The heavy rains moved over Central Europe from Italy in a phenomenon known as the Genoa low — from a low pressure area typically forming near the northern Italian city. The downpours led to increased runoff of water in the rivers, some of them overflowing dams and embankments,

Storm Boris is being described as a 1 in 50 year event by the Czech Ministry of the Environment. But the frequency of this type of flooding is likely to increase. Following the extreme flooding back in 2021 in Europe, the World Weather Attribution Network concluded that the

People's Trust for Endangered Species Hedges are vital for dormice. Councils, employ people to manage hedges, and should ensure hedges and trees are managed well. Hedges can often be cut less frequently or less severely, to leave berries and habitat. Hedge margins should also be left uncut for other species.

According to a Guardian analysis, from 2020 to 2022 the real emissions from the “in-house” or company-owned data centers of Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple are likely about 662% – or 7.62 times – higher than officially reported. theguardian.com/technology/202…

In China, a "traditional medicinal" remedy, Ejiao, that is made with the gelatin in donkey skin is in high demand. It is believed (wrongly) to have health-enhancing and youth-preserving properties. Skins are boiled to extract the gelatin, which is eaten bbc.co.uk/news/science-e…

The Cruel Eijao Trade Kills Millions of Donkeys Every Year countercurrents.org/2024/03/the-cr… via @countercurrents

Google and Microsoft recently admitted their emissions are soaring as they build data centers to power AI. But analysis from The Guardian suggests the data center emissions of Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple are 662% higher than they’re reporting. theguardian.com/technology/202…

The energy used by data centres, now made worse by AI, is a very real problem. Sadly, our use of energy is going in the wrong direction ... so many videos and photos needlessly stored, for ever, in the "cloud". We have to get away from that. theguardian.com/technology/202…

Today we were delighted to welcome the Rt Hon Mr David Lammy - Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs - to Kew, where he spoke about putting the climate and nature crisis at the centre of all the Foreign Office does.

Nothing like a good mud bath 🫧 🛁 For pangolins, a good roll in the mud helps them clean under their scales. They'll twist and roll to make sure they get maximum coverage! A key self-care task, and a great way to revel in the simple pleasure of mud 🪨💦 📸 Pangolin Africa

Dr Paul Dorfman It also shows the flawed logic of nuclear power 🤑☢️ scientificamerican.com/article/the-ar…

The damaging government subsidies are "about 2.5% of global GDP – that could be repurposed for policies that benefit people and nature. Nearly all the world’s governments pledged to do this as part of the UN Kunming-Montreal biodiversity agreement at Cop15 in December 2022".

In 2022 at Cop15, "governments pledged to repurpose at least $500m of the subsidies a year by 2030. Governments will meet again at Cop16 in Colombia next month, for their first meeting since the promise was made. The report’s authors urged them to make good on their commitment."

Action on environmentally harmful subsidies is critical to the success of the UN biodiversity agreement. “It’s about systems transformation underpinned by valuing nature in decision-making. We’ve got a vicious cycle: the more people are dependent on these subsidies, the more the

Damaging subsidies: "Examples include state support for large fishing vessels that drive overfishing, and government policies that subsidise petrol, synthetic fertilisers and monoculture crop production." theguardian.com/environment/20…

Fossil fuel companies sponsor $5.6bn in global ‘sportswashing’ deals theguardian.com/environment/20…

Fossil fuel companies pumped at least $5.6bn (£4.2bn) of sponsorship money into motorsports, football, golf & even snow sports in an effort to “buy social licence to operate”, according to a new report. Almost no major spectator sport remains untouched by oil and gas money,"

seeds isolated from the environment do not evolve, so if they are reintroduced decades from now, they may face a natural world to which they are no longer adapted. Because of this biological lag, Svalbard’s diligently protected seeds might turn out to be useless, unable to grow

A toxic chemical was blamed for killing thousands of Teesside crabs – but our study explains why pyridine wasn’t the culprit Interesting ....? theconversation.com/a-toxic-chemic… via The Conversation