Ecology
‘Atlantification’ of Arctic Ocean Speeds Up
The Arctic Ocean is warming so rapidly that it may soon transform into an upper arm of the Atlantic Ocean, researchers say. A study published this week in Nature Climate Change shows how the Barents Sea in Scandinavia, where Atlantic…
IKEA Will Take Back Your Old Furniture, Resell It and Give You the Money
In some ways there is nothing new about buying second-hand furniture – antique stores have done it for centuries. And yet the idea that a leading modern furniture shop – IKEA in Sydney, to be precise – will re-sell old…
One Football Pitch of Forest Lost every Second in 2017, Data Reveals
The world lost more than one football pitch of forest every second in 2017, according to new data from a global satellite survey, adding up to an area equivalent to the whole of Italy over the year. The scale of…
Bumblebees Thrive in Towns more than Countryside
Bumblebee colonies fare better in villages and cities than in fields, research has revealed. Bumblebees are important pollinators, but face threats including habitat loss, climate change, pesticide and fungicide use and parasites. Now researchers say that bumblebee colonies in urban…
Mumbai Bans Plastic Bags and Bottles
Mumbai has the become the largest Indian city to ban single-use plastics, with residents caught using plastic bags, cups or bottles to face penalties of up to 25,000 rupees (£276) and three months in jail from Monday. Council inspectors in…
Coral Reefs ‘Will Be Overwhelmed by Rising Oceans’
Scientists have uncovered a new threat to the world’s endangered coral reefs. They have found that most are incapable of growing quickly enough to compensate for rising sea levels triggered by global warming. The study suggests that reefs – which…
Pizza Hut Commits to Antibiotic-free Chicken Wings by 2022
The use of antibiotics in chicken farming has by now been widely repudiated by US fast-food joints, including the likes of Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, KFC, and Subway. Pizza Hut is already among their number, with the fulfilled promise of eliminating chicken…