For the Good of All!
Nature Watch
Highlights
About Animals
Notices
Poisons: Be aware!
Donations
Donations can be made in kunas or foreign currencies such as euros, pounds, dollars and Swiss francs. Please let us know when you have made a donation, especially if you require an official receipt, as the bank does not always identify donors. All donations, however small, are very welcome.
Eco Environment News feeds
-
Labour condemns new trade secretary for tweets rejecting climate science
Anne-Marie Trevelyan dismisses those who believe in global heating as ‘fanatics’ in resurfaced posts
The new international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, has been accused of rejecting the science behind the climate emergency after a series of tweets came to light showing her dismissing those who believe in global heating as “fanatics”.
Labour has condemned the appointment of Trevelyan, who was elevated from junior business minister, which took in the brief of promoting clean growth, to replace Liz Truss, the new foreign secretary, as part of Boris Johnson’s reshuffle on Wednesday.
Continue reading... -
Exxon helped cause the climate crisis. It’s time they owned up | Mark Hertsgaard
The Cop26 climate summit will be an opportunity to put fossil fuel companies on trial through the court of public opinion
Fossil fuel companies bear as much responsibility as governments do for humanity’s climate predicament – and for finding a way out. Our planetary house is on fire, and these companies have literally supplied the fuel. Worse, they lied about it for decades to blunt public awareness and policy reform.
There’s no better time for ExxonMobil and other petroleum giants to be held accountable than at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November. The Glasgow summit is more than just another international meeting. It is the last chance for world leaders to limit future temperature rise to an amount that civilization can survive. Doing so, scientists say, will require a rapid, global decline in oil, gas and coal burning.
Continue reading... -
Rules on GM farming and cars to be top of UK bonfire of EU laws
Minister reveals plans to change laws inherited from EU, with rules on medical devices also in crosshairs
Rules on genetically modified farming, medical devices and vehicle standards will be top of a bonfire of laws inherited from the EU as the government seeks to change legislation automatically transferred to the UK after Brexit.
Thousands of laws and regulations are to be reviewed, modified or repealed under a new programme aimed at cementing the UK’s independence and “Brexit opportunities”, David Frost has announced.
Continue reading... -
Wildflower meadow on tennis courts bulldozed by Norwich council
Despite protests from locals and Green councillors, wildlife haven will become hard courts at cost of £266,000
A wildflower meadow containing 130 different flowering plants, dragonflies and rare bats that sprung up on Norwich’s last public grass tennis courts has been bulldozed.
Despite protests from local people and Green councillors, all-weather hard courts with floodlights and fencing are being installed in Heigham Park, where species including whiskered and brown long-eared bats, pygmy shrews, hedgehogs and 18 species of dragonfly have been recorded.
Continue reading... -
‘Larger than usual’: this year’s ozone layer hole bigger than Antarctica
Scientists say ozone hole is unusually large for this stage in season and growing quickly
The hole in the ozone layer that develops annually is “rather larger than usual” and is currently bigger than Antartica, say the scientists responsible for monitoring it.
Researchers from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service say that this year’s hole is growing quickly and is larger than 75% of ozone holes at this stage in the season since 1979.
Continue reading... -
Watchdog must do more to protect boy, 5, from landfill fumes, court rules
Doctors say Mathew Richards’ life expectancy has been shortened due to exposure to hydrogen sulphide fumes
The high court has ruled the Environment Agency must do more to protect a five-year-old boy from landfill fumes that doctors say are shortening his life expectancy.
In a landmark judgment on Thursday, a high court judge said he was not satisfied that the EA was complying with its legal duty to protect the life of Mathew Richards, whose respiratory health problems are being worsened by fumes from a landfill site near his home in Silverdale, near Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Continue reading... -
How Japan is making 1 million tonnes of radioactive water safe – video
Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, more than 1m tonnes of radioactive water has been building up at the power plant in central Japan. Soon the plant will run out of space to store the water, which is a big problem. The plan at the moment is to dump it all in the sea. So how do you go about making 1m tonnes of radioactive water, safe to drink?
Continue reading... -
Production of forever chemicals emits potent greenhouse gases, analysis finds
EPA data reveals that one of America’s biggest PFAS-making plants is second largest polluter of highly damaging HCFC-22 gas
A new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data has revealed that PFAS chemicals – often known as “forever chemicals” due to their longevity in the environment – are contributing to the climate crisis as their production involves the emission of potent greenhouse gases.
In recent years, an ever-expanding body of scientific research has shown that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are among the most toxic substances widely used in consumer products.
Continue reading... -
Grasslands have key role to play in saving the planet | Letter
They are essential for trapping carbon, and world leaders must commit to protecting them, write a group of conservationists
News that the perilous plight of endangered grasslands is not fully recognised in a EU draft anti-deforestation law (Leaked EU anti-deforestation law omits fragile grasslands and wetlands, 14 September) brings into sharp focus the dangerous underappreciation of a global habitat that has a crucial role in the fight against climate change. Grasslands aren’t just crucibles of biodiversity, playing home to a wealth of wild plants, fungi, butterflies and bees, they also possess an as-yet underreported ability to lock down carbon. Given that up to 30% of the Earth’s land carbon is stored in grassland, these sites are every bit as important as other ecosystems in the fight against greenhouse gases.
The Grasslands+ campaign, supported by some of Britain’s leading conservation charities including Plantlife, Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, is calling for international protections for our planet’s grasslands, savannas, plains, heaths, steppes and meadows to help mitigate the impact of climate change and increase biodiversity. The UK government, the EU and other world leaders must commit to restoring, enhancing and protecting these habitats at Cop26 in Glasgow.
Continue reading...
Ian DunnCEO, Plantlife;Gill PerkinsCEO, Bumblebee Conservation Trust; Julie WilliamsCEO, Butterfly Conservation -
A historically Black town stood in the way of a pipeline – so developers claimed it was mostly white
When residents in Union Hill, Virginia, decried the pipeline as a form of environmental racism, the energy company insisted it wasn’t
As fracked gas fields in West Virginia boomed over the past decade, energy companies jumped at the chance to build massive new pipelines to move the fuel to neighboring east coast markets. The 600-mile Atlantic Coast pipeline would have been the crown jewel.
But Union Hill, Virginia – a community settled by formerly enslaved people after the civil war on farm land they had once tilled – stood in the way. Residents fought against a planned compressor station meant to help the gas move through the pipeline, arguing that because Union Hill is a historic Black community, the resulting air pollution would be an environmental injustice.
Continue reading...
Eco Health News feeds
-
First Covid booster jabs given to NHS staff
Hospitals in England and Wales can now start vaccinating healthcare workers with a booster dose.
-
Military to be called in to help Scottish ambulance crews
A series of serious ambulance delays have emerged, including one where a man died after a 40-hour wait.
-
Call for investigation of menstrual changes after Covid jabs
There is no evidence of any impact on fertility - but research will help to counter false claims.
-
Covid: Plan B would be triggered by NHS pressure, Sajid Javid says
Government scientists are warning of a jump in Covid hospital admissions if rules are not tightened soon.
-
Alex Echo: Artist reveals 'shock' over Parkinson's diagnosis
Alex Echo has been forced to give up most of his painting work, but is now championing digital art.
-
Covid booster vaccine rollout to begin across UK next week
Experts say a single dose of Pfizer should be offered at least six months after a second dose.
-
Parents warn of tsunami of school-anxiety cases
Cases of crippling school anxiety preventing attendance are spiralling, support groups say.
-
Covid jab rollout for 12 to 15-year-olds to start in UK schools
Parental consent is sought for the programme for children aged 12 to 15-year-olds.
-
Covid: Single jab recommended for 12 to 15-year-olds by UK's top doctors
Move will help reduce school disruption, top doctors say, with decision now in hands of ministers.
-
Covid deaths rare among fully vaccinated - ONS
Out of 51,000 Covid deaths in England between January and July, only 256 occurred after two doses.
Eco Nature News feeds
-
Study: Nature has saved us from worst climate impacts — for now
A new study finds that without Earth’s complex web of terrestrial and marine ecosystems we would already be seeing far more severe climate impacts than we are now.
-
Climate change is hurting our health: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: Medical experts say global warming is increasingly harmful to human health, a new study finds that the majority of fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground to avoid climate catastrophe and African montane forests store more carbon than scientists previously thought.
-
A break for Brazil’s forests: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: The forests that line Brazil’s Atlantic coast are regrowing rapidly, a new list aims to describe the prospect of recovery for endangered species and projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere are growing.
-
Study: How years of wildfires have devastated the Amazon
For the first time, scientists have quantified the impact these fires have had on animals and plants in the Amazon over the past two decades. And according to their new study published today in Nature, these species are suffering — but there is still time to protect them.
-
Climate change fuels unprecedented rain in Greenland: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: Unusual summer showers in Greenland could be another sign of global warming, pollutants from wildfires could harm your skin and climate change is threatening rabbit-like pikas.
-
Nature meets culture: An escape to Eden, camera-trap app and more
Here are a few shows, podcasts and more that can help bring nature to life for you, wherever you are.
-
Roasting temperatures could kill your coffee buzz: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: Climate change is coming for your coffee, whales in Alaska receive a reprieve from ocean noise and scientific evidence is mounting that methane gas is the next big challenge in climate mitigation.
-
Climate-driven crop failures are driving up food prices: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: Climate-driven extreme weather is wreaking havoc on farmers’ crops, rising sea levels are putting coastal communities in low-lying nations at risk of flooding and climate models are helping countries chart a path to net-zero emissions.
-
New climate report is a ‘code red for humanity’: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: A new UN report warns of climate doom, global warming is threatening emperor penguin populations and communities in flood-prone areas are expanding.
-
Experts: To achieve global conservation goals, secure Indigenous rights
The global goal to protect nearly a third of Earth’s land and sea could help or hurt Indigenous peoples depending on how it is achieved.