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Environment

To meet the world's growing water needs, we need to squeeze the most out of every drop, which means seeing wastewater as a valuable resource. Image Credit - Danilo Pinzon / World Bank (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
environment
04 April 2019

Mining sewage for fertilisers and energy to prevent water shortages

Transforming the dirty water we flush down the drain into new products, such as clean energy and fertilisers, can help prevent reservoirs from running dry and change the way this valuable resource is viewed.

The fan mussel depends on seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean. Image credit - Fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) by Arnaud Abadie is licensed under CC BY 2.0
environment
25 March 2019

Biodiversity loss in the oceans can be reversed through habitat restoration

Activities such as laying gas pipelines, trawling for fish, drilling for oil, and even burying internet cables in the deep sea, are destroying marine ecosystems. But studies have shown that reintroducing seaweed and corals to these habitats could ward off the worst effects – and recover marine life.

There is concern that climate change is happening too fast for forests to adapt, so scientists are giving them a helping hand. Image credit - Mehdi Pringarbe/INRA Avignon, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
agriculture | environment
21 March 2019

Genetic diversity maps to help forests survive climate change

Forests have a special magic for many of us. Steeped in folklore and fantasy, they are places for enchantments, mythical creatures and outlaws. But if they are to survive into the future, they may also need a helping hand from science.

A better understanding of nature’s economic, environmental and sociocultural benefits could help protect species. Image credit - Luca Bravo/ Unsplash
environment
19 March 2019

The business of biodiversity: can we put a value on nature?

Nature provides people with everything from food and water to timber, textiles, medicinal resources and pollination of crops. Now, a new approach aims to measure exactly what a specific ecosystem supplies in order to incentivise decision-makers and businesses to help combat biodiversity loss.

The brown-throated sloth has three toes and adapted to life in the trees before the two-toed sloth did. Image Credit - Flickr/Harry and Rowena Kennedy CC BY-NC-ND 4.0/ CC BY 3.0
environment
12 March 2019

Sloths: how did two different animals wind up looking so similar?

Sloths and guppies appear to have little in common – one is an arboreal mammal living in the slow lane, while the other is a tiny tropical fish with a frantic existence. Yet both could hold the key to better understanding a fundamental process of evolution.

The European Red List categorises 77 bee species as under threat, out of 1,942 species on the continent. The Xylocopa cantabrita is not under threat. Image Credit - Curro Molina
environment
11 March 2019

Bee diversity critical to world’s food supply

Ecosystems that contain only a few bee species underperform in terms of plant production whereas those with many different species thrive, according to research which highlights the importance of bee diversity to securing the world’s food supply.

Prof. Mace says that we need to address the food system which is the major driver of biodiversity loss. Image credit - Courtesy of Professor Georgina Mace
interview | environment
04 March 2019

Sixth mass extinction could destroy life as we know it– biodiversity expert

Alarming declines in the number of insects, vertebrates and plant species around the world have raised fears that we are in the midst of a sixth major extinction that could cause a collapse of the natural ecosystems we rely upon to survive.

Whale watching is known to disturb the animals that tourists come to see. Image Credit - Flickr/spezz CC BY 2.0
environment
27 February 2019

Noisier waters linked to behaviour change, hearing loss in whales

Studies investigating whale-watching boats and the inner ears of marine mammals could soon provide new insight into the effects of noisier oceans on cetaceans – dolphins, whales and porpoises – who depend on their hearing for navigating, finding food and communicating underwater.

The 2017 Chilean wildfires, along with those in Portugal, were confirmation that the new type of fire was here to stay. Image credit - Pablo Trincado, licensed under CC BY 2.0
security | environment
21 February 2019

‘It eats everything’ – the new breed of wildfire that’s impossible to predict

We’re fighting a different kind of wildfire whose behaviour experts are struggling to predict.

Very little is known about how the social behaviours of house sparrows are changing in urban habitats. Image Credit - Flickr/B Balaji, CC BY-NC 2.0
environment
29 January 2019

Bird immune systems reveal harshness of city life

They may peck greedily at feeding tables - and have it easier than country birds do in the warmer urban winters - but city birds, it turns out, are in turmoil on the inside.

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