48 h. ago World’s biggest iceberg breaks up after 40 years: ‘Most don’t make it this far’

‘Megaberg’ known as A23a has rapidly disintegrated in warmer warmers and could disappear within weeksNearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the oldest and largest ever recorded is finally crumbling apart in warmer waters, and could disappear within weeks.Earlier this year, the “megaberg” known as A23a weighed a little under a trillion tonnes and was more than twice the size of Greater London, a behemoth unrivalled at the time. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago ‘Do you have pizza and beer?’ Scottish brothers complete 140

Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean set world record as they arrive in Australia after rowing 14,000km from Peru to CairnsThree Scottish brothers have set a new record for rowing nonstop across the world’s largest ocean, arriving in Australia to the tune of bagpipes and a fresh pizza after 140 days at sea.Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean covered more than 14,000km from Peru to Cairns, where they became the first team to finish the full crossing just before midday on Saturday. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago UK’s largest lake faces environmental crisis as rescue plans stall

Toxic algae cases in Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh have tripled since last year, as local fishers’ incomes plummetThe UK’s largest lake, Lough Neagh, is on course to record its worst year of potentially toxic algal blooms to date, as rescue plans remain deadlocked.As a ban on eel-fishing in the lake is extended yet again, with local fishers’ incomes falling by 60% since 2023, there have so far this year been 139 detections of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) growths recorded at the lough and its surrounding watercourses, according to a government pollution tracker. This is more than treble the number for the same point in 2024 (45). The data covers the 400 sq km freshwater lough, its tributaries, and smaller peripheral bodies of water, including Portmore Lough and Lough Gullion. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago South Africa beat Australia by 84 runs in second men’s ODI to win series – as it happened

The hosts were beaten by 84 runs as South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the one-day series3rd over: South Africa 7-1 (Rickelton 5, de Zorzi 2) To the surprise of nobody, Hazlewood is banging the ball in on a good length for the most part. When he tries to pitch it fuller he strays onto Rickleton’s pads and the left-hander benefits from a Carey misfield to run three. De Zorzi then opens his account with a couple behind square off his hip.2nd over: South Africa 2-1 (Rickelton 2, de Zorzi 0) A second slip comes in for the new batter, de Zorzi, and they’re both very happy when the number three plays and misses at his opening delivery. Excellent start for Bartlett who begins with a wicket maiden. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Soho House agrees to be taken private in $2.7bn deal; European shares dip ahead of Ukraine peace talks – as it happened

Ashton Kutcher to join private members’ club’s boardThe bosses of Britain’s largest listed companies took home record high pay packets for the third successive year, according to a report.Analysis found that the record set in the last financial year means the average FTSE 100 chief executive is now paid 122 times the salary of the average full-time UK worker.What would be the justification for jacking up fares above inflation? There isn’t any.It’s ripping off the customer, driving people off the trains and onto our congested road network, which is in no-one’s interest. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Soho House agrees to be taken private in $2.7bn deal; European shares dip ahead of Ukraine peace talks – business live

Ashton Kutcher to join private members’ club’s boardThe bosses of Britain’s largest listed companies took home record high pay packets for the third successive year, according to a report.Analysis found that the record set in the last financial year means the average FTSE 100 chief executive is now paid 122 times the salary of the average full-time UK worker.What would be the justification for jacking up fares above inflation? There isn’t any.It’s ripping off the customer, driving people off the trains and onto our congested road network, which is in no-one’s interest. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Record salaries for UK chief executives as pay rises for third year in a row

Report finds more than £1bn handed out to just 217 FTSE 100 bosses in the last financial yearThe bosses of Britain’s largest listed companies took home record high pay packets for the third successive year, according to a report.Analysis found that the record set in the last financial year means the average FTSE 100 chief executive is now paid 122 times the salary of the average full-time UK worker. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago How a marine heatwave is threatening Australia’s spectacular coral reefs

One of the longest and most intense heat stress events ever recorded is raising alarm – and a warning about the future of reefs worldwide• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to get the newsletter in fullWhen it comes to coral, the Great Barrier Reef steals the global limelight. It’s a bucket-list place for many and, when it gets hit by coral bleaching, it makes news around the world.But Australia has another group of spectacular reefs on the west of the continent. Many of them had managed to escape the worst of global heating, until the worst marine heatwave ever recorded for this region. Even a “hope spot” for coral reefs has been decimated by the most severe heatwave on record for that part of the world.WA’s ‘longest and most intense’ marine heatwave killed coral across 1,500km stretch‘If the reef had a voice, it would sing’: could legal personhood help the Great Barrier Reef?Fears for South Australia’s annual cuttlefish gathering amid deadly algal bloom...

Events

3 w. ago China records more cases of deadly chikungunya virus as country battles 'largest outbreak ever'

More people have been sickened in China's record-breaking outbreak, officials say, after cases were also detected in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Events

3 w. ago WA’s ‘longest and most intense’ marine heatwave killed coral across 1,500km stretch

Scientists shocked by bleaching event that hit reefs from the world heritage-listed Ningaloo to the remote Ashmore ReefGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe “longest, largest and most intense” marine heatwave ever recorded in Western Australia has killed coral throughout an area that stretches 1,500km, according to state and federal scientists. More than 100 scientists and marine managers will gather in Perth on Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss the devastating event that bleached and killed corals on remote reefs earlier this year.The marine heatwave that hit reefs from the world heritage-listed Ningaloo to the remote Ashmore Reef left many scientists shocked. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘If the reef had a voice, it would sing’: could legal personhood help the Great Barrier Reef?

As the natural wonder faces mounting ecological threats, traditional owners and environmental lawyers are calling for a radical new approach While patrolling the Great Barrier Reef, Gary Singleton was struck by an eerie stillness. The Coral Sea lay flat as glass beneath a heavy, windless sky. The heat was stifling, the water a little too warm. “It was beautiful,” he says. “But I remember thinking, ‘I feel sorry for the reef.’”That moment stayed with him. A Yirrganydji traditional owner and land and sea manager in the Cairns-Port Douglas region, Singleton has spent more than 12 years working to protect the reef – as warming seas, sediment runoff, pollution and overfishing steadily erode its resilience. Just this week a report found a record drop in live coral in two out of three sections of the reef, prompting warnings that a tipping point for the ecosystem’s future is approaching. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Great Barrier Reef records largest annual coral loss in 39 years

Australian authorities say the Great Barrier Reef has experienced its greatest annual loss of live coral in four decades

Politics

4 w. ago US Open announces record prize money purse for 2025 competition

The US Open is set to offer a record $90 million in prize money this year, marking the largest purse in tennis history and a 20% increase from 2024.

Politics

4 w. ago Women behind the lens: ‘In Venezuela, the culture of pageants goes far beyond beauty’

Photographer Fabiola Ferrero explores her country’s obsession with beauty competitions and how they they are intertwined with politics and oilVenezuela holds two world records: the most international beauty crowns and the largest proven oil reserves in the world – two apparently unrelated titles that in fact are closely aligned. In the minds of Venezuelans, beauty and oil are tied to the idea of progress, modernity and our relationship with power, especially since the oil boom of the mid 20th century transformed us from a rural country to the richest nation in Latin America in the 1970s.During this time Miss Venezuela epitomised the nation’s aspirations. Even in the midst of the hardest economic and political crisis in our history, the pageants continue. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Great Barrier Reef sees sharpest annual coral decline in nearly four decades

Researchers say reef may reach a ‘point from which it cannot recover’

Politics

last month Great Barrier Reef suffers biggest annual drop in live coral since 1980s after devastating coral bleaching

Researchers warn reef may reach tipping point where coral cannot recover fast enough between major catastrophic eventsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Great Barrier Reef has suffered its biggest annual drop in live coral in two out of three areas monitored by scientists since 1986, a new report has revealed.The Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) report is the first to comprehensively document the devastating impacts of the early 2024 mass coral bleaching event – the most widespread and severe on record for the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading...

Politics