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Alarm as ice loss from Antarctica triples in the past five years

Alarm as ice loss from Antarctica triples in the past five years

13 June 2018

The loss of Antarctica’s ice has been accelerating ominously since 2012, and could lead to big rises in sea level if the rate of loss keeps increasing


Sperm whales are tracking fishing boats and stealing their fish

Sperm whales are tracking fishing boats and stealing their fish

8 June 2018

Fishing boats in the Gulf of Alaska are being stalked by enormous sperm whales, which charge in and rip huge volumes of fish from the lines


The most elusive whales reveal their secrets in their wakes

The most elusive whales reveal their secrets in their wakes

5 June 2018

We know almost nothing about the enormous beaked whales because they spend so much time deep underwater, but a new DNA technique could unmask them


Half of life on Earth has vanished since we arrived on the scene

Half of life on Earth has vanished since we arrived on the scene

21 May 2018

The biomass of living organisms on the planet has halved since human civilisation began, and humans now outweigh all wild mammals tenfold


The tides are getting stronger thanks to the shifting continents

The tides are getting stronger thanks to the shifting continents

15 May 2018

The ocean tides are the strongest they have been for millions of years, and they will get stronger for several million years to come – because of the position of the continents


Shrimp and lobster are as bad for the climate as eating beef

Shrimp and lobster are as bad for the climate as eating beef

2 April 2018

Fish and seafood are normally fairly environmentally friendly, but it takes so much fuel to catch some species that their carbon footprint is as big as that of red meat


Much of nature is near collapse and that means society is too

Much of nature is near collapse and that means society is too

23 March 2018

An assessment of Earth’s biodiversity predicts catastrophic losses within decades, with severe knock-on effects for human civilisation like shortages of food


The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is gobbling up ever more plastic

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is gobbling up ever more plastic

22 March 2018

There's at least four times as much plastic floating in the Pacific as we thought, and a lot of it may have floated over from Japan after the 2011 Tohoku tsunami


Parts of San Francisco are sinking faster than the sea is rising

Parts of San Francisco are sinking faster than the sea is rising

7 March 2018

Rising seas are already boosting the flood risk in places like San Francisco, but the problem is even worse than that because land is also subsiding


North Atlantic right whale

North Atlantic right whales didn't have a single calf this year

27 February 2018

The failure of the breeding season bodes ill for endangered North Atlantic right whales, which are down to a population of just 430


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