The eco guide to noise pollution
Peace and quiet is an increasingly scarce commodity in the modern world Silence is golden – or at least it should be. But according to the Noise Abatement Society (NAS), it’s increasingly rare. “Peace is a precious commodity,” says Poppy Szkiler, of Quiet Mark, part of the NAS. Anti-noise campaigners suggest we have a “sliding […]
Arctic nations square up as clamour for resources grows
With the Danes rebuffing Russia, and Canada laying further claim to the Northwest Passage, rising access to north pole reserves risks flashpoints Kristian Jensen, Denmark’s foreign minister, gave a precise response last week to a request by Russia for the nations to enter bilateral talks over the ownership of the north pole. He flatly rejected […]
Buzzards back in hunters’ crosshairs over threat to UK pheasant shoots
Licences for gamekeepers to kill the protected bird of prey will open the floodgates to illegal hunting, warn conservationists Tim Boxall points at a shape in the field bordering the seven-acre wooded pen where he keeps 1,500 pheasants. “Here you are,” he says. “Look! There’s one over here.” He bends down and prises the remains […]
In Ohio, frackers are drilling. Soon Ineos will be doing the same in Britain
The UK chemicals giant, which has 30 applications to drill at home, is running publicity tours on the Appalachian shale fields to boost the industry’s image Red velvet curtains hung on the windows and painted cherubs played on the ceiling as Jim Ratcliffe accepted the 2016 ICIS Kavaler Award at the Metropolitan Club in New […]
Florida sinkhole causes vast leak of wastewater into drinking water source
Phosphate supplier says ‘absolutely nobody at risk’ as company monitors groundwater at central Florida fertilizer plant More than 200m gallons of contaminated wastewater from a fertilizer plant in central Florida leaked into one of the state’s main underground sources of drinking water after a huge sinkhole opened up beneath a storage pond, a phosphate company […]
Shades of yellow on the baking heath
New Forest The heather is studded with yellow tormentil, and mixed with dwarf gorse so tight to the turf that it’s knee-high to a grasshopper A grey minibus pulls up behind me as I’m changing into my walking shoes. Five young people get out and hitch their packs. ”We’ll be there at five,” says the […]
Pacific Ocean's hidden wonders revealed on dive to underwater volcano
US scientists find possible new coral species and rare Dumbo octopus on expedition to previously unexplored extinct volcano off Hawaii Scientists believe they have identified a new species of coral and found a rare Dumbo octopus during an expedition 3,000ft (900m) down in the Pacific Ocean. Diving in a submersible to the previously unexplored Cook […]
Pipeline rupture in Alabama threatens fuel shortages across eastern US
The governors of Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina have declared states of emergency following a gasoline spill in an ecologically sensitive area An interstate gasoline pipeline has ruptured in central Alabama, spilling 338,000 gallons of fuel in an ecologically sensitive area and threatening fuel shortages across the eastern US. So far governors in Alabama, Georgia […]
China must wait four years for decision on Bradwell nuclear plant
After Hinkley Point C go-ahead, Essex reactor would be even more significant for China – and more controversial for UK China faces at least a four-year wait to find out whether its plans to build a nuclear power station in Essex will be approved. If it got the go-ahead, Britain would be relying heavily on […]
Norway plans to cull more than two-thirds of its wolf population
Environmental groups criticise plan that will allow hunters to shoot up to 47 of an estimated 68 wolves living in wilderness Norway is planning to cull more than two-thirds of its remaining wolves in a step that environmental groups say will be disastrous for the dwindling members of the species in the wild. There are […]