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FOI requests reveal leaks beneath cities, residential areas, riverbeds and fields in ‘huge problem for environment’
Electricity companies are leaking millions of litres of oil underground throughout the UK, the Guardian can reveal.
In the past 15 years, 3m litres (660,000 gallons) of oil has been spilt under southern England from cables owned by the electricity distribution company UK Power Networks. But leaks are occurring UK-wide; the largest single leak reported in recent years was in Edinburgh, when 24,000 litres was spilt from a ScottishPower Energy Networks (SPEN) cable.
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Unprecedented temperatures causing difficulties in south-west France, Croatia, Italy and Spain with wildfire destruction across Europe up 87%
Extreme heat is breaking temperature records across Europe, early measurements suggest, and driving bigger and stronger wildfires.
In south-west France, records were broken on Monday in Angoulême, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion and Saint-Girons. Météo France said the “often remarkable, even unprecedented, maximum temperatures” in the region were 12C above the norm for the last few decades.
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Chair Tony Juniper celebrates successes but says ‘collective endeavour’ needed to halt country’s decline in nature
England needs a massive “collective endeavour” to halt the country’s nature decline, its top conservation official says, after multimillion-pound investments in nature helped dormice, voles, willow tits and other species thrive.
Targeted conservation projects led by Natural England as part of its £13m species recovery programme’s capital grants scheme, have supported the recovery of 150 species, according to findings published on Wednesday.
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Hawizeh’s wetlands once had abundant fishing and wildlife. In a land threatened by drought and desertification, oil drilling is draining the last of the water
At dawn, a veil of mist clings to the canals of Hawizeh, where sky and water seem to blur into a mirror. In the stern of a narrow wooden boat, 23-year-old Mustafa Hashim scans the marshes’ shallows, cutting the motor and switching to a traditional pole to avoid snagging on invasive roots or thickening mud.
It takes him about half an hour to push through the shrinking marshes to reach Um al-Nea’aj, once a vibrant lake teeming with boats and birdsong. Now, the water is about half a metre deep.
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Scientist says new species described from 25-million-year-old fossil found in Victoria ‘was a gnarly whale I wouldn’t want to get in the water with’
“Small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless” is how scientists have described a new species of ancient whale, from a 25-million-year-old fossil found on Victoria’s surf coast.
This early species, called Janjucetus dullardi, was an extremely unusual animal,said Dr Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute.
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Almost all of the ‘sex discordant’ birds were genetically female but had male reproductive organs, study finds
About 5% of common Australian wild birds including kookaburras and lorikeets could have undergone a “sex reversal” where their genetic sex does not match their reproductive organs, according to a new study.
The study is thought to be the first to find widespread sex reversal across multiple wild bird species, but the cause of the phenomenon is not yet known.
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Charity gives children a well-earned break from caring responsibilities, hoping that a day’s snorkelling amid the island’s wildlife will help them connect with nature
“A seal just swam right by me,” squeals Odin Rawlinson, 14, as he awkwardly clambers back on to the dive boat in his flippers. He had hoped to see a megalodon or a kraken (a mythical sea creature) on his first ever snorkelling trip. But to his surprise, he finds the marine life that actually frequents the waters off Lundy in the Bristol Channel just as enchanting.
Odin Rawlinson on the trip to Lundy – the 14-year-old looks after his mother who has kidney failure and has to have regular dialysis sessions in hospital.
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From planting in odd numbers to painting fences and walls the same colour, here are some easy, effective ways to give your outdoor space a seasonal spruce-up
“It is not always necessary to rip out everything and start again,” says Ella Malt, who runs the gardening company Soil and Soul Norfolk. “It is much more sustainable to work with what you have. You can make such a difference with a bit of cutting back, clearing up leaves, cutting an edge on a lawn. People notice edges: you could spend hours making a herbaceous border perfect but if the edge of that border isn’t crisp, it will automatically look untidy.”
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As night falls in Sierra Vista, an elf owl fledgling steps into the darkness for the first time
Elfowl (Micrathene whitneyi)
For back yard birding at its best, it’s hard to beat Arizona’s Sierra Vista, home to the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature festival. As many as a dozen different kinds of hummingbird spar like wartime flying aces around the feeders, while Mexican jays utter shrill warning calls at a diamondback rattlesnake lurking below.
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Families in Tres Cantos and Soto de Viñuelas take in scene of destruction after blaze and pay tribute to man who died
Adolfo López plunged his head and hands into his parents’ swimming pool early on Tuesday afternoon, keen to wash off the soot and dirt he had acquired from the gutted house his mother and father had called home for the past 25 years.
The wildfire that would devour 1,000 hectares of land, consume their house, destroy some neighbouring properties and kill a man trying to rescue horses from a local stables was just a column of smoke when López saw it approaching Soto de Viñuelas at 7.45pm on Monday.
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