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Updated: 25 min 58 sec ago

England’s wildlife watchdog failing to protect crucial sites, say campaigners

Wed, 2025-02-12 17:00

In three years Natural England has designated just two new SSSIs, which protect areas from development

The government’s wildlife watchdog for England is failing to halt the decline of nature after a sharp fall in the number of new places given top protection, according to campaigners.

On average over the past 15 years, Natural England has designated four new sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) each year. SSSIs are nationally or internationally important places for rare wildlife and habitats, meet strict criteria and are then usually protected from almost all possible development.

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Britons urged to join hunt for rare daffodil breeds amid extinction fears

Wed, 2025-02-12 16:00

RHS is asking people to look for under-threat varieties such as the Sussex Bonfire and Mrs William Copeland

Britons have been asked to hunt for rare pink, white and “bonfire yellow” daffodils in order to save threatened varieties from extinction.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which is running the daffodil count, is hoping to build a map of the spring blooms. It is asking people to log where daffodils are flowering in their area along with basic information such as colour, type and height.

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Many birds-of-paradise species emit light through their plumage, study finds

Wed, 2025-02-12 10:01

Researchers found that most birds-of-paradise are biofluorescent – meaning they absorb light through their bodies

Birds-of-paradise are known for their bright and colourful plumage, but it turns out they are even more dazzling than previously thought.

Researchers have found 37 of the 45 species show biofluorescence – in other words, patches of their plumage or other body parts absorb UV or blue light, and emit light at lower frequencies.

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Heathrow to pledge to use UK steel and boost growth in third runway proposal

Wed, 2025-02-12 08:00

Airport’s chief executive to formally spell out expansion plans in speech at British Steel plant in Scunthorpe

Heathrow will submit third runway proposals to the government this summer, pledging to use UK steel and boost growth, the airport has confirmed.

Its chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, will formally spell out plans for a third runway to follow a multibillion-pound upgrade of the London airport’s existing terminals and facilities, in a speech at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe on Wednesday.

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Microplastics can block blood vessels in mice brains, researchers find

Tue, 2025-02-11 21:00

Scientists observe decreased motor function in rodents exposed to microplastics

Microplastics can move through mice brains and block blood vessels, essentially mimicking blood clots that could potentially be fatal or otherwise disrupt brain function.

The findings are detailed in a peer-reviewed paper for which researchers for the first time used real-time imaging to track bits of plastic as they moved through and accumulated in brain blood vessels. When one piece of plastic got stuck, others accumulated behind it, like a “car crash”, the authors reported.

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Conspiracy theory on methane-cutting cow feed a ‘wake-up call’, say scientists

Tue, 2025-02-11 18:00

Social media storm of misinformation about Bovaer has drawn in Reform UK, the dairy industry and even Bill Gates

Scientists say a recent methane-related conspiracy theory was “a wake-up call” for the industry, reminding them they need to communicate better and more directly with the public.

Over the last few months, Bovaer, a cattle feed additive that is proven to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas, has been at the centre of a swirl of misinformation, drawing in Reform UK, the dairy industry and even the billionaire Bill Gates.

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EV drivers spend extra £85m on VAT when using public chargers

Tue, 2025-02-11 17:00

Industry says ‘pavement tax’ due to disparity in VAT rates is holding back transition away from fossil fuels

Electric vehicle drivers will spend an extra £85m on UK tax when using public car chargers this year because of a disparity in VAT rates that the industry has said is holding back the transition away from fossil fuels.

Home users of electricity pay just 5% VAT compared with the 20% rate that applies to businesses – including electric car charger operators. That means that people charging a car using public chargers face higher costs.

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It’s straight from the Trump playbook: Labour is tearing up the machinery of government | George Monbiot

Tue, 2025-02-11 16:00

If Starmer and Reeves really want a greener, cleaner, wilder nation, then why attack vital state bodies that are already on their knees?

This might sound astonishing, but the UK government’s core programme now appears to be the same as Donald Trump’s: dismantling the administrative state. There’s less theatre, but the results could prove harder to contest. Absurd? Consider the evidence.

Take the government’s brutal expulsion of the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, Marcus Bokkerink. His crime, it seems, was to take his role seriously, seeking to prevent the formation of corporate monopolies. He has been replaced with the former manager of Amazon UK, a company widely accused of monopolistic practices. This is pure Trump: kick out the regulator and insert someone from a company they were seeking to regulate.

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Drax is the subsidy show that goes on and on | Nils Pratley

Tue, 2025-02-11 04:33

Government cranks handle again for group owning Yorkshire power plant because cheaper generating capacity not in place

Surprise, surprise, a mighty £7bn of subsidies since 2012 have not been enough to get Drax to stand on its own feet. More bungs are required to keep the wood fires burning at the enormous power plant in North Yorkshire – this time an estimated £1.8bn from 2027-31.

The energy minister Michael Shanks at least sounded embarrassed. He railed against the “unacceptably large profits” Drax has made, said past subsidy arrangements “did not deliver a good enough deal for bill payers” and vowed that that the definition of a “sustainable” wood pellet would be tightened. But the bottom line is that the government has agreed to crank the subsidy handle once again, just at a slower rate.

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Farmers ‘very worried’ as US pesticide firms push to bar cancer diagnoses lawsuits

Tue, 2025-02-11 03:00

Pesticide-backed proposed law that opponents call ‘Cancer Gag Act’ pits Iowa farm groups against each other

Pesticide company efforts to push through laws that could block litigation against them is igniting battles in several US farm states and pitting some farm groups against each other.

Laws have been introduced in at least eight states so far and drafts are circulating in more than 20 states, backed by a deluge of advertising supporting the measures.

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Cockatoos show appetite for dips when eating bland food, find scientists

Tue, 2025-02-11 02:00

Birds observed going to lengths to flavour food, with particular penchant for blueberry-flavoured soy yoghurt dip

Whether you savour Ottolenghi’s recipes or prefer a feast from Nigella’s cookery books, humans enjoy mixing flavours and textures when preparing food. Now research suggests some cockatoos do too.

Researchers have previously discovered that some of the birds dunk dry rusks in water before eating them, just as some people enjoy dunking a biscuit in tea, apparently reflecting a penchant for a soggy texture.

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‘It’s a temporary lifeline’: Drax decision is latest test of Labour’s green credentials

Tue, 2025-02-11 01:56

Mixed reaction from campaigners as ministers impose reduced subsidies and stringent conditions on Yorkshire wood-burning plant

Burning wood is a terrible way of producing electricity. Chopping down trees destroys habitats for wildlife, and growing new trees cannot replace the biodiversity of old-growth forests. There is also a decades-long time lag between the carbon dioxide released from the burning, which fuels the climate crisis now, and the uptake of equivalent carbon from the air by replacement trees.

So when the government announced on Monday that it would continue billpayer subsidies for biomass burning at the Drax power station, beyond 2027 when the current payments end, the news appeared a blow to green campaigners.

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UK used electric vehicle sales hit record last year as prices fell

Tue, 2025-02-11 01:19

Secondhand market thrived as sales of new EVs also reached highest levels to date, SMMT trade body says

A record number of used electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in the UK last year, as prices eased and the choice of cars widened, according to industry data.

Total sales of used cars rose by 5.5% in 2024, as 7.6m vehicles changed hands, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Sales rose in every month last year, as they did in 2023.

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Weatherwatch: tropical cyclone Zelia brings high winds and rain to Western Australia

Mon, 2025-02-10 22:03

A tropical low known as 18U will bring strong winds, heavy rain and storm surges to the north of the country

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a tropical cyclone alert for the north coast of Western Australia. This alert concerns a tropical low known as 18U, which has been spotted near the coast of Kimberley, situated in the north-west of the state. Strong winds, heavy rain and storm surges will affect northern Australia starting on Sunday night, with a flood warning also being issued. Under current forecasts, 18U will continue to push south-westwards along the warm water off Western Australia into the new week and is expected to strengthen to a tropical cyclone, which will be named Zelia. By the end of the week, the cyclone is expected to make landfall around the Pilbara region, bringing about 150mm-250mm (5.9in-9.8in) of rain locally, alongside wind gusts of about 100mph.

Meanwhile, Canada has once again been experiencing a severe cold spell after polar air moved in from the north, allowing temperatures to fall 5C-10C (41C-50F) below the seasonal average. Western Canada is particularly badly affected, with the cities of Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon potentially experiencing maximum daytime temperatures of between -10C and -15C this week, while overnight temperatures will often reach -20C to -30C. Temperatures as low as -35C are possible, which is around 10-15C below the seasonal average. For more context, the town of Saskatoon lies at the same latitude as Cambridge in the UK, which has a record low temperature of -13C.

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Climate activists fined over protest outside Woodside boss Meg O’Neill’s Perth home

Mon, 2025-02-10 15:07

Jesse Noakes, 36, and Matilda Lane-Rose, 20, and Emil Davey, 23, fined a total of $6,500 after pleading guilty to unlawful damage and trespass

A group of climate activists have been fined over a foiled protest at the Woodside Energy boss’s family home.

About 10 counter-terrorism police were waiting for Jesse Noakes, 36, and Matilda Lane-Rose, 20, when they arrived at the Perth home of Woodside chief executive, Meg O’Neill, in August 2023 with paint, water balloons and a bicycle lock.

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More than 1,100 dead sea turtles washed up along southern India’s coastline

Mon, 2025-02-10 15:00

The mass death of once-endangered olive ridley turtles in January has prompted an increase in wildlife patrols and a crackdown on fishing boats

More than 1,100 dead olive ridley sea turtles have washed ashore on the beaches of Tamil Nadu state in southern India this January.

“I never heard [of] such large numbers of turtles stranded at any beaches of Tamil Nadu at least in the last three decades,” Kuppusamy Sivakumar, an ecology professor at Pondicherry University said.

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Storm brings hail to Harden in NSW – video

Mon, 2025-02-10 13:53

Storm brings hail to Harden in NSW – video

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Torrential rain and flash floods hit Sydney as massive storms roll across NSW and eastern Victoria

Mon, 2025-02-10 12:32

Bureau of Meteorology warns severe conditions will continue as parts of NSW coated in hail

Thunderstorms across New South Wales and eastern Victoria on Monday brought flash flooding, destructive winds and hail, as the Bureau of Meteorology warns severe conditions would continue.

A major storm rolled across the Sydney CBD around midday on Monday, bringing dark skies and heavy rainfall. The city had recorded 40.6mm of rain at Observatory Hill since 9am, according to the BoM.

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Air traffic control to Sir Keir: turbulence ahead | Stewart Lee

Sun, 2025-02-09 20:00

There’s no point trying to make plans around the whims of Trump. The PM instead needs to turn to Europe

To Elon Musk, I say this! To perform one Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration, while simultaneously offering full support to European neo-Nazis, might be considered a misfortune. To perform two Nazi salutes at Donald Trump’s inauguration, while simultaneously offering full support to European neo-Nazis, begins to look like carelessness.

I didn’t write that joke. I have cannibalised it from one by the gay Irish Victorian Oscar Wilde, a typical diversity hire who would have achieved nothing had his work not been promoted by the famously woke 19th-century British establishment. Luckily, Wilde was dead long before he had the opportunity to emigrate to the US and take an air traffic controller job from a more deserving straight white male, where his gayness would have caused planes to crash.

Stewart Lee tours Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf this year, with a Royal Festival Hall run in July

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk

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Promoting green growth does not make you an ‘eco-nutter’. It’s the only way forward

Sun, 2025-02-09 19:00

Heading off the environmental crisis and growing the economy are not at odds. They are two sides of a coin – as our politicians should realise

If you care about the world we are handing on to future generations, the news on Thursday morning was dramatic. This January was the warmest on record; temperatures in 18 of the past 19 months have exceeded pre-industrial averages by 1.5C. There can be no comfort that the epoch-changing climate crisis is 20 or even 10 years away. It is already upon us.

Temperatures should have been moderated this winter by cooler air over the Pacific; it did not happen. Scientists are bewildered and scared. James Hansen, doyen of climate crisis research, believes that, unless this pace of deterioration is reversed, warm ocean waters flowing from the southern to the northern hemisphere will be trapped as vast sea currents cease. Sea levels will rise to impose a civilisational threat. It is a global imperative to dial down the rate of carbon emissions.

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