Nature
The Earth’s advocate: Defending our environment
In 1992 the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro designed international legal protocol for the protection of the environment. Twenty years later, British barrister Polly Higgins believes those laws have failed.
By Simon Day | Notebook, Opinion, Science & Technology | Wednesday, 13 June 2012 at 1:00 am
50 years on: Our attitude to environment and architecture has hardly changed
Today we build taller towers with better floor to ceiling glass; instead of an insulating value of next to nothing, they have double that, almost nothing. We are still cooking limestone and crushing rock to make concrete, responsible for 5% of all CO2 emissions worldwide. Prince Charles is building faux Georgian tract houses. People are reinventing housing and tearing down Robin Hood Gardens. Cars are everywhere; they are cleaner but marginally more efficient as they got bigger, heavier and air conditioned.
By Lloyd Alter | Notebook, Opinion, Science & Technology | Tuesday, 12 June 2012 at 4:00 am
The bad habits of man are the saving grace of our birds of prey
The fastest animal that has ever lived, the peregrine’s stoop (where it folds its wings and dives) has been timed at over 200mph, while their streamlined form is said to have been an inspiration behind the wing design of the Supermarine Spitfire.
By Kevin Parr | Notebook | Monday, 11 June 2012 at 1:06 pm
50 years on and the DDT debates continue
“Author of a pandemic slaughtering millions…Eco-imperialist…Responsible for more deaths than Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot combined…” Rachel Carson would roll in her grave to hear the accusations aimed at her legacy.
By Katherine Rowland | Notebook, Opinion, Science & Technology | Monday, 11 June 2012 at 10:05 am
Accidental Nature: The Listening Ears
I’ve just had the most amazing few weeks filming some very personal films for this year’s Springwatch. The basic idea of them was to be Landscape films, each with a different theme to explore. Dungeness, the Southern most tip of Kent, was one of my favorite locations and its theme was energy.
Its an area of [...]
By Richard Taylor-Jones | Notebook | Wednesday, 23 May 2012 at 12:00 am
To avoid more whale deaths, ships must slow down
We live in a culture that is dependent on global trade and 90% of goods are transported by ships. As an increasingly important part of our economy, ships have become more efficient, and faster. But like many advances in human technology, whales pay a price. Ship strikes are only one of the many threats whales face, but for some endangered populations, they are, literally, a driving force to extinction.
By Regina Asmutis-Silvia | Notebook, Opinion | Friday, 11 May 2012 at 4:08 pm
Glowing fish illuminates environmental health hazards
Harmful chemicals circulating in the environment may affect more parts of the body than was previously believed, according to a new study.
A team of researchers from the University of Exeter and University College London found that environmental oestrogens may contaminate organs that until now scientists had not considered vulnerable to their deleterious effects.
Environmental oestrogens derive [...]
By Katherine Rowland | Notebook, Opinion, Science & Technology | Wednesday, 25 April 2012 at 4:31 am
Researchers identify yet another threat to hive health
In a study with far reaching implications for global food security, scientists have identified a new threat to honeybees that may help explain the collapse of hives in recent years.
By Katherine Rowland | Notebook, Science & Technology | Thursday, 12 January 2012 at 5:00 am
Accidental Nature: Secret seals of the south east
This week I’m the guest presenter on Autumnwatch, tracking down the secret seals of the South East. This population of grey and common seals, ranging from the Thames Estuary down to the Straights of Dover, has probably been around for a very, very long time, but the problem is, no one really knows. Unlike seals up in Scotland and along the Norfolk coast, these seals are pretty much unstudied. Hence the tag “secret seals”.
By Richard Taylor-Jones | Notebook | Thursday, 3 November 2011 at 10:00 am
Accidental Nature: The benefits of human waste
I’m now well into filming for this year’s Autumnwatch series and already we’ve come across plenty of stories that apply very well to Accidental Nature.
The first films involved tracking the migration of young Osprey chicks from their nest site in the Dyfi Estuary in Wales, to their overwintering grounds in West Africa. The chicks have [...]
By Richard Taylor-Jones | Notebook | Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 3:30 pm
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