‘Perfect’ weather conditions produce berries that growers say are between 10% and 20% bigger than usual
The UK’s sunny spring weather has provided “perfect” conditions to produce strawberries so big you “cannot fit them in your mouth”, UK growers have said.
With nearly 20 years’ experience, Bartosz Pinkosz, the operations director at the Summer Berry Company, has “never seen anything like it”. The strawberries being harvested this month by the leading grower are whoppers thanks to the combination of lots of sunshine and cool nights.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/18/2025 - 00:00
05/17/2025 - 15:00
Fire in black sheoak forest of East Gippsland would destroy the birds’ food supply, conservationist says
Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if planned burns of 13,000 hectares of forest go ahead, ecologists and conservationists warn.
The Victorian government is being urged to abandon the burn, which is intended to reduce bushfire risk.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...
05/17/2025 - 06:00
Downsizing at Climeworks comes amid economic uncertainty and ‘reduced momentum’ for climate tech
A Swiss startup that has led the way in sucking carbon out of the air has announced plans to cut its workforce by more than 10% amid economic uncertainty and “reduced momentum” for climate tech.
The downsizing at Climeworks, the company that built the world’s first direct air capture facilities, comes one week after journalists in Iceland revealed its two flagship plants have captured far less carbon than their advertised capacity. A spokesperson said the timing of the redundancies was unrelated.
Continue reading...
05/17/2025 - 00:00
Familia Torres has been making wine in Catalonia since 1870, but says it may have to move to higher altitudes in 30 years’ time
A leading European winemaker has warned it may have to abandon its ancestral lands in Catalonia in 30 years’ time because climate change could make traditional growing areas too dry and hot.
Familia Torres is already installing irrigation at its vineyards in Spain and California and is planting vines on land at higher altitudes as it tries to adapt to more extreme conditions.
Continue reading...
05/16/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 17 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00118-5
Lessons learned from Thailand’s largest youth-led marine restoration initiative highlight how to enable future environmental stewardship efforts. Local and hands-on approaches can help drive effective climate solutions. Immersive and educational conservation experiences can empower local communities, foster collective awareness, and build individual accountability to restore degrading ecosystems. This multidimensional land-to-sea approach can serve as a guidebook for other youth to spearhead multi-habitat restoration and conservation efforts worldwide.
05/16/2025 - 12:45
A study has shown scientific knowledge on the conservation of endangered species is often overlooked when not presented in English.
05/16/2025 - 12:12
Rebekah Shaman, of Protect Brockwell Park, took action against Lambeth council over number of large-scale events
A campaigner who argued that music festivals held in a south London park unfairly cut off large sections of the space and made it a “mud bath” has won a court case that could result in events being banned there this summer.
The Protect Brockwell Park (PBP) group, which includes the actor Mark Rylance, complained about walls being erected in the park, and noise and environmental damage, leading to a tense debate about the use of public space, nimbyism and the importance of summer cultural events.
Continue reading...
05/16/2025 - 10:42
Firm prosecuted after unapproved material in tanks led to flakes and powder entering drinking water of 1.3m people
Anglian Water has been fined a record £1.42m for contaminating the water supply.
The company, which covers the east of England, received the fine at Northampton crown court after a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) for failures that affected 1.3 million people.
Continue reading...
05/16/2025 - 10:00
Some have speculated there is a link, but it’s too soon to say, one expert says, with toxicology results expected to reveal more soon
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Shark sightings and strandings are unusually high across South Australia amid a prolonged toxic algal bloom, but scientists say it’s too soon to link to recent shark incidents.
On Thursday, a swimmer was bitten by a shark at Port Noarlunga beach, 30km south of Adelaide’s CBD, one of a rising number of reported sharks swimming closer to shore – with some washing up dead on beaches.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...
05/16/2025 - 10:00
Parks, trees and green spaces are critical to kids’ health and wellbeing, but in many cities, residents have unequal access
On a recent Saturday morning at Washington Elementary Stem magnet school in Pasadena, California, a group of volunteers and staffers from Amigos de los Rios hauled soil for a new pollinator garden of native plants that support local habitats such as those for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. They also filled up 37 planter beds that will grow fresh veggies such as carrots and sweet potatoes for students to eat.
Before the local non-profit began this work, the Title I school – which is primarily attended by Latino and Black students from low-income households – had been largely paved, lacked trees and had one wooden playhouse that kids would patiently wait their turn to play inside to take refuge from the sun.
Continue reading...
