Before Homo sapiens arrived, Europe's forests were not dense and dark but shaped by open and light-rich woodland landscapes. Researchers have analyzed 917 native forest plant species in Central and Western Europe and found that more than 80 percent prefer high-light conditions -- environments traditionally created by large herbivores.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/14/2025 - 11:00
05/14/2025 - 10:55
Government vetoes cross-party effort to protect threatened waterways from push to rip up environmental red tape
A cross-party attempt to protect England’s rare and threatened chalk streams in the government’s planning bill was rejected by Labour on Wednesday.
The attempt to give the globally rare ecosystems the strongest protections as irreplaceable habitats failed after all the Labour MPs on the parliamentary committee examining the draft law rejected an amendment containing the extra provision.
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05/14/2025 - 10:32
Predicted dry, warm weather likely to increase pressure on rivers, whose flows are already far below normal
Exceptionally low river flows are predicted across the UK this summer as a drought becomes more likely, scientists have said.
An update from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) says dry, warm weather is expected over the next three months, putting pressure on water resources.
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05/14/2025 - 06:25
Exclusive: Virgin Atlantic and Renault among companies that continued to publish misleading environmental claims
Companies have continued to post misleading greenwashing adverts after being censured by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), according to an investigation.
Greenpeace UK’s investigative journalism unit, Unearthed, reports that Virgin Atlantic, Renault and Aqua Pura are among companies that continued to publish unfounded claims about the environmental credentials of their products after being told to remove such adverts by the advertising watchdog.
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05/14/2025 - 01:00
Research shows companies ‘aligned’ with strategies to meet climate goals have risen from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025
European companies are increasingly lobbying for strong climate action, research has found, in a “profound shift” that analysts say challenges the narrative that businesses see green rules as a threat to profits.
The share of companies whose corporate lobbying is “aligned” with pathways to meet global climate goals rose from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025, according to an analysis of 200 of the largest European companies by InfluenceMap, while the share of companies who were deemed “misaligned” fell from 34% to 14%.
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05/13/2025 - 23:00
Research looking at hygiene and healthcare habits of the primates finds implications for understanding origin of human healthcare
Humans are not unique in having a host of hygiene and healthcare habits, researchers have found: chimpanzees also wipe their bottoms, tend each other’s wounds and even clean up after sex, according to a new study.
The research from the University of Oxford is not the first to show that great apes take care of themselves. Scientists have previously found chimpanzees use insects to treat their own wounds and those of others, while orangutans have been observed treating wounds with the sap and chewed leaves of plants with known medicinal properties.
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05/13/2025 - 22:30
Climate change and energy minister accuses Sussan Ley’s Coalition of ‘keeping the climate wars going’ with decision to review net zero stance
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Chris Bowen has ridiculed the Liberal party for putting net zero by 2050 up for review after its election defeat, comparing it to putting the “sky being blue” up for debate.
The climate change and energy minister also warned that breaking Australia’s bipartisan commitment to the “bare minimum” emissions target risked creating a sovereign risk for renewables investors.
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05/13/2025 - 16:53
Chemical plant linked to air pollution and cancer risks in majority-Black region ‘exploring all options for the future’
A controversial chemical plant in the centre of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” region has indefinitely suspended all production following dire financial results, the facility’s operators announced on Tuesday.
The Denka Performance Elastomer plant in St John parish has long been associated with chronic air pollution issues and was the subject of a years-long Guardian reporting series examining the disproportionate cancer risk rates experienced by the majority-Black fence-line communities that surround the facility.
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05/12/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 13 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00122-9
Roadmap to sustainably develop the European seaweed industry
05/09/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 10 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00127-4
The false promise of deep-sea mining
