Twenty-eight-year-old bear, who had been at Highland Wildlife Park since 2015, is euthanised on vets’ advice
The UK’s oldest polar bear, and the first in the country to give birth to a cub in 25 years, has been put down because of age-related health problems.
Victoria was 28 and had been kept in Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands since 2015. Vets at the park took the decision to euthanise her on Tuesday morning after an assessment about her quality of life and wellbeing. Since December she had been receiving geriatric care after showing signs of arthritis.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/21/2025 - 06:30
Over breakfast at Tom’s Restaurant, right below the historic Giss lab, James Hansen calls Doge’s decision a ‘big mistake’
Perched above the New York City diner made famous by the TV show Seinfeld, Tom’s Restaurant, a small research laboratory became, improbably, crucial to humanity’s understanding of our changing climate and of the universe itself.
Now, it is being shut down by Donald Trump’s administration.
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05/21/2025 - 05:58
Danish developer shrinks five-year investment plans by £3bn blaming policy and planning delays
One of the UK’s biggest energy developers will cut its planned spending on new renewables projects in a blow to the government’s 2030 clean power targets.
SSE warned that it would be unlikely to meet its own renewable energy goals for the end of the decade after shrinking its five-year spending plans by £3bn to £17.5bn.
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05/21/2025 - 04:23
Case came to supreme court after court of appeal determined the term ‘open-air recreation’ included camping
Wild camping will be allowed on Dartmoor after the supreme court ruled that a multimillionaire landowner was wrong to ban it on his land.
Dartmoor was – until the legal action – the only place in England where wild camping without the permission of the landowner was enshrined in law. In Scotland, people have enjoyed this right since 2003.
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05/21/2025 - 00:00
International Energy Agency says it is ‘time to sound alarm’ over future shortages of metal needed for low-carbon transition
Demand for copper, needed for the transition to a low-carbon world, will outstrip supply within the next decade, according to the global energy watchdog.
Supplies of the metal, a key component of every form of electrical energy system at present, will fall 30% short of the amount required by 2035 if nothing is done, analysis by the International Energy Agency predicts.
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05/21/2025 - 00:00
These simple flowers, which bloom earlier than many others, are a rich source of nectar and pollen for insects
Dandelions are often seen by gardeners as burly thugs, but they do have their benefits. The flowers are rich in nectar and pollen, feeding pollinating insects, which have suffered steep declines in recent years. Numbers of flying insects in the UK have fallen by 78% since 2004, according to a survey based on sampling vehicle number plates. As dandelions bloom early in spring, before many other flowers, they are a particularly valuable food for hungry pollinators, with dandelion nectar especially vital when early pollinators such as wild bees, honeybees and hoverflies emerge.
Dandelion plants are particularly adept at thriving in urban places and can even grow in cracks in pavements, using a long, large taproot to tap into water and nutrients well below the ground surface. Urban dandelions grow bigger and better than those in the countryside, thriving in the warmer urban climate . Some species of dandelions can even tolerate the high levels of salt sprayed on roads in winter to help melt ice, and withstand roadside pollution from traffic.
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05/20/2025 - 23:01
Burning, worsened by global heating, overtook farming and logging as biggest cause of destruction of tropical forests
The destruction of the world’s forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, driven by a surge in fires caused by global heating, according to “frightening” new data.
From the Brazilian Amazon to the Siberian taiga, Earth’s forests disappeared at a record rate last year, losing an area the size of Italy to agriculture, fires, logging and mining, according to analysis from the University of Maryland hosted on Global Forest Watch.
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05/20/2025 - 19:25
Residents describe anxious waits for rescue as unprecedented level of flooding strikes the Manning river
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More than 48,800 people and 23,200 dwellings were isolated by record flood waters on the mid-north coast of New South Wales on Wednesday, the State Emergency Service said, as it predicted another 200mm of rain in the next 24-48 hours.
Residents described anxious waits for rescue as unprecedented flooding struck the Manning river, inundating homes and businesses across the region. The Manning river has already surpassed its 1929 record flood level.
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05/20/2025 - 18:01
Climate Change Committee says original goal of a 75% emissions cut by 2030 will now be delayed by up to six years
The UK’s climate watchdog has warned that Scotland needs to take “immediate action at pace and scale” to cut its emissions after ministers axed a series of policy pledges.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), an official advisory body, said ministers in Edinburgh needed to take urgent action to curb emissions from buildings and transport to cut Scotland’s overall emissions to nearly zero by 2045.
Abandoned a target to cut car miles by 20% by 2030.
Dropped a pledge to rapidly decarbonise homes by mandating low-carbon heating systems.
Cut funding for tree planting.
Missed targets to restore degraded peatland.
Ignored calls for a plan to cut meat and dairy consumption, and failed to use their powers to tax air travel more heavily.
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05/20/2025 - 16:30
Firms among England and Wales suppliers facing record 81 investigations as sources say ‘polluter will pay’ for their cost
Two of Britain’s biggest water companies, Thames Water and Anglian Water, face more than 50 criminal investigations between them as part of a crackdown on sewage dumping, the government has said.
The utilities were subject to the bulk of a record 81 investigations into water companies between last July’s general election and March 2025, according to new data.
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