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Transforming bare and compacted soil in vineyards can boost numbers of important invertebrate, say advocates
Vineyards are generally the most inhospitable of landscapes for the humble earthworm; the soil beneath vines is usually kept bare and compacted by machinery.
But scientists and winemakers have been exploring ways to turn vineyards into havens for worms.
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Climate.gov, which went dark this summer, set to be revived by volunteers as climate.us with expanded mission
Earlier this summer, access to climate.gov – one of the most widely used portals of climate information on the internet – was thwarted by the Trump administration, and its production team was fired in the process.
The website offered years’ worth of accessibly written material on climate science. The site is technically still online but has been intentionally buried by the team of political appointees who now run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Toxic algae cases in Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh have tripled since last year, as local fishers’ incomes plummet
The UK’s largest lake, Lough Neagh, is on course to record its worst year of potentially toxic algal blooms to date, as rescue plans remain deadlocked.
As a ban on eel-fishing in the lake is extended yet again, with local fishers’ incomes falling by 60% since 2023, there have so far this year been 139 detections of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) growths recorded at the lough and its surrounding watercourses, according to a government pollution tracker. This is more than treble the number for the same point in 2024 (45). The data covers the 400 sq km freshwater lough, its tributaries, and smaller peripheral bodies of water, including Portmore Lough and Lough Gullion.
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Inkpen, Berkshire:It’s been an awful year for their breeding numbers, yet here we are, at our back garden gate, watching two young adults that feel like our own
Most evenings at dusk, we take a last cup of tea out to watch the barn owls from the back garden gate. A pair has used the box in our neighbour’s field ever since we put it up five years ago, and for the first time, they have raised two chicks. This is heartening enough, but it feels almost miraculous considering 2025 has been so bad for barn owls. It’s thought poor grass growth in a hot, dry year has suppressed numbers of their main prey, voles and mice, which were already low from natural fluctuations.
And so, over spring and summer, we have watched as each fluffy owlet emerged from the box and tiptoed along the oak branches like ghouls. We’ve watched their parents sweep in to feed them – sometimes at worryingly long intervals – the siblings waiting on the nestbox platform, turning their heads upside down, snapping at flies. We have seen them fledge, bouncing from tree to tree above the old paddock, then out to measure and survey Home Field.
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Nurturing everything from bacteria and fungi to worms is seen as essential to helping minimise use of chemicals and machinery
Nick Padwick hunches over a microscope, examining a sample of compost he has made on his Norfolk farm. “Look at that bad boy! That’s a bacteria-feeding nematode!” he exclaims. “Stunning fungal hyphae.”
Padwick, the farm manager at Wild Ken Hill since 2018, is part of a growing movement of farmers taking a deep interest in the microscopic life forms upon which their livelihoods depend. Under this approach to regenerative farming, nurturing diverse soil communities – from bacteria and fungi to microscopic animals and worms – is seen as an essential prerequisite for growing healthy foods with minimal or no use of agrochemicals or soil-damaging machinery.
Use microscopy to identify missing or imbalanced soil organisms.
Create nutrient-rich compost from farm waste, such as straw and wood chips.
Put this compost in mesh bags and steep them in water, like giant teabags, to make extracts that can reintroduce beneficial microbes to depleted soils.
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Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout
The collapse of a critical Atlantic current can no longer be considered a low-likelihood event, a study has concluded, making deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions even more urgent to avoid the catastrophic impact.
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system. It brings sun-warmed tropical water to Europe and the Arctic, where it cools and sinks to form a deep return current. The Amoc was already known to be at its weakest in 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis.
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With rising temperatures causing chaos worldwide, what does it mean to be a tourist in a world on fire?
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“Where shall we go on holiday?” would not, ideally, be a stressful question.
But the world in 2025 is far from ideal, and summer breaks in Europe and North America are no exception. Holiday hotspots are being ravaged by heat, fire, floods and drought as fossil fuel pollution warps the climate – and travelling to reach them in planes or on cruise ships spews far more planet-heating gas than anything else you and I are likely to do. (Rocket enthusiasts such as Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos, I assume, have not yet subscribed to Down to Earth.)
‘Unlike any other kind of fear’: wildfires leave their mark across Spain
Europe scorched by wildfires – pictures from space
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Fears of disease as more than 1,400 villages under water after three large rivers overflow their banks
Iman Salim is used to seeing flood waters in the field of lush lilypads next to her home in the village of Kamanwala. But nothing prepared her for this week, when torrential monsoon rains that broke a 49-year record lashed the area, flooding her house with water that rose above her chest.
“The whole house has drowned. The water left nothing,” the 24-year-old said.
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About half of new toys sold are thrown away within a year. Here’s how families and communities are tackling toy waste
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com
Australians throw away about 27m toys each year. It’s not just a niche issue – about 87,000 tonnes are sent to landfill every year.
About half (51%) of new toys sold become waste within a year, according to research commissioned by the Australian Toy Association and Sustainability Victoria.
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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Feargal Sharkey back campaign to save the animal, which once inspired placenames, songs and stories
When the Somerset Levels flood in winter, their reed-fringed waterways swell into a glinting inland sea – haunting and half forgotten.
Generations ago, these wetlands pulsed with the seasonal arrival of eels: twisting through rhynes – human-made water channels – and ditches in their thousands, caught in baskets, sung about in pubs and paid as rent to Glastonbury Abbey. Today those same waters flow more slowly, more sparsely: once-teeming channels now show only the barest traces of what was here.
Continue reading...All young children in England and Wales will be offered a free chickenpox vaccine by the NHS from January 2026.
The rebate allays fears of a 170% price rise but patients are warned the cost of the drug will still jump.
The claims from pharmaceutical giant Novartis comes amid a row over drug pricing deals.
The drug's US manufacturer has asked UK distributors to stop taking orders from pharmacies until next month's price increase.
The target set by the Department of Health for patients red flagged for breast cancer to be assessed is 14 days.
Here are Dr Xand's three suggestions on how to look after your back without turning into a statue.
Dr Sayed Talibi is told his conduct was "fundamentally incompatible" with being a doctor.
The NHS in England and Wales will start offering the MMRV vaccine to young children from January 2026.
Warnings for some 'emerging' food allergens should be added to food packaging, researchers suggest.
Nine families receive compensation after the outbreak linked to a Cambridge-based hospital.
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.
A Conservation International study finds key detail on restoring the world’s mangroves: a price tag.
