Environment news

• Natural history GCSE to teach teenagers to plant wildflower-friendly gardens

  11-06-2026 23:30
  
  Long-awaited course to examine human effects on natural world and explore everyday ways to aid biodiversitySchool pupils will learn how to plant a wildflower-friendly garden, according to long-awaited plans announced on Thursday for a natural history GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.Campaigners have for more than a decade called for the study of biodiversity loss and global heating to be introduced as a dedicated subject in classrooms across the country, but despite a curriculum being
  
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• Scientists reveal surprising mechanism behind Venus flytrap’s rapid snap

  11-06-2026 20:00
  Intricate tests show hair-trigger detection causes cells on outer surface of leaf to soften, prompting closureThe Venus flytrap is one of nature’s most impressive predators, luring insects with the intoxicating scent of nectar before capturing them with a snap of its jaw-like leaves.Now, scientists have revealed the mechanism that allows the carnivorous plant to react with lightning speed, resolving a problem that stumped Charles Darwin and many researchers after him. Continue reading...
  
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• Millions of homes in London, Essex and Kent at risk of sinking as climate crisis worsens

  11-06-2026 07:00
  Analysis pinpoints areas most vulnerable to hotter, drier weather causing ground to shrink and drag foundations downMillions of homes are at risk from climate-related subsidence, according toan analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS).As hotter, drier summers driven by global heating become more frequent, the ground under houses can shrink and drag down a property’s foundations. The most vulnerable areas include London, Essex, Kent and a tranche of land from Oxford up to the Wash on
  
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• Country diary: A tiny orchid with mighty powers of deception | Oliver Southall

  11-06-2026 06:30
  Wolstonbury Hill, West Sussex: The fly orchid looks like no fly I’ve ever seen – its target insect is a wasp. Even more strange is that neither I (nor Charles Darwin) have ever seen one being pollinated Many British orchids are named for their animal or humanoid appearance. List some and you have all the characters for a nursery-rhyme tale of transformation and trickery: lady, frog, man, fly and spider. Today’s protagonist is the fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), a subtle c
  
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• Four days of rain slashed population of world's rarest orangutans, study says

  11-06-2026 05:50 via bbc.com
  
  Climate change-induced weather events are pushing orangutan populations to extinction, says a study.
  
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