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Tougher limits on pollutants could cut dangers of heart disease, cancers and poor brain development in children
The UK’s failure to meet World Health Organisation standards limiting the amount of ultra-fine particles in the air represents a major danger to health that is only now being recognised, experts claim.
Studies published this year link the particles to cancers, lung and heart disease, adverse effects on foetal development, and poor lung and brain development in children. They are considered a key threat to health because they go deep into the lungs and then reach other organs, including the brain. But European standards allow the levels of particles in the air to be 2.5 times higher than those stipulated by the WHO.
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Brazil, India and China singled out in UN talks as acting to block agreement on article 6 of Paris agreement
Poor countries have accused a handful of richer nations of holding up progress on tackling the climate crisis at UN talks in Madrid, as demonstrators and activists vented their frustration in the final hours of two weeks of negotiations.
The talks, which had been due to end on Friday, dragged on with negotiators still battling on Saturday to salvage a result, as governments wrangled over the details of a seemingly arcane issue: carbon markets, governed by a provision of the 2015 Paris agreement known as article 6.
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Helped by volunteers, Trees for Life planted nearly 2m native trees on its Scottish projects. It wants to plant millions more
The bracken-clad hills are marked “Dundreggan forest” on the map but this Scottish glen is mostly stark Highland scenery: open, beautiful, and almost totally devoid of trees.
On a steep-sided little gully, 40 years ago, a few baby silver birches escaped relentless browsing by red deer and grew tall. Now, the nearby path through the bracken is dusted with thousands of brown specks: birch seeds.
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Destruction of the world’s largest tropical rainforest in November more than doubled the same period last year
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon jumped to the highest level for the month of November since record-keeping began in 2015, according to preliminary government data published.
Destruction of the world’s largest tropical rainforest totalled 563 square kms in November, which is more than double the area in the same month last year, according to the country’s space research agency INPE on Friday.
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The pick of the best flora and fauna photos from around the world, from an illuminated giraffe to an elusive southern elephant seal
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Green party vote rises as campaigners urge Tories to meet pledge to cut emissions
The new Conservative government must urgently bring forward plans to fulfil its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 or risk losing the fight against climate breakdown, green campaigners have urged.
Rebecca Newsom, the head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said the Tory manifesto was “full of holes” on the environment and had been judged inadequate by green groups, and people would expect swift action.
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Former first lady told climate activist ‘don’t let anyone dim your light’ after Trump said teen had an ‘anger management problem’
Michelle Obama has sent a public message of support to the 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg after the teenager was mocked by Donald Trump.
“@GretaThunberg, Don’t let anyone dim your light,” the former first lady wrote following a visit to Vietnam. “Like the girls I’ve met in Vietnam and all over the world, you have so much to offer us all. Ignore the doubters and know that millions of people are cheering you on.”
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Volunteers find nests made by descendants of creatures released by student in 2004
As an idealistic PhD student, Wendy Fail’s ambition was to reintroduce harvest mice to Northumberland. She painstakingly bred 240 mice in captivity and in 2004 released the elusive mammals on to a coastal nature reserve with plenty of reedbeds for them to hide in.
When not a single harvest mouse – Britain’s smallest rodent – was recaptured in subsequent trap surveys, Fail concluded that her efforts to reintroduce them had been unsuccessful.
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Poland opts out of 2050 net-zero emissions after hours of wrangling over timetables and money
European Union leaders have vowed to press on with a major economic plan to confront the climate emergency, despite Poland’s opt-out from a net-zero emissions target by 2050.
The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, told journalists he had secured an exemption for Poland on the 2050 target, which is meant to become the legally binding centrepiece of the “European Green Deal” , a plan to transform Europe’s economy announced two days ago.
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It captured the world’s imagination when it appeared in the middle of the ocean – but where did it come from, and where is it going?
It floated into the collective consciousness in August, twice the size of Manhattan and probably powerful enough to exfoliate the feet of the entire world. The giant Pacific Ocean pumice raft was as mysterious as it was vast.
The world only knew of its existence thanks to Michael Hoult and Larissa Brill, two Australians who sailed into it while travelling by catamaran to Fiji. Photographs they took showed a mass of grey stretching as far as the eye could see.
Continue reading...Hospitals in England endure their worst-ever performance against waiting times.
Five-year-old Jacob Scrimshaw was born eight weeks early with most of his left arm missing.
Poor growth in the womb could lead to problems linked to fertility - but only in men, a study says.
Anastrozole is available already, but doctors say substantially more women should be taking it.
Non-medicinal CBD is now on sale in High Street shops across the country, including chemists.
Consumers should be told it takes four hours to walk off the calories in a pizza, researchers say.
One firm lets employees work from the comfort of their own sofa, even after they've been out drinking.
Manish Shah cited Angelina Jolie and Jade Goody to instil fear in his patients about their health.
Income from fees jumps 10% in a year, with hourly charges of up to £4 levied.
A UK coroner warns there could be more deaths unless regulation is tightened.
Researchers counted nearly 600,000 dead hermit crabs on one island chain alone.
Martian water would be vital for human visitors, and it's also an important clue in our search for signs of alien life.
Scientists say we have 10 years to dramatically restructure the livestock industry.
From temperature to location, so many factors can impact snowfall.
At least 15 people died in the eruption, and many of the survivors are still being treated in hospitals for severe burns.
A new time-lapse video shows Earth's glaciers in Alaska and the Yukon melting at an accelerated pace.
December is a chilly time for stargazing, but catching a glimpse of the Geminids makes it all worthwhile.
A Utah bobcat named Mr. Murderbritches was captured in 2018 after he was caught eating a farmer's chickens.
Rescuers are racing to save koalas as a barrage of bushfires roar across the country.
A wave in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Cape Mendocino is one of the tallest waves ever recorded.
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