Environment news

• US lost a fifth of its butterflies within two decades

  06-03-2025 20:06 via bbc.com
  
  However the researchers say butterflies may be able to recover if urgent conservation measures are taken.
  
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• Genetic drive to overeat found in labradors and humans

  06-03-2025 20:02 via bbc.com
  
  Scientists have found a genetic cause of many labradors' - and some people's - tendency to overeat.
  
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• This food researcher is on a mission to make fake meat taste better. Will she succeed?

  06-03-2025 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Caroline Cotto’s research group taste-tests meat alternatives so plant-based companies can attract new customers – and help the climateI am sitting in a Manhattan restaurant on a frigid Thursday in January, eating six mini servings of steak and mashed potatoes, one after another. The first steak I am served has a nice texture but is sort of unnaturally reddish. The second has a great crispy sear on the outside, but leaves behind a lingering chemical aftertaste. The next is fine on it
  
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• What is this era of calamity we’re in? Some say ‘polycrisis’ captures it

  06-03-2025 17:02 via theguardian.com
  The term ‘polycrisis’ has gained traction as we face one disaster after another. It’s overwhelming – but diagnosing the catastrophe is the first step to addressing itTwo months into 2025, the sense of dread is palpable. In the US, the year began with a terrorist attack; then came the fires that ravaged a city, destroying lives, homes and livelihoods. An extremist billionaire came to power and began proudly dismantling the government with a chainsaw. Once-in-a-century disa
  
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• Are we living through a ‘polycrisis’ or is it ‘just history happening’?

  06-03-2025 17:02 via theguardian.com
  
  The term ‘polycrisis’ has gained traction as we face one disaster after another. It’s overwhelming – but diagnosing the catastrophe is the first step to addressing itTwo months into 2025, the sense of dread is palpable. In the US, the year began with a terrorist attack; then came the fires that ravaged a city, destroying lives, homes and livelihoods. An extremist billionaire came to power and began proudly dismantling the government with a chainsaw. Once-in-a-century disa
  
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• ‘Positive, hopeful, lovely places’: how Britain’s repair shops are cutting waste and giving devices a new lease of life

  06-03-2025 15:21 via theguardian.com
  Boom in fixing rather than throwing away items creates jobs and cuts waste, emissions and costsThere is a pause in the hubbub of conversation in the workshop and everyone watches as a young man plugs in the vacuum cleaner that just minutes earlier had been in several pieces on his workbench.As the machine whirs into life, the people in the room break out into muted cheers and clapping. There are smiles all round. Continue reading...
  
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• How repair shops are giving broken devices a new lease of life

  06-03-2025 15:21 via theguardian.com
  
  There is a growing demand for fixing rather than throwing away defective possessionsThere is a pause in the hubbub of conversation in the workshop and everyone watches as a young man plugs in the vacuum cleaner that just minutes earlier had been in several pieces on his workbench.As the machine whirs into life, the people in the room break out into muted cheers and clapping. There are smiles all round. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Slavish’ catch limits ignored scientific advice, say fishers in case against Defra

  06-03-2025 13:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Blue Marine Foundation charity asks high court to declare quota decision unlawful amid concern over sustainability of fish stocksAt the start of 2024, Jerry Percy, who led the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association, dedicated to small boats, said he started to receive lots of calls from members. “They were calling my office to report that a lack of fish in the inshore grounds were putting their livelihoods in peril,” he said.The fishers said they had noticed a depletion of speci
  
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• ‘Slavish’ catch limits ignored scientific advice, say conservationists in case against Defra

  06-03-2025 13:02 via theguardian.com
  Blue Marine Foundation charity asks high court to declare quota decision unlawful amid concern over sustainability of fish stocksAt the start of 2024, Jerry Percy, who led the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association, dedicated to small boats, said he started to receive lots of calls from members. “They were calling my office to report that a lack of fish in the inshore grounds were putting their livelihoods in peril,” he said.The fishers said they had noticed a depletion of speci
  
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• Why fear of billion-dollar lawsuits stops countries phasing out fossil fuels

  06-03-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and the risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws, ministers sayRevealed: how Wall Street is making millions betting against green lawsIn the mountains of Transylvania, a Canadian company makes plans for a vast gold and silver mine. The proposal – which involves razing four mountain tops – sparks a national outcry, and the Romanian government pulls its support.After protests from lo
  
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• UK homes install subsidised heat pumps at record level

  06-03-2025 10:40 via bbc.com
  
  Government-backed heat pump installations in the UK reached record levels for 2024.
  
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• Promise to phase out lead from UK game shooting has failed, study finds

  06-03-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Vow in 2020 aimed to keep shot out of human food chain but study finds most game carcasses still contain leadA voluntary promise to phase out toxic lead shot in the UK has failed, meaning wildlife and human health are being put at risk, a study has found.The vow, made in February 2020 by the UK’s nine leading game shooting and rural organisations, aimed to benefit wildlife and the environment and keep toxic lead out of the human food chain. They aimed to phase lead shot out by 2025, and ho
  
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• UK and Ireland announce deal connecting offshore windfarms to energy networks

  06-03-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The collaboration will be outlined at a summit in Liverpool, which aims to reduce trade barriers created by BrexitThe UK and Ireland have announced closer collaboration on subsea energy infrastructure to “harness the full potential” of the Irish and Celtic seas as part of ongoing efforts to reset post-Brexit relations.The countries will enter into a new data-sharing arrangement to lay the groundwork for connections between the growing number of offshore windfarms and onshore national
  
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• ‘The entire coastline will be cemented over’: the tiny Italian town set to become a dock for giant cruise ships

  06-03-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Only 20 miles from Italy’s capital, Isola Sacra was ignored for years but nowRoyal Caribbean has plans to turn it into a major new portOn a cloudy day in January, Isola Sacra, a hamlet in Fiumicino, 20 miles from Rome, does not look like a place that would attract masses of tourists. Low-rise family homes with small gardens alternate with meadows and fields and life has the sedate pace of a provincial town.An old lighthouse now lies in ruins and not far away is the darsena dei bilancioni,
  
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• Global sea ice hit record low in February, scientists say

  06-03-2025 04:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists called the news ‘particularly worrying’ because ice reflects sunlight and cools the planetGlobal sea ice fell to a record low in February, scientists have said, a symptom of an atmosphere fouled by planet-heating pollutants.The combined area of ice around the north and south poles hit a new daily minimum in early February and stayed below the previous record for the rest of the month, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.The headline of t
  
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• Global sea ice hit ‘all-time minimum’ in February, scientists say

  06-03-2025 04:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists called the news ‘particularly worrying’ because ice reflects sunlight and cools the planetGlobal sea ice fell to a record low in February, scientists have said, a symptom of an atmosphere fouled by planet-heating pollutants.The combined area of ice around the north and south poles hit a new daily minimum in early February and stayed below the previous record for the rest of the month, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. Continue reading
  
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• Scientists discover new part of the immune system

  06-03-2025 02:19 via bbc.com
  
  New part of the immune system - hidden inside our bodies - could be used to make new antibiotics.
  
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• River campaigners to sue Ofwat over water bill rises

  06-03-2025 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Group claims regulator signed off on ‘broken system’ making customers pay for industry’s neglect An environmental group is to take legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of unlawfully making customers pay for decades of neglect by the water industry.River Action will file the legal claim this month, arguing that bill rises for customers that have been approved by the regulator could be used to fix infrastructure failures that should have been addressed yea
  
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