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Investors in Emblehope Moor will get their financial returns – and then it will be given to community or charity owners
It is difficult to find the most remote place in England. There is no public transport, no roads and no sign of any human habitation. Online route finders mistakenly direct cars up a grassy track. But miles along gravel forest roads in the far north of Northumberland is the largest contiguous rewilding site under single ownership in the country.
The vast glacial bowl of 7,500-acre Emblehope Moor has been bought for £8.5m by Restore, a nature restoration company that works with landowners across Britain.
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Global AC demand will inevitably accelerate as the world continues to warm amid the climate crisis
The greenest campaigners against climate change have long suffered from a crippling shortcoming: they too often frame the challenge as a problem of excess consumption. This motivates calls to “degrow” the economy and to curb the population. The claim is that humans consume too many resources, which in the context of climate change means too much energy.
Nowhere has the tension between this proposition and reality become more palpable during this sweltering summer than in the conversation over air conditioning.
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Experts say invasive species are creating ‘pollinator deserts’ and could have serious impact on food security
British beekeepers have called for a national awareness campaign about the impact of Asian hornets as they warned the invasive species was creating “pollinator deserts” and threatening food security.
Native to south-east Asia, the yellow-legged hornet is thought to have arrived in Europe in 2004 and has continued to spread ever since, its numbers probably boosted by increasingly warm springs and summers.
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Isle of Lismore, Argyll: They skim over the surface like stones, making such a hullabaloo you could hear them a mile away
I hear them before I see them: a wailing, or something more like ululation. High-pitched, repeated vocalisations that are neither man nor cat, but somewhere in between. I throw open the cabin door, unsure what to look for, and for a moment see nothing new: only the rocky strand and the sweep of dark wrack high above the shoreline.
The strange, warbling sound comes again. Ai-ai-ai-ai.Not quite screaming, not quite howling, not quite trilling, but all of those things at once.
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Energy secretary could recommend new North Sea drilling next week, as ministers also consider approval for Rosebank oilfield
Ministers are poised to approve a controversial new gasfield in the North Sea this month, according to government sources, and are considering approving a major oilfield later this year.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, will give her recommendation to approve the Jackdaw field off the coast of Aberdeen as soon as next week, according to people close to the decision, and the formal approval could follow a week after.
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Exclusive: As millions of people face hosepipe bans, many companies are not required to report, let alone cut, use of public supply
Less than 1% of businesses in England use more water than the daily needs of 10 million people, as millions of households face hosepipe bans and three-quarters of the country is in drought.
Businesses across England use 2.6bn litres a day from the public water supply, which includes potable and non-potable water provided by water companies.In total, businesses account for about 30% of public supply use, with two-thirds of their consumption in water-stressed areas, according to Mosl, the organisation that operates England’s business water market.
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In this week’s newsletter: The full scale of the disaster is still emerging, but as rescue efforts continue, scientists warn that a warming Himalayas could mean more deadly hazards
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At 8.37am local time last Wednesday, a huge mass of rock and ice sheared free from a mountain, sliding 1,200 metres to the valley floor in Nepal’s Langtang national park, about 60km north of the country’s capital, Kathmandu.
Horrifying images and videos soon emerged of a torrent of mud, water and debris that swept down the Lhende Khola valley at speeds approaching 150km/h. Flowing down the Lhende Khola, Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers that run between Tibet and Nepal, the flood water swept away homes, roads, bridges and power plants. Along the Trishuli, water levels rose by as much as nine metres in half an hour. As of the time of writing, the death toll of the disaster approached 1,000 people, with more than 4,400 on both sides of the border missing.
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Jasmin Graham, a shark scientist and science communicator, also makes time in her day to practice her hobbies and play music bingo with friends
“Sharks are not monsters, they just need better PR,” writes Jasmin Graham. And she should know: Graham is a shark scientist and science communicator.
Here’s what a day in Graham’s life in Sarasota, Florida looks like.
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Microbats and wombats among the most common species found in buildings, with some discovered in letterboxes or air conditioning systems
Possums in the roof, bats in the curtains and ducks on the balcony: new research has revealed how native animals are making themselves at home in our houses.
Researchers have analysed a decade of wildlife rescue reports and found brushtail and ringtail possums make up half of all cases of animals in buildings, followed by microbats and bare-nosed wombats.
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Climate scepticism is common at the Reform party conference, but many also criticise Labour for failing to protect Britons from hot weather
On the second day of the Reform UK conference, in the wake of an undercover investigation alleging party officials plotted to evade the law on foreign donations, the deputy leader, Richard Tice, addressed the audience. Within minutes, a banner appeared behind him reading: “Collect £5m, burn the planet.”
It was taken down promptly and Tice, who has repeatedly called on people to enjoy the summer’s five successive heatwaves and record drought, rolled on. As Reform members at the Birmingham venue applauded Tice, there was plenty of agreement with his views. “I enjoyed the heat this summer,” said Jeanette Bowden, of Bexley. “I don’t think people need telling to take care of themselves.” Her partner, James, added, without scientific backing: “Carbon dioxide was much higher in the past, it was 10 times higher than this during the ice ages. It’s not a human problem.”
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