Sharing increasingly crowded spaces could result in greater risk of pandemics, human and animal conflicts and loss of nature, say researchers
Over the next 50 years, people will push further into wildlife habitats across more than half the land on Earth, scientists have found, threatening biodiversity and increasing the chance of future pandemics.
Humans have already transformed or occupied between 70% and 75% of the world’s land. Research published in Science Advances on Wednesday found the overlap between human and wildlife populations is expected to increase across 57% of the Earth’s land by 2070, driven by human population growth.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 13:00
08/21/2024 - 12:25
Beef, lamb and dairy products are the most carbon-intensive foods by far. More boldness around dietary changes is needed
The publication of a major study linking habitual eating of processed and red meat to a greater risk of type 2 diabetes is the latest very good reason to think hard about what we consume. Rising obesity rates, food poverty and concerns about the seemingly unstoppable rise of ultra-processed and junk food mean British eating habits are a longstanding source of widespread concern. Many people also recognise that there are environmental reasons to change their diets. Meat and dairy are the most carbon-intensive foods by far. Most of us should eat less of them. But the messaging around this continues to be poor.
Ever since red and processed meat was linked to an increased risk of cancer a decade ago, people have been advised to limit their daily consumption of these to a maximum of 70g. But while the “five a day” fruit and vegetables campaign turns 21 this year, and warnings about excess sugar abound, other government guidelines on food remain vague. While they specify two weekly portions of fish, one of which should be oily, about meat they say only “eat some”. There are no recommendations as to how much white meat should be consumed.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 11:42
A groundbreaking study conducted across 30 field sites in the southwest UK has revealed the importance of incorporating varied habitats into the landscape at large.
08/21/2024 - 10:59
Carmaker opts to produce hybrid version due to profitability concerns, citing pressure from Chinese EV competition
Ford has written off $1.9bn as it cancelled plans for an all-electric large SUV in the US, opting to produce a hybrid version instead in the latest sign of western carmakers struggling to make profitable electric cars.
The US carmaker said on Wednesday that it would not be able to reach a profit on the electric SUV within a year, its measure of whether a new car is viable, citing the stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers. It will initially write off the cost of $400m (£300m) in tooling for the vehicle, plus another $1.5bn (£1.15bn) in extra costs in the future.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 10:54
Marsh restorations allowing populations of fen raft spider, which can be up to 7cm long, to recover
One of the rarest and largest species of spider in the UK is said to be making a comeback on nature reserves.
After facing near extinction over the last century, the UK’s population of fen raft spiders is steadily increasing, and numbers are at a record high this year, according to the conservation charity RSPB.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 09:00
Exclusive: researchers tested water across Watts and found lead, after people struggled to draw attention to ‘overarching neglect’
A new report has found elevated lead levels in tap water across Watts, a south Los Angeles community that has faced decades of environmental racism, including in the drinking water of multiple public housing developments.
Researchers working with the Better Watts Initiative, a community environmental group, tested tap water at sites across the neighbourhood, and found lead, a neurotoxic metal, at or above US government limits.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 08:00
Volunteers come to share stories and labor. They leave with vegetables, war news and a shared sense of identity
On a recent Sunday, instructions in Arabic and English filled the air on a quiet street in New Hope, Minnesota. Every weekend, a group of Sudanese American professionals and students come to the half-acre space nestled near a distribution warehouse about 20 minutes north of Minneapolis. Their goal: to farm, and to do it together.
For the Sudanese Farming Group (SFG), every decision on this small plot of land is a collective one, every crop carefully tended. And each week brings new conversations, discoveries and people.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 08:00
Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution.
Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 06:00
Association of attorneys general has received millions from Koch Industries, fossil fuel lobby and fund linked to billionaire Leonard Leo
A powerful group that boasts 28 Republican attorneys general, including many who have sided with oil and gas firms to block states seeking compensation for weather disasters caused by climate change, has raked in millions of dollars from fossil fuel giants and a dark money fund tied to Federalist Society co-chair, Leonard Leo.
The Republican Attorneys General Association (Raga) has roped in about $5.8m from oil and gas giants and their allied lobbying groups since Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, campaign finance records show.
Continue reading...
08/21/2024 - 04:00
It is time to say this privatisation zealotry has been a disaster. March with us and let ministers know – enough is enough
You’ve been lied to, you’ve been misled, you’ve been extorted, you’ve been cheated, and you’ve been abused. For the last 35 years, you have been subject to nothing more than possibly the greatest organised ripoff perpetrated on the British people, and you have had little in return apart from greed, profiteering, financial engineering, political failure and regulatory incompetency. You’ve been had.
Thirty-five years after we were promised a utopian, market-driven vision of greatness, a future in which we would glory in the delights of an unlimited supply of clean water; in which our sewage would be quietly, efficiently collected, treated and disposed of, while our rivers, lakes and seas would teem with an abundant, diverse array of flora and fauna; and to top it all off we would have the cheapest water bills on Earth.
Feargal Sharkey is a campaigner and former lead singer of the Undertones
Continue reading...