Environment news

• Mexico’s monarch butterfly population jumps 64%, offering hope for at-risk species

  20-03-2026 18:41
  The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticidesThe population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction.The figures, released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico, showed that the area occupied by monarchs expanded to 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) of forest from 1.79 hectares (4.42 acres) the
  
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• ‘Yes to fields of wheat, no to fields of iron’: how the world’s greenest country soured on solar

  20-03-2026 15:00
  In Denmark, the spread of solar panels has become a divisive issue among voters, especially in rural areasIn one telling of the story, the golden fields of a proud farming nation are under attack. Besieged by an industrial sprawl of solar panels, they are being smothered at the behest of an urban elite.That narrative has failed to thrive in conservative heartlands such as Texas and Hungary, which have embraced solar power while lambasting green rules. But it is taking root in Denmark, the most c
  
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• ‘It’s not sustainable’: US farmers reeling as Iran war pushes fertilizer costs up

  20-03-2026 12:00
  Closure of strait of Hormuz – a key fertilizer production and transportation route – has squeezed farmers as prices jumpRodney Bushmeyer has been farming as long as he can remember. Bushmeyer’s father was a farmer, as was his grandfather.The family-run Bushmeyer Farms in Illinois dates back more than 100 years, when his ancestors came to the US from Germany. They acquired the first 80 acres cost-free as homesteaders, cleared the land, and worked it. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Agriculture of life’: the Rio families growing bananas to protect the world’s largest urban forest

  20-03-2026 12:00
  In the middle of the city, traditional growers blend crops with native species to preserve Pedra Branca state park’s biodiversityThe sound of the scythes wielded by brothers Jorge and Ubirajara Cardia breaks the silence in the hills of Vargem Grande, in the south-west zone of Rio de Janeiro city. Quilombola from the Cafundá Astrogilda community, they harvest bananas the same way their ancestors used to. Every week, they select the bunches of prata, maçã, and Cavendish
  
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• ‘Hybrid organ’: how a union of trees and fungi could revolutionise forest management

  20-03-2026 11:00
  A US startup supplies spray for fast-growing loblolly pines with the hope of increasing biodiversity – and reducing the need for artificial fertiliserAt a commercial tree nursery near Evans, western Louisiana, 5m pine seedlings are packed on to 12 vast circular irrigation tables, each as wide as a football field. Last September, many of these young trees were sprayed with what looked like muddy water.The substance was in fact a liquid extract teeming with hundreds of species of wild soil f
  
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• Week in wildlife: wild boar babies, fenland ponies and a slug with strange genitalia

  20-03-2026 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Smokeless’ fuels produce more ultrafine particles that get embedded in lungs, study shows

  20-03-2026 07:00
  The tiny size of the particles means they can become deposited deep in people’s lungs, causing a health riskNew research has found that burning “smokeless” or low-smoke fuels may be causing new air pollution hazards on streets and in homes.These fuels are sold as alternatives to burning coal, wood and peat at home, but tests reveal their smoke contains large quantities of tiny ultrafine particles, smaller than the wavelength of light, that can deposit themselves deep in our lun
  
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• People in North Yorkshire town found to have ‘alarming’ levels of toxic Pfas chemicals in blood

  20-03-2026 07:00
  Exclusive: Testing in Bentham, home to UK’s highest recorded Pfas levels, finds one in four have blood levels in greatest risk categoryAlarming levels of toxic forever chemicals have been found in the blood of people living in a town previously revealed to be contaminated with the UK’s highest recorded level of Pfas.Pfas, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and commonly known as forever chemicals because of their persistence in the environment, have been linked to a wide ra
  
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• Country diary: The messy chaos of nesting herons | Mary Montague

  20-03-2026 06:30
  Stranmillis University College, Belfast: There’s a fuss going on high up in the trees, as these early breeders have already got going with this year’s broodA robin is singing. Moonlight gleams through the trees. These woods are home to a breeding colony of grey herons and, until recently, their incessant yells were part of the dawn chorus. Today, the quietness of an established heron nest high in a beech tree is good news. Herons share parental care and one of the pair is up there &n
  
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