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Scheme will match donations to NGO up to £2m to help reduce ocean plastic pollution
A UK government-backed campaign to build recycling bases in Pakistan could raise millions of pounds to help reduce ocean and river plastic pollution.
Related:'I've never been to school': child waste pickers living on Pakistan's streets | Haroon Janjua
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Drive to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and cut waste’ could include plastic tax and deposit scheme
Millions of homes could have their food waste bins collected weekly, if new proposals from the environment secretary are implemented in the wake of a government consultation on the UK’s waste system.
Michael Gove’s proposed measures to ensure consistent recycling collections come after a number of councils cut the frequency of collections, leaving residents with overflowing bins.
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Emerging technologies are a boon for the work of conservation researchers, but not all universities are equipped for them
Technology is playing an increasingly vital role in conservation and ecology research. Drones in particular hold huge potential in the fight to save the world’s remaining wildlife from extinction. With their help, researchers can now track wild animals through dense forests and monitor whales in vast oceans. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature estimates that up to five living species on earth become extinct every day, making it vital that universities develop new technologies to capture the data that can persuade those in power to act.
The British International Education Association and the Born Free Foundation hosted a conference in January to highlight the importance of technological solutions in protecting vulnerable species and ecosystems. Speakers underlined how technology can help conservation efforts: fixed-wing drones can land on water and circle high above the Indian Ocean to spot whales, rays and illegal fishing, while artificial intelligence-enabled infrared cameras are able to identify members of an individual species or human poachers, even through thick environmental cover.
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Voting is open throughout February for the ninth European Tree of the Year contest, organised by the Environmental Partnership Association and featuring entrants from 15 countries
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Environment secretary may target drinks of under 750ml in deposit return scheme
Michael Gove has been urged not to water down plans to give people money back for recycling plastic bottles and cans, after consulting on whether to target small drink containers only.
The environment secretary will confirm on Monday that he is pressing ahead with the new “deposit return” scheme for cans and bottles made of plastic and glass, as well as a tax on some plastic packaging.
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Scientists say roast meal can make household air dirtier than in sixth most polluted city
Cooking a Sunday roast can drive indoor air pollution far above the levels found in the most polluted cities on Earth, scientists have said.
Researchers found that roasting meat and vegetables, and using a gas hob, released a surge of fine particles that could make household air dirtier than that in Delhi.
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Population growth and climate change mean we need hi-tech to boost crops, says a new report
It is 2040 and Britain’s green and pleasant countryside is populated by robots. We have vertical farms of leafy salads, fruit and vegetables, and livestock is protected by virtual fencing. Changing diets have seen a decline in meat consumption while new biotech production techniques not only help preserve crops but also make them more nutritious.
This is the picture painted in a report from the National Farmers Union which attempts to sketch out what British food and farming will look like in 20 years’ time.
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People tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences – and Florida’s coastal real estate may be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call
I stood behind a worn shopping center outside of Crystal Springs, Florida, looking for the refuge where a hundred manatees were gathered for winter. I found them clustered in the emerald-colored spring, trying to enjoy a wedge of sunlight and avoid the hordes of people like me, boxing them in on kayaks and tour boats, leering over wooden decks. The nearby canals were lined with expensive homes and docks with jetskis. One manatee breached the water for a breath, and I could see the propeller scar on its back.
2018 was the second deadliest yearon record for manatees. Like many of our coastal species, they’re vulnerable to habitat loss and warming seas, which are more hospitable to algal blooms and red tide. Science has given us the foresight we need to make decisions that will reduce the future suffering of other species and ourselves, but we don’t heed it. Why?
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Scientists say a drastic cut in meat consumption is needed, but this requires political will
It has been known for a while that the amount of animal products being eaten is bad for both the welfare of animals and the environment. People cannot consume 12.9bn eggs in the UK each year without breaking a few.
But the extent of the damage, and the amount by which people need to cut back, is now becoming clearer. On Wednesday, the Lancet medical journal published a study that calls for dramatic changes to food production and the human diet, in order to avoid “catastrophic damage to the planet”.
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The continent’s largest land mammal plays crucial role in spiritual lives of the tribes
On 5,000 hectares of unploughed prairie in north-eastern Montana, hundreds of wild bison roam once again. But this herd is not in a national park or a protected sanctuary – they are on tribal lands. Belonging to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck Reservation, the 340 bison is the largest conservation herd in the ongoing bison restoration efforts by North America’s Indigenous people.
The bison – or as Native Americans call them, buffalo – are not just “sustenance,” according to Leroy Little Bear, a professor at the University of Lethbridge and a leader in the bison restoration efforts with the Blood Tribe. The continent’s largest land mammal plays a major role in the spiritual and cultural lives of numerous Native American tribes, an “integrated relationship,” he said.
Continue reading...Researchers have developed a test that can detect the condition in minutes - instead of up to 72 hours.
Parents of sick babies need more paternity and maternity leave, a neonatal charity says.
Researchers suggest bursts of high intensity workouts, like sprinting, are more effective for weight loss.
This helps doctors who often struggle to answer questions from patients on how they will last.
Late risers have poorer attention, slower reactions and increased sleepiness, a study suggests.
Nearly 330,000 A&E patients waited for more than four hours last month in England.
Going for a free health check could flag up early signs of cardiovascular disease, health bodies say.
Some early studies in mice suggest drugs can be developed to halt mental decline, say scientists.
Experts link use of the drug in teenage years to cases of depression later in life.
As Call the Midwife tackles the issue, BBC Action Line users say there is no advice on abortion.
After 200 years of uncertainty, Australian researchers think they've solved the mystery of the cassowary's casque.
In Twins Study, NASA studies the genetic differences between twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly after Scott's year in space, and get unexpected results.
Sue Flood's new book on emperor penguins, 'Emperor: The Perfect Penguin,' is the culmination of 9 years of work.
Monarchs in the Rough hopes to establish 500 butterfly habitats at various golf courses.
Around 2,000 lesser flamingo chicks were rescued from a dried-out dam in northern South Africa, and are receiving a lot of human care.
Copenhagen gains an unusual new landmark in the form of a multitasking waste-to-energy plant designed by Bjarke Ingels Group that functions as a ski slope.
Sirius, the 'dog star,' will go dark for a brief second as an asteroid hurtles in front of it.
Chimpanzees are full of surprises, and those surprises can give us insights into our own behavior and history.
Denny Dyke turns his walking meditations into intricate sand labyrinths on the beach in Oregon.
A real black panther is spotted in Kenya by a wildlife photographer and researchers. It was the first confirmed sighting of such a big cat in almost 100 years.
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