Environment
What is albedo and why is it so important?
Climate change is a divisive issue. The US’ stance on the Paris Agreement of 2015 is just one example of that. And while disagreements over the extent of the threat posed by climate change are all too common, the world’s countries are even more divided on how best to address that threat. From reforestation to electric cars, the potential solutions are many and diverse in nature. One mooted remedy is altering the surface albedo of the earth. For the unfamiliar,...
Shocking! Dads’ Army town evoking Blitz Spirit because so many are relying on food banks
Poverty-stricken residents near the Dad's Army town are evoking the Blitz Spirit by donating tins of food to help their neighbours - because so many rely on food banks. Demand for food bank provisions on the south coast where the fictional town of Walmington-on-sea was set has seen a massive rise since last year. Food banks along the south coast have seen an 82 per cent increase in needy people coming through the doors since December. Charity Hastings Foodbank in...
African farmers send giant message to world leaders – invest in agriculture
African farmers from a remote village in northern Zambia have teamed up with the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to send a giant message to world leaders gathering in New York this week – invest more in agriculture if you want to end poverty and hunger by 2030. And to get their message the attention it deserves, the 16 farmers from Kasama, Zambia carved their case for investment into the very soil they farm, producing a giant “Field...
Global warming? Scotland’s longest lasting patch of snow to melt this weekend…only happened six times in 300 years!
Scotland is set to lose its longest-lasting patch of snow this weekend for the first time in over a decade -- an event which has happened only six times in the past 300 years. The patch at Garbh Choire Mor on Braeriach in the Cairngorms, nicknamed the Sphinx, may be gone as soon as this weekend. Iain Cameron, 44, monitors snow patches across Britain as a hobby and his findings are published by the Royal Meteorological Society. The last snow...
Britain’s biggest fatberg will be turned into biofuel – to power 350 BUSES
Britain's biggest fatberg weighing a whopping 130-tonnes is to be transformed into eco-friendly fuel - powering 350 double-decker buses for a entire day. The 250 metre-long congealed mass of fat, oil, gress wet wipes and nappies has been slowly been plugging Victorian sewers for years. Britain's biggest fatberg, which is more than twice the length of two football pitches, took an eight-strong crew using high-powered jet hoses to break up and dislodge the mass. The team has now transferred the...
Week-long vegan challenge saves enough carbon dioxide to fly to the moon and back
Ever wondered how much of an impact veganism really has on the environment? A leading vegan charity calculated the total savings by the 10,000 people who ate vegan for a week after signing up to its seven-day challenge, and the results are astonishing. Participants in The Vegan Society’s environmental campaign Plate Up for the Planet included Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas MP and collectively saved 147,000 kg CO2e, equivalent to the carbon footprint of flying to the moon and back....
‘Dieselgate’ probably led to the deaths of 210 Brits
Cheating on levels of pollutants pumped out by dirty diesels has cost an extra 210 early deaths in the UK, a new study found. Dieselgate where major manufacturers cooked the figures on how clean their cars were doubled the number of premature deaths than if their emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) complied with official figures. If the engines of Britain's fleet of diesels had performed as they did in emission tests, nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) would have...
Picture of flies mating wins international photo competition
A picture of a pair of flies in the throes of love has won an international photography competition. The snap, taken by Irish photographer Larry Doherty scooped the top prize in the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers' Spirit of Nature competition. Highly commended in the Spirit of Nature Photo competition. Labyrinth spider entrance taken by Larry Doherty from Ireland. Other runners up included pics of diving kingfishers, a polar bear on the ice a colourful portrait of a...
Pictures capture rarely-witnessed water battle between wolf and a stag
This is the extraordinary moment a stag escaped the from the clutches of a wolf during a rarely-witnessed water-based battle between predator and prey. David Smith, 39, heard a massive splash while on a camping trip in a remote part of Northern Alberta, Canada. The Brit ran back to his tent and picked up a camera in the hope of photographing a deer swimming across a lake. But he was left stunned when he zoomed in to see the stag...