Farmers in England will be given taxpayers’ cash to rewild their land, under plans for large-scale nature recovery projects announced by the government. These will lead to vast tracts of land being newly managed to conserve species, provide habitats for wildlife...
Global governments will be expected to restore an ecosystem the size of China over the next decade in a crucial move to reverse climate change. The United Nations urged today that current attempts at conserving healthy ecosystems are “insufficient to...
The US has pledged to cut carbon emissions in half, compared with 2005 levels, by the end of this decade. The new target will be unveiled at a virtual summit of 40 global leaders. The announcement comes after President Joe...
The European bison has moved a step back from the brink of extinction, according to an update of the official extinction list. Europe's largest land mammal was almost wiped out by hunting and deforestation a century ago, but numbers have...
ROME – Seven bodies were found in a region straddling the French-Italian border near Nice on Sunday after torrential rains swept houses and roads away, officials in both countries said. Five of the bodies were discovered in northwestern Italy, including four washed up on the shore between the towns of Ventimiglia and Santo Stefano al Mare, near the French frontier. Some of the corpses might have been swept down the coast from France. Two more were found in France, including a shepherd found by an Italian search and rescue team. The other body was found in a vehicle that had been swept away by flash-flooding in the village of Saint-Martin-Vésubie. It brings to nine the number of people found dead after fierce rains and howling gales lashed the border area on Friday. French firefighters said another 21 people were missing, eight of them known to be as a direct result of the storm. The bad weather caused millions of euros in damage, with several road bridges swept away in Italy, and s..
ROME – Seven bodies were found in a region straddling the French-Italian border near Nice on Sunday after torrential rains swept houses and roads away, officials in both countries said. Five of the bodies were discovered in northwestern Italy, including four washed up on the shore between the towns of Ventimiglia and Santo Stefano al Mare, near the French frontier. Some of the corpses might have been swept down the coast from France. Two more were found in France, including a shepherd found by an Italian search and rescue team. The other body was found in a vehicle that had been swept away by flash-flooding in the village of Saint-Martin-Vésubie. It brings to nine the number of people found dead after fierce rains and howling gales lashed the border area on Friday. French firefighters said another 21 people were missing, eight of them known to be as a direct result of the storm. The bad weather caused millions of euros in damage, with several road bridges swept away in Italy, and s..
First, let’s dispel a myth. Not all moths are brown and boring. [contfnewc] [contfnewc] Some species are colourful and just as beautiful as their butterfly cousins. But, their numbers are falling – which will have a knock-on effect on the environment and humankind. There have been significant changes to moth populations in the UK over the last 50 years. The Atlas of Britain and Ireland’s Larger Moths, based on 25.6 million moth records submitted over 275 years, presents the most recent information on species distribution (where they are found) and abundance (numbers of each species). The study looked at patterns of change from 1970-2016 and showed that 31 per cent of the 390 species had declined in distribution, while 38 per cent of species increased. What’s more, 34 per cent showed a significant decrease in abundance, while 11 per cent showed a substantial increase. Put simply, moths are decreasing in numbers more than they are increasing. Similar trends have been seen elsewhere ..
Greece is bracing to be hit by a rare Mediterranean cyclone. A “deep barometric low” is expected to start on Thursday afternoon in the west, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said in a statement yesterday. The cyclone, named Ianos, should come close to the Greek western coastal area by Friday morning, according to the European Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX).[contfnewc] [contfnewc] Maximum sustained winds were near 90 km/h on Thursday with higher gusts, the organisation said. Ianos will cause heavy rainfall that will reach up to 400 mm in some areas, which could result in flash floods, it added. There is a risk of tornadoes developing, according to ESTOFEX. “We are preparing to face a rare extreme weather phenomenon,” Hardalias said, adding that citizens living in regions likely to be affected by the weather front should limit their movements to only those that are strictly necessary. Ianos is predicted to first hit the islands of Zante, Kefalonia and Ithaca, a..
Road planners in England have been accused of rigging accounting rules to disguise the climate impact of new roads. Environmentalists say the Department for Transport has under-counted CO2 from its road improvement programme. That’s because the DfT measures emissions against national CO2 targets, whilst measuring benefits of a new road against the local economy. A Treasury spokesperson said this was a reasonable approach. But critics say the resulting calculation exaggerates the benefits of new roads, whilst downgrading the negatives in terms of carbon emissions. Chris Todd, director of pressure group Transport Action Network, told the BBC it proved the government has one rule for its £27bn road-building programme, and another rule for everything else. He said: “This is like someone who’s morbidly obese insisting they can gorge on another cream cake, because no single cake will have a ‘material impact’ on their well-being.” The Treasury strongly rejects the allegation. A spokes..
Tropical Storm Marco grew to hurricane strength Sunday, one of two powerful storms marching toward the Gulf Coast and threatening a historic double slam of landfalls within miles of each other. Hurricane Marco is likely to make landfall in Louisiana late Monday. Tropical Storm Laura is expected to reach hurricane status before it roars into the state Wednesday. National Weather Service Meteorologist Benjamin Schott said such a confluence of storms hasn’t happened in the Gulf of Mexico in recorded history. Isolated areas could see 15 inches of rain from the two storms, he said. “We have a very unique situation with two storms that unfortunately are headed to Louisiana,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday. “They pose a challenge we have quite frankly not seen before.” Edwards said the “one-two punch” of hurricanes will blanket the state’s coastline with storm surge as high as 10 feet in some areas and prompt flash flooding in others. He said residents should be ready to shelter in pla..
