Stormont’s rescue proposal for UK’s largest lake criticised by campaigners for dilution of sewage reduction targets
There will have to be a move away from intensive farming around Lough Neagh if it is to survive, campaigners have said, as the noxious algal blooms that last year devastated the vast body of water returned to its shores earlier than ever.
Lough Neagh is the UK’s largest lake and supplies more than 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water. But vast amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen and other substances draining into the lough have left it at crisis point for some years now.
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07/22/2024 - 11:42
07/22/2024 - 10:36
If approved, the region would become Scotland’s third national park and first to be made official in UK since South Downs in 2010
Galloway has been selected by the Scottish government as the preferred site for Scotland’s third national park.
The region, which came out top from a shortlist of five, will now be the subject of a consultation and an investigation into its suitability before potentially being made official by 2026. The unsuccessful candidate areas were Lochaber, Loch Awe, Scottish Borders and Tay Forest.
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07/22/2024 - 10:00
Targets to halt environmental damage ‘severely lacking’, Australian Conservation Foundation says, urging food industry to ‘step up to the plate’
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Major food companies in Australia are roundly failing to set adequate targets to reduce their impact on nature and most are not assessing how their supply chains are hitting the environment, according to a first-of-its-kind report from conservationists.
The Future of Food report from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) assessed 20 major food companies across 37 different indicators, from deforestation and pollution to transparency and governance.
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07/22/2024 - 10:00
Analysis of thousands of wild chimp gestures in east Africa found striking similarities to human conversations
Humans might be the masters of quick-fire banter, but it seems chimpanzees have their own rapid back-and-forths, albeit in the form of hand signals.
Researchers analysed thousands of gestures made by wild chimps in east Africa and found striking similarities with the turn-taking seen in human conversations, in particular how swiftly the apes responded to one another.
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07/22/2024 - 06:14
Hitting target for zero-carbon electricity system will require ‘step-change’, says analyst Cornwall Insight
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Solar and wind power generation will fall well below the target needed to decarbonise Great Britain’s electricity grid by 2030 without an injection of £48bn, according to a forecast from one of the UK’s leading energy analysis companies.
The government has promised to deliver a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030, requiring the doubling of onshore wind, tripling of solar power and quadrupling of offshore wind capacity.
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07/22/2024 - 06:00
Found in products such as eggs and rice, ‘forever chemicals’ have been linked to cancer, kidney disease and more
In recent years, research has found or pointed to the presence of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in a range of staples, products and beverages across the food system.
Among them are kale, eggs, butter, protein powder, milk, ketchup, coffee, canola oil, smoothies, tea, beef, juice drinks and rice. Evidence suggests they’re most widely contaminating carryout food, seafood and even pet food.
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07/22/2024 - 05:00
Padi’s first South African blind scuba diver describes how her other senses enhance her experience underwater
I went on my first dive in Mozambique and as I was descending, I could hear this weird chirruping noise. As we got closer to the reef, it got louder and louder. It was so weird and different from any other sound I’ve heard. Other scuba divers call it the “crackling” of the coral reef. That’s what I was hearing: the actual coral. I could hear the whole reef, being alive – and it sounded absolutely amazing, like its own kind of orchestra. A sea orchestra.
I am Padi’s first South African blind scuba diver. I have a condition called optic atrophy, caused by a brain tumour that pressed on my optic nerves when I was 11. After it was removed, my central vision turned completely black, but with pinpricks of light that almost look like stars.
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07/22/2024 - 01:00
Hunting migratory birds is illegal in the country, but a series of crises means enforcement is derisory and many birds are being shot ‘just for fun’
Shell casings litter a meadow on Mount Terbol in northern Lebanon. The valley below falls along one of the world’s busiest routes for migratory birds. The mountain peak, buffeted by harsh winds, creates a natural corridor that encourages birds fatigued from long journeys between Africa and Eurasia to fly at low altitudes.
Those low-flying birds are easy targets for poachers who live in the mountain communities, says Michel Sawan, director of the Lebanese Association of Migratory Birds (Lamb). “They say: ‘We inherited this culture from our grandfathers,’ and I keep saying: ‘Your grandfathers are and were wrong.’”
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07/22/2024 - 00:00
Botanical gardens lost 400 trees during 2022 drought, prompting research into potential loss in coming decades
More than half of the tree species at Kew’s Royal Botanical Gardens are at risk of death because of climate breakdown, a study by the public body has found.
Founded in 1840, Kew Gardens says it houses the largest botanical collection in the world. During the drought of 2022, the botanical gardens in south-west London lost 400 of its trees. Scientists at Kew decided they should map and chronicle the climate risk to the trees to see how many could feasibly be lost to the changing weather in the coming decades.
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07/21/2024 - 18:01
Five stores will offer to alter, clean or mend clothes in service marketed as a way to help prevent waste
John Lewis customers will be able to give their favourite leather jacket a new lease of life or have a cushion cover fixed, as part of a repairs partnership with Timpson Group, the business famed for offering ex-offenders a second chance.
The service, which will be trialled at five stores from Monday, is designed to encourage shoppers to pay to have items altered, repaired, cleaned or restored, rather than throwing them away and buying replacements.
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