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Storm could intensify further, threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in northern Caribbean
• Hurricane Melissa – follow latest updates live
Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a powerful category 5 hurricane on Monday, threatening days of catastrophic winds and rain in the northern Caribbean, while Jamaica’s government ordered mandatory evacuations for vulnerable areas across the country including in the capital, Kingston.
Jamaican officials had earlier urged those in low-lying and flood-prone areas to seek refuge as Melissa rapidly climbs up the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
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Climate crisis drives near-total collapse of staghorn and elkhorn corals that formed backbone to state’s reefs
Two of the most important coral species that made up Florida’s reef are now functionally extinct after a withering ocean heatwave caused catastrophic losses, scientists have found.
The near-total collapse of the corals that once formed the backbone of reefs in Florida and the Caribbean means they can no longer play their previously crucial role in building and sustaining reef ecosystems that host a variety of marine life.
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Japanese carmaker’s deal with Chinese rival part of EU-sanctioned offsetting scheme to help head off £13bn in fines
The Japanese carmaker Nissan is to team up with its Chinese electric vehicle rival BYD in an attempt to offset their carbon emissions and avoid EU penalties for 2025, it has confirmed.
It is part of a wider offsetting scheme the EU has sanctioned for the car industry that could help manufacturers of combustion engine cars head off an estimated £13bn in fines.
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Study of Met Office data one of first to show how nocturnal insects affected by factors such as light pollution
Scientists have used Met Office radar data to track the trillions of insects flying above the UK for the first time, revealing a concerning decline in nocturnal species.
The team repurposed data from the UK’s network of 15 weather surveillance radars, which scan the sky hundreds of times a day.
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Russia’s arrest of a Ukrainian scientist this week over his support for curbs on krill fishing have thrown the vital role of the tiny marine species into the spotlight
Antarctic krill are small, shrimp-like marine crustaceans (Euphausia superba). They feed on plankton and are the main food source for larger marine animals. The word “krill” comes from the Norwegian word “kril” meaning the small fry of fish.
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‘Trumped-up’ charges spark diplomatic row as scientists express fears for health of 70-year-old Leonid Pshenichnov
A diplomatic row has erupted over the “illegal” detention of one of Ukraine’s scientists, who has been accused by the Kremlin of undermining Russia’s industrial trawling for krill in Antarctica.
Leonid Pshenichnov, 70, a Ukrainian biologist who is an expert on Antarctica, has a decades-long record of scientific research and contributions to conservation, including support for marine protected areas in the region.
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Silicone wristbands worn by volunteers in the Netherlands captured 173 substances in one week
For decades, Khoji Wesselius has noticed the oily scent of pesticides during spraying periods when the wind has blown through his tiny farming village in a rural corner of the Netherlands.
Now, after volunteering in an experiment to count how many such substances people are subjected to, Wesselius and his wife are one step closer to understanding the consequences of living among chemical-sprayed fields of seed potato, sugar beet, wheat, rye and onion.
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‘The women here are warriors,’ says a midwife in Joal, and contraception is key to their health and life chances. But now UK and US aid cuts threaten to undo years of progress
The fishing quay on the beach at Joal is usually so crowded with women dealing with the day’s catch that you can barely glimpse the sea. But today it is quiet, just an expanse of broken shells and plastic bags that leads down to the water’s edge.
Last night, as is increasingly common here on Senegal’s coast, there was a storm and heavy rain so the men could not go to sea safely in their open wooden fishing boats, known as pirogues. Many houses were flooded, so women stayed at home for the day, baling out bedrooms and dealing with the aftermath. Times are tough.
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With tourists outnumbering locals by 20:1, islanders say levy is needed to help protect neolithic sites and maintain public services
Artisan jewellery, gift and whisky shops crowd the main street of Kirkwall on Orkney. The town even has a new sushi shop, offering bento boxes and matcha cheesecake.
Once home to the Viking earls who ruled the islands, Kirkwall has hit it rich: it tops the UK’s charts for cruise ship visits, as American, German and Italian tourists descend on remarkable neolithic sites such as Skara Brae and its medieval cathedral.
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For seven years Ian McMaster has been mothing on his painstakingly rehabilitated Queensland property. But only once has he encountered the elusive southern pink underwing
Dark descends upon a dead-end property atop a winding mountain road and Ian McMaster steps out into the forest.
Protective goggles perched atop his grey hair, torch in hand, McMaster is drawn into the gums that surround his rammed-earth home toward a white sheet shining in UV light like a stage prop moon.
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