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Green concern over liquefied gas expansion plan - BBC (Jul 1) |
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Jul 1 · One of Europe's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals has confirmed plans to expand capacity at its site after backing from investors.
South Hook in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, processes about 20% of UK current demand for natural gas.
But new research has revealed LNG's environmental costs, and Friends of the Earth Cymru are "very concerned".
The Welsh government said it is developing Wales' pathway to a net zero system.
South Hook has been importing liquefied gas from various parts of the world before turning it into gas and delivering it to homes since 2010.
At the moment, the site can process about 15.6m tonnes of gas per ... Read more ...
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Extreme drought areas treble in size since 80s - study - BBC (Oct 29, 2024) |
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Oct 29, 2024 · The area of land surface affected by extreme drought has trebled since the 1980s, a new report into the effects of climate change has revealed.
Forty-eight per cent of the Earth’s land surface had at least one month of extreme drought last year, according to analysis by the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change - up from an average of 15% during the 1980s.
Almost a third of the world - 30% - experienced extreme drought for three months or longer in 2023. In the 1980s, the average was 5%.
The new study offers some of the most up-to-date global data on drought, marking just how fast it is accelerating.
The threshold for extreme drought is reached after ... Read more ...
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Nature presenter Chris Packham settles case over axing of green policy - BBC (Oct 29, 2024) |
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Oct 29, 2024 · Chris Packham has reached a settlement with the government over two legal challenges against its decision to remove or delay some environmental policies.
The TV presenter took legal action against the previous Conservative government in late 2023, arguing it acted unlawfully by delaying some policies aimed at helping the UK reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
Law firm Leigh Day said Packham had reached "a legal settlement" with the new Labour government that said the Tory administration "had acted unlawfully" by axing or watering down climate policies.
The government said it had settled both cases as it would reconsider the decisions as it updates its carbon ... Read more ...
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Mount Fuji remains snowless for longer than ever before - BBC (Oct 29, 2024) |
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Oct 29, 2024 · Mount Fuji is still without snow, making it the latest time in the year the mountain has remained bare since records began 130 years ago.
The peaks of Japan's highest mountain typically get a sprinkling of snow by early October, but unusually warm weather has meant no snowfall has been reported so far this year.
In 2023 snow was first seen on the summit on 5 October, according to AFP news agency.
Japan had its joint hottest summer on record this year with temperatures between June and August being 1.76C (3.1F) higher than an average.
In September, temperatures continued to be warmer than expected as the sub-tropical jet stream's more northerly ... Read more ...
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World way off target in tackling climate change - UN - BBC (Oct 28, 2024) |
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Oct 28, 2024 · Global efforts to tackle climate change are wildly off track, says the UN, as new data shows that warming gases are accumulating faster than at any time in human existence.
Current national plans to limit carbon emissions would barely cut pollution by 2030, the UN analysis shows, leaving efforts to keep warming under 1.5C this century in tatters.
The update comes as a separate report shows that greenhouse gases have risen by over 11% in the last two decades, with atmospheric concentrations surging in 2023.
UN Climate Change, the UN agency tasked with adressing the issue, has carried out an analysis on the carbon cutting plans that have been submitted by close to ... Read more ...
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Big UK emissions cut needed, says climate watchdog - BBC (Oct 26, 2024) |
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Oct 26, 2024 · The UK needs to make huge cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions this decade to help the world avoid the worst impacts of rising temperatures, the government's climate watchdog has said.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says the UK has the technologies to do this, but meeting the goal would require much greater investment in renewable energy, electric cars and heat pumps.
While the UK has already cut its emissions by more than 50% since 1990, the CCC says it should extend this to 81% by 2035, which would make a "credible contribution" to the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.
A spokesperson said the government would carefully consider the ... Read more ...
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Climate change: Big cut in UK emissions needed, says watchdog - BBC (Oct 26, 2024) |
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Oct 26, 2024 · The UK needs to make huge cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions this decade to help the world avoid the worst impacts of rising temperatures, the government's climate watchdog has said.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says the UK has the technologies to do this, but meeting the goal would require much greater investment in renewable energy, electric cars and heat pumps.
While the UK has already cut its emissions by more than 50% since 1990, the CCC says it should extend this to 81% by 2035, which would make a "credible contribution" to the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.
A spokesperson said the government would carefully consider the ... Read more ...
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Polar bears face higher risk of disease in a warming Arctic - BBC (Oct 23, 2024) |
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Oct 23, 2024 · As the Arctic warms, polar bears face a growing risk of contracting viruses, bacteria and parasites that they were less likely to encounter just 30 years ago, research has revealed.
In a study that has provided clues about how polar bear disease could be linked to ice loss, scientists examined blood samples from bears in the Chukchi Sea - between Alaska and Russia.
They analysed samples that had been gathered between 1987 and 1994, then collected and studied samples three decades later - between 2008 and 2017.
It is difficult to know, from blood samples, how the bears’ physical health was affected, but wildlife biologist Dr Karyn Rode from the US Geological Survey ... Read more ...
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Polar bears face higher risk of disease in a warming Arctic - BBC (Oct 23, 2024) |
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Oct 23, 2024 · As the Arctic warms, polar bears face a growing risk of contracting viruses, bacteria and parasites that they were less likely to encounter just 30 years ago, research has revealed.
In a study that has provided clues about how polar bear disease could be linked to ice loss, scientists examined blood samples from bears in the Chukchi Sea - between Alaska and Russia.
They analysed samples that had been gathered between 1987 and 1994, then collected and studied samples three decades later - between 2008 and 2017.
It is difficult to know, from blood samples, how the bears’ physical health was affected, but wildlife biologist Dr Karyn Rode from the US Geological Survey ... Read more ...
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Mega meteorite tore up seabed and boiled Earth's oceans - BBC (Oct 21, 2024) |
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Oct 21, 2024 · A huge meteorite first discovered in 2014 caused a tsunami bigger than any in known human history and boiled the oceans, scientists have discovered.
The space rock, which was 200 times the size of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, smashed into Earth when our planet was in its infancy three billion years ago.
Carrying sledge hammers, scientists hiked to the impact site in South Africa to chisel off chunks of rock to understand the crash.
The team also found evidence that massive asteroid impacts did not bring only destruction to Earth - they helped early life thrive.
“We know that after Earth first formed there was still a lot of debris flying around space ... Read more ...
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Sewage illegally dumped into Windermere repeatedly over 3 years, BBC finds - BBC (Oct 17, 2024) |
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Oct 17, 2024 · A water company repeatedly dumped millions of litres of raw sewage illegally into one of England's most famous lakes over a three-year period, the BBC can reveal.
More than 140 million litres of waste were pumped into Windermere between 2021 and 2023 at times when it was not permitted, our analysis shows, and United Utilities failed to report most of it.
It means the company's illegal dumping of sewage into the lake went on for far longer, and was far more extensive, than was previously known.
United Utilities said some of its sewage releases into Windermere were "potentially non-compliant" but that it self-reports "over 94% of potential pollution ... Read more ...
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Flies, rats and offers of hush money - the price of living next to a 'monster’ incinerator - BBC (Oct 16, 2024) |
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Oct 16, 2024 · “We have been inundated with flies, rats, smell, noise. It's just been horrendous,” says Mandy Royle, who lives in the closest home to the UK’s biggest waste incinerator at Runcorn in Cheshire.
The facility generates electricity from burning nearly a million tonnes of household rubbish every year - but much of that waste doesn't come from Ms Royle's local area. Like many incinerators, deliveries come from hundreds of miles away.
BBC analysis suggests the burden of the UK's waste is disproportionately falling on deprived areas such as Runcorn, which are 10 times more likely to have an energy-from-waste incinerator in their midst than in the wealthiest ... Read more ...
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Burning rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power - BBC (Oct 15, 2024) |
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Oct 15, 2024 · Burning household rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power, BBC analysis has found.
Nearly half of the rubbish produced in UK homes, including increasing amounts of plastic, is now being incinerated. Scientists warn it is a “disaster for the climate” - and some are calling for a ban on new incinerators.
The BBC examined five years of data from across the country, and found that burning waste produces the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power, which was abandoned by the UK last month.
The Environmental Services Association, which represents waste firms, contested our findings and ... Read more ...
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Countdown to mission hunting alien life on a distant moon - BBC (Oct 13, 2024) |
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Oct 13, 2024 · In a few hours, a spacecraft should blast-off from Florida on the hunt for signs of alien life.
Its destination is Europa, a deeply mysterious moon orbiting the distant planet Jupiter.
Trapped under its icy surface could be a vast ocean with double the amount of water on Earth.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will chase a European mission that left last year, but using a cosmic piggyback, it will overtake and arrive first.
That won’t be until 2030 but what it finds could change what we know about life in our solar system.
Years in the making, the Europa Clipper launch was delayed at the last minute after hurricane Milton blasted Florida this ... Read more ...
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How to spot 'comet of the century' in UK skies - BBC (Oct 12, 2024) |
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Oct 12, 2024 · A comet that was seen from Earth last month for the first time in 80,000 years might be visible with the naked eye in the UK on Saturday evening, according to the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).
The society said Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has been called the "comet of the century" because of how bright and visible it can be.
On Saturday the comet is expected to come within about 70 million km (44 million miles) of Earth, according to the Nasa Earth Observatory.
The RAS's Dr Robert Massey told BBC News that Saturday night was the "opening of the window to try" and see the comet in the UK.
He said people should go out "immediately after sunset" with a ... Read more ...
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How unusual has this hurricane season been? - BBC (Oct 11, 2024) |
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Oct 11, 2024 · Hurricanes Helene and Milton – which have devastated parts of the south-east United States – have bookended an exceptionally busy period of tropical storms.
In less than two weeks, five hurricanes formed, which is not far off what the Atlantic would typically get in an entire year.
The storms were powerful, gaining strength with rapid speed.
Yet in early September, when hurricane activity is normally at its peak, there were peculiarly few storms.
So, how unusual has this hurricane season been – and what is behind it?
The season started ominously. On 2 July, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest category five hurricane to form in the Atlantic on records ... Read more ...
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Wildlife numbers fall by 73% in 50 years, global stocktake finds - BBC (Oct 09, 2024) |
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Oct 09, 2024 · Human activity is continuing to drive what conservation charity the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) calls a "catastrophic" loss of species.
From elephants in tropical forests to hawksbill turtles off the Great Barrier Reef, populations are plummeting, according to a stocktake of the world's wildlife.
The Living Planet Report, a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world, reveals global wildlife populations have shrunk by an average of 73% in the past 50 years.
The loss of wild spaces was "putting many ecosystems on the brink", WWF UK head Tanya Steele said, and many habitats, from the Amazon to coral reefs, were "on the edge of very dangerous ... Read more ...
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Spacecraft launches towards asteroid knocked off course by Nasa - BBC (Oct 07, 2024) |
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Oct 07, 2024 · A spacecraft is on its way to visit an asteroid that US space agency Nasa knocked off course in 2022.
The Hera craft launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 10:52 local time (15:52BST) on Monday.
It is part of an international mission to see if we can stop dangerous asteroids hitting Earth.
The project will look at what happened to a space rock called Dimorphos when Nasa intentionally collided with it.
If all goes to plan, Hera will reach Dimorphos, around seven million miles away, in December 2026.
The Hera mission, which is run by the European Space Agency, is a follow-on from Nasa’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project.
Dimorphos ... Read more ...
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Northern Lights possible as solar storms gather - BBC (Oct 04, 2024) |
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Oct 04, 2024 · A huge solar flare, the largest since 2017, has been spotted erupting from the Sun’s surface.
Solar flares are made up of electromagnetic radiation that travel from the Sun at the speed of light and can reach Earth in about eight minutes.
They can disrupt some radio communications and satellites but most of us are unlikely to see those effects.
There is also a chance that northern latitudes could see the Northern Lights this weekend as two geomagnetic storms are predicted to hit Earth.
Solar flares do not cause the Northern Lights. They are caused by a phenomenon called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that erupt from an active sun spot.
Combined with ... Read more ...
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The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was not alone - BBC (Oct 03, 2024) |
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Oct 03, 2024 · The huge asteroid that hit Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was not alone, scientists have confirmed.
A second, smaller space rock smashed into the sea off the coast of West Africa creating a large crater during the same era.
It would have been a “catastrophic event”, the scientists say, causing a tsunami at least 800m high to tear across the Atlantic ocean.
Dr Uisdean Nicholson from Heriot-Watt University first found the Nadir crater in 2022, but a cloud of uncertainty hung over how it was really formed.
Now Dr Nicholson and his colleagues are sure that the 9km depression was caused by an asteroid hurtling into the seabed.
They ... Read more ...
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UK to finish with coal power after 142 years - BBC (Sep 30, 2024) |
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Sep 30, 2024 · The UK is about to stop producing any electricity from burning coal - ending its 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel.
The country's last coal power station, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, finishes operations on Monday after running since 1968.
This marks a major milestone in the country's ambitions to reduce its contribution to climate change. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel producing the most greenhouse gases when burnt.
Minister for Energy Michael Shanks said: "We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country."
The UK was the birthplace of coal power, and from tomorrow it becomes the first major economy to give it up.
"It's a really ... Read more ...
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Penguin chicks survive tearaway iceberg - BBC (Sep 27, 2024) |
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Sep 27, 2024 · In May a huge iceberg broke off from an Antarctic ice shelf, drifted, and came to a stop - right in front of “maybe the world’s unluckiest” penguins.
Like a door shutting, the iceberg's huge walls sealed off the Halley Bay colony from the sea.
It seemed to spell the end for hundreds of newly-hatched fluffy chicks whose mothers, out hunting for food, may no longer have been able to reach them.
Then, a few weeks ago, the iceberg shifted and got on the move again.
Scientists have now discovered that the tenacious penguins found a way to beat the colossal iceberg - satellite pictures seen exclusively by BBC News this week show life in the colony.
But ... Read more ...
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Prince William says make peace with nature - BBC (Sep 25, 2024) |
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Sep 25, 2024 · The Prince of Wales has issued an urgent call to end environmental destruction and to "make peace with nature".
"We are living at odds with the natural world - and it is buckling under the pressure of our actions," he said, in a video message played at a Campaign for Nature event at the General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York.
Prince William said climate change and the prospect of a million species facing extinction represented the most pressing "existential threat".
His speech followed the announcement of the finalists for the fourth year of the prince's Earthshot awards for international ideas to improve sustainability.
"If we are to keep ... Read more ...
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Europe’s deadly floods are glimpse of future climate - BBC (Sep 24, 2024) |
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Sep 24, 2024 · Central Europe's devastating floods were made much worse by climate change and offer a stark glimpse of the future for the world's fastest-warming continent, scientists say.
Storm Boris has ravaged countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Austria and Italy, leading to at least 24 deaths and billions of pounds of damage.
The World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said one recent four-day period was the rainiest ever recorded in central Europe - an intensity made twice as likely by climate change.
On a positive note, the storm was well forecast, meaning some regions were better prepared for it, likely avoiding more deaths.
Scientists at ... Read more ...
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Climate change is turbo-charging Somalia’s problems - but there's still hope - BBC (Sep 17, 2024) |
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Sep 17, 2024 · Somalia may be one of the poorest countries in the world and beset by violence, but it is “fixable”, according to its top climate official.
The country has been torn apart by more than 30 years of overlapping conflicts - including an Islamist insurgency, a civil war, and a series of regional and clan confrontations. Yet Abdihakim Ainte, the Somali prime minister’s climate advisor, still regards his country as “as story of potential - of promise”.
What makes his optimism all the more surprising is the fact climate change is amplifying virtually all the challenges his country faces.
One commentator described climate change as a “chaos multiplier”, because it ... Read more ...
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Whistleblower testifies Titan sub tragedy was 'inevitable' - BBC (Sep 17, 2024) |
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Sep 17, 2024 · A former employee of the company behind the doomed Titan submersible has told a public hearing he believed a safety incident was "inevitable" as the firm "bypassed" all standard rules.
OceanGate's former operations director David Lochridge testified to US Coast Guard investigators that he had warned of potential safety problems before he was fired in 2018, but was ignored.
Five people on board the Titan sub died when the experimental deep-sea craft imploded in June 2023 as it began a planned descent to the wreck of the Titanic.
The public hearings began on Monday as part of a two-week inquiry by the US Coast Guard into the disaster. The investigation has been ... Read more ...
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Climate a more fundamental threat than terror - Lammy - BBC (Sep 17, 2024) |
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Sep 17, 2024 · The foreign secretary has said climate change is a more pervasive and fundamental threat than terrorism.
In his maiden speech, 100 days after taking office, David Lammy said the climate issue, along with a decline in nature, would be "central to all the Foreign Office does".
He also announced the government would launch a global initiative to accelerate the rollout of clean energy.
But Mr Lammy warned the UK's previous funding commitments on the issue would have to be reviewed given the "dire" state of the country's finances.
The foreign secretary made clear the government considered action on climate change and nature the focus of every department. Read more ...
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Europe floods: Four die in Romania as heavy rain sweeps through central Europe - BBC (Sep 13, 2024) |
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Sep 13, 2024 · Romania has set up displacement camps and launched rescue operations after floods killed at least four people and destroyed thousands of homes in the east of the country.
Military boats and planes are being used to move people to safety, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has said the priority now is to prevent further loss of life.
Recent days have seen torrential rain sweep through central and eastern Europe, swelling rivers and triggering flood warnings in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.
The flood barriers in Czech capital Prague have been raised, while in parts of Poland residents have been evacuated.
The four dead people were ... Read more ...
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Coal mine plan quashed by High Court - BBC (Sep 13, 2024) |
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Sep 13, 2024 · Plans to build the UK's first deep coal mine in more than 30 years have been quashed.
At the High Court, judge Justice Holgate said environmental assumptions underpinning the development at Whitehaven in Cumbria was "legally flawed".
The proposal by West Cumbria Mining (WCM) had received the go-ahead from the previous Conservative government in December 2022.
Victoria Marson from Friends of the Earth said campaigners had won "a massive victory". WCM said it will "consider the implications" of the judgement before commenting further.
Legal challenges were submitted by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC), who claimed ... Read more ...
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Mystery tremors were from massive nine-day tsunami - BBC (Sep 12, 2024) |
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Sep 12, 2024 · A massive landslide in a Greenland fjord triggered a wave that “shook the Earth” for nine days.
The seismic signal last September was picked up by sensors all over the world, leading scientists to investigate where it had come from.
The landslide - a mountainside of rock that collapsed and carried glacial ice with it - triggered a 200m wave.
That wave was then “trapped” in the narrow fjord - moving back and forth for nine days, generating the vibrations.
Landslides like this, scientists say, are happening more frequently with climate change - as the glaciers that support Greenland's mountains melt.
The results of the investigation into this event, ... Read more ...
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The great gene editing debate: can it be safe and ethical? - BBC (Sep 10, 2024) |
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Sep 10, 2024 · There’s nothing new about genetic engineering. By cross-breeding plants and animals, our Stone Age ancestors realised they could boost the amount of food they produced.
Modern genetics has enabled scientists to do much more: to make precise, targeted changes to the DNA of organisms in a lab. And that, they claim, will lead to new, more productive, disease-resistant crops and animals.
The science is still in its infancy, but gene-edited foods are already on the shelves in Japan: tomatoes rich in a chemical that supposedly promotes calmness; red sea bream with extra edible flesh; and puffer fish that grow more quickly.
In the US, too, firms are developing ... Read more ...
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Which rural area will take the UK’s nuclear waste? - BBC (Sep 08, 2024) |
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Sep 08, 2024 · A repeating tone - blip, blip, blip - is the audible reminder that we are in one of the most hazardous nuclear sites in the world: Sellafield.
That sound - pulsing from speakers inside the cavernous fuel-handling plant - is a signal that everything is functioning as it should.
That is comforting because Sellafield, in Cumbria, is the temporary home to the vast majority of the UK’s radioactive nuclear waste, as well as the world’s largest stockpile of plutonium.
That waste is the product of reactions that drive the UK’s nuclear power stations and it is highly radioactive.
It releases energy that can penetrate and damage the cells in our bodies, and "it remains ... Read more ...
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Nine offshore wind farm projects awarded in UK auction - BBC (Sep 03, 2024) |
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Sep 03, 2024 · A total of nine offshore wind farm contracts have been awarded by the government after last year's auction failed to attract any bidders at all.
The contracts are part of a wider slate of green energy projects that also include tidal and solar power, and will provide enough electricity to fuel the equivalent of 11 million UK homes, the government said.
However, while the new offshore wind projects have been broadly welcomed, some experts questioned whether they would generate enough capacity to meet renewable energy targets set for 2030.
Households are also facing higher energy bills later this year, with a typical bill to rise by 10%.
On Tuesday, a ... Read more ...
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Five seabirds added to UK red list of most concern - BBC (Sep 02, 2024) |
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Sep 02, 2024 · Five seabird species have been added to the UK red list of birds at most need of conservation, joining others such as the puffin.
The new entries include the Arctic tern, known for its incredible migration, the great skua, or pirate of the sea, and two types of gull.
The UK is known for its colonies of seabirds nesting in huge numbers on cliffs - but populations are plummeting amid a host of pressures, from climate change to a lack of food.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is calling for urgent government action to address "this dire situation".
"As an island nation, it is perhaps not surprising that we are globally important for seabird ... Read more ...
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Will sustainable aviation fuels take off? - BBC (Aug 29, 2024) |
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Aug 29, 2024 · In a building on the edge of a business park outside Sheffield, researcher Ihab Ahmed is preparing to fire up a small jet engine.
Originally used as an auxiliary power unit for a commercial airliner, it has been turned into a testbed for new fuels developed in a laboratory next door.
The arrangement is a centrepiece of Sheffield University’s Sustainable Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC), a research facility set up to allow synthetic fuels to be prepared and evaluated on a small scale, before being put into large scale production.
On a bank of computer screens in a nearby control room, Ihab can monitor the engine as it starts with a burst of flame and powers ... Read more ...
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'Windiest part of the UK' could power nearly 500,000 homes - BBC (Aug 28, 2024) |
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Aug 28, 2024 · Power is flowing from the Shetland Isles to mainland Britain for the first time as the UK's most productive onshore windfarm comes on stream.
SSE says its 103-turbine project, known as Viking, can generate 443 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power nearly 500,000 homes.
Shetland is the windiest part of the UK, which means it will be rare for the turbines, which reach a massive 155m at their tip, not to be spinning.
Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies told BBC News a "significant acceleration" in renewable energy infrastructure is now urgently needed if the UK is to meet its climate change targets.
"We need to do a lot more of these projects, ... Read more ...
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Ancient ocean of magma found on Moon south pole - BBC (Aug 21, 2024) |
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Aug 21, 2024 · The Moon’s south pole was once covered in an ocean of liquid molten rock, according to scientists.
The findings back up a theory that magma formed the Moon's surface around 4.5 billion years ago.
Remnants of the ocean were found by India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission that landed on the south pole last August.
The mission explored this isolated and mysterious area where no craft had ever landed before.
The findings help back up an idea called the Lunar Magma Ocean theory about how the Moon formed.
Scientists think that when the Moon formed 4.5 billion years ago, it began to cool and a lighter mineral called ferroan anorthosite floated to the ... Read more ...
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Drone swarms could stop wildfires, researchers say - BBC (Aug 19, 2024) |
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Aug 19, 2024 · Drones could soon be working together in swarms to put out flames before they become wildfires, UK researchers hope.
A team of firefighters, scientists and engineers are working on a project they say will allow swarms of up to 30 autonomous planes to spot and extinguish fires by working collectively using artificial intelligence.
Drones piloted by people are already used in firefighting, for example to detect hidden blazes and assess safety risks.
The drones that researchers want to eventually use for firefighting are large twin-engined aircraft with a wingspan of 9.5m (31ft) and large water-carrying capacity.
The BBC was invited to an airfield in Cornwall to ... Read more ...
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Why the skies turned red over the UK this weekend - BBC (Aug 18, 2024) |
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Aug 18, 2024 · Smoke from wildfires across the Atlantic has brought spectacular vivid colours to sunsets and sunrises across the UK this weekend.
Fires have blazed across North America this summer, and smoke particles have been carried by the jet stream to the skies above the British Isles.
The unusual hues should continue until Monday, when more unsettled weather will begin to disperse the smoke in the upper atmosphere.
But skywatchers could also be in for a treat on Monday night, when a rare blue supermoon appears above the UK.
A jet stream is a high altitude current of air that occurs when warmer air from the south meets cooler air from the north, and is responsible for ... Read more ...
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Despair as the sea slowly swallows a Kenyan beauty spot - BBC (Aug 13, 2024) |
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Aug 13, 2024 · When Roberto Macri built his luxury hotel in the Kenyan coastal village of Kipini, it was about 100m (330ft) away from the beautiful waters of the Indian Ocean.
For nearly two decades his business thrived as tourists arrived in droves to enjoy the pristine beach and sunny weather.
The Tana Lodge Hotel, which was built on top of sand dunes, offered a spectacular view of the ocean.
But in 2014 people started to notice a change. The sea level had begun to rise and within five years, the hotel's nine guest cottages had been swallowed by the sea - one after the other.
"The ocean changed steadily and started encroaching the hotel. The last standing cottage was ... Read more ...
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