Environment news

• Why does Belgium shine so brightly?

  12-05-2017 17:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tens of thousands of people marvel over shots of brightly lit Belgium taken from space.
  
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• UK electric vehicle charging firms ‘seeking buyers amid rising costs and tough competition’

  07-02-2026 13:00
  Mergers and acquisitions will shrink number of operators from more than 100 to five or six, says Be.EV co-founderBritish electric charger companies are asking rivals to buy them as they run out of cash amid rising costs and intense competition, according to industry bosses.A wave of mergers and acquisitions is likely to shrink the number of charge point operators from as many as 150 to a market dominated by five or six players, said Asif Ghafoor, a co-founder of Be.EV, a charging company backed
  
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• Post-Brexit sales of British farm products to EU fall by 37%

  07-02-2026 13:00
  NFU warn it could take years to restore Brexit losses despite efforts to smooth negotiations on farming and other elements of UK-EU resetExports of British farm products to the EU have dropped almost 40% in the five years since Brexit, highlighting the trade barriers caused by the UK’s divorce from the EU in 2020.Analysis of HMRC data by the National Farmers’ Union shows the decline in sales of everything from British beef to cheddar cheese has dropped by 37.4% in the five years sinc
  
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• Deafening, draining and potentially deadly: are we facing a snoring epidemic?

  07-02-2026 13:00
  Experts say dangerous sleep apnoea affects an estimated 8 million in the UK alone, and everything from evolution to obesity or even the climate crisis could be to blameWhen Matt Hillier was in his 20s, he went camping with a friend who was a nurse. In the morning she told him she had been shocked by the snoring coming from his tent. “She basically said, ‘For a 25-year-old non-smoker who’s quite skinny, you snore pretty loudly,’” says Hiller, now 32.Perhaps because o
  
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• Bermuda snail thought to be extinct now thrives after a decade’s effort

  07-02-2026 07:00
  Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snailsA button-sized snail once feared extinct in its Bermudian home is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs.The greater Bermuda snail (Poecilozonites bermudensis) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago, until a remnant population was discovered in a damp and overgrown alleyway in Ham
  
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• Country diary: Which farm produces the smelliest silage? I went to find out | Rev Simon Lockett

  07-02-2026 06:30
  Peterchurch, Herefordshire: Some silage competitions are assessed in a lab far away, this one takes place in a noisy pub, with judges getting their hands dirtyWhat a night. I’ve just got home from the Nags Head, Peterchurch, having attended the Eskleyside Agricultural Society’s annual silage competition. The Nags is one of the great social spots in the Golden valley. Here you can meet potato growers, social workers, sheep farmers, stranded pilgrims, water diviners and Thomas the cat.
  
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• ‘Quality really matters’: why the organic food market is booming again

  06-02-2026 17:52
  Greater awareness of healthy diets and concerns over ‘trusted’ food mean sales are growing at fastest pace in two decadesWhen household finances were plunged into turmoil during the credit crunch, one of the first things that Britons cancelled was their veg box delivery.But although the cost of living crisis persists, the organic market is enjoying its biggest boom in two decades, according to the veg box seller Riverford. It is not just fruit and veg, with a “massive” in
  
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• ‘On a knife edge’: can England’s red squirrel population be saved?

  06-02-2026 16:00
  Government plans to protect species by increasing woodland and removing greys, but campaigners say it needs to go furtherWhen Sam Beaumont sees a flash of red up a tree on his Lake District farm, he feels a swell of pride. He’s one of the few people in England who gets to see red squirrels in his back garden.“I feel very lucky to have them on the farm. It’s an important thing to try and keep a healthy population of them. They are absolutely beautiful,” he said. Continue r
  
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• Roses are red, violets are blue: why Valentine’s Day flowers need a redo

  06-02-2026 15:00
  What could be more romantic than those three little words: locally grown, seasonal? How to choose flowers that show you care – about both a Valentine and Australia’s environmentChange by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] dozen red roses may say “I love you”, but many conventional bouque
  
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• ‘People on top of people’: Sydneysiders flock to netted beaches and ocean pools after shark attacks

  06-02-2026 15:00
  Wylie’s Baths in Coogee turns away swimmers for the first time in memory. But people will head back into open waters soon, experts sayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt Wylie’s Baths in Sydney’s east, the blue and yellow-ringed upper deck has never been busier.On the concrete below, towels are crowded together. In the water, regular lap swimmers have to contend with an onslaught of first-timers. Continue reading...
  
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• Storm Leonardo devastates southern Portugal and Spain – video

  06-02-2026 14:30
  Storm has ravaged southern regions of Spain and Portugal this week, leaving one man dead in Portugal and one woman missing in SpainCalls to postpone presidential election as Storm Leonardo lashes Portugal and Spain Continue reading...
  
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• Week in wildlife: cuddling sloths, dazed iguanas and a very fat seal

  06-02-2026 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• What Trump’s plans for the Arctic mean for the global climate crisis

  06-02-2026 08:00
  With plans to sell off over a million acres of natural habitat for oil and gas development, the Trump administration is ignoring the dire impact on its fragile ecosystem• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThis week, the Trump administration took a key step towards opening new leases for oil and gas drilling across millions of acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – a pristine and biodiverse expanse in northern Alaska and one of the last wildland
  
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• Wood burners may treble children’s exposure to pollution in homes, study finds

  06-02-2026 07:00
  Research in Wales found that home, not outdoor travel, was largest contributor to children’s daily exposureChildren living in homes with wood burners could be exposed to over three times more pollution than those in non-wood-burning homes. The results come from a study that looked at air pollution experienced by primary schoolchildren in Wales.Fifty-three children from two primary schools in Anglesey (Ynys Môn) were given backpacks equipped with air pollution sensors. They took the p
  
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• Country diary: A trip to the sheep auction – interrupted by light and legend | Andrea Meanwell

  06-02-2026 06:30
  Hawes, North Yorkshire: A stunning ray of sunshine, beamed on to a farmhouse, is a reminder of my family’s history in this landscapeIt is early Saturday morning and I’m on my way to the Hawes Honeys sale of “in-lamb” (pregnant) ewes at Hawes auction. Usually I drive through Nateby and up over the tops into North Yorkshire, past the big pipe under the road where I used to play with toy cars when I was little, and remembering my sons shouting “hold your breath ev
  
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• Airlines should tell UK customers the carbon impact of flights, watchdog says

  05-02-2026 17:05
  CAA’s guidance also including booking sites aims to enable passengers to make ‘more informed travel decisions’Airlines and booking firms should give UK customers information about the environmental impact of their flights, the regulator has said.The Civil Aviation Authority urged booking sites to enable passengers to make “more informed travel decisions” by setting out estimates for carbon emissions for flights landing or taking off from British airports. Continue r
  
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• Postcard-pretty … and filled with pollution: how Brazil’s fishers are reviving Rio de Janeiro’s famous bay

  05-02-2026 15:00
  A mangrove conservation project in Guanabara Bay has shown how a dying ecosystem can be transformed into a thriving sanctuaryWith deep blue waters flanked by dramatic peaks, Guanabara Bay is the postcard view of Rio de Janeiro – but it is also one of Brazil’s most polluted coastal environments. Raw sewage and solid waste flow into the bay from surrounding cities, home to more than 8 million people. Cargo ships and oil platforms chug in and out of commercial ports, while dozens of aba
  
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• Anger over Scottish salmon farm inspections amid 35m unexpected fish deaths

  05-02-2026 14:43
  Animal Equality says two surprise inspections in three years suggests ‘embarrassingly poor’ level of scrutinyScottish salmon farmers recorded more than 35m unexpected salmon deaths in just under three years but there were only two unannounced inspections of facilities over the same period.In December, the Scottish government’s secretary for rural affairs, Mairi Gougeon, said that there was “a really robust regulatory regime when it comes to fin-fish aquaculture” but
  
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• What are critical minerals and why do countries need them?

  05-02-2026 14:22 via bbc.com
  Countries are racing to secure the critical minerals and rare earths needed to make vital products.
  
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• ‘We can learn from the old’: how architects are returning to the earth to build homes for the future

  05-02-2026 14:00
  Rammed earth sourced from, or near, the grounds of a proposed building site is attracting attention as an eco-friendly construction materialFrom afar, the low-rise homestead perched in the Wiltshire countryside may look like any other rural outpost, but step closer and the texture of the walls reveal something distinct from the usual facade of cement, brick and steel.The Rammed Earth House in Cranborne Chase is one of the few projects in the UK that has been made by unstabilised rammed earth &nd
  
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• UK's £8bn research fund faces 'hard decisions' as it pauses new grants

  05-02-2026 13:00 via bbc.com
  UKRI boss Ian Chapman said it had been told by the government to "focus and do fewer things better".
  
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• ‘Hope and relief’ as seaside town’s last youth centre saved

  05-02-2026 12:00
  Charity praises effort to stop Ramsgate’s Pie Factory Music closing but calls for more youth services in coastal townsThe last remaining youth centre in one of England’s most deprived coastal places has been saved from being sold after a long campaign by the charity that has for 13 years called it home.In November the Guardian revealed how the centre in Ramsgate on the Kent coast was facing being auctioned off by Kent county council, despite an independent report that estimated the c
  
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• Fumes, rats and maggots: peer urges Environment Agency to clear illegal dump in Wigan

  05-02-2026 10:13
  Shas Sheehan challenges refusal to remove 25,000 tonnes of waste causing ‘grave environmental hazard’ near schoolA 25,000-tonne illegal waste dump next to a primary school in Wigan presents “a grave environmental hazard” and should be cleared, the chair of the Lords environment committee has told the government.Shas Sheehan challenged the refusal of the Environment Agency to clean up an illegal waste dump in Bolton House Road in the Greater Manchester town, given the agen
  
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• The Green surge shows British politics has reached a turning point - and it has surprisingly little to do with Zack Polanski | Aditya Chakrabortty

  05-02-2026 07:00
  At a party event in a school hall in Lewisham, people told me how disillusionment with Labour has led to this moment“How many?”On the end of the phone is a nice press officer for the Greens, head full from a long day in Gorton, Manchester, showing off their would-be MP. And now, as Friday’s sky turns indigo, I’m calling about reports from Lewisham, south London, that tomorrow they’re expecting a flood of 500 Green activists. This comes as a surprise to the party&rsq
  
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• Country diary: There’s a seaweed party going on on the storm beach | Tim Earl

  05-02-2026 06:30
  Castletown Bay, Isle of Man: The smell is unpleasant, but these slimy mounds are full of flies, molluscs and sand hoppers – all vital winter foodMy British Trust for Ornithology wetland bird survey includes patrolling a storm beach, which, at this time of year, has huge piles of rotting wrack thrown up by the gales. They’re made up of hand-like fronds of laminaria, bladderwrack with its buoyant bubble vesicles, sugar kelp and the long “washing line” strands of non-native
  
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• ‘Everything is quagga mussel now’: can invasive species be stopped? – podcast

  05-02-2026 06:00
  On a recent trip to Lake Geneva in Switzerland, biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston witnessed the impact of one of the planet’s most potent invasive species, the quagga mussel. In just a decade the mollusc, originally from the Ponto-Caspian region of the Black Sea, has caused irreversible change beneath the surface of the picturesque lake. While ecologists believe invasive species play a major role in more than 60% of plant and animal extinctions, stopping them in their tracks is almost im
  
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• Green energy sector drove more than 90% of China’s investment growth last year, analysis finds

  05-02-2026 01:01
  Industry bigger than all but seven world economies, and accounts for more than third of China’s economic growthChina’s clean energy industries drove more than 90% of the country’s investment growth last year, making the sectors bigger than all but seven of the world’s economies, a new analysis has shown.For the second time in three years, the report showed the manufacture, installation and export of batteries, electric cars, solar, wind and related technologies accounted
  
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• Flawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global economy, experts warn

  05-02-2026 01:01
  States and financial bodies using modelling that ignores shocks from extreme weather and climate tipping points Flawed economic models mean the accelerating impact of the climate crisis could lead to a global financial crash, experts warn.Recovery would be far harder than after the 2008 financial crash, they said, as “we can’t bail out the Earth like we did the banks”. Continue reading...
  
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• IOC must 'be better' on climate change - Coventry

  04-02-2026 21:34 via bbc.com
  International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry says it must "be better" on climate change after receiving a petition signed by more than 21,000 people who want to stop fossil fuel companies from sponsoring winter sports.
  
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• John Barkham obituary

  04-02-2026 17:31
  My dad, John Barkham, who has died aged 82, was an inspirational teacher of ecology and a lifelong naturalist. As the first ecologist to join the new University of East Anglia in 1969, he taught students over three decades in the pioneering School of Environmental Sciences.After studying the person-centred theories of Carl Rogers, whom he visited in California, John experimented with bold new teaching techniques, one year informing baffled students that they would design their own syllabus and t
  
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