Birmingham City University thinktank imagines new approach to urban areas and land use across the region
“When I show people this, they think it’s Mordor,” says landscape architecture professor Kathryn Moore with a smile.
She is pointing at a map of the West Midlands. But instead of buildings, roads and a sprawling canal network, this map shows the natural hills and undulations that lie below the human-made architecture.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/28/2024 - 07:00
12/28/2024 - 06:59
Call for illicit market to be taken out of hands of criminals as numbers continue to fall drastically due to poaching
International trade in rhino horns should be legalised, a leading wildlife expert has urged.
Writing in the research journal Science, Martin Wikelski argues only carefully monitored, legitimate transactions in horns can save the world’s remaining species of rhinoceros.
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12/28/2024 - 00:00
Conservationists issue warning as figures show three-quarters of SSSI sites have had no recent assessments
Conservationists have said wildlife could be “disappearing in the dark” after figures showed that three-quarters of England’s most precious habitats, wildlife and natural features have had no recent assessment of their condition.
The warning follows the publication of figures covering assessments of protected natural sites known as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) in the last five years. SSSIs are legally protected because they contain special features such as threatened habitats or rare species, and together they cover more than 1.1m hectares (2.7m acres), about 8% of England’s land area.
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12/27/2024 - 06:05
Several days of snow brought avalanche risk at Christmas, as wintry weather also caused four deaths in India
A snowstorm developed across the Alps on Saturday 21 December due to a low-pressure system situated over the Adriatic Sea. This depression allowed relatively warm and moist air to push into the Alps, condensing and falling as snow as it met the much colder alpine air mass. Snowfall continued for several days, with well over 1 metre of snow on some peaks and significant snowfall across many ski villages. Consequently, there was a significant avalanche risk over the Christmas period.
Ski resorts in Bulgaria also experienced significant snow starting on Christmas Day, which caused disruption in the mountainous west, where ski resorts had to temporarily shut down due to road closures. Towns such as Troyan, Samokov and Teteven were particularly badly affected with snowdrifts and power failures.
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12/27/2024 - 03:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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12/27/2024 - 01:00
Only 2% of steel used in British offshore wind projects in past five years was UK-made, study finds
The UK steel industry has called for the government to promise to buy British as it prepares for a major expansion of offshore wind generation.
Wind generation has become a key part of the UK’s energy system, contributing 29% of generated electricity in 2023. However, despite the huge increase in the number of turbines, only 2% of the steel used in British offshore wind projects over the past five years was made in the UK, according to a study by the consultants Lumen Energy & Environment, commissioned by UK Steel, a lobby group.
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12/27/2024 - 00:00
Analysis shows fossil fuels are supercharging heatwaves, leaving millions prone to deadly temperatures
The climate crisis caused an additional six weeks of dangerously hot days in 2024 for the average person, supercharging the fatal impact of heatwaves around the world.
The effects of human-caused global heating were far worse for some people, an analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central has shown. Those in Caribbean and Pacific island states were the hardest hit. Many endured about 150 more days of dangerous heat than they would have done without global heating, almost half the year.
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12/26/2024 - 19:01
Charity says unstable weather patterns caused by the climate crisis had a ‘devastating impact’ in 2024
There have been alarming declines this year in some insect species including bees, butterflies, moths and wasps, while many seabirds have also been “hammered” by unstable weather patterns caused by the climate emergency, a conservation charity has said.
In its annual report on the impact of the weather on flora and fauna, the National Trust highlights that numbers of bees and butterflies have “crashed” in some areas of the UK in 2024.
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12/26/2024 - 19:01
Grant will go towards repackaging food that would go to waste and delivering it to shelters, food banks and charities
Labour ministers have backed plans for a £15m fund to redistribute food from farms that otherwise go to waste, particularly around Christmas.
Grants starting from £20,000 will be handed to the not-for-profit food redistribution sector in England to repackage farm food and deliver it to homeless shelters, food banks and charities.
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12/26/2024 - 14:10
At least one dead and three missing amid storm that has split wharf, wrecked boat and piled up debris
California residents are being warned to stay off wharves, piers and other waterside structures as 20-30ft waves are expected to batter the northern Pacific coast for the rest of the week.
The National Weather Service advisory comes after a 150ft section of the wharf in Santa Cruz collapsed amid high waves on Monday, and storm debris was blamed for the death of a Santa Cruz county man on a beach in Watsonville.
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