Environment news

• Ningaloo and Great Barrier Reef hit by ‘profoundly distressing’ simultaneous coral bleaching events

  22-03-2025 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists say widespread damage to both world heritage-listed reefs is ‘heartbreaking’ as WA reef accumulates highest amount of heat stress on recordFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s two world heritage-listed reefs – Ningaloo on the west coast and the Great Barrier Reef on the east – have been hit simultaneously by coral bleaching that reef experts have called “heartbre
  
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• ‘Imagine if it died on my watch?’ The fight to save one ‘ancient’ Adelaide tree

  22-03-2025 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Cities lose thousands of mature trees a year. On Overbury Drive, neighbours were determined to protect a solitary giant dying red gum – stuck right in the middle of their roadSign up for a weekly email featuring our best readsIt’s a striking image; in a suburban landscape where nature has been largely pushed aside to make way for roads, houses and driveways, the thick craggy trunk of a towering river red gum tree stands defiantly in place, forcing the bitumen to squeeze and buckle ar
  
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• Footage shows coral bleaching on Ningaloo reef as Great Barrier Reef hit at the same time – video

  22-03-2025 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Australia’s world heritage-listed reefs – Ningaloo on the west coast and the Great Barrier Reef on the east – are being hit by simultaneous coral bleaching, with teams of scientists on both coasts monitoring and tracking the event across thousands of kilometres of marine habitat. On Western Australia’s Ningaloo reef, waters have accumulated the highest amount of heat stress on record during an extended marine heatwave that has hit coral reefs all the way along the state&r
  
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• Young country diary: Here are the latest newts reports! | Bea

  22-03-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  South London: Ever since they left our pond last autumn I’ve dedicated my life to amphibians. Now I’m waiting for them to come backI’m sitting at the edge of the little pond in my garden, which is starting to show spring flowers, and there are buds appearing on our pear tree. I’m staring at the water, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of my newts.I didn’t always know all about newts. One day I was having a walk in the countryside when I came across a giant log.
  
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• Young country diary: A spiky surprise for the whole family | Robin

  22-03-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Shropshire Hills: My dad accidentally picked up a hibernating hedgehog, and it (Gnasher) ended up living in our house for a couple of daysWe were tidying up the garden where we grow vegetables. Mum suddenly whispered, “Robin, come ’ere!” I went over and found her and Dad crouching over a hedgehog. It had been hibernating in some leaves and Dad had accidentally picked it up. He handed me a pair of thick gloves so that I could hold it, although I was scared to start with. It
  
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• Scientists identify ‘tipping point’ that caused clumps of toxic Florida seaweed

  22-03-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Giant blobs along 5,000-mile-wide sargassum belt has killed animals, harmed human health and discouraged tourismScientists in Florida believe they have identified a “tipping point” in atmospheric conditions in the Atlantic Ocean they say caused giant clumps of toxic seaweed to inundate beaches around the Caribbean in recent summers.Previous theories for the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt that has killed marine animals, harmed human health and plagued the tourism industry in several co
  
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• Wales’s 20mph speed limit has cut road deaths. Why is there still even a debate?

  22-03-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Research suggests the scheme may be more popular than thought, with consultations dominated by a loud minority Even with the caveats about limited data and untangling causation and correlation, the statistics are striking: the first year of a scheme in Wales where the speed limit on urban roads was lowered to 20mph resulted in about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured.Introduced in September 2023 as a major road safety project of the Labour-run Welsh government, it made 20mph the defaul
  
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• Rare Wright’s gardenia reappears in record numbers in Seychelles

  22-03-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Conservationists find critically endangered species thriving on Indian Ocean island of ArideRecord numbers of Wright’s gardenia, one of the world’s rarest and most fragrant trees, have been counted on the tiny tropical island of Aride in Seychelles.The only place in the world where the critically endangered tree occurs naturally is on the 72-hectare granite island in the Indian Ocean. The tree was once found on other, larger islands in the Seychelles archipelago but its sturdy wood w
  
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• Why earthquake predictions are usually wrong

  22-03-2025 05:28 via bbc.com
  
  On social media a self-proclaimed earthquake predictor says he can forecast big shakes, but experts say it's pure luck.
  
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• ‘They’re smart now’: Australian fishers are on tenterhooks over shark encounters. Should swimmers be worried?

  22-03-2025 00:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Increasing run-ins between anglers and the ocean’s apex predators reflects a growing unease among beachgoers. But is widespread fear justified?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMoreton Bay charter boat deckhand Bryce Daly is starting to feel unsafe swimming the waters he’s grown up fishing.“You’ve always got a shark in the back of your mind,” the 32-year-old Jimboomba man says. Continue reading...
  
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