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As NHS told to prepare for extreme weather, strain also felt in other areas including transport and farming
The NHS has been told it must become more resilient to increasingly frequent heatwaves supercharged by the climate crisis, as the UK government puts adaptation to extreme heat high on its agenda. But what other public services are already feeling the strain?
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The beady-eyed, Pokémon-like leaf sheep is far more ingenious than us land mammals
A neon green punk sheep that lives underwater. A solar-powered slug that can perform photosynthesis. If you are seeking beauty, brains and a wonderfully innovative lifestyle, then vote leaf sheep.
The leaf or sea sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, is a sea slug about the size of a grain of rice. Like a sheep, it grazes on green stuff – certain species of algae, which it finds in tropical waters around Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. But its sheepy nickname does it a disservice because it is far more ingenious than us land mammals.
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UN forecasters warn of worsening conditions in 45 countries currently experiencing severe food insecurity
About 50 million people are likely to be pushed into acute hunger before the end of next year by the rapidly developing El Niño weather system, according to forecasting.
This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of people already facing dangerous levels of hunger, owing to years of drought in parts of Africa and pressure on food prices from the war in Iran.
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South Devon: On holiday in deeply familiar places, we swim fully clothed, snack on overhanging cherries and see the fallen Teignmouth pier
The West Country unrolls down the M4, then M5, under the kind of vintage-yellow hue produced by 35mm camera film where the light’s leaked in. Many fields have been harvested as early as we’ve ever witnessed on this deeply familiar route. Burnt black patches remind us just how flammable the countryside is.
We are exploring places we’ve only passed through before, via a farm-stay in a shepherd’s hut at West Town Farm, Ide. Our parking instructions urge us to allow the farmer to pass in her tractor. The gender reveal is so refreshing I want to cheer. Tenant Kate Sharp farms Hereford-cross beef cattle, Devon closewool and Exmoor horn sheep, as well as some lively Oxford sandy and black pigs, red as the Devon soil itself.
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Changing paved areas to grass and planting trees can reduce urban heat island effect by as much as 1C, study shows
Add together all the UK’s household gardens and they cover an area three times larger than all the country’s nature reserves combined. But as the demand for car parking increases, many front gardens are being paved over, with research showing that this loss of green is adding to the urban heat island effect, particularly at night.
In 2005, about 7.5% of the UK’s front gardens were paved; by 2025 that had risen to 55%, according to Royal Horticultural Society estimates. Those hard surfaces absorb heat during the day and then slowly release the heat overnight. By contrast, leafy green gardens release moisture into the atmosphere, which helps to cool the air as the water evaporates.
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Iran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damage
Eight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than $90bn (£67bn) in just three months as the Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring and the emissions-fuelled climate crisis caused deadly heatwaves.
The windfall war profits have reignited calls for oil and gas supermajors such as Saudi Aramco and BP to pay for the environmental damage caused by “cashing in on human misery” and fund a rapid transition to renewable energy.
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Farmers advised to vaccinate after recent hot weather provides ideal conditions for virus-carrying midges
There has been an alarming surge in the number of sheep affected by an outbreak of bluetongue in the UK, and farmers whose livestock are at risk are being urged to move them out of areas where midges are plentiful.
The viral disease, which does not necessarily kill sheep but makes them ill and can have a long recovery time, presents as high fever and swelling of the lips and tongue. The tongue may go blue and even protrude from the mouth.
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With less than a third of cycling journeys taken by women, Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, is installing bike lanes, teaching cycling and making sure ‘stereotypes are left behind’
Eliana González has a busy morning ahead of her, dropping off her son at school and picking up groceries. Her trusted vehicle to get around in Bogotá is a colourful cargo bike, adapted to carry her two children and occasionally her dog.
“For me, my cargo bike is a way to carry my children safely and comfortably without polluting the environment,” she says.
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This week, we launched our third annual vote to honour nature’s unsung heroes. The Guardian’s natural history writer – and woodlouse fanboy – Patrick Barkham answered your questions
Narethosyne asks: It’s often said that insects will outlast humanity, as they’ve managed to survive in some very inhospitable environments for millions of years. Do you think that human stupidity might actually be able to kill even the hardiest of insects off if we don’t take better care of our planet?
Patrick:
I agree we need to take much better care of the planet. However the more I learn of other invertebrate life (and I don’t know much), the more I believe that other species will survive whatever toxic horrors we unleash upon the planet. It seems more likely that we will become extinct before many other species.
We are such a strange species, so capable of goodness and so easily moved to argument and greed, but I still think we can learn to think and act for the long-term. There is a big awakening of eco-consciousness in the global north and perhaps we can belatedly re-learn the wisdom of many indigenous peoples who have lived in better balance with their fellow species.
Thanks Sprockertime, I love your question. The answer is yes!
I’ve done all kinds of fancy things for wildlife in my garden (filling in a “sunken garden” with five tonnes of chalk raised a few eyebrows in my neighbourhood) and I salute everyone who has erected bird boxes and bug hotels.
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Cristian Lucañas has discovered multiple species of cockroach in the Philippines, and believes there’s far more to the much-maligned insect than meets the eye
When Cristian Lucañas tells people about his job, their response is normally a mix of shock and confusion. “The majority would actually be questioning why,” says Lucañas, 32, who is the only entomologist specialising in cockroaches in the Philippines, where he is known as the “Cockroach Lord”.
He recalls one person, apparently perplexed at the insects’ existence, asking simply: “Did God create cockroaches?” Others seek advice on how best to kill them.
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