Calaminarian grassland is a rare habitat where plants thrive in soils contaminated by heavy metals. But should these toxic meadows be protected or allowed to fade away?
At first, the small purple flowers are hard to spot in the weak May sunshine. Slowly the drifts of delicate mountain pansies, along with the white rosettes of alpine pennycress, begin to jump out, scattered across an area little bigger than a football pitch, on the banks of the River Allen in Northumberland.
This is a pocket of calaminarian grassland, an increasingly rare habitat where specialist plants called metallophytes have adapted to live in soils deeply contaminated by heavy metals, the legacy of more than 1,000 years of lead mining.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/27/2026 - 03:00
05/27/2026 - 01:08
Everyone loves dingoes and if they don’t they should
Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints
Continue reading...
05/27/2026 - 00:46
In today’s newsletter: As heatwaves intensify, Britain must confront the limits of a society built for cooler weather, forcing policymakers, communities and households to rethink how we live, work and stay cool
The UK swelters once again. On Tuesday, temperatures surged to 35C, condemning millions of people to another sticky night in homes ill-prepared for such warm conditions.
The heat is record-breaking: we are still in spring, yet temperatures are close to extremes we once never expected even in high summer. Yorkshire experienced its first ever “tropical night” in spring on Monday, when the evening temperature failed to fall below 20C. Health alerts remain in effect across large parts of the country due to the increased likelihood of deaths, particularly among vulnerable and elderly people. Yet, experts warn, this may just be the road to a new normal.
UK politics | Tony Blair has accused Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting of putting Labour’s future at risk by abandoning the centre ground, warning that the party’s “almost infinite capacity for self-delusion” means it is likely to lose the next election.
UK news | One out of every five people arrested after their participation in the 2024 summer riots has since been reported to the police for domestic abuse, the Guardian can disclose.
Middle East | The continuing US-Israel war on Iran has compounded other global disasters to drive record numbers of people into hunger at a time when funding to combat famine has fallen dramatically, the head of the UN World Food Programme has said.
UK news | The court of appeal will review the non-custodial sentences given to three teenage boys for the rape of two girls, Keir Starmer has announced.
US politics | Alabama cannot use a new Republican-friendly map in this year’s midterm elections because it intentionally discriminates against Black voters, a panel of three federal judges have ruled.
Continue reading...
05/26/2026 - 23:00
Supporters of deregulation want Europe to be more like the US. But that would serve only American interests
In July 2024, a European Union law came into force requiring plastic bottle caps to remain attached to their bottles. The regulation was widely mocked by social-media jokesters and Silicon Valley billionaires alike. This, people said, was Brussels at its worst: bureaucrats micromanaging, treating citizens like children who couldn’t be trusted to recycle a cap.
What went almost entirely unreported was the evidence behind it. Plastic bottle caps have been identified, across decades of coastal cleanup data, as among the top items found littering European beaches. Small, light and made from a different plastic than the bottle itself, the caps float independently once separated, travelling far longer distances than the bottles they came from. They are far more likely to be swallowed by seabirds, fish and marine turtles who mistake them for food.
Continue reading...
05/26/2026 - 22:00
Puncak Jaya in Indonesia is one of the last equatorial mountains with glaciers but the ice has retreated drastically because of the climate crisis. Project Pressure came to the mountain to create the first 3D model of the remaining ice before it disappears
‘Planetary destruction on fast-forward’: witnessing the disappearance of Indonesia’s eternity glaciers
Continue reading...
05/26/2026 - 15:46
Lawmakers cite studies linking weedkiller to Parkinson’s as pressure mounts for a wider US ban
Vermont is the first US state to ban the weedkilling pesticide paraquat, backed by lawmakers who cited concerns about research showing the chemical substantially increases the risk of the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease.
Phil Scott, the governor, signed the legislation on Tuesday. The new law takes effect on 1 November, though it contains a provision allowing state regulators to issue special permits for paraquat use on fruit-producing tree orchards, berries and other “small fruit” crops up until 31 December 2030.
Continue reading...
05/26/2026 - 09:17
Temperature reaches 35.1C at Heathrow on Tuesday after 34.8C high at Kew Gardens in London on Monday
Tell us: how are you coping in the UK heatwave?
The UK has recorded its highest ever May temperature for the second consecutive day, as thermometers hit 35.1C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in London, the Met Office has said.
The latest high was recorded the day after the country’s provisional hottest meteorological spring temperature, of 34.8C in Kew Gardens in south-west London. The previous May peak of 32.8C had stood since 1922.
Continue reading...
05/26/2026 - 09:01
Property owners’ lack of motivation due to ‘split incentive’ is main reason rental properties are missing out on energy upgrades, research finds
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Renters make up nearly a third of Australian households yet many are missing out on energy upgrades – such as insulation, appliances and rooftop solar – that could slash their power bills and improve home comfort.
The problem, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), is landlords’ lack of motivation.
Continue reading...
05/26/2026 - 07:00
The EPA said it was cutting Biden-era regulations on Pfas in drinking water, but advocates say the move will harm public health and benefit industry
A new Trump administration plan to ditch Pfas drinking water regulations and instead attempt to destroy “forever chemicals” on a wide scale tears a page from the fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture playbook, and will benefit the industry while harming public health.
The US Environmental Protection Agency last week announced it is moving to kill strong Biden-era drinking water limits around four Pfas compounds, and delaying implementation for two more. It represented a blow to public health – advocates say strong limits and a dramatic cut in the production of the dangerous chemicals are imperative.
Continue reading...
