Scientists race to discover new species before destruction of natural world drives them to extinction
From a toadstool with teeth to a vine smelling of marzipan and a flower that has cheated its way out of having to photosynthesise, a weird and wonderful host of new plant and fungus species have been discovered in 2024.
Other plants given scientific names for the first time include beautiful new orchids, a ghostly palm and a hairy plant that appears to have stolen a gene from an unrelated family. The species are among the 172 new plants and fungi named by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and their partners.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/19/2024 - 00:00
12/19/2024 - 00:00
Popular in Victorian times, they are sustainable, a good source of protein and brilliant for biodiversity, say those championing the bivalves
A splash of white wine, a handful of basil leaves and a few minutes preparation are all it takes to transform mussels that 24 hours ago were filtering seawater off the south Devon coast, into a delicious starter.
At the training kitchen in London’s oldest fish market, Billingsgate, in Poplar, we learn that fresh mussels require two vital preparation steps that the vacuum-packed, cooked variety don’t: “debearding” or pulling off the “byssus” thread that attaches the shell to rocks and other substrate, and the discarding of any with broken or open shells
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12/19/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 19 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00091-5
Drifting fish aggregating devices in the Indian ocean impacts, management, and policy implications
12/18/2024 - 15:18
Court rules in favor of 16 young people who said their health and prospects were being imperiled by climate crisis
Montana’s top court on Wednesday held that the state’s constitution guaranteed a right to a stable climate system and invalidated a law barring regulators from considering the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when permitting new fossil fuel projects.
The Montana supreme court upheld a landmark trial court decision last August in favor of 16 young people who said their health and futures were being jeopardized by climate change, which the state aggravates through its permitting of energy projects.
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12/18/2024 - 13:46
Exclusive: Long-awaited decision by water regulator Ofwat falls short of utility’s requested 59% rise
Troubled Thames Water will be allowed to increase customer bills by just over a third by 2030 after a decision by the industry regulator, the Guardian has learned.
Ofwat is poised to announce on Thursday that the heavily indebted company, which serves 16 million consumers in London and the Thames Valley area, will be permitted to raise bills by just over half the level the company had demanded.
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12/18/2024 - 11:43
Powerful storm in drought-hit region confirmed to have killed 45 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi
Mayotte before and after: satellite images show damage
The death toll from Cyclone Chido has continued to rise, with authorities confirming that 45 people were killed in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.
French officials said the number of deaths on the Mayotte archipelago remained unclear, having previously expressed fears that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed in slums flattened by the storm. So far, 22 deaths and 1,500 injuries, 200 of them critical, have been confirmed.
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12/18/2024 - 10:42
EPA agreed to grant the state’s requests and permit similar proposals from other states, a step Trump has vowed to undo
The Biden administration granted two requests from California to enforce strict standards for vehicle emissions, including a rule aimed at banning sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 in a move that Donald Trump is expected to roll back immediately.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would grant California’s request for the waivers to allow the state to enforce the proposed rules, the agency announced on Wednesday.
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12/18/2024 - 10:00
In 2019, scientists published a climate-friendly food plan. I’ve long wondered: could it work for most Americans?
People in the US: how do you eat climate friendly on a budget?
As a fossil fuels and climate reporter, most of my journalism focuses on the need to radically overhaul the energy system. But the food sector also needs a makeover, as it creates between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.
When scientists came up with a new climate-friendly food plan in 2019 and published their findings in the medical journal the Lancet, I read with interest. The guidelines called for more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, which seemed doable to me. The authors even allowed for meat and dairy consumption, albeit in small quantities. Both are major drivers of the climate crisis: the United Nations estimates that meat and dairy produce more than 11% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and some experts put the figure at up to 19.6%.
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12/18/2024 - 10:00
We want to hear how you manage to eat a planet-friendly diet despite soaring food prices and lack of access
Can everyone eat for the planet? I shopped at Dollar Store for a week to find out
Tackling the climate crisis will require us to think more carefully about what we eat, since our food system accounts for up to one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions.
The best option, according to scientists who developed a climate-friendly food plan several years ago, is to eat more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and cut back on meat and dairy. Despite the planetary – and health – benefits of this diet, it’s not always easy to eat this way, especially given soaring food prices and lack of accessibility in many parts of the US.
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12/18/2024 - 08:54
Gone are the pleasures of licking the foil cover on yoghurts and soft cheese. Plus no one consulted me about this dismal change to my home routines
All I want for Christmas is the return of yoghurt pot lids. And not just for me, for everyone. In this season of goodwill, I want everyone to get a share of the joy. The lids disappeared very suddenly, without so much as a goodbye. It didn’t seem right. And it wasn’t just yoghurt pots, either. Creams, buttermilk, cottage cheese, you name it, were suddenly minus their lids, hatless, naked.
For me, this was a blow. I’ve always taken my plastic pot management very seriously. I have strict rules. Not for me pulling back the foil cover, leaving it attached to the tub, and then replacing the lid on top of it. No, not neat. The foil would be removed completely, possibly licked, and discarded.
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