RajeshSupernova

“The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. We must stop burning fossil fuels and leave them in the ground. The hardest because our current civilization is addicted to fossil fuels.” – David Attenborough Climate change EXTreme Weather A Global Crisis Affecting Millions Devastation Across Continents In the…

Coelacanths – 420 Million years old Ghostfish found alive

Coelacanths, A fossil fish that predates dinosaurs and was thought to have gone extinct has been found alive in the West Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar. It was accidentally rediscovered by a group of South African shark hunters. Demand for shark fins and oil has led fishers in southwestern Madagascar to set gill-nets in deeper waters. They are finding and possibly harming…

Sea Cucumbers – The Illigal trade of ‘Aphrodisiac’ of the ocean

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms—like starfish and sea urchins. There are some 1,250 known species, and many of these animals are indeed shaped like soft-bodied cucumbers. All sea cucumbers are ocean dwellers, though some inhabit the shallows and others live in the deep ocean. They live on or near the ocean floor—sometimes partially buried beneath it. Sea Cucumbers – A long, leathery-skinned…

Cyprus urged to ban hunting at coast to protect flamingoes from shotgun pellets

Ingestion of lead shotgun pellets from bed of Larnaca Salt Lake blamed for rise in deaths of migrating flamingos Conservationists in Cyprus are urging authorities to expand a hunting ban throughout a coastal salt lake network, amid concerns that migrating flamingos could swallow lethal quantities of lead shotgun pellets. Martin Hellicar, the director of Birdlife Cyprus, said flamingos were at…

Country diary: narcissi are back in flower – omens of spring

St Dominic, Tamar valley: Some old-fashioned daffodils, dating from pre-1930, still appear in their original plots A succession of blossoms cheers the prevailing gloom, and belies the fact of winter in my semi-wild garden. Perfume wafts from the thicket of Daphne bholua, spread from a single bush acquired more than 30 years ago. Wren and goldcrest seek out insects among the fluffy lichens on bare…

Thousands watch live stream as rare cactus starts to bloom in UK

Selenicereus wittii bloomed in a live stream from Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden on Saturday A rare Amazonian cactus called the moonflower has bloomed for what botanists believe is the first time in the UK. Experts at Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden kept a night watch throughout the week so that they did not miss the flowering of Selenicereus wittii – an event which usually begins at…

Keep funding green homes to meet emissions target, say businesses

CBI, Energy UK and others tell chancellor cutting scheme will risk target of net zero emissions by 2050 Business groups are urging the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to keep funding home insulation and other low-carbon measures under the green homes grant, which is under threat from cuts. They warned that moves to reduce the amount of money paid out under the scheme, or abandon it altogether, would…

‘I ate 40kg of chocolate’: Yorkshire teacher, 21, on rowing solo across the Atlantic

Jasmine Harrison, the youngest woman to make the 3,000-mile journey alone, relished the freedom of doing it all by herself It was always during the night when things went wrong for Jasmine Harrison, the youngest woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Like the time her boat hurtled into a huge wave at 19.2 knots and capsized, leaving her with a badly injured elbow. “I was basically thrown at…

Dolphins have similar personality traits to humans, study finds

Curiosity and sociability among traits found, despite dolphins having evolved separately for millions of years Dolphins have developed a number of similar personality traits to humans, despite having evolved in vastly different environments, researchers have found. A study, published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, looked at 134 male and female bottlenose dolphins from eight facilities…

‘A world of sound opens up’: how 10 minutes in nature reaps rewards

Sir David Attenborough’s advice to spend quiet time in woodland is revelatory, once you get past the drone of the A40 Sir David Attenborough’s latest advice for restoring our damaged relationship with nature is reassuringly straightforward. “One of the simplest things that you should do if you get the chance, when you get the chance, is just naturally to stop,” he told the Call of the Wild…

Country diary: winter has been cruel to Orkney’s otters

Stenness, Orkney: One recently turned up on the doorstep of a local hotel, skinny and shivering It’s rare for it to snow here in Orkney. But this February, our islands have taken on the appearance of the high Arctic: the smooth, treeless hills are glossy and white, like Italian meringue, and the inland lochs lidded with ice. It’s perfect winter weather. Breath hangs in the still, cold air, and…

Winter storms at sea evoke memories of Daunt Rock rescue

In 1936, villagers in Ballycotton watched their lifeboat save the crew of the lightship Cornet Watching giant waves crash over a harbour wall during a February storm is a reminder of the best human qualities. Imagine launching a boat into such seas to rescue the crew of a stricken ship. When the villagers of Ballycotton in County Cork watched their lifeboat, Mary Stanford, do just that in…

Hearths on fire: UK residents incensed by pollution from wood burners

Neighbours’ disputes become increasingly heated as new data reveals wood burning causes more pollution than traffic If you’re looking to perfect your rural idyll, you can’t go wrong with a wood burner. A mainstay of glamorous Instagram “cottagecore” accounts and Airbnb listings with a cachet somewhere between an Aga and a yurt, they produce a mood of peace and warmth that glows as softly as their…

‘Absolutely ridiculous’: top scientist slams UK government over coalmine

Exclusive: Prof Sir Robert Watson says backing of Cumbrian mine refutes claims of climate leadership One of the UK’s most eminent environmental scientists has called the government’s failure to block a new coalmine in Cumbria “absolutely ridiculous”. Prof Sir Robert Watson said the UK’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 to tackle the climate crisis was “wonderful”, but that there had to be…

‘Piecing together a broken heart’: Native Americans rebuild territories they lost

Tribes across the US are buying back land lost during and after the colonization period on the open market More than six decades after a 1,705-acre patchwork of meadows, wetlands and timberland in southern Oregon was taken from the Klamath Tribes, the Native American community has found its way back to the territory – by way of the real estate market. Over the summer, the tribes discovered the…

Calls for vets to be sent to cattle ships stranded at sea since December

Concern mounts for welfare of more than 2,500 livestock on two vessels off Italy and Cyprus after bluetongue outbreak Thousands of cattle remain stranded at sea on two livestock ships that left Spain in mid-December, as campaigners desperately seek veterinary support for the animals. The two vessels were bound for Libya but owing to an onboard outbreak of the bovine disease bluetongue were…

Foot and mouth 20 years on: what an animal virus epidemic taught UK science

Britain’s top vet was newly qualified when the outbreak hit. Here, she talks about the devastating slaughter and tracking virus variants Christine Middlemiss was a young vet working in Scotland in February 2001 when foot and mouth disease struck Britain. Having grown up on a farm, and having later worked in veterinary care in Cumbria, she volunteered to help battle an affliction that would…