Feed aggregator

Wildlife Trusts report comeback of rare seahorse breed and nudibranch slugs but plastic pollution still poses grave risk

A rare kind of seahorse and a rainbow-coloured sea slug with a titillating name are among the creatures making a comeback in UK waters, according to an annual conservation review.

The coast around Britain is now home to more than 100 species of nudibranchs – brightly hued, soft-bodied marine molluscs that appear nude because of their lack of external shells. The Wildlife Trusts credited a big conservation push around the coast for their proliferation.

Continue reading...

Pilot will redistribute surplus food, with aim of stopping waste going to landfill by 2030

The government has appointed a food waste champion to tackle the problem of 250m meals being thrown away in the UK each year.

Ben Elliot, a philanthropist and co-founder of the lifestyle group Quintessentially, will aim to help the government eliminate food waste going to landfill by 2030.

Continue reading...

British wine makers are enjoying temperatures that resemble the climate usually seen in north-eastern France and British Fizz is now winning praise and plaudits in the wine industry.

• Billionaire and retiring California governor demand action
• America’s year of extreme weather – in pictures

Michael Bloomberg slammed Donald Trump’s inaction on climate change on Sunday and said any candidate for president in 2020 – he himself might be one – must have a plan to deal with the problem.

Related: Trump unmoved on border wall demand as shutdown enters ninth day

Continue reading...

History will be made on Tuesday when the New Horizons probe sweeps past a far-off icy world.

Aryans are not the earliest or only source of Indian civilisation, suggests new research on genetic ancestry.

Exclusive: environmental group calls plan to protect black-throated finch an ‘elaborate hoax’

Adani has set aside a “conservation area” for the endangered black-throated finch at the same site earmarked for the massive Clive Palmer-backed Alpha North coalmine.

The environmental group Lock the Gate said the land-use conflict meant the Adani plan to protect the black-throated finch – which is one of two crucial management plans for the Carmichael mine yet to be approved by the Queensland government – amounted to an “elaborate hoax”.

Continue reading...

Carrier bags are easy to replace and milk can come in glass bottles. But what about deodorant, toothbrushes and clingfilm?

Bettina Maidment hasn’t emptied the kitchen bin since the beginning of November. The time before that was in August. “You can reduce your rubbish a lot,” she insists, pointing to her recycling and food compost bins. “I have two kids and they’re pretty anti-plastic – I am their mother after all – but it is do-able.”

Maidment, 38, is the founder of Plastic Free Hackney, a campaign to rid the east London borough of single-use plastic and has been serious about committing her family to plastic-free, zero-waste living for two years now. First to go was milk cartons. “That was an easy switch, we got a milkman.”

Continue reading...

• First sighting of season for critically endangered species
• No newborns were reported in previous calving season

Florida conservationists have reported a sighting of a right whale calf off the Atlantic coast.

Related: Facing extinction, the North Atlantic right whale cannot adapt. Can we? | Philip Hoare

Continue reading...

A British Army officer has become the second person ever to trek unaided across Antarctica.

The idea, central to Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign, aims to eliminate greenhouse gas pollution – but lacks key political support

Most US voters would support a “Green New Deal”, for the country to transform its infrastructure with a rapid shift to clean energy. But while the idea is gaining attention on Capitol Hill, it lacks key political support.

Continue reading...

A puppy was saved from a frozen lake by a police diver in Turkey.

Satellite images indicate Anak Krakatau has now lost over two-thirds of its height and volume.

Authorities in Ecuador say animals suffered elevated heart rates and anxiety after pyrotechnic shows.

First global coastline survey shows 16% of tidal flats lost between 1984 and 2016

Coastal development and sea level rise are causing the decline of tidal flats along the world’s coastlines, according to research that has mapped the ecosystems for the first time.

Scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the University of Queensland used machine-learning to analyse more than 700,000 satellite images to map the extent of and change in tidal flats around the globe.

Continue reading...

Australian scientists are giving coral reefs in the Philippines a helping hand to recover from coral bleaching

Move is part of a series of regulations pursued on behalf of coal interests, decisions scientists say are detrimental to public health

The Trump administration will reconsider the reasoning for restrictions on toxic mercury pollution from coal plants that is linked to developmental delays in children, it was announced on Friday.

Continue reading...

Nathan Rogers was dragged along by fishing boat for five miles before it crashed in Newlyn, Cornwall

A fisherman survived falling overboard after he clung on to nets on the side of his boat for more than an hour.

Nathan Rogers was dragged along by his fishing boat for five miles before it crashed into the south pier in Newlyn, Cornwall, on Thursday afternoon.

Continue reading...

A species of duck thought to have been wiped out a decade ago is re-released at a lake in Madagascar.

Conservationists hope to save a species of duck called the Madagascar pochard from extinction.