Environment news

• Eager beavers: rodents engineer Czech wetland project after years of human delay

  11-02-2025 20:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Beavers accomplish long-stalled conservation plan on former army site, sparing crayfish and taxpayers alikeBeavers have saved Czech taxpayers $1.2m (£1m) by flooding a protected former army training site where a long-stalled dam was planned.Officials had hoped to build a barrier to shield the Klabava River and its population of critically endangered crayfish from sediment and acidic water spilling over from two nearby ponds. As a bonus it would turn a part of this protected area south of t
  
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• Stripey-faced fish named after warrior princess San

  11-02-2025 18:55 via bbc.com
  
  The newly discovered fish has stripes on its face like the Studio Ghibli warrior princess.
  
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• Rangers corral feral pigs thought to have been released in Cairngorms

  11-02-2025 18:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Animals suspected of being illegally left in ‘extremely harsh’ environment near where lynx were found last monthA herd of feral pigs believed to have been illegally released in the Cairngorms have been successfully corralled by estate workers who are now attempting to trap them.The animals were first spotted near the Uath Lochans area, close to the village of Inch and only 5 miles from where four lynx were illegally released last month. Continue reading...
  
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• BP set to scale back green investments as profits drop sharply

  11-02-2025 16:47 via bbc.com
  
  The oil giant is widely expected to say it will scale back on renewables later this month.
  
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• Endangered waves: why Australia’s revered surf spots could soon reach a breaking point

  11-02-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research reveals surf breaks are on the frontline of threats that could undermine access to and enjoyment of our famous beachesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSteph Curley glides atop the water on a 9ft, locally shaped long board. A sea turtle bobs among a couple of dozen surfers off a rocky headland in Noosa – dolphins frolic further out.Curley angles her single fin towards the boulder-strewn point and paddle
  
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• Endangered waves: why Australia’s iconic surf spots could soon reach a breaking point

  11-02-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research reveals surf breaks are on the frontline of threats that could undermine access to and enjoyment of our famous beachesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSteph Curley glides atop the water on a 9.2ft, locally shaped long board. A sea turtle bobs among a couple of dozen surfers off a rocky headland in Noosa – dolphins frolic further out.Curley angles her single fin toward the boulder-strewn point and paddles on to a two-foot wave. The wave breaks steeply at f
  
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• Seafood firm offers bounty to catch 27,000 escaped salmon off Norway

  11-02-2025 13:40 via theguardian.com
  Mowi to give fishers £36 per fish after loss from farm in what campaigners say is a ‘disaster for wild salmon’The global seafood company Mowi is offering a bounty to fishers who catch escaped salmon after an estimated 27,000 fish went missing from a farm off the Norwegian coast in what campaigners said was a “disaster for wild salmon”.The world’s largest farmed salmon producer is offering a reward of 500 kroner (£36) per salmon caught after it said a qua
  
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• Rangers search for feral pigs thought to have been released in Cairngorms

  11-02-2025 13:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Animals suspected of being illegally left in ‘extremely harsh’ environment near where lynx were found last monthRangers in the Cairngorms are searching for a herd of feral pigs believed to have been illegally released in the national park.The animals were spotted near the Uath Lochans area, close to the village of Inch and only 5 miles from where four lynx were illegally released last month. Continue reading...
  
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• Microplastics can block blood vessels in mice brains, researchers find

  11-02-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists observe decreased motor function in rodents exposed to microplasticsMicroplastics can move through mice brains and block blood vessels, essentially mimicking blood clots that could potentially be fatal or otherwise disrupt brain function.The findings are detailed in a peer-reviewed paper for which researchers for the first time used real-time imaging to track bits of plastic as they moved through and accumulated in brain blood vessels. When one piece of plastic got stuck, others accum
  
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• Conspiracy theory on methane-cutting cow feed a ‘wake-up call’, say scientists

  11-02-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Social media storm of misinformation about Bovaer has drawn in Reform UK, the dairy industry and even Bill GatesScientists say a recent methane-related conspiracy theory was “a wake-up call” for the industry, reminding them they need to communicate better and more directly with the public.Over the last few months, Bovaer, a cattle feed additive that is proven to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas, has been at the centre of a swirl of misinformation, drawing in Reform UK, the dair
  
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• Shot, poisoned and beaten to death: why leopard killings are soaring in Pakistan

  11-02-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A wave of incidents threatens the survival of the species in the country, say conservationistsInside the Pakistan Museum of Natural History, in Islamabad, two taxidermists work on a leopard skin. They scrape away at the remaining flesh and sprinkle the underside with boric acid powder. It’s difficult to look away from the two holes where the leopard’s eyes should be.“We ask conservation groups, if they find any dead specimen, to relay it to us so that we can preserve it and mak
  
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• EV drivers spend extra £85m on VAT when using public chargers

  11-02-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Industry says ‘pavement tax’ due to disparity in VAT rates is holding back transition away from fossil fuelsElectric vehicle drivers will spend an extra £85m on UK tax when using public car chargers this year because of a disparity in VAT rates that the industry has said is holding back the transition away from fossil fuels.Home users of electricity pay just 5% VAT compared with the 20% rate that applies to businesses – including electric car charger operators. That means
  
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• It’s straight from the Trump playbook: Labour is tearing up the machinery of government | George Monbiot

  11-02-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If Starmer and Reeves really want a greener, cleaner, wilder nation, then why attack vital state bodies that are already on their knees?This might sound astonishing, but the UK government’s core programme now appears to be the same as Donald Trump’s: dismantling the administrative state. There’s less theatre, but the results could prove harder to contest. Absurd? Consider the evidence.Take the government’s brutal expulsion of the chair of the Competition and Markets Autho
  
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• Country diary: In our nature-poor country, road verges are reservoirs for recovery | Ed Douglas

  11-02-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Totley Moss, Derbyshire: In among the poo bags and the fast-food wrappers, you’ll find flourishing orchids, lady’s bedstraw and cranesbillFor the first time this year, the sun had warmth in it. As I cycled through Longshaw, two-tone great tits sang more loudly and roundly. The earth hummed a little, seeming to stir itself. Up ahead on the trail, I noticed something sprouting from the cropped grass beside it, and something similar a few yards further on. What might those be, I wondere
  
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• Trump signs order shifting US back toward plastic straws

  11-02-2025 02:52 via bbc.com
  
  The president has long been a critic of paper straws, which he says don't work and dissolve too easily.
  
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