RHS study aims to find best way to tackle slugs and snails in gardens
Project with chemicals company BASF will look at mulch, slug pellets and nematodes to find best method of fighting the pests A study is being launched to discover the best way to tackle what many gardeners see as their ultimate foes – slugs and snails. The one-year research project will examine the use of mulch, […]
Bayer in talks to buy GM food company Monsanto
German pharmaceuticals giant approaches world’s biggest seed firm over ‘negotiated acquisition’ set to be worth at least $40bn The German drugs and chemicals group Bayer has pounced on Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed company, with an unsolicited takeover offer likely to be worth more than $40bn (£27bn). Bayer, which invented aspirin in the 19th century, […]
Fracking investors losing patience with planning delays, says industry boss
Head of Cuadrilla’s warning to UK energy minister over ‘unnecessary delays’ comes ahead of Yorkshire shale gas planning decision The backers of fracking in the UK do not have “limitless patience” for planning delays, according to a leading industry boss. Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla, warned that despite the government’s promise to fast track […]
New York parks using goats as chemical-free weed control alternative
Goats, which naturally like weeds such as poison ivy and can eat up to 25 pounds a day, are cleaning up Prospect Park with no negative environmental impact Overexcited children and reporters mill around the fence enclosing part of the Prospect Park woodlands. “Daddy, daddy, look!” one eager little boy yells. Everyone is craning their […]
Why air pollution in schools is such a big deal – and what to do about it | Ian Colbeck
About 3,000 British schools are in areas where air quality is poor, with those in poorer communities suffering more Former London mayor Boris Johnson has been accused of holding back negative findings from a 2013 report on the city’s air pollution. The report stated that 433 of London’s 1,777 primary schools were in areas where […]
How much do you know about bees? – quiz
Despite our professed concern for bees, a YouGov poll for Friends of the Earth found that most of us can’t recognise a honey bee. Take the green group’s quiz to see how much you know • The Great British Bee Count take place from 19 May-30 June How many different species of bees are in […]
Climate scientists, mourning Earth's losses, should make their voices heard | Sarah Myhre
Climate scientists are feeling the need to engage in social leadership before it’s too late It’s easy to find a news hook to begin an opinion piece on climate change. Coral bleaching, record-setting heat waves, and expensive, deadly wildfires are a weekly occurrence in the news cycle. But, as climate warming advances, extreme events won’t […]
Greenpeace activists scale British Museum to protest BP sponsorship
Museum temporarily closes as activists hang huge banners renaming the new BP-sponsored Sunken Cities Egypt exhibition as ‘Sinking Cities’ Greenpeace activists have climbed the British Museum and have hung banners off its columns in protest at BP’s sponsorship of its new ancient Egypt exhibition. The museum was temporarily closed for around four hours on Thursday […]
UK farmers to cut antibiotic use to combat drug resistance
Taskforce will work with farming leaders and government to replace and reduce antibiotic use for livestock A new taskforce to reduce the use of antibiotics in farming in the UK is being set up in response to government concerns on the growing resistance of diseases to antibiotic medicines. The alliance for the Responsible Use of […]
Story of cities #46: the gated Buenos Aires community which left its poor neighbours under water
The richest and poorest residents of Argentina’s capital are separated by the walls of gated communities. When heavy rains in 2013 left those outside the barriers vulnerable to severe flooding, their only hope was to tear them down Read more articles in the series here On 2 April 2013, Matías Duarte awoke at three in […]