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The results of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count are in, and while the numbers are a vast improvement on 2024’s record lows, the charity has warned that urgent measures are still needed to reverse long-term decline
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An estimated 129bn were being used every month around the world at height of pandemic, with no recycling stream
The surge in the use of disposable face masks during the Covid pandemic has left a chemical timebomb that could harm humans, animals and the environment, research suggests.
Billions of tonnes of plastic face masks created to protect people from the spread of the virus are now breaking down, releasing microplastics and chemical additives including endocrine disruptors, the research found.
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Ynys Môn (Anglesey): Caught in a staring contest with these distinguished creatures, I consider how they cope in their monochrome world
At Penrhyn Glas, a dozen shapes were bobbing in the green water of Porth y Gwichiaid, the “winkle cove”. We peered at them. The shapes seemed to peer back. Given the spread of visual acuity in our small group, there was some confusion about what we were seeing. It wouldn’t be the first time one of us had mistaken a fisherman’s buoy for a creature’s head. For myself, while everything at the end of my nose is a blur, objects at a distance have uncanny clarity. The distinguished profile, the colouring, the shape of the nostrils could only be a grey seal.
We edged closer to the shoreline and as we did so, the seals lifted themselves further out of the water, also fascinated. Every so often, one would turn and slip under the water and then re-emerge at a slight distance to resume viewing. I knew what I could see, but what about the seals? Their ancestors were mustelids, like otters or weasels, which, as Darwin theorised, made the natural transition from freshwater to salt. As it spent more time at sea, the proto-seal’s eye evolved to new conditions. Otters have some perception of colour, having two cone receptors in their eyes, but seals lost one along the way. They can differentiate colours from subtle contrasts in brightness, but otherwise their world is monochrome.
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Downpours threatening lives and property this autumn will not provide respite from months of dry weather
Floods could hit England while the country is still in drought, forecasters have said.
Heavy downpours threatening lives and property could hit this autumn, with the rain devastating some areas but still not providing respite from months of dry weather that have left rivers, groundwater and reservoirs drained.
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Exclusive: Experts decry lack of nationally determined contributions in negotiating document with weeks to go before UN-set deadline
EU member states are still wrangling over crucial commitments on the climate crisis with no sign of agreement, according to a leaked draft text seen by the Guardian.
With just weeks to go before a UN-set deadline, the European Commission and key member states remain at loggerheads over targets on greenhouse gas emissions, with the prospect of a strong outcome looking increasingly imperilled.
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Renewables are thriving, with Africa breaking solar energy records – but action is needed to plug financing gap
The first signs of a takeoff of Africa’s green economy are raising hopes that a transformation of the continent’s fortunes may be under way, driven by solar power and an increase in low-carbon investment.
African leaders are meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the Africa Climate Summit, a precursor to the global UN Cop30 in November. They will call for an increase in support from rich countries for Africa’s green resurgence, without which they will warn it could be fragile and spread unevenly.
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As US reneges on climate breakdown pledges, China’s response to crisis will shape geopolitics and our future
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We are used to skimming the surface of our emotions, distracting ourselves with endless doing. To discover what we really need, we must move beyond the shallows
Ever since I discovered the mating dynamics of the deep-sea anglerfish, where the male fuses with the female, and how closely this mirrors some disturbing human relationship patterns, I have been chewing over the idea that everything that exists in our unconscious also exists in the ocean. From the methodical violence of sharks, to dolphins who mourn their dead and jellyfish whose pulsating contractions remind me of my labour, the only phenomenon on Earth that is as rich and colourful and dark and fascinating as the deep sea is the deep unconscious.
My problem, as I realised in a session not long ago with my psychoanalyst, is that I have been swimming in shallow waters. This is something I have seen many times in myself, and perhaps these moments of recognition help me to see it in my patients – the unconscious pull to stay in the emotional shallows, not to delve deeper into your own internal experience and understand the more profound wishes and hungers that drive us. Instead, we scroll away our difficult feelings, staring at whatever screen is in front of us rather than looking inwards. We cheapen our relationships with others, craving and offering a particular kind of emotional stroking that keeps things at surface level. We buy things, we watch things, we listen to things, we squeeze things, we try things on and send things back, and we do, do, do – we do to stay in the shallows, so we don’t have to be in the depths.
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Sam Shoemaker’s record-setting voyage shows the promise – and limits – of fungi as a plastic alternative
On a clear, still morning in early August, Sam Shoemaker launched his kayak into the waters off Catalina Island and began paddling. His goal: to traverse the open ocean to San Pedro, just south of Los Angeles, some 26.4 miles away.
But upon a closer look, Shoemaker’s kayak was no ordinary kayak. Brown-ish yellow and bumpy in texture, it had been made – or rather, grown – entirely from mushrooms. His journey, if successful, would mark the world’s longest open-water journey in a kayak built from this unique material.
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We’re beyond Mel Gibson’s Mad Max era. We no longer need oil to make it through the apocalypse
As I write these words, the No 1 trending story on the Guardian is titled: “The history and future of societal collapse”. It is an account of a study by a Cambridge expert who works at something ominously called the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk; he concludes that “we can’t put a date on Doomsday, but by looking at the 5,000 years of [civilisation], we can understand the trajectories we face today – and self-termination is most likely”.
I can’t claim to have done a study, though I have been at work on climate change for almost 40 years and I gotta say: seems about right. So it’s maybe not the worst moment for a bit of worry about how you would fare in the case of a temporary breakdown of our civilization. Perhaps you have noticed that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and violent. Or you read the stories that Donald Trump was shutting down the Federal Emergency Management Agency and surmised you’ll have to take care of yourself going forward. Or hey, maybe you think a cabal of pedophiles might try and use black helicopters to herd you into a 15-minute city where a communist mayor will make you spend the rest of your life riding a scary subway.
Continue reading...Errors by diabetes analysis machines mean at least 55,000 people in England will need further hospital tests.
The US health secretary's plans could have a huge impact on health policy not just in the US, but across the globe.
Disabled and neurodivergent doctors say the lack of reasonable adjustments is pushing some out.
The EU has new rules regarding gel nail polish and its ingredients
The number of children being admitted to hospital with constipation is at a 10-year high.
The presidents of China and Russia were overheard discussing transplants as a way to prolong life.
Neil Hopper claimed that injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and not self-inflicted.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said he was acting on concerns for children's health.
People with learning disabilities and autism die almost 20 years younger than the rest of the population.
Eight areas in the North East and Cumbria have seen a slight or moderate increase in MMR jab rates.
The ocean is engine of all life on Earth, but human-driven climate change is pushing it past its limits. Here are five ways the ocean keeps our climate in check — and what can be done to help.
In a grueling and delicate dance, a team led by Conservation International removes a massive undersea killer.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. These pictures might be worth even more. An initiative featuring the work of some of the world’s best nature photographers raises money for environmental conservation.
In a fishing community in Peru, a small group of fishermen carry on a tradition that dates back to the Incas. But an environmental disaster and modern fishing practices threaten this way of life.
A project from Conservation International and a Mexican university offers a glimmer of hope for the critically endangered axolotl.
As global temperatures rise, wildlife around the world are on the move, a new protected corridor in one of the planet’s most biodiverse countries aims to help.
The world’s appetite for shrimp has surged — and environmental destruction has followed in its wake. A new program from Conservation International has a solution.
A new Conservation International study is shedding light on an unsung group and their relationship with nature.
Despite risks, AI has ‘enormous potential’ for good, a Conservation International expert says.
It’s indisputable: Around the world, seas are rising at a faster rate than at any time in recorded history. But there’s more to this story than you might realize.
