Estimated cost of Hinkley Point C nuclear plant rises to £37bn
Critics point to volatility of scheme but energy department says price ‘will not affect bill payers’ The total lifetime cost of the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant could be as high as £37bn, according to an assessment published by the UK government. The figure was described as shocking by critics of the scheme, […]
Plastic fantastic? Not for us or our wildlife | Brief letters
Social care | Women cleaning up the mess | Artificial turf | Resigning | Fishermen and Sturgeon The plain fact is that we are not going to get proper funding for social care until we see providers either exiting the market, or refusing unsustainable contracts (Letters, 7 July). This must be a warning to local […]
Global fish production approaching sustainable limit, UN warns
Around 90% of the world’s stocks are now fully or overfished and production is set to increase further by 2025, according to report from UN’s food body Global fish production is approaching its sustainable limit, with around 90% of the world’s stocks now fully or overfished and a 17% increase in production forecast by 2025, […]
June swoon: US breaks another monthly temperature record
Average temperature of 71.8F is 3.3F above 20th-century average for the month and comes amid a string of climate- and weather-related calamities The US experienced its warmest ever June last month, with a scorching summer set to compound a string of climate-related disasters that have already claimed dozens of lives and cost billions of dollars […]
Australia's vast kelp forests devastated by marine heatwave, study reveals
About 90% of forests off the western coast were wiped out between 2011 to 2013, posing a threat to biodiversity and the marine economy, say scientists A hundred kilometres of kelp forests off the western coast of Australia were wiped out by a marine heatwave between 2010 and 2013, a new study has revealed. About […]
From silk to milk: Why growing everything could be a 21st century game changer
Materials, energy and just about everything around us is finite. A more thorough understanding of the Earth’s limitations and commodity price volatility has made this a critical realisation for 21st century economies. Still, conserving natural resources, while still enabling economic, environmental and social prosperity presents a significant challenge, especially in a context of increasing demands […]
Arctic sea ice crashes to record low for June
From mid-June onwards, ice cover disappeared at an average rate of 29,000 miles a day, about 70% faster than the typical rate of ice loss, experts say The summer sea ice cover over the Arctic raced towards oblivion in June, crashing through previous records to reach a new all-time low. The Arctic sea ice extent […]
Police deploy helicopter over Dartmoor in search for escaped lynx
Officers warn people not to approach animal that escaped from its enclosure at Dartmoor Zoological Park Police are searching for a lynx that escaped from a zoo in Devon. The moors of south-west England are often associated with stories of big cats haunting the wilderness, but in this case a real-life hunt – including a […]
Ministers reject second request to use banned bee-harming pesticides
Campaigners welcome decision to turn down National Farming Union’s application for ‘emergency’ use of neonicotinoids for oil seed rape, reports ENDS An application to use neonicotinoid pesticides to protect winter oilseed rape has been refused by government for the second time. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) concluded that the request did […]
Christiana Figueres nominated for post of UN secretary general
UN’s former climate change chief, who was a key architect of the Paris climate agreement, joins long list of candidates to succeed Ban Ki-moon One of the chief architects of the global accord on climate change signed last year in Paris has been nominated for the post of secretary general of the United Nations. Christiana […]