What do America's national parks mean to you? Share your stories and photos
The National Parks Service celebrates its 100th birthday in August. How have America’s natural wonders impacted your life? Share your stories and photos For 100 years, the National Parks Service has been providing Americans and international visitors alike with unspoiled vistas – and vacations to match. Ahead of the centennial on 25 August, we want […]
Australia’s rarest tortoises get new home to save them from climate change
Natural range of critically endangered western swamp tortoise increasingly untenable owing to reduced rainfall Twenty-four of Australia’s rarest tortoises have been released outside their natural range because climate change has dried out their remaining habitat. The natural range of the critically endangered western swamp tortoise, Pseudemydura umbrina, has shrunk to two isolated wetlands in Perth’s […]
World's hottest month shows challenges global warming will bring
July was hotter than any month globally since records began – but some areas, such as the Middle East, suffer more than others In Siberia, melting permafrost released anthrax that had been frozen in a reindeer carcass for decades, starting a deadly outbreak. In Baghdad, soaring temperatures forced the government to shut down for days […]
Obama tightens emissions and fuel efficiency rules for heavy duty trucks
Second phase of new benchmark will cut equivalent of greenhouse gases emitted by electricity and power from all US residences in one year, officials say US trucks will produce 10% less carbon dioxide and consume 10% less fuel within a decade under the last major plank of Barack Obama’s climate policy. The second phase of […]
Greener alternatives to Hinkley Point C | Letters
Simon Jenkins writes that “To question China’s good intentions in financing the power station [at Hinkley Point] is silly. It is a French-built plant, and the idea that Beijing might contrive to embed and then activate some doomsday bug is absurd” (Trade with China is a good thing. But Hinkley Point is a dud, 11 August). […]
Piranhas with human-like teeth in Michigan fuel concern over invasive fish
The large, South American tropical fish were probably illegally dumped in the Great Lakes by pet-owners who no longer wanted to keep them in aquariums Three large vegetarian piranhas with human-like teeth have been discovered in Michigan, amid growing concern among wildlife officials over tropical and invasive fish infiltrating the Great Lakes region. Over the […]
'Googly-eyed' stubby squid spotted off California coast – video
Researchers have captured rare footage of the stubby squid – a purple-colored species with large eyes – during an exploration voyage off Santa Monica, California. The somewhat rare species, which looks like a cross between an octopus and squid, spends its life on the seafloor, burrowing into the sand for camouflage and using its large […]
Louisiana woman visits evacuated home after floods to rescue cats – video
Southern Louisiana has been ravaged by a slow-moving rainstorm that the National Weather Service has called a ‘1,000-year’ disaster. Thousands of people have evacuated their homes and at least eight people are dead as of Tuesday morning. The historic storm began in the corner of Florida’s gulf coast in the first week of August Louisiana […]
High pesticide levels on oilseed rape crops harm wild bees, scientists prove
Species that feed most on the bright yellow flowers of the crop treated with controversial neonicotinoids have fallen by as much as 30% Pesticides used on oilseed rape crops, whose bright yellow flowers have become an increasingly common sight across the British countryside, are harming native populations of wild bees, scientists have conclusively proved. Species […]
Irish Times subeditor comes up with a perfect pun
Praise for the journalist who crafted a superb headline over a routine story I’m about to take a two-day break but I can’t go without mentioning a superb headline I came across in today’s Irish Times. It was over a fairly routine story about research at Galway university into the declining numbers of the “dark […]