Environment news

• UK to dispose of radioactive plutonium stockpile

  24-01-2025 18:03 via bbc.com
  
  The government says it will dispose of its 140 tonnes of radioactive plutonium - currently stored at Sellafield.
  
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• World’s largest iceberg drifts threateningly toward remote island of penguins and seals

  24-01-2025 17:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Gigantic wall of ice moves slowly from Antarctica on potential collision course with wildlife breeding groundThe world’s largest iceberg – a behemoth more than twice the size of London – is drifting toward a remote island where scientists say it could run aground and threaten penguins and seals.The gigantic wall of ice is moving slowly from Antarctica on a potential collision course with South Georgia, a crucial wildlife breeding ground. Continue reading...
  
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• UK climate and nature bill dropped after deal with Labour backbenchers

  24-01-2025 16:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Ministers avoid internal party row by promising potential rebels they will have input into environmental legislationMinisters have seen off a bill that would have made the UK’s climate and environment targets legally binding, after promising Labour backbenchers that they would have input into environmental legislation.The deal avoids an internal row over the bill, which was introduced by the Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage but had support from dozens of Labour MPs. Continue reading...
  
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• Back by unpopular demand, the great Heathrow expansion show. If only planes ran on hot air | Marina Hyde

  24-01-2025 14:56 via theguardian.com
  Rachel Reeves flies back from Davos to lead a revival of the aviation perennial. Labour hated the idea before, but growth won’t grow itself, will it?How can people say we can’t build anything in this country any more? Listen: our parliament is literally falling down, has caught fire 45 times in the past decade alone, and is going to take tens of billions of investment just to get it in the same postcode as fit-for-purpose – a fact which has now been kicked down the road for act
  
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• Activist hits back at Starmer for ‘demonising’ him as green ‘zealot’

  24-01-2025 13:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Former councillor Andrew Boswell accuses PM of wanting to lock people out of planning processAn activist singled out by Keir Starmer as an environmental “zealot” who must be stopped from making “vexatious” legal claims that thwart growth, has accused the prime minister of trying to lock people out of the planning process.Andrew Boswell, a 68-year-old former Green councillor, insisted his two-year legal fight over the expansion of the A47 in Norfolk was worth it, despite i
  
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• Storm Éowyn lashes Galway aquarium in Ireland – video

  24-01-2025 13:01 via theguardian.com
  
  An aquarium in Galway has been hit by strong winds and flooding as Storm Éowyn sweeps Ireland and the UK. Footage shows water rising to the top of a staircase and streaming past the building as gusts blow flood water across the car park Storm Éowyn live – latest updates Continue reading...
  
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• How world has responded to Trump’s Paris climate agreement withdrawal

  24-01-2025 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From Europe to Canada, Africa, China and Brazil, most countries appear to have doubled down on their commitment to tackle crisisWorld leaders, senior ministers and key figures in climate diplomacy have one by one reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement this week, in response to the order by Donald Trump to withdraw the US from the pact.The prospect of the world keeping temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, as the treaty calls for, was damaged by the incoming US president&r
  
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• How the world has responded to Trump’s Paris climate agreement withdrawal

  24-01-2025 13:00 via theguardian.com
  From Europe to Africa and South America, countries reaffirm commitment to tackle crisisWorld leaders, senior ministers and key figures in climate diplomacy have, one by one, reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement this week, in response to the order by Donald Trump to withdraw the US from the pact.The prospect of the world keeping temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, as the treaty calls for, was damaged by the incoming US president’s move. Hopes of meeting the targe
  
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• Should we stop feeding birds, what happens if we do and does it spread disease?

  24-01-2025 12:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Half of British households put food out for birds but there is increasing concern it can spread diseaseAround half of all British households put food out for birds. The Big Garden Birdwatch may tempt nature lovers to top up bird feeders and tables to lure more birds to their gardens to count them. But there is increasing concern over feeding birds. Continue reading...
  
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• Electric cars in UK last as long as petrol and diesel vehicles, study finds

  24-01-2025 12:28 via theguardian.com
  
  International research team based findings on 300m records from MOT data to estimate failure rates of all carsBattery cars on Britain’s roads are lasting as long as petrol and diesel cars, according to a study that has found a rapid improvement in electric vehicle reliability.An international team of researchers has estimated that an electric car will have a lifespan of 18.4 years, compared with 18.7 years for petrol cars and 16.8 years for diesels, according to a peer-reviewed study publi
  
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• Week in wildlife in pictures: a drowsy seal, wild kittens and the reddest bird

  24-01-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• How dementia could be linked to air pollution in early life

  24-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Scottish researchers find childhood pollution a likely factor, but association with mid-life air quality less clearResearchers in Scotland have found patterns in health data that suggest that air pollution breathed by children may affect their chances of getting dementia in later life.The first clue that air pollution may affect brain health was discovered about 20 years ago, when researchers found brain changes in pet dogs in chronically polluted Mexico City. Continue reading...
  
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• Everyone loves the horrible smelly plant Putricia! Is it the only good thing left in this world? | First Dog on the Moon

  24-01-2025 06:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Corpse flower mania is sweeping the nation (inner-city Sydney)Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Drifting in clouds of smoke, winter gnats are in season | Claire Stares

  24-01-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Langstone, Hampshire: While most invertebrates are in hibernation, these insects are on the wing and drawn to our warm bodies – but they’re not after our bloodAs I strolled along the frosted path beside the Lymbourne stream, the stillness of the afternoon was fractured by a piercing screech. A child playing on the bank flailed her arms as she was engulfed in a shimmering cloud of tiny insects. Winter gnats (Trichocera sp.) – hundreds of them – ethereal against the st
  
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• Nature lovers urged to take part in UK bird count amid fears over climate and disease

  24-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Birdwatch survey comes as concerns grow over infection risks posed by garden bird feeders People are being urged to spend an hour this weekend counting the birds in their garden, park or local green space for the world’s largest survey of garden wildlife.More than 9m birds were counted last year by 600,000 participants in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, providing a vital snapshot of how wild birds are faring. Continue reading...
  
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• Extreme weather failing to encourage political climate action, says activist Luisa Neubauer

  24-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fridays for Future organiser warns conspiracy theories are increasingly taking hold despite effects of global heatingThe rise in extreme weather is not generating political support for climate action, Germany’s best-known climate activist has warned, as conspiracy theories increasingly circle after disasters made worse by global heating.“Like many, I did buy into the idea that big catastrophes would do something to politics,” said Luisa Neubauer from Fridays for Future Germany.
  
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• Putricia the corpse flower: would you wait 3.5 hours to smell a rotten carcass? - video

  24-01-2025 03:23 via theguardian.com
  First there was Moo Deng, then there was Pesto the Penguin – but have you met Sydney's Putricia, the corpse flower? To the scientific community, the Botanic Gardens of Sydney’s corpse flower is known as Amorphophallus titanum, which translates to 'large, deformed penis'. But online, the rare endangered plant has taken a life of its own. It’s the first time a corpse flower has bloomed in the Royal Botanic Garden in 15 years – and when they do blossom, they last just 24 to
  
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