The Guardian

Discovery of genetic differences, using DNA analysis, could boost efforts to save declining populations

Researchers have discovered there are not just one but four distinct species of giraffe, overturning two centuries of accepted wisdom in a finding that could boost efforts to save the last dwindling populations.

Analysis of DNA evidence from all of the currently recognised nine sub-species found that there is not just one species of giraffe but enough genetic differences to recognise four distinct species. Experts said the differences are as large as those between brown bears and polar bears.

Giraffe have suffered a decline in number from around 150,000 across Africa three decades ago to 100,000 today, as their habitat has been turned over to agriculture. But as a single species the giraffe is currently listed as of least concern on the red list of endangered species, leaving the tallest living animals a relatively low conservation focus compared to rhino and elephant.

“People need to really figure out that giraffes are in danger. There are only 100,000 giraffes left in Africa. We’ll be working closely with governments and big NGOs to put giraffes on the radar,” said Dr Julian Fennessy, lead author of the new study which saw genetic testing in Germany on 190 giraffe.

The four recommended new species are the southern giraffe, with two subspecies, the Angolan giraffe and South African giraffe; the Masai giraffe; the reticulated giraffe; and the northern giraffe including the Kordofan giraffe and west African giraffe as subspecies.

Experts warn there may be no unspoilt places left within a century as report shows an area twice the size of Alaska has been lost since 1993

Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth’s remaining wilderness in the last 25 years and there may be none left within a century if trends continue, according to an authoritative new study.

Researchers found a vast area the size of two Alaskas – 3.3m square kilometres – had been tarnished by human activities between 1993 and today, which experts said was a “shockingly bad” and “profoundly large number”.

在接下来的一年，英国《卫报》将与中外对话联合推出大象保护与拯救的系列报道。翻译：金枝 (中外对话/chinadialogue)

从早先欧美的象牙收藏热，到近来亚洲地区对象牙高涨的需求，一波又一波的屠杀已经将非洲大象逼向灭绝的边缘。过去十年，为了满足人们对象牙不灭的热情，非法狩猎活动猖獗，导致非洲大象数量灾难性下降。

Related: 事实上，大象已经濒临灭绝

A new partnership with chinadialogue will bring a year of in-depth reporting, expert opinion and features to a crucial audience of consumers and readers in China

Wave after wave of elephant slaughter, driven first by European and US ivory collectors and more recently by demand in Asia, has brought the African elephant to its knees. A catastrophic decline in the past decade is primarily due to poaching to feed a continuing passion for ivory.

The poachers are mainly Africans, but their clients are often criminal gangs based in Asia who smuggle the tusks on planes and ships to countries where demand for ivory continues to grow. The largest of these is China.

目前全球大象种群处境危急。卡尔·马蒂森 就将向我们解释，为何大象即将迎来前所未有的生死攸关时刻。

翻译: Estelle/中外对话/chinadialogue

作为陆地上体积最大的野生动物，声音如雷、体重可达六吨的大象可谓是生物演化史上的一个奇迹。除了它们那有着10万块肌肉的灵活无比的鼻子，和能帮助它们驱走热量的特大号耳朵之外，大象族群还有着复杂的母系社会结构，它们甚至还会在同伴逝去之后恸哭哀痛。而大象的另外一个特征就是长长的象牙，这本来应该是它们保护自己的防卫武器，然而却最终成为了族群濒危的导火索。

The overview effect is the transformative experience astronauts feel on seeing Earth from space and mankind’s place and impact upon it. Images from a new book, Overview: A New Perspective, by Benjamin Grant display the beauty and fragility of our planet and its natural resources

National review prompted by severe flooding in recent winters anticipates 20-30% more extreme downpours than before

The UK’s new flood defence plans anticipate significantly higher extreme rainfall, after new research was published as part of the government’s National Flood Resilience review.

The government, which had been criticised for not taking full account of the impact of climate change in driving up flood risk, will now plan for 20-30% more extreme downpours than before.

Humans have an impact on species migration both through climate change and by changing the landscape.

One of the reasons climate change is such an important topic is that it will affect (and already is affecting) the natural biological systems. Both plants and animals will have to respond to the changing climate. In some cases, this means adapting to higher temperatures. In other cases, the changes may be alterations in the precipitation, length of growing season, availability or resources, or other influences.

While some animals can adapt, others will have to migrate. Obviously migration can be apparent in mobile animals that will move to maintain a more or less similar climate to that to which they are accustomed.

Former floods minister Richard Benyon says leaving EU will allow UK to pay farmers to hold back flood water

Farmers could to be paid to hold back flood water under a post-Brexit rural payments system, according to former floods minister Richard Benyon.

Speaking before Thursday’s publication of the government’s report into the response to flooding in Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire last December, Benyon predicted that more resources would be made available.

On the edge of a forest in northern Norway, an unusually handsome hydroelectric plant is generating a buzz

Ovre Forsland is a big departure from the hulking power stations that traditionally served our energy needs. It looks more like an elegant, custom‑built home from TV show Grand Designs.

Located in the Helgeland district in northern Norway, it’s a small hydroelectric power station capable of supplying 1,600 homes with power.

Around the UK, abandoned railway lines are being turned into world-class cycling and walking trails that are boosting local tourism and recreation

When the time came for my family’s first ever multi-day cycle tour, the Devon coast-to-coast ticked all the boxes. The 102-mile route, from Ilfracombe in the north to Plymouth in the south, is 70% traffic-free and passes through some beautiful landscapes.

We began in Barnstaple, rolling along the salt marshes of the river Torridge, up to Dartmoor and down thegorges of the Plym valley. The gradients are gentle as the route follows the path of a series of disused railway lines. I soon realised the easy riding belied the huge challenges of turning a series of abandoned railway lines into a world-class cycling and walking trail.

8 September 1924: Short, fierce campaign between two colonies of ants

Two colonies of ants at the Zoological Gardens, London, last week attracted some attention by the announcement that a decisive war was about to take place between them. The colony referred to as the Left had recently been deposited in the insect-house, and there were indications that the older colony, called the Right, would attempt to wipe it out, as they had wiped out other intruders.

On inquiry at the Zoological Gardens on, Saturday, the “Sunday Times” learned that most of the decisive fighting had now taken place and the Left Army would certainly be the victors.

Madingley, Cambridge The hall’s owners desired an estate with a view, and that did not include a village street, so the people were evicted

A time-travelling Tudor peasant might return to the place of their birth and find reassurance in the sight of Madingley’s medieval church. They could stand before its sturdy tower and run their fingers over stones embedded in mortar, as I did, then step inside to rediscover the font where they were baptised, and look up for re-acquaintance with exquisitely detailed medieval figures floating in stained glass.

But a hard stare into the nettled field beside the churchyard would make them wonder where their village had gone. The 18th century owners of Madingley Hall, which is about four miles from the centre of Cambridge, desired an estate with a view, and that view did not include a village street. So by the middle of the century the people had been evicted from their homes, their houses razed to the ground. I came to search for evidence of this lost community and found it.

Greens urge Labor to oppose $1bn cut to Australian Renewable Energy Agency, removing its future capacity for grants

A giant surge of investment in renewable energy has been sparked by what might be the last grants made by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, as the parliament is poised to cut most of its funding.

Large-scale solar will triple in size, with Arena today announcing the 12 winners of its $92m in grants, which together leverage more than $1bn investment from private companies.

The author’s new book on climate change questions why the arts have been largely silent on the issue and says India must do more reduce its emissions

Speaking at a literary festival in Bhutan, the Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh recently predicted that Himalayan regions, for no fault of their own, will face a catastrophe as climate change takes hold. So chilling was Ghosh that the local paper reported – only half in jest – that a disturbed audience had to be soothed by a subsequent talk by Buddhist monks.

Ghosh, best known for his historical novels, has been travelling the world talking about his new book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, born out of a series of lectures at the University of Chicago.

Wangan and Jagalingou people say judge should have found company ‘misled’ tribunal over jobs and economic impact of mine

A traditional owner of the site of Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine has vowed to keep fighting the project as he lodged an appeal from a federal court ruling that endorsed the state government’s approval of the mining leases.

Adrian Burragubba, who speaks on behalf of members of the Wangan and Jagalingou people, who oppose the mine, lodged an appeal to the full bench of the court on Thursday.

Is hayfever an allergy to hay? Or even a fever? We take a look at some common misconceptions held about allergies, as well as a few natural remedies

Hayfever is, in fact, a seasonal form of ‘allergic rhinitis’ or allergic reaction in the nasal passage, which becomes inflamed on contact with allergens such as pollens, dander and moulds. The cause may vary, but the symptoms are similar, ranging from runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezing to headaches, lack of concentration and sleepless nights.

AGL, GE and Tesla join 21 other companies in open letter calling for the $1.3bn planned cut to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to be dropped

Some of Australia’s best-known energy companies including AGL, GE and Tesla, have joined calls to halt plans to cut $1.3bn from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

The 24 companies signed an open letter to parliamentarians released by the Clean Energy Council.

Professor Colin Green (Letters, 7 September) makes a classic first-world myopic error in believing that the rise in human population is mainly responsible for the impending ecological crisis. It is not numbers of people per se damaging the planet, but frenetic consumption in the wealthy world that lies behind anthropogenic climate change. You can curb family sizes in poor countries all you like – if you have the moral stomach for such gross colonialism and denial of essential human freedoms – but the ecological crisis will remain as long as we live the way we do in the rich world.

As Pope Francis puts it in his ecological teaching document, Laudato Si’: “To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues. It is an attempt to legitimise the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalised, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption.”

Ian McEwan and Andrew Motion among those opposed to University of East Anglia’s rugby and parking development on wild flower meadows

A university with an international reputation for environmental science has been criticised by alumni, including Ian McEwan and Andrew Motion, for seeking to build a car park and rugby pitch on wild flower meadows.

The University of East Anglia’s (UEA) plans have been branded “crude” and “thuggish” by McEwan, while Motion, the former poet laureate, said they were “scandalous” and “deeply destructive”.