Around The Web

Mini, Vauxhall Corsa and Fiat 5oo will join rapidly expanding European EV market

Europe’s carmakers are gearing up to make 2020 the year of the electric car, according to automotive analysts, with a wave of new models launching as the world’s biggest manufacturers scramble to lower the carbon dioxide emissions of their products.

Previous electric models have mostly been targeted at niche markets, but 2020 will see the launch of flagship electric models with familiar names, such as the Mini, the Vauxhall Corsa and the Fiat 500.

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Hundreds of people affected by severe flooding four years ago have sought mental health support.

More than a million birds are trapped every year in the British Isles by volunteers.

Nasa wants to send humans to Mars one day, but do we have the engines to get us there?

People tend to pay attention when things get personal, so you need to know how climate change is damaging things in your life. Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

California regulator ARB doled out some 855,700 offsets last week on a flurry of credits from ozone-depleting substance (ODS) projects, with the total number of California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) issued in 2019 having fallen by more than half compared to the previous year, according to state data published Tuesday.

Even if you avoid industrial farm produce it’s likely that your veggies will have been grown with the help of manure and other animal products

Will Bonsall is a homesteader and 45-year vegan living in rural Maine with a message for Americans – your vegetables are “very un-vegan”.

Related: A birthday candle in a banana: why fruit is by far the most offensive vegan dessert

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A barge carrying 2,000 litres of diesel has sunk at a dock on San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos archipelago. The incident occurred as workers attempted to load a container on a barge with the crane and both somehow tipped, destabilising the vessel which turned on its side. Barge workers began to jump into the water to escape the sinking vessel. A clean-up operation has begun and environmental impact is unclear

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The saving of fire-threatened animals from koalas to kangaroos reflects some of the small acts of heroism occurring during the fires

As Australia’s bushfire crisis continues, millions of hectares have been lost, with a tragic impact on wildlife and flora.

Among the destruction, the efforts of volunteer firefighters, residents and animal rescuers have stood out, with small acts of heroism that have saved many animal lives. A few have become emblematic images of this year’s terrible fire season.

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A study attempts to assess the devastation caused by the invasive emerald ash borer in US forests.

A proposed tax on electric vehicles would blow a golden opportunity to prepare our transport system for the disruption ahead. Jake Whitehead, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

I once had the good fortune to work with David Bellamy . I was directing a BBC children’s multifaith programme called Umbrella and we decided to do a programme on death – not the easiest topic for children.

David agreed to take part and suggested we film the piece in Hamsterley Forest, near his home in County Durham. When we played the edited tape into the studio recording, the children taking part were enraptured as he linked the life cycle of the trees with that of human beings.

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Lib Dem MP for Bath hits out at PM after rivers burst their banks across southern England

Boris Johnson has been criticised for not visiting flood-stricken communities at Christmas after it emerged he had no immediate plans to travel to areas hit by heavy rain.

Families may be forced to spend the festive period away from their homes after rivers burst their banks in Kent, Cornwall, Sussex and Norfolk. The Met Office has 54 flood warnings and 141 flood alerts in place across the UK, including in the north of England and the Midlands, with some likely to remain active until Christmas Eve as more rain is forecast.

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Mayor Sadiq Khan calls for government action to protect the capital’s waterways

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on the government to provide more funding to clean up the pollution blighting London’s rivers, after a study highlighted the toxic effects on water from driving in the capital’s most congested areas.

The River Brent in west London and the River Lea in the east, at 18 miles and 42 miles respectively, are worst affected by pollution from roads. Concern over pollution has concentrated on toxic air, which is killing and shortening the lives of tens of thousands of people every year, but road pollution is also damaging the water supply.

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Residents of Parc Hadau in Pontardawe will generate more clean energy than they can use

One of the world’s first net zero carbon neighbourhoods will be constructed in Wales after Neath Port Talbot council approved the development of 35 homes able to generate more clean energy than they use.

Development of the £8m project in Pontardawe in south Wales is expected to begin this spring. The residents of Parc Hadau will pay no energy bills because the development will use a mixture of renewable energy technologies to generate enough clean electricity to power its homes over the year.

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British sign language is receiving an astronomical update thanks to a unique collaboration between a space scientist and a group of deaf astronomers.

Heavy rain and flooding cause chaos in parts of Norfolk, Sussex and Kent

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The discovery was made by scientists at a 4,000-year-old archaeological site in the Hebrides.

Boris Johnson was urged to overhaul the system for deciding where flood-defence funding is spent and launch an emergency response unit as nearly 100 flood warnings were put in place across England on Sunday. ‘Catastrophic’ damage was caused during flooding in November in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire

• Boris Johnson urged to overhaul flood defence funding or risk ‘catastrophe’

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The amount of food needed to feed the world's population by the end of the century could increase by almost 80%, a study suggests.