Lib Dems to urge government to control sale of products containing chemicals that kill wildlife such as fish and birds
The use of toxic flea treatments for pets should be tightly restricted, the Liberal Democrats will say in parliament on Tuesday, as the chemicals kill wildlife including fish and birds.
The government is coming under pressure to control the sale of pet flea treatments containing neonicotinoids, after it effectively announced a ban on the chemicals in pesticides on farms. However, the sale of the flea treatments to pet owners is still unregulated.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/25/2025 - 05:00
Every bee is precious, and as the weather gets more erratic I’m growing concerned about the effect it is having on their wellbeing
Read about our invertebrate of the year competition here
Photographs by Kate Medley
I’m an only child and grew up in the US in a time when children were free-range. My parents would open the door in the morning and say, “come back for meals.” I would disappear into the forest and wetlands. I loved the constant stories around me that I didn’t understand: the stories of animals.
When I was about seven there was a litter of kittens in the house, and a board crushed one of the kittens. The vet examined her mouth and said, “she’s not going to make it”, and minutes later she died in his hands. I couldn’t understand how he knew that – I wanted that superpower to understand animals, and that is why I wanted to become a vet. I got a degree and have been working as an environmental health scientist for more than 25 years.
Continue reading...
03/25/2025 - 05:00
US Department of Agriculture calls in university to help study decline as Trump administration staff cuts sting
Honeybee deaths have hit record highs in the US, with the unprecedented loss of colonies pushing many beekeepers close to ruin as scientists scramble to identify the main cause of the huge declines.
Commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 60% of their colonies, on average, over the winter, according to an ongoing Project Apis m. survey that covers more than two-thirds of America’s managed bees.
We’re running our invertebrate of the year competition again! Between March 24 to April 2, we’ll be profiling a shortlist of ten invertebrates which were chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from over 2500 nominations. The voting will open at midday on Wednesday April 2 until midday Friday April 4, with the winner to be announced on Monday April 7.
Continue reading...
03/25/2025 - 00:04
Algae blooms can be a problem for marine life and people but it’s not yet clear if warmer oceans and nutrient runoff are causing more of them
Confronting images of dead seadragons, fish and octopuses washed up on South Australian beaches – and disturbing reports of “more than 100” surfers and beachgoers experiencing flu-like symptoms after swimming or merely breathing in sea spray – attracted international concern last week.
Speculation about the likely cause ranged from pollution and algae to unusual bacterial infections or viruses. We can reveal the culprit was a tiny – but harmful – type of planktonic algae called Karenia mikimotoi.
Continue reading...
03/24/2025 - 21:03
Environment minister defends ‘balanced and sensible’ changes amid questions of how ‘rushed legislation’ would work
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
See all our Australian election 2025 coverage
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
The Albanese government’s new bill to protect Tasmanian salmon farming has passed the lower house, despite experts warning it could stop communities challenging other decisions, including coal and gas developments, and may not even be effective in its principal aim.
Labor’s changes to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act sailed through the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening, with 111 votes in favour and 14 votes in opposition, and were due to be dealt with in the upper house on Wednesday.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
Continue reading...
03/24/2025 - 20:27
From our broken environmental laws to the role of gas, there are some big questions that remain unanswered by both major parties
See all our Australian election 2025 coverage
Gina: the billionaire who wants to make Australia great
Want to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter here
A national election campaign is days away and the focus in Canberra is on a federal budget that wasn’t going to happen until a tropical cyclone threatened southern Queensland a fortnight ago. The climate crisis and environment are expected to get passing mentions.
But there is a strong case that they should be at the forefront of debate over the next six weeks, understandable cost-of-living concerns notwithstanding.
Continue reading...
03/24/2025 - 12:48
Downing Street says PM focusing on ‘bringing durable peace in Ukraine’ after Steve Witkoff’s comments
There have been a lot of claims recently, in the rightwing papers and on social media, that the government is wasting a fortune on expensive cars for disabled people getting benefits, through the Motability scheme. Archie Bland has a very good explainer setting out how the scheme actually works, and showing why many of these allegations are false or misleading.
The forthcoming plan to fix the NHS will see funds allocated to social care, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has suggested. PA Media reports:
Streeting said spending NHS resources “more effectively though social care” will be better for patients and deliver better value for taxpayers.
At present, social care is most often paid for by councils, but thousands of people at any one time are stuck in NHS hospital beds even though they are fit to be discharged.
Continue reading...
03/24/2025 - 10:38
The introduction of exotic species can pose significant challenges in the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems, yet researchers have found that Pacific oysters introduced to the Port River in Adelaide have influenced surprising benefits.
03/24/2025 - 09:00
This is my last column in this series. ‘Farewell, all joys!’
This morning I learned the word “limn”. It looked at first like a typo, and I almost ignored it. But I pressed on the letters on my phone, which caused its meaning to pop up in a little box, like a window appearing in a wall. To limn is to “depict or describe in painting or words”.
I was drinking cold coffee in my kitchen, and preparing to write this column – my last. Because I knew that I would do the swan, a large, long-necked water bird had started gliding around my mind, so it seemed clear that the word limn looks like a swan: the tall l with the tiny flick of a dipped head, and the letters after.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All’s changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.
Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can
Her heart inform her tongue, –the swan’s
down-feather,
That stands upon the swell at full of tide,
And neither way inclines.
Continue reading...
03/24/2025 - 07:44
A carbon crime or bright new future? For nearly four years, a fierce debate raged over demolishing the site’s high-rise flats
For nearly four years, a fierce debate raged over the future of the Wyndford estate in Glasgow, dividing residents and sparking wider national controversy. Was the demolition of its high-rises an environmental travesty or the first step toward much-needed regeneration?
The dispute began in November 2021, days after the city hosted the UN climate conference Cop26, at which politicians and businesses promised to curb wasteful building destruction. Yet residents of Wyndford soon found leaflets on their doorsteps heralding a “bright new dawn” – one that involved the demolition of all four high-rise blocks on the estate. The decision set off years of protests, legal challenges and community divisions.
The four high-rise blocks of the Wyndford estate one week before demolition. Three blocks were demolished by controlled explosion on 23 March – the block on the left will be brought down floor by floor because of its proximity to other homes on the estate
Continue reading...
