Seeds of 177 species from across Africa to be stored in Norway to preserve crop diversity in case of disaster
More than 100,000 seeds from across Africa have been deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s repository for specimens intended to preserve crop diversity in the event of disaster.
Among the latest additions are seeds critical to building climate resilience, such as the tree Faidherbia albida, which turns nitrogen into ammonia and nitrates, and Cordia africana, the Sudan teak, a tree renowned for its strength and durability.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
02/27/2025 - 09:00
02/27/2025 - 05:10
Transport secretary backs £2.2bn airport plan but final decision delayed to October
Business live – latest updates
Gatwick has been given a qualified green light to operate a second runway after the government “set out a path to expansion” for London’s second biggest airport.
The deadline for the government to make a final decision has been extended to late October, but the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has issued a “minded to approve” letter to Gatwick for the £2.2bn expansion scheme. The project could allow more than 100,000 extra flights a year at the West Sussex airport.
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02/27/2025 - 00:00
Bumblebees declined by almost a quarter compared with the 2010-2023 average, according to conservation charity
Figures show 2024 was the worst year for bumblebees in the UK since records began.
Bumblebee numbers declined by almost a quarter compared with the 2010-2023 average, according to data from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. The researchers said the drop was probably due to the cold and wet conditions in the UK last spring.
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02/26/2025 - 19:01
University announces new BA, after survey found most 14- to 18-year-olds want more rigorous climate change education
The University of Sussex will introduce what it says is the UK’s first undergraduate degree focused on climate justice.
The BA course, called “climate justice, sustainability and development”, will begin in 2026. The university says it will equip students with a blend of expertise in climate politics, activism and environmental human rights.
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02/26/2025 - 11:00
Climate scientists caution, however, that even weakened currents would cause profound harm to humanity
Vital Atlantic Ocean currents are unlikely to completely collapse this century, according to a study, but scientists say a severe weakening remains probable and would still have disastrous impacts on billions of people.
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a system of currents that plays a crucial role in the global climate. The climate crisis is weakening the complex system, but determining if and when it will collapse is difficult.
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02/26/2025 - 10:29
It’s chaos as small jobs become big jobs, tools disappear and distractions lead to furious frustration. Then you spot spring’s first flower ...
There’s no such thing as gardener’s block, I once read. This from, I believe, a famous writer who was making the point that if you’ve got writer’s block, you should just go and do something else for a bit. Point taken. There is no such thing as gardener’s block because if you get stuck doing one job, even in the smallest garden, there are roughly 10m other jobs you can be cracking on with. Which is quite right. And this is what makes gardening either the worst thing for you if – like me – you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or possibly the best.
I stride into the garden full of purpose and ambition, with a smile on my face. Invariably, several hours later, I stagger out of there, aching all over, scratched, bloodied, filthy and demoralised, having dug, scraped, cursed and carried myself to physical and mental exhaustion. The clarity of purpose I have at the outset vanishes very quickly, along with my secateurs. In its place, as things that need doing proliferate around me like Japanese knotweed, there comes a confusion of purpose. Lots gets done a little bit, but nothing gets done properly. Nothing is finished. And it all looks a right bloody mess.
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02/26/2025 - 08:00
Analysts and investors have long trumpeted ‘climate-proof’ US communities, but recent disasters show the need for a different way of thinking
A few years ago, while visiting a tiny village, I toured a grand old community hall scheduled to be demolished after a historic flood. Across the street, a phantom row of eight buildings had already come down. Next to go was this beloved structure, built with local lumber by the craftsman grandfathers of the people who still lived there. One of the two local officials escorting me had been married here, she told me. There was a plan to repurpose the six soaring arches, the other official said, gazing towards the ceiling. “The other part of it, knocking the rest of it down …” he trailed off, emotionally. “I won’t be in town to see that.”
This village isn’t located on the rapidly eroding Gulf coast, or any coast. It isn’t on the edge of a drought-stricken wildland. It isn’t anywhere typically named as existentially threatened due to the impacts of climate change. Forever altered by floods, the village of Rock Springs, in my home state of Wisconsin, is instead located smack in the middle of what’s often been called a “climate haven”.
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02/26/2025 - 07:00
Workers at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fear crackdown will have global fallout
The Trump administration has set its sights on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency, with significant cuts and a political crackdown on climate science. As Trump takes aim at the agency, the impact is likely to be felt across the US and around the world.
Noaa provides essential resources to the public and has helped make the US a scientific leader internationally. Operating 18 satellites and 15 research and survey ships, the agency’s scientists, engineers and policy experts issue forecasts relied on by aviation, agriculture and fishing industries. It advises on species protection and provides ocean floor mapping depended upon for shipping and increasingly precise and accurate modeling on what to expect as climate crisis unfolds.
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02/26/2025 - 06:00
Advocacy groups are better prepared than the first term for legal challenges – but will the administration obey rulings?
Amid spending freezes and policy rollbacks from Donald Trump, environmental advocacy groups are gearing up for a long series of legal showdowns with the administration.
The experience of suing Trump during his first term has left the movement better prepared, but the court battles will still be daunting, with the administration appearing to test the nation’s legal boundaries in an effort to consolidate power under the executive branch.
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02/26/2025 - 06:00
It’s time to rethink how climate action succeeds. The key is to acknowledge that it’s never the sole force driving political decisions
We are witnessing the most devastating climate disasters on record: wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, deadly floods in North Carolina, and global temperature records shattered month after month. We have officially surpassed 1.5C (2.7F) of warming, a critical threshold scientists have long warned against. At the same time, the US is scaling back policies, freezing critical programs and shifting priorities away from climate action.
But now isn’t the time to give up on climate action. Instead, it is high time to rethink how it succeeds.
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