Around The Web
The week in wildlife – in pictures
Lion cubs at play, the world’s oldest known giant tortoise and a mountain hare are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Bike lanes don't clog up our roads, they keep London moving
Protected cycle lanes are one of the best ways to reduce congestion in London, carrying up to five times as many people per hour as a main road, a new report shows
Congestion isn’t exactly the most fashionable political topic of our times, but it is a problem that threatens London’s status as a well-functioning, competitive global city. Businesses need to be able to make and receive reliable deliveries, Londoners need to be able to get to work on time, and tourists – almost 20 million of them a year in London – need to get around quickly and easily too.
As politicians wake up to the need to do more to increase Britain’s productivity, being smarter in how we set up our transport infrastructure is essential. Our streets will get more congested if we do nothing as London continues to grow – currently at the rate of an additional London borough every three years. If no further action is taken, GLA figures show that by 2041, three days would be lost per person every year due to congestion.
Continue reading...New Sentinel satellite tracks dirty air
'Zero tolerance' plan eyed for plastic pollution
Capturing ecology 2017 photo competition - winners in pictures
The British Ecological Society has announced the winners of its annual photography competition, Capturing Ecology. Taken by international ecologists and students, the winning images will be exhibited at the society’s joint annual meeting in Ghent in December
Continue reading...Proposed poultry standards leave Australia trailing behind other industrialised countries
Country diary: a vertical timeline is clearly visible in the cliffs
Walton on the Naze, Essex The iron-rich, sandy layer of the Red Crag, laid down by a cool sea, is rich in marine fossils.
I walk past the arcades and beach cafes. The smell of vinegar on chips is sharp in my nose and makes my mouth water but I haven’t come to Walton on the Naze for seaside snacks. Higher ground is visible beyond the beach, partly shrouded in mist, and I strike out towards it.
Continue reading...ASX top 20 companies for climate change reporting in 2017
Developing nations are driving record growth in solar power
How to find a site for a solar farm in less than 10 minutes
Plans for Australia’s first offshore wind farm gather pace
Australia’s biggest merchant solar farm inks deal with Western Power
Tesla big battery officially switched on in South Australia
Land of the birds: why Australia has the world's greatest diversity of avian life
Australia is home to one in 10 of the world’s unique bird species – and most of the world’s birds can trace their lineage to the continent
• Vote in the Australian bird of the Year
If you live in Australia, you may not realise how unique and special the birds around you are. Our continent was perhaps the most important for the evolution of modern birds, with a majority of the world’s species tracing their ancestry here.
Long ecologically adrift as an island continent, Australia benefited through the evolution of a remarkable diversity of fascinating, colourful, noisy, clever, innovative species of bird.
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