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Fig and almond trees thriving in UK thanks to fewer frosts, RHS says
Society to retire plants no longer suited to UK’s changing climate after 14% fewer days of ground frost recorded
Fig and almond trees are thriving in Britain as a result of fewer frosts, the Royal Horticultural Society has said.
The lack of frost, one of the effects of climate breakdown, means plants used to warmer climes have been doing well in RHS gardens. Almond trees from the Mediterranean were planted at Wisley in Surrey several years ago, and without frost this year have fruited well for the first time.
Continue reading...Each year I insist we visit the same beach. Repetition tricks the mind into thinking a thing will last for ever | Jenny Sinclair
I want to give my kids that overarching sense of a single summer going on all through childhood, a door to a memory they can open any time
You never step into the same river twice. But you can step into the same ocean, or so it seems, each January when we take that first swim: ducking our heads under a wave to feel the rush of cold and the sting of salt, shaking like dogs when we emerge, washed clean of the year just gone.
When I was a child, it was Phillip Island: a green canvas tent in my grandfather’s back yard; a chipped foam surfboard rasping against my skin as I lay on it, just floating in the channel between the island and the mainland, never daring to go into the actual surf. It was the acrid smoke of mozzie coils and the oily texture of the battered flake from the fish and chip shop. Showers under the tank stand; the sun burning our skin until it peeled.
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Jenny Sinclair is a Melbourne journalist and writer of creative nonfiction and fiction
Continue reading...Bloomberg acquires data and analytics from climate tech company
Mind-bending, body-snatching, blood-sucking: parasites are bizarre yet vital for life on Earth
New bone test could rewrite British history, say scientists
At Extinction Rebellion, we aimed for UK net zero in 2025. That won't happen – so here’s what to do instead | Rupert Read
With the climate crisis hitting Britain, we must build resilience at a local level by rewilding, saving water and fighting floods
Imagine, for a moment, if 2025 was the year that the UK achieved its legally binding targets of reducing dangerous carbon emissions to zero. Imagine if the Extinction Rebellions of 2019 had achieved their goal, and the government had bowed to the pressure of climate activism to meet this target. In this counterfactual reality, the world would be much saner than our own. But as the new year arrives, we’re forced to confront a stark reality. Britain is nowhere near achieving zero carbon in the next 12 months.
When Extinction Rebellion (XR) was founded in 2018, the 2025 target was conceived as a clarion call to action. It was based on the need to decarbonise quickly, to mitigate the worst impacts of climate decline, and to fulfil our historical responsibility as one of the world’s largest polluters. With the new year upon us, it’s clear that decarbonisation at the scale and speed we imagined isn’t a feasible goal within our existing political and economic frameworks. And this failure brings with it some uncomfortable truths that everyone concerned about the climate crisis must face head-on. And that means, in effect, everyone: for even if you don’t feel affected by this crisis, it still affects you.
Continue reading...UK government hires ‘nudge unit’ to help dispel heat pump myths
Behaviour experts say misinformation shared in media and by other stakeholders is impeding uptake
Experts from a “nudge unit” have been hired to help ministers fight misinformation about heat pumps to try to encourage take-up of the devices.
The appliances run on electricity instead of gas and are regarded as a way of decarbonising homes at scale. A target of installing 600,000 a year by 2028 is part of a drive to achieve Britain’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050.
Continue reading...Sweden begins wolf hunt as it aims to halve endangered animal’s population
Five entire families can be killed, totalling 30 wolves, in move campaigners say is illegal under EU law
Sweden’s wolf hunt starts on Thursday, with the country aiming to halve the population of the endangered predator.
The Swedish government has given the green light for five entire wolf families, a total of 30 wolves, to be killed in a hunt campaigners say is illegal under EU law. Under the Berne convention, protected species cannot be caused to have their populations fall under a sustainable level.
Continue reading...‘Heck of a light show’: spectacular bloom of bioluminescence returns to Tasmania’s coastline
Phenomenon known as ‘sea sparkles’ or ‘red tide’ is caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae
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Masses of glittering algae have returned to Tasmania’s coastline in a spectacular bloom of bioluminescence that experts say is the largest seen in years.
The phenomenon, known as “sea sparkles” or “red tide”, was caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae that experts say was beautiful to look at, but considered bad news for the environment.
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Continue reading...Phew! Turtle doves shoot ban triggers bird species recovery
Western European population has risen 25% with ban and some UK sites have seen promising increases
There are signs of hope for the turtle dove, one of the most endangered birds that has been plummeting towards extinction in Britain.
After a temporary ban on the annual shoot of the migratory birds as they pass through France, Spain and Portugal, which began in 2021, there has been a remarkable 25% increase in its western European population, which includes the 2,000 individuals clinging on in England.
Continue reading...Former EU environment chief warns against backsliding on climate crisis
Virginijus Sinkevičius, a former environment commissioner, criticises bloc’s decision to delay deforestation law
A former EU environment commissioner has warned against backsliding on the protection of nature and the battle against the climate crisis after the bloc decided to delay its landmark deforestation law.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the Lithuanian MEP and a vice-president of the European parliament’s Green group, said he disagreed with the decision to amend the deforestation law in order to give companies a year of extra time to ensure their products are not implicated in the felling of trees.
Continue reading...Could bike lanes reshape car-crazy Los Angeles?
Starmer faces test of climate leadership with big decisions on carbon budget
PM will have to respond to Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on future emissions cuts with drastic changes in many sectors of economy
Keir Starmer will face a key test of his claims to leadership on the climate early next year, when the UK’s statutory advisers issue their latest advice on future cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
The independent Climate Change Committee will set out recommendations on the UK’s seventh carbon budget on 26 February. At the core of the budget will be an overall cap on emissions for the years 2038 to 2042, needed to meet the legal obligation of reaching net zero emissions in 2050.
Continue reading...What comes after microgrids? Energy parks based around wind, solar and storage
The post What comes after microgrids? Energy parks based around wind, solar and storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Future of space travel: Could robots really replace human astronauts?
Could AI robots replace human astronauts in space?
Watch: Rocket blasts off for India's first space-docking mission
In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world
Essex county council sends 95% of non-recycled waste to landfill, data reveals
Seven local authorities in England have waste figures highlighted as government launches circular economy measures
New government data published on Monday showed that 95% of non-recycled waste in Essex is sent to landfill, as ministers launched their plans for a circular economy.
The data revealed that seven local authorities in England reported sending more than 40% of their residual waste to landfill in 2022 to 2023, with Essex county council at the top of the list.
Continue reading...A cicada: ‘What cicadas leave behind is a kind of crystallised memory’ | Helen Sullivan
Part of their body is hollow, this amplifies the sound. The longer you listen to their sound, the more they seem to sync up
Of all the languages’ words for cicada, Croatian’s might be the best: cvrčak, pronounced: tvr-chak. The sound it makes is tvr-chi tvr-chi. I have a Croatian friend who taught me part of a poem – Cicada – when we were in high school. It is by Vladimir Nazor, who was Croatia’s first head of state. The first stanza includes the satisfyingly low on vowels and onomatopoeic phrase: “cvrči, cvrči cvrčak” (pronounced “tvrchi, tvrchi tvrchak”) – which translates as “chirp, chirp cicada”.
And the cricket chirps, chirps on the knot of the black spruce
Its deafening trochee, its sonorous, heavy iambic …
It is noon. – Like water, it spills out in silence.
A solar dithyramb.
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