News in brief: 16th - 22nd November 2020

Banning petrol cars by 2030
As part of the UK's move to become more carbon neutral, the government announced that it plans to ban the sale of petrol cars by 2030 meaning that electric cars will dominate the market; this is great news for the environment but there are concerns around ensuring that there is enough infrastructure to cope with the numbers of cars and vehicles that will need regular recharging

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Oil pollution in the Arctic

New rules around shipping in the Arctic have been recently brought in to protect it from oil pollution which can threaten wildlife; it appears, however, that some of these rules don't go far enough as there are several loopholes that allow ships from Arctic coastal states to sail around which will mean that some oil will still enter the waters

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New global map of bees

Bees play a hugely important role in pollinating plants which helps to keep our ecosystems thriving; scientists have created a new map which shows the distribution of all 20,000 bee species and this will help inform further efforts to conserve bees and ensure their survival

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News in brief: 19th - 25th October 2020

Saving ancient forest from HS2

Many areas of forest, some incredibly ancient, are being cut down to make way for the high speed rail link HS2; the company behind the tree cutting is attempting to move the rich woodland soils, saplings and small animal species to other sites so that the biodiversity of these areas is not lost, however scientists are doubting the efficacy of the project

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Arctic ice refreeze uncertain

Each year, the Arctic ice goes through a cycle of melting and refreezing, but this year the data shows that the ice has not started refreezing when it should; warming air and warming waters in Siberia are thought to be the cause of the delay in refreezing as this area has seen a protracted spell of warm weather conditions over summer and into the autumn

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Norway publishes rainforest maps

Norway is continuing to pave the way with forest conservation by creating and publishing a satellite dataset on the world's tropical rainforests for free; the data is available to anyone who wishes to view it and offers a realtime understanding of how much deforestation is occurring rather than counting how much has been lost at the end of a period of time

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News in brief: 7th - 13th September 2020

Motorways speed limits introduced to cut down air pollution

Sections of four different UK motorways will trial speed limits of 60mph towards the end of this month to see what impact it has on reducing air pollution; nitrogen dioxide is released in car exhaust fumes and is a key contributor to greenhouse gases which are causing climate change

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American wildfires reach Oregon

Wildfires are now extending further out of California and have reached the state of Oregon; two large fires merged near one of the most populated part of Oregon towards the suburbs of Portland and around half a million people are under some kind of evacuation order

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Global wildlife extinction worsens

Sir David Attenborough has spoken more strongly again about the risk of global wildlife extinction; since 1970, all vertebrate animals including birds, mammals and amphibians have decreased by 60% due to habitat destruction, poaching, and the drive for human development

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Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

A selection of the best comedy wildlife photos have been displayed; these light-hearted moments are a fantastic celebration of all that we love about the animal world, and want to protect!

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News in brief: 31st August - 6th September 2020

Badger culling to continue

Around 60,000 badgers may be killed in England as part of a plan to control their population and reduce the risk of spreading TB to cattle herds; groups have campaigned against this practice as it is cruel to animals and may unbalance the nature ecosystem

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Protests against HS2

The High Speed rail link proposal has been in the headlines again as protesters have tried to raise their concerns about the project;  although the railway is intended to reduce carbon emissions and take cars off the road, many feel that it is too costly and will destroy valuable patches of ecosystem in the wake of its construction

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Increasing organic food and drink consumption

During lockdown, it was noticed that consumption of organic food and drink increased; this is a positive move as organic produce is better for the environment as it uses far less pesticides and fertilisers which can do a lot of harm and damage to the environment if introduced in large quantities

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Next week....

It is Zero Waste Week!  Why not start by watching the BBC programme 'War on Plastic' to get an idea of some of the problems and what you can do to help

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In pictures - flash floods hit the UK

Heavy downpours caused flash flooding in many parts of the UK today (Image credit: KevinMcGPhoto)

>> Why does heavy rain cause flash flooding? What are the physical and human factors that cause floods?

News in brief - Wednesday 28th August

Response to the Amazon's forest fires
Brazil's president Bolsonaro has announced a meeting between South American countries next week to discuss what can be done to save the Amazon rainforest; other countries have offered financial help and Chile is sending four planes to help fight the fires

Greta Thunberg reaches America
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has sailed across the Atlantic and made it to New York from where she is set to travel to Chile in time for the annual UN climate talks; she sailed in a solar powered yacht in a move to highlight the high carbon emissions that come from air travel and damage our planet

London underground to heat up homes in winter
Waste heat produced on London's underground systems will be used to heat homes in north London; a new scheme will transfer heat via pipes to local council housing, schools, and a leisure centre 

News in brief - Thursday 14th March

Companies starting to admit plastic levels
Coca-cola is one of the world's biggest companies who has decided to declare its plastic production levels; the company has disclosed it produces 3million tonnes of plastic a year, and there is growing pressure to make it and other companies re-use and recycle plastic much more

Plans for more electric vehicle charging points put on hold
Over 100 councils have put a brake on plans to add more electric vehicle charging points in their areas due to cuts in funding; this has consequences for aims to reduce carbon emissions in urban areas in order to meet pollution targets

Climate change in the Arctic
New research has found that extreme temperature rise is expected in the Arctic even if the emissions levels dictated in the Paris Agreement are reached; this has significant implications for the wildlife living there and coastal flooding around the world

News in brief - Monday 11th March

Reducing emissions from the dairy industry
The dairy company 'Arla Foods' is making a promise to cut its carbon emissions to the point of being carbon neutral by 2050; this change will affect 2,000 farms and will trial new technologies such as producing energy from waste manure

Bans on cars waiting outside schools
The government has released new recommendations that suggest cars should be banned from idling outside school gates and that it should be made easier for children to walk or cycle to school; there are concerns over the impact of car emissions on air quality and the affect this can have on children's respiratory health

Industrial farms take over rural America
As large scale farming becomes ever more economically viable, the small scale, family farms of America are being lost to the big corporations; what were once diverse, successful, community-based farmsteads are now remotely-controlled industrial pastures that produce corn and soya to make animal feed for other farms 

News in brief - Friday 12th October

Fracking restarts in UK
Fracking for shale gas has been given the go ahead for the first time since 2011; campaigners had tried to block further progress but lost out in their last-minute challenge

Landslides in Uganda
Heavy rains have triggered landslides that killed around 40 people; hundreds of people have lost homes and livestock after a local river burst its banks

Longest non-stop flight
A Singapore Airlines craft has travelled 15,000km from Singapore to New York in a time of 17 hours 52 minutes; the airline has relaunched the service after a five year break when it became to expensive to run

News in brief - Thursday 4th October

Appeal to help tsunami survivors

The DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) has today launched an appeal across all forms of media to raise money and awareness for the survivors of the tsunami in Indonesia; people are still suffering immensely, with aid taking a long time to reach remote places and many still living in temporary shelters and being treated in outdoor hospitals

Climate change targets

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) are hopeful that reaching the climate change target of only 1.5 degrees celsius of warming is possible; individual actions (such as eating less meat) and the lowering cost of renewable energies are making the level of emissions more achievable

Waste fuels flights

The first commercial flight partly fuelled by waste has successfully flown from Orlando to London; the plane was fuelled with part jet engine fuel and part ethanol produced from waste gases