Environment news

• Most conservation funds go to large vertebrates at expense of ‘neglected’ species

  24-02-2025 21:00
  
  Study shows funding bias towards animals like rhino while other endangered species including amphibians and algae disregardedMost global conservation funds go to larger, charismatic animals, leaving critically important but less fashionable species deprived, a 25-year study has revealed.Scientists have found that of the $1.963bn allocated to projects worldwide, 82.9% was assigned to vertebrates. Plants and invertebrates each accounted for 6.6% of the funding, while fungi and algae were barely re
  
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• ‘We’ve lost some parts of nature for ever’: Ukraine war’s impact on environment – photo essay

  24-02-2025 15:37
  As well as intense human suffering, three years of war have had a catastrophic environmental effect, killing wildlife, felling trees and increasing emissionsSince 2022, the Guardian photographer Alessio Mamo has been tracking the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Kremlin’s full-scale invasion, which began three years ago on Monday, caused millions of Ukrainians to flee. Cities have been flattened, villages occupied and lives destroyed. At least 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have bee
  
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• LA’s urban farmers pledge to rebuild and replant ‘even more than ever before’ after devastating wildfires

  24-02-2025 15:00
  The January blazes wiped out a thriving communal food pathway unique to the Altadena neighborhood, but farmers are starting to plan for its renewalIn Choi Chatterjee and Omer Sayeed’s Altadena backyard, beehives produced pounds of honey, copious amounts of fruit and vegetables were harvested, and hens laid plenty of fresh eggs. A couple of pygmy goats and a pair of 100-pound tortoises, Layla and Manju, roamed the urban farm, keeping the weeds trimmed, the compost turned and the soil alive
  
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• A frog: their eyes can detect a single photon of light | Helen Sullivan

  24-02-2025 15:00
  
  Their metamorphosis seems more like a human’s than a butterfly’s – so much is visible, and awkward, whereas the butterfly forms in secretSome species of frog have eyes so sensitive to light that they can detect a single photon. To confirm this, scientists dissected a frog’s eye and removed the lens. If you dissected eyes in biology class, you may remember that a lens is extraordinarily simple, and unlike other organs. It is a hard, clearish, object that comes out clean: n
  
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• Antioxidants in fruits and flowers seem to counteract harmful effects of microplastics, study shows

  24-02-2025 13:00
  Anthocyanins in nuts, fruits and vegetables seem to lesson harmful effects of microplastics on reproductive systemsSign up for the Detox Your Kitchen newsletterAntioxidants that give fruits and flowers their vibrant colors seem to counteract some of the most dangerous reproductive system effects of exposure to microplastics, such as decreased fertility, and could ultimately be used in developing treatments, new peer-reviewed research shows.The paper focused on microplastics’ reproductive t
  
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• ‘Super exciting’ visit of dolphins to East River offers hope of cleaner New York

  24-02-2025 11:00
  
  The rare sighting of two common short-beaked dolphins hints at an environmental success storyWhen New Yorkers were graced by the presence of two dolphins in the city’s East River earlier this month, marine experts said such a sighting was rare – but also a sign that this spring and summer season could be a good one for spotting more marine mammals, both great and small.On the morning of 14 February, a pair of common short-beaked dolphins was spotted alongside Manhattan’s Upper
  
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• Weather tracker: temperatures hit record highs across South America

  24-02-2025 10:24
  
  Rio de Janeiro reached 44C, its highest temperature for more than a decade, last MondayWhile North America grappled with widespread cold and wintry conditions last week, South America – now in its final month of summer – faced the opposite extreme, with record high temperatures recorded across the continent. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city, temperatures at its Guaratiba weather station soared to 44C last Monday, 14C above the February norm and the highest temper
  
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• ‘Dead white person’s clothes’ mount up as Ghana’s Kantamanto market struggles to rebuild after fire

  24-02-2025 09:00
  Six weeks after a devastating blaze in Accra ripped through one of the world’s biggest secondhand markets, many stalls remain unfinished and thousands still have no income It was a blaze that left two people dead and destroyed the fabric of one of the world’s largest secondhand clothes markets. It also wiped out the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in a matter of hours.Six weeks on from the 1 January fire in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the aluminium roofing has been repla
  
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• Britain’s net zero economy is booming, CBI says

  24-02-2025 07:00
  
  Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy securityThe net zero sector is growing three times faster than the overall UK economy, analysis has found, providing high-wage jobs across the country while cutting climate-heating emissions and increasing energy security.The net zero economy grew by 10% in 2024 and generated £83bn in gross value added (GVA), a measure of how much value companies add through the goods and services they
  
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• Country diary: The earth moved – taking everything with it | Jennifer Jones

  24-02-2025 06:30
  
  Oglet, Merseyside: A landslide here has left roots exposed and strangers on the shore. This is a test of plant tenacityA glint of sun and hint of blue sky stole into February’s persistent pallor. Recovering from a winter bug, I was sure a walk at Oglet would provide a much-needed tonic. As I wandered along the shore, a watchful grey heron, redshanks and a flotilla of mallards were my only companions. The peace was tangible.The clay-rich cliffs at Oglet have regionally important geodiversit
  
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• More than half of countries are ignoring biodiversity pledges – analysis

  24-02-2025 06:00
  
  Many of the nations gathering in Rome for Cop16 have offered no plans to honour their agreement to protect 30% of land and sea for natureMore than half the world’s countries have no plans to protect 30% of land and sea for nature, despite committing to a global agreement to do so less than three years ago, new analysis shows.In late 2022, nearly every country signed a once-in-a-decade UN deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems. It included a headline target to protect near
  
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