Council leaders say crumbling infrastructure and lack of water are jeopardising government’s plans for new homes
The government’s housebuilding agenda is hitting the stark reality of a lack of water and crumbling infrastructure across the east and south-east of England.
Half the country was declared to be in serious drought this week, for the second consecutive year, with the Environment Agency warning of dire consequences for the economy, environment and wildlife.
Continue reading...
Visible impact of warming climate is impossible to ignore across landscapes that have been starved of rainfall
Half of England and the whole of Wales are officially in drought and July is set to be the driest month on record as extreme heat intensified by the climate crisis continues to grip the UK and Europe this summer.
The announcements this week by England’s Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales mark the third such event over the past five years, and come in the wake of four record-breaking heatwaves since May which have fuelled huge wildfires and left farmers, wildlife and protected habitats running out of water.
Continue reading...
PM has long history of speaking out on realities of global heating but political opponents remain unnmoved
Just over four years ago, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, visited a small town in the south-western region of Extremadura that had been affected by one of the wildfires devouring tens of thousands of hectares of land across the country.
That summer’s blazes had left two people dead in the northern region of Castilla y León and another man there fatally burned after the excavator he was using to try to dig a firebreak to protect his town was swallowed up by the flames. A street-sweeper in Madrid had collapsed and died from heatstroke while on shift in soaring temperatures that summer. The paramedics who tried to save him noted that his body temperature was 41.6C (107F).
Continue reading...
Alfred Drummond-Herdman’s extraordinary timelapses have been viewed by millions – and led him to identify new species
Alfred Drummond-Herdman is possibly the only person in the UK who is sent animal faeces in the post out of goodwill. His bedroom in Edinburgh is full of the stuff: clothes have been removed from his wardrobe and cupboards, replaced with terrariums and plastic containers housing sections of cowpats, grouse droppings and rabbit pellets.
“I have a very understanding housemate,” he says.
Continue reading...
Heat and drought have affected shipping, power plants and tourism across eastern Europe – as well as unearthing some surprises
Baking temperatures and drought across large swathes of central and eastern Europe have driven water levels on the Danube and Rhine rivers to record lows in some areas, hitting shipping, energy production and tourism hard.
Extreme conditions aggravated by the climate emergency left Europe’s waterways from the Netherlands to the Black Sea parched, triggering compounding crises.
Continue reading...
Emergency crews say situation remains ‘dynamic’ as more than 100 firefighters battle Dunwich Heath blaze
A wildfire near Britain’s biggest nuclear power station has caused “total devastation” to one of the UK’s most important landscapes, as fire crews said the situation remained “dynamic”.
More than 100 firefighters have been battling the blaze on Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, on the Suffolk coast since Wednesday evening. The fire service said on Friday afternoon the situation was stabilising but remained a “major incident” that was “dynamic and potentially changeable”.
Continue reading...
Lyme Regis, Dorset: Busy beaches can be bad news for shellfish. If curious children don’t know they are live creatures, then let’s educate them
My favourite beach at Lyme Regis is the capricious East Cliff, visible only at low tide. The best way to reach it is down a 114-step walkway.
The path drops through rough scrub, a feral mix of wild plants and garden escapes, sizzling with grasshoppers. Buddleia flourishes next to sallow bushes, hazel and gorse. Sour blackberries are already reddening among the brambles and somewhere in the tangle, a stonechat calls. The sound, like two dry pebbles clicked together, echoes the faint tap of fossil hammers audible from the beach below.
Continue reading...
Volunteers painstakingly gather plastic pellets washing up on beaches after ship collision on 19 July
“You’ve got a local community that really cares about the coastline,” said Alice Laverty, reflecting on the huge army of volunteers who had taken to crisis-hit beaches in north-east England with passion and only the most basic tools. “They’ve all got a dustpan, a brush, a bucket, a kitchen sieve.”
On beaches from Cambois in Northumberland to Seaburn on Wearside, up to 2,000 dedicated volunteers have been painstakingly sifting through sand to find tiny, lentil-sized pellets of plastic.
Continue reading...
Growers in dismay after scorching weather and lack of rain affect yields, sending wholesale prices rocketing
Pubs, restaurants and supermarkets are having to buy lettuce and broccoli from Spain at what should be the height of UK growing season, as drought and extreme heat hit crops.
The wholesale price of tomatoes is up by more than 60%, iceberg lettuce by 90% and potatoes by more than 40% as a number of farmers struggle to grow in consistently high temperatures. Even those with irrigation systems and reservoirs on their farms say water is running low.
Continue reading...
Exhausted firefighters, foresters and volunteers wage ‘war of attrition’ against blaze that forced 200,000 people from their homes
By noon it is time for a break. The temperature is about 35C, the smell of ash, cinders and burnt wood hang acrid in the air. At tables laid out in the shrinking shade on the desiccated grass and sand outside the sports centre in Le Porge, 200 men and a handful of women have gathered. Firefighters, soldiers, police, gendarmes, officials, first aid teams, foresters and volunteers sit elbow to elbow, plates of sausages, steak and potatoes in front of them.
The village was evacuated just over 14 hours after the “megafire” – as it has become known in France – broke out 6km away last week. The blaze has consumed 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) of mainly forestland west of Bordeaux. Though finally contained, there are outbreaks every day, pushing to the limit emergency services and the hundreds of amateurs who have come to their aid.
Continue reading...
Aminokiselina arginin pomaže ljudskom tijelu da ostane u formi, ponajviše sintetizirajući proteine koji provode niz staničnih procesa. Proizvodi je naše tijelo i nalazi se u uobičajenoj hrani bogatoj proteinima. Niske razine arginina povezane su s nizom bolesti, uključujući rak debelog crijeva.
Hrana obogaćena proteinima pojavljuje se posvuda, od žitarica i kave do čak i proteinske vode. No, novi pregled koji obuhvaća preko 350 radova o ograničenju proteina i starenju sugerira da konzumiranje manje proteina može imati veće zdravstvene koristi i, u nekim slučajevima, produžiti životni vijek.
Sepsa izaziva široko rasprostranjenu upalu, zatajenje cirkulacije i metabolički stres, a srčana disfunkcija je česta komplikacija povezana s izrazito lošijim ishodima.
Visok unos soli glavni je globalni zdravstveni problem, usko povezan s hipertenzijom i sve većim dokazima o kognitivnom i emocionalnom padu. Iako je sol rutinski dio svakodnevne prehrane, dugotrajna prekomjerna konzumacija može negativno utjecati i na kardiovaskularni sustav i na središnji živčani sustav, što naglašava potrebu za praktičnim prehrambenim strategijama za ublažavanje ovih štetnih učinaka na zdravlje.
Kombinacija dva imunoterapijska lijeka pokazala je ohrabrujuću aktivnost kada se doda standardnoj kemoterapiji koja se daje prije operacije pacijenticama s visokorizičnim, ranom fazom HER2-negativnog raka dojke, prema rezultatima kliničkog ispitivanja faze 2 s tekuće platforme kliničkog ispitivanja I-SPY2.
Nova studija Instituta Wistar otkrila je neočekivanu vezu između fruktoze - uobičajenog prehrambenog šećera - i širenja agresivnog oblika raka jajnika. Naime, studija je otkrila da stanice raka koje kemoterapija nije ubila šalje signale susjednim tumorskim stanicama, pomažući im da postanu sposobnije za širenje. Znanstvenici su identificirali fruktozu kao ključnog glasnika u ovom procesu, otkrivajući prethodno neprepoznat način na koji stanice raka koje prežive liječenje mogu potaknuti širenje raka.
Usporedno ispitivanje pokazalo je da je kontinuirani omalizumab postigao veći ukupni uspjeh liječenja od multialergenske oralne imunoterapije (MOIT) olakšane omalizumabom, uglavnom pomažući pacijentima da izbjegnu nuspojave i prekide liječenja koji su ograničavali MOIT.
Konzumiranje manje šećera u maternici prije rođenja i tijekom prve jedne do dvije godine života povezano je s manjim rizikom od razvoja demencije kasnije u životu, prema nedavno objavljenoj studiji. Studija je također otkrila da je niža konzumacija šećera u ranom životu povezana s odgodom razvoja demencije.
Preaktivan imunološki odgovor u mozgu može igrati ulogu u Dravetovom sindromu, rijetkoj i teškoj genetskoj epilepsiji koja obično počinje u djetinjstvu, prema znanstvenicima s Weill Cornell Medicine. Djeca s ovim stanjem imaju česte napadaje koje je često teško kontrolirati lijekovima, a mogu se suočiti i s razvojnim, kognitivnim i bihevioralnim izazovima. Do sada se većina istraživanja usredotočila na to kako mutacija u genu SCN1A remeti električnu signalizaciju u mozgu.
Nedavna studija otkrila je da parodontitis reprogramira neutrofile koštane srži putem metaboličkog puta glutationa pokretanog Chac2, potičući visoko upalno N1 stanje koje potiče sistemsku upalu.
Deep in the mountains of Palawan, Conservation International scientists are capturing what few people ever see: the secret lives of the Philippines’ rarest species.
At Maido — the Lima restaurant recently crowned the best in the world — one of the star dishes is paiche, a giant prehistoric river fish.Its journey to the table begins on a small family farm deep in Peru’s Amazon.
“Jane Goodall forever changed how people think about, interact with and care for the natural world,” said Daniela Raik, interim CEO of Conservation International.
Conservation International’s Neil Vora was selected for TIME’s Next 100 list — alongside other rising leaders reshaping culture, science and society.
Climate change is happening. And it’s placing the world’s reefs in peril. What can be done?
After decades of negotiation, the high seas treaty is finally reality. The historic agreement will pave the way to protect international waters which face numerous threats.
The Amazon rainforest, known for lush green canopies and an abundance of freshwater, is drying out — and deforestation is largely to blame.
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.