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Hanging on rather than flourishing … a rare flower

New Forest Clustered around two trees, and shaded by them, is a narrow-leaved lungwort, unreported in the area for nearly 20 years

We head into the forest in search of a scarce plant. Nine years ago almost to the day, I chanced upon a single stem of narrow-leaved lungwort (Pulmonaria longifolia), and I want to find out if it is still there. Then, it had been growing in the shelter of a young bramble, with primroses alongside.

Before setting out, I check with Martin Rand, the botanical recorder for south Hampshire. When he tells me that he hasn’t had a report of its presence in this area since the turn of the millennium, I regret not having given him a note of my find before.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Three baby koalas stolen from carer's home in Brisbane

The joeys, which require supplemental feeding and medication, are unlikely to survive if released into the wild

Police are calling for help from the public in hunting down three koala joeys that were stolen from a house near Brisbane.

The three koalas, about 14 months old, were taken from a carer’s house at Ormiston between 9pm on Thursday and 6am on Friday.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Hunting the Ghost Fungus: glowing mushrooms in Australia’s forests

Standing in a dark pine forest surrounded by bioluminescent mushrooms is as magical and mysterious as it sounds – and worth the midnight trek into the mountains three hours out of Sydney

It’s just before midnight and we’re in the middle of an eerie pine forest in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, dodging leeches and lugging heavy camera equipment.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Rare baby giraffe takes first steps outdoors – video report

A rare Rothschild’s giraffe, born last week, takes its first steps on Thursday. Narus is already over 6ft (1.8m) at only a week old, but remained under the watchful eyes of his parents Orla and Meru as he explored his enclosure at Chester Zoo. The Rothschild’s species are named after zoologist Lord Walter Rothschild, founder of the National History Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire but are critically endangered, numbering as few at 1,600 worldwide

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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New study shows worrisome signs for Greenland ice | John Abraham

Greenland ice is melting fast, and could potentially cause many meters of sea level rise

As humans put more heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, ice around the planet melts. This melting can be a problem, particularly if the melting ice starts its life on land. That’s because the melt water flows into the oceans, contributing to rising sea levels. Right now there are three main reasons that sea levels are rising. First, as ocean waters heat, they expand. Second, melting of ice in Antarctica flows into the ocean. Third, melting of ice on Greenland flows into the ocean. There is other melting, like mountain glaciers, but they are minor factors.

Okay, so how much is melting of Greenland contributing to sea level rise? Estimates are that about 270 gigatons of water per year are melting. The melting of an ice sheet like that atop Greenland can occur from the surface as air temperatures and sunlight warm the upper layer of ice. It can also occur from the edges as ice shelves collapse and fall into the oceans in large chunks.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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How the humble fly can help to solve our most gruesome crimes

Flies are often the first visitors to a murder scene. Studying their grisly dining habits can reveal vital clues to help catch the killer

Flies are regarded by most people as a nuisance at best, a harbinger of death at worst. They elicit little more than feelings of disgust and many people are happy to kill them without a second thought. But there is another side to the story. The fly is one of nature’s great marvels and, perhaps, the criminologist’s best friend.

In addition to familiar forensic clues such as fingerprints, tell-tale hairs and bloodstains, more and more criminal investigators are relying on the services of the humble fly. Forensic entomology is the technical term for using insects to help us solve crimes. Given the nature of the things flies choose to dine on, they are often the first to be found at the grisliest of crime scenes. There is a predictable succession of flies that arrive at a corpse, with different species of fly specialising in eating different parts of the body at different stages of decomposition.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Toshiba's US nuclear problems could provide cautionary tale for UK

Experts say construction delays and cost problems at two plants are due to lack of experience and absence of supply chains

The roots of Toshiba’s admission this week that it has serious doubts over its “ability to continue as a going concern” can be found near two small US towns.

It is the four reactors being built for nuclear power stations outside Waynesboro, in Georgia, and Jenkinsville, South Carolina, by the company’s US subsidiary Westinghouse that have left the Japanese corporation facing an annual loss of £7.37bn.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Firefighting foam spilled at Brisbane airport enters river and kills fish

Anglers warned to avoid area as authorities and Qantas investigate leak of chemicals classified as an ‘emerging contaminant’

A significant spill of firefighting foam at Brisbane airport has contaminated nearby waterways, killing fish and prompting warnings to recreational anglers.

About 22,000 litres of the foam leaked in a Qantas hangar on Monday, the Queensland government confirmed.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Scott Pruitt hails era of environmental deregulation in speech at coal mine

EPA administrator declared an end to the government’s ‘war’ on coal in a speech to miners – an agenda that has been bitterly opposed by agency staff

Scott Pruitt, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, heralded a new era of environmental deregulation on Thursday, in a speech at a coal mine that was fined last year for contaminating local waterways with toxic materials.

Pruitt said the new “back to basics” agenda for the EPA would focus on devolving oversight of clean air and water to individual states, and bolstering jobs in industries such as coal, oil and gas.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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Scottish islands hold out for government U-turn on windfarm subsidies

Hopes that ministers will make special case for Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland after visit by business secretary

Ministers are believed to be on the verge of a U-turn on their manifesto pledge to halt the spread of subsidised onshore windfarms – on remote Scottish islands, at least.

The business secretary, Greg Clark, visited the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles on Monday to discuss the possibility of government support for turbines off the mainland.

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Source: Guardian Climate Change

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