Draft Motion prepared by Rapporteur Mireille d'Ornano on behalf of the Europe of Nations and Freedom Group.
A draft Motion prepared for the EU Parliamentary Committe for the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in March 2016.
Draft Motion prepared by Rapporteur Mireille d'Ornano on behalf of the Europe of Nations and Freedom Group.
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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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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The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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Duration of torrential rains from Typhoon Kajiki lead to elevated landslide risk across Laos and Thailand
Typhoon Kajiki steadily intensified over the South China Sea last weekend into a category 2 storm with sustained wind speeds of 115mph. It made landfall near the coastal city of Vinh in Vietnam on Monday afternoon, having slightly weakened but still packing a punch with winds of up to 100mph and torrential rainfall.
Kajiki’s wind threat soon faded after landfall, but the flood risk continued into Tuesday and Wednesday as the system moved inland. Parts of central and northern Vietnam, as well as Thailand, experienced 300-400mm of rainfall.
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Spurred into action by the species’ threatened future, two best friends embarked on a project to release 250 of the animals in Devon
Doing somersaults in the corner of a field in Devon this week were the fluffy results of an audacious wildlife project by two 13-year-old girls.
Best friends Eva Wishart and Emily Smith had become devoted to harvest mice, and were upset, a couple of years ago, to find out the species is threatened in England due to farming practices and habitat loss.
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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.
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As council workers collect up to 200kg of dead marine life a day, experts warn the disaster could take a mental toll on the community
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The circling, squawking gulls show where the bodies are buried.
Early on a cold winter’s day, mucky foam and seaweed cover the sand at Grange beach – and the dead fish and leafy sea dragons.
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Rezultati nove studije pokazuju da određena stanja mentalnog zdravlja povećavaju rizik od razvoja bolesti srca za 50-100% - i nepovoljne ishode postojećih srčanih stanja za 60-170%.
Ljudi koji preskaču doručak i kasno večeraju mogu imati povećan rizik od razvoja osteoporoze, pokazuju rezultati nove studije. Inače, poznato je da životne navike, poput tjelovježbe, konzumacije alkohola i pušenja, povećavaju rizik od osteoporoze, međutim malo se zna o povezanosti između osteoporotičnih prijeloma i prehrane.
Nova dijagnostička metoda može ranije potvrditi infekcije sepsom, smanjujući kritične sate u utrci s vremenom kako bi se spasili životi pacijenata, pokazalo je novo istraživanje.
Nedavno objavljena studija bacila je svjetlo na složene interakcije između probiotika i lijekova, posebno se usredotočujući na učinke probiotika Lacticasebacillus paracasei Zhang (LCZ) na lijek za snižavanje kolesterola lovastatin. Istraživanje je pokazalo da, iako niske doze probiotika mogu značajno poboljšati učinkovitost lovastatina, veće doze mogu dovesti do povećane toksičnosti.
Novo istraživanje otkrilo je da su starija dob i niska razina aerobne kondicije snažni i neovisni čimbenici rizika za visoku stopu nepravilnosti otkucaja srca, poznatih kao aritmije, koje ukazuju na budući kardiovaskularni rizik. Istraživanje je provedeno na zdravim sudionicima u dobi između 40 i 60 godina bez srčanih simptoma.
Prema rezultatima nove studije, izgleda da određeni lipidi ili masti u hrani koja uzrokuje pretilost također uzrokuju upalu pluća sličnu astmi. Rezultati sugeriraju da bi se, osim promjene prehrambenih izbora, određeni postojeći lijekovi mogli prenamijeniti kako bi pomogli u liječenju ove vrste astme.
Rak kože, najčešća globalna maligna bolest, povezan je sa sintezom serumskog 25-hidroksivitamina D (25(OH)D) uzrokovanom ultraljubičastim (UV) zračenjem, a njegova kontroverzna uloga moguće odražava kumulativnu izloženost UV zračenju.
Kognitivno-bihevioralna terapija dovodi do pozitivnih promjena u obrascima mišljenja, emocijama i ponašanju. Smatra se, da je ovaj proces također povezan s funkcionalnim i strukturnim promjenama u mozgu
Nedavni članak u časopisu The Journal of Nutrition ističe vjerodostojne, no ograničene znanstvene dokaze koji povezuju konzumaciju jogurta sa smanjenim rizikom od dijabetesa tipa 2.
Osobe s nižom aktivnošću interleukina-6 imaju smanjeni rizik od kardiovaskularnih bolesti, otkriva nova studija. Smanjenje aktivnosti interleukina-6 (IL-6) - ključnog imunološkog signala koji regulira upalne odgovore u tijelu - moglo bi smanjiti rizik od kardiovaskularnih bolesti bez da ljude učini osjetljivijima na infekcije.