Tag: nature

Arctic ice loss forces polar bears to use four times as much energy to survive – study

Polar bears and narwhals are using up to four times as much energy to survive because of major ice loss in the Arctic, according to scientists. Once perfectly evolved for polar life, apex predators are struggling as their habitats shrink and unique adaptations become less suited to an increasingly ice-free Arctic, researchers say. The mammals are… Read More Arctic ice loss forces polar bears to use four times as much energy to survive – study

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Aseem Shrivastava: An Age gone blind // Mallika Bhanot – Char Dham Pariyojana: A High Risk Engineering Exercise

A strange fact has baffled naturalists recently. Rhododendrons and Himalayan daisies have been flowering in Ramgarh in the freezing winter of January, normally a snow-bound month of the Himalayan calendar. It has been one of the warmest winters in Uttarakhand. Ramgarh (at 2,100 metres) received half-a-dozen snowfalls during the winter of 2019-20. This season (and… Read More Aseem Shrivastava: An Age gone blind // Mallika Bhanot – Char Dham Pariyojana: A High Risk Engineering Exercise

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NORMAN MILLER: The forgotten foods that could excite our tastebuds

Just 12 plant species and five types of animal make up 75% of the world’s food. At least 30,000 of the 350,000 known plant species on our planet are edible, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. It is a woefully limited diet in the midst of such variety. Only 170 species of plant are cultivated for food on any significant… Read More NORMAN MILLER: The forgotten foods that could excite our tastebuds

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Seagrass 'Neptune balls’ sieve millions of plastic particles from water, study finds

Underwater seagrass in coastal areas appear to trap plastic pollution in natural bundles of fibre known as “Neptune balls”, researchers have found. With no help from humans, the swaying plants – anchored to shallow seabeds – may collect nearly 900m plastic items in the Mediterranean alone every year, a study reported in the journal Scientific… Read More Seagrass 'Neptune balls’ sieve millions of plastic particles from water, study finds

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Matthew Taylor: Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss // Laura Spinney: Time for some home truths about deforestation

The global food system is on course to drive rapid and widespread ecological damage with almost 90% of land animals likely to lose some of their habitat by 2050, research has found. A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability shows that unless the food industry is rapidly transformed, changing what people eat and how it is… Read More Matthew Taylor: Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss // Laura Spinney: Time for some home truths about deforestation

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Owen Bowcott: International lawyers draft plan to criminalise ecosystem destruction

International lawyers are drafting plans for a legally-enforceable crime of ecocide – criminalising destruction of the world’s ecosystems – that is already attracting support from European countries and island nations at risk from rising sea levels. The panel coordinating the initiative is chaired by Prof Philippe Sands QC, of University College London, and Florence Mumba, a… Read More Owen Bowcott: International lawyers draft plan to criminalise ecosystem destruction

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Damian Carrington: Megaprojects risk pushing forests past tipping point

 Infrastructure megaprojects risk pushing the world’s remaining forests past a “dangerous tipping point” and making climate targets unachievable, a report says. Tens of thousands of miles of roads and railways are planned alongside mines and dams, opening up the forests of South America, south-east Asia and central Africa to destruction, according to the report by a… Read More Damian Carrington: Megaprojects risk pushing forests past tipping point

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