Environment news

• Changes in Rainfall, Temperature Expected to Transform Coastal Wetlands This Century

  26-01-2017 15:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  Changes in rainfall and temperature are predicted to transform wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world within the century, a new study from the USGS and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley concludes.Sea-level rise isn’t the only aspect of climate change expected to affect coastal wetlands: changes in rainfall and temperature are predicted to transform wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world within the century. These changes will take place regardless of sea-le
  
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• Gene-edited bananas that don’t go brown could hit UK supermarkets

  28-09-2026 17:50 via theguardian.com
  Scientific breakthrough could reduce food waste and make it easier to add the fruit to prepackaged foodIt is the bane of every fruit bowl: sliced banana that turns brown before it has reached the table. But such woes could soon be a thing of the past, with gene-edited bananas that keep their freshly peeled colour now one step closer to reaching British shoppers.According to Tropic, the Norwich-based agricultural-biotechnology company that developed the fruit, the bananas have the same taste and
  
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• ‘Are these chemicals in my blood?’ How one community learned the truth about Pfas pollution

  28-09-2026 16:54 via theguardian.com
  People living next to a chemicals plant near Blackpool were tested for ‘forever chemicals’. Last week they received the alarming resultsLast February, I got a call from a woman called Sam Hammond. We had been speaking on and off for a while over her growing concern that her garden could be affected by pollution from a nearby chemical plant.That morning, Sam had been hand-delivered a letter from her council informing her that her pet ducks’ eggs, reared in her garden, were conta
  
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• ‘Are these chemicals in my blood?’: How one community learned the truth about Pfas pollution

  28-09-2026 16:54 via theguardian.com
  People living next to a chemicals plant near Blackpool were tested for ‘forever chemicals’; last week they received the alarming resultsLast February, I got a call from a woman called Sam Hammond. We had been speaking on and off for a while over her growing concern that her garden could be affected by pollution from a nearby chemical plant.That morning, Sam had been hand-delivered a letter from her council informing her that her pet ducks’ eggs, reared in her garden, were conta
  
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• Heat pump sales soar across Europe after states cut electricity taxes, data shows

  28-09-2026 15:53 via theguardian.com
  EU to push members to cut tax rate below duty on gas, with 10%+ surge in sales also put down to fallout from Iran warBusiness live – latest updatesEurope live – latest updatesSales of residential heat pumps jumped across Europe in the first six months of the year as the Iran war sent oil and gas prices rocketing and some countries lowered electricity taxes.Homeowners bought 1.16m heat pumps across 12 European countries, up from 1.05m in the first half of 2025, according to the Europe
  
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• ‘Contract between humans and river’: Bristol Avon’s rights enshrined in charter

  28-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  River charters part of wider movement establishing ‘moral’ framework to protect nature and hold institutions to accountOne Monday morning in spring last year, 12 people gathered in the morning drizzle at Joyce’s Pool, one of the sources of the Bristol River Avon, and took the first steps of the inaugural Avon pilgrimage.Over the course of eight days, a revolving cast of pilgrims walked about 100 miles from the source of the river to the point at which it reaches the sea, in som
  
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• The Hotspot | Stumped for wood, bamboo bats offer cricket a substitute to leather on willow

  28-09-2026 11:30 via theguardian.com
  Traditional woods have had a good innings but rising temperatures mean the need to find alternatives is pressingWhat happens if you run out of trees? It is a situation cricket must face in the perfect storm of an expanding game and more precarious growing conditions due to accelerated climate change.Cricket and willow are the sun and moon of sport. The handcrafted bat, the beautiful, insect-rich tree. But there are now 200 million regular cricketers worldwide. The UK produces half a million will
  
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• The endangered wild ponies of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides – a photo essay

  28-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fewer than 400 Eriskay ponies remain. One of the rarest native breeds in the world, their plight is unique because the community living on their tiny Hebridean island are fighting for them. The ponies wander the village and townsfolk care for them togetherOn the slopes of Beinn Sciathan, a rocky outcrop in the Outer Hebrides, white and grey ponies roam freely. Eriskay ponies, one of the rarest native breeds in the world, are critically endangered.They have often been mixed with the Highland pony
  
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• The endangered native ponies of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides – a photo essay

  28-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fewer than 400 Eriskay ponies remain. One of the rarest native breeds in the world, their plight is unique because the community living on their tiny Hebridean island are fighting for them. The ponies wander the village and townsfolk care for them togetherOn the slopes of Beinn Sciathan, a rocky outcrop in the Outer Hebrides, white and grey ponies roam freely. Eriskay ponies, one of the rarest native breeds in the world, are critically endangered.They have often been mixed with the Highland pony
  
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• Country diary: A young shieldbug has found a safe place to hide – or so it hopes | Nic Wilson

  28-09-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Bedmond, Hertfordshire: Serge Hill Project is a haven for humans and wildlife, and there’s much to find in its collection of drought-tolerant plantsLooking across a swathe of golden oat grass to the Apple House, it seems almost inconceivable that the M25 and M1 motorways are just beyond the treeline. I’m exploring the Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health: a therapeutic resource for local schools, community groups and charities, founded three years ago by Tom and Su
  
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• ‘You can taste the land’: the Somerset farmer bringing wildflowers back to cheddar

  28-09-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Tom Calver has sacrificed milk yields to give his cows a more varied diet of plants and believes the result is better cheese and richer farmlandIn the rolling hills of Somerset, hundreds of thousands of cows placidly munch lush green grass to produce milk for cheddar.But six fields stand out. Rather than uniform grass, they have technicolour wildflowers sprouting across the meadows. Farmer Tom Calver said that to allow the flowers to grow he has to keep fewer cows and leave some fields ungrazed
  
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• The ups and downs of SpaceX's Starship test flights

  27-09-2026 23:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's Ricky Boleto looks how previous SpaceX test flights went.
  
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• Watch: The ups and downs of SpaceX's 13 Starship test flights

  27-09-2026 22:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's Ricky Boleto looks how previous SpaceX test flights went.
  
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• Most of UK’s essential food supply grown in drought-risk areas, report warns

  27-09-2026 18:24 via theguardian.com
  Keys crops such as cereals, potatoes, sugar and oils grown in areas with moderate to very high riskThe vast majority of the UK’s essential foods, including cereals, potatoes, sugar and oil, are grown in areas of England rated as having a moderate to very high risk of drought.A very high proportion – 81% – of England’s fresh produce is concentrated in parts of the country that are already experiencing water stress, according to the analysis by the nature-focused investment
  
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• Father and son crowned Sheep Dog World Trial champions

  27-09-2026 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  David and Jack Howells say they "never in million years" thought they would win the double.
  
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• The UK wildfire investigators: ‘If someone has used a match, chances are you’ll find it’

  27-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists are racing to understand how fires behave to predict and prevent them as hotter summers create tinderboxesFrom the scorched heathlands of the New Forest to the smouldering valleys of south Wales and burned-out homes in Stourbridge, an extraordinary summer of wildfires has left its mark across Britain.To most of us, these charred landscapes may look like pure devastation, but to a trained wildfire investigator they are full of clues. Heat-scorched leaves can become frozen in position,
  
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• Anatomy of an inferno: inside the push to map, predict and prevent spread of increasing UK wildfires

  27-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists are racing to understand how fires behave as hotter summers turn green landscapes into tinderboxesFrom the scorched heathlands of the New Forest to the smouldering valleys of south Wales and burned-out homes in Stourbridge, an extraordinary summer of wildfires has left its mark across Britain.To most of us, these charred landscapes may look like pure devastation, but to a trained wildfire investigator they are full of clues. Heat-scorched leaves can become frozen in position, preservi
  
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• One dead as nor'easter storm pummels New York and New Jersey

  27-09-2026 14:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tens of millions of people from Maine to Virginia found themselves in the path of the powerful weather system.
  
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• Your pictures of the Harvest Moon shimmering across the UK sky

  27-09-2026 14:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The full Moon put on a stunning display over the skies of UK on Saturday night and here are some of your photographs.
  
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• Grizzly reality: US states grapple with uptick in encounters between bears and humans

  27-09-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bears are increasingly entering places where humans live in the US, forcing wildlife workers to make tough decisionsDan Thompson, supervisor of the large carnivore section of the Wyoming game and fish department, enjoys the field work of capturing mountain lions, wolves, black bears and grizzly bears to study them.“I have always been personally intrigued with carnivores and their role throughout any ecosystem,” Thompson said. “I actually feel very fortunate to get paid to do wh
  
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• ‘It’s hard to sell a house when it’s covered in baboon faeces’: Cape Town divided over plan to remove its monkeys

  27-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Two troops of chacma baboons are breaking into homes and shops but animal rights activists insist coexistence is the answerCape Town’s city council has said it will “imminently” round up two baboon troops coming into repeated conflict with residents. The animals will be sterilised and permanently moved to a newly constructed sanctuary. The plan has been fiercely criticised by animal rights activists, who say the monkeys should remain roaming freely, and that less destructive op
  
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• ‘People are standing up and fighting back’: the north Devon revolt against a vast AI datacentre

  27-09-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Plans for one of Europe’s largest AI campuses in a Unesco-designated reserve have sparked a fierce local backlashThe datacentre revolt spreading across the US has reached the rolling hills of north Devon in an uprising against a planned hyperscale AI data campus in the middle of a globally protected landscape.Perched on an inland cliff, the town of Great Torrington has views that stretch for miles over the landscape of the Unesco biosphere reserve in which it sits, taking in the winding Ri
  
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• Why families are being urged to look closer on autumn walks

  27-09-2026 08:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Experts urge families to spot, photograph and enjoy autumn fungi on their doorstep.
  
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• Bumblebee project seeking to help rare species

  27-09-2026 08:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The programme to help the Moss carder species will focus on Cornwall, Kent and the North Pennines.
  
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• Bangkok roads submerged as flood disaster declared

  27-09-2026 06:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Authorities said the heavy rains have subsided but the flooding is not yet over.
  
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• Bangkok’s flood disaster – in pictures

  27-09-2026 05:27 via theguardian.com
  Authorities declared a flood disaster across Bangkok after almost two days of heavy rain left homes, shops and roads waterlogged and residents wading through waist-deep water.The Thai capital recorded 300mm of rainfall over 48 hours through ⁠Saturday in some areas, flooding roads and ​leaving ​some cars ​submerged. The rain swelled the city’s network of canals, sending murky water into surrounding homes, restaurants and shops Continue reading...
  
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• The young women guiding tourists through India's night sky

  27-09-2026 01:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronomy tourism is giving young women in Hanle income, confidence and a new role in their community.
  
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• Hundreds of wildflowers to be planted at meadow

  26-09-2026 13:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Friends of the Lake District wants to reintroduce species lost to some farming practices.
  
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• Butterfly populations 'could crash' due to weather

  26-09-2026 13:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  More than 77,000 butterflies were recorded in Devon while 47,000 were spotted in Cornwall this July.
  
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• Broken promises, confiscated land: the hyperscale AI datacentre being built in a tiny Indian village

  26-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Locals say Google’s $15bn project in Andhra Pradesh has resulted in smallholdings being taken back off them by the governmentWhen the government officials arrived in Tarluvada last year, they came with abundant promises.Google, one of the world’s richest and most powerful tech companies, would soon be bringing a “golden opportunity” to this tiny village in south India: a $15bn AI datacentre. Continue reading...
  
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