Environment

Plant life on Antarctica is growing rapidly due to climate change, scientists have found. Few plants live on the continent, but scientists studying moss have found a sharp increase in biological activity in the last 50 years. A team including scientists from the University of Exeter used moss bank cores – which are well preserved in Antarctica’s cold conditions – from an area spanning about 400 miles. They tested five cores from three sites and found major biological changes had...

The sight and sound of summer bees, butterflies and birds may become a thing of the past unless urgent action is taken to revive their habitat and stop intensive agriculture methods, leading experts are warning. In the last 70 years, two bumblebee species have been driven to extinction in the UK alone and out of the 22 remaining species, six are under threat and considered seriously endangered. Their decline is so severe that the British Beekeepers’ Association fears that British...

Fascinating photos have caught baby owls looking awestruck as they experience the world for the first time. The photos were taken at The Scottish Owl Centre in West Lothian. They show a four-week-old American Barn Owl, six-week Long Eared Owl, five-week Ural Owl, three-week Pharaoh Owl and five-week-old Tawny Owl. Within the next couple of weeks, all of these owls will leave their West Lothian home to take up a crucial role as owl ambassadors across Scotland. They will go...

By Courtney Greatrex  A disabled mum in a wheelchair has blasted bosses at under fire Southern Rail after staff allegedly refused to help her board a train because they were running late. Rebecca Bartholomew, 37, said a ticket inspector would not help because the service was three minutes behind schedule. The mum of one was left stranded on the platform as the train pulled away and she missed a hospital appointment. She claimed the inspector told her it was "Southern...

A beach that washed away over thirty years ago during large storms has reappeared due to a freak tide. The beach close to the Irish village of Dooagh on Achill Island vanished in 1984 after huge waves swept away all the sand, leaving just rock pools behind. Good for catching crabs, not so great for sunbathing. The rock pools left behind caused trade to plummet with almost all the village’s hotels, guesthouses and cafes shutting down. One freak tide ruined...

A restaurateur concerned by the plight of rough sleepers in his city converted a shipping container into a temporary home for people needing a bed for the night. Jasper Thompson, 58, was moved by the numbers of people he saw sleeping on the streets and put his mind to doing something to help. The result bears similarities to the pre-fab homes built in refugee camps by IKEA in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which provided...

Award-winning photographers have captured some of the rarest mammals and birds on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's ‘Red List’ - which highlights species across the globe at risk of extinction. Incredible shots of an Atlantic puffin, a wolverine and a common pochard were sent in by snappers as part of Sony’s ongoing commitment to support the protection of wildlife. The puffin was captured in Skomer Island, Wales, by photographer Sam Hobson on the Sony RX10 III, which features an extended 600mm super-telephoto zoom lens and silent shutter...

A 507 million-year-old sea monster with can-opener like pincers has been identified for the first time. And the strange-looking creature could point to the origin of modern day millipedes, crabs and insects, according to paleontologists. Canadian scientists have uncovered the new fossil species that sheds light on the origin of mandibulates - the most abundant and diverse group of organisms on Earth, which includes flies, ants, crayfish and centipedes The creature, named Tokummia katalepsis by the researchers, is a new...

The world has a waste problem. The amount we throw away, both at home and in the office, far exceeds what is sustainable. Yet, rather than taking significant steps to reduce it, global waste looks set to triple by 2100. Having just endured the hottest year on record, it should be obvious to most of mankind that a solution needs to be found. You might have taken environmentally-conscious steps at home, but when it comes to the workplace, most of...