-year low for UK

  11-01-2025 09:20
  Altnaharra in Highlands recorded -18.7C on Friday night, the coldest January overnight temperature since 2010Temperatures in a hamlet in northern Scotland fell to -18.7C on Friday – the coldest January overnight temperature in the UK in 15 years, the Met Office said.Altnaharra, in the Highlands, first recorded the temperature at 10pm Friday night, with the freezing conditions lasting well into Saturday morning. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: A winter holiday for the cows | Andrea Meanwell

  11-01-2025 06:30
  
  Tebay, Cumbria: At many farms, the cattle will be in their sheds by now, and stay there till spring. We’re trying something a bit differentThe tussocky grass is frozen solid and it is difficult to walk up the fell this morning. I am also slow today as I am recovering from flu. Now that cattle have been grazing here instead of sheep for a couple of years, the vegetation is adapting, growing longer and tougher. What may be great for biodiversity can be more challenging to walk across.Things
  
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