23 h. ago Remote mountain's new handrail ridiculed as 'vandalism of the natural environment'

The roped support was spotted by a regular hiker in the mountains but there is a good reason for its existence

Politics

3 d. ago Nature has a remarkable way of recovering from human catastrophe

We might picture nature as being better off without us. On the ground the story is more murky• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to get the newsletter in fullIf I ask you to conjure up a vision of “nature”, what comes to you? For most of us, I think our minds go to the pristine. Untouched rainforests, vast savanna grasslands, deep thickets, inaccessible mountains. Somewhere remote, somewhere uncontaminated, somewhere free of the touch of humans.But those visions only represent a tiny fragment of the world’s biomes. The vast majority of the natural world – including more than 90% of temperate forest – has now been occupied by humans for thousands of years. We’ve radically reshaped nature with our presence, often in catastrophic ways.In Ukraine’s bombed out reservoir a huge forest has grown – is it a return to life or a toxic timebomb?‘Landmines have become the greatest protectors’: how wildlife is thriving in the Korean DMZ Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Afghan earthquake death toll jumps to more than 2,200, say Taliban

Aid agencies plead for funds as rough terrain hinders relief effort and 98% of buildings in one province are damagedHundreds more bodies have been recovered from houses in mountain villages destroyed by a major earthquake in Afghanistan early this week, pushing the death toll to more than 2,200, a Taliban government spokesperson said Thursday.The shallow, magnitude-6.0 quake struck the mountainous and remote eastern part of the country late on Sunday, levelling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most of the casualties have been in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep river valleys separated by high mountains. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago 2,200 people confirmed dead in devastating Afghanistan earthquake after huge number of undiscovered bodies are found

A 6.0-magnitude quake struck several provinces of the mountainous and remote east of the country on Sunday night, levelling villages and trapping people under rubble.

Events

4 d. ago Sycamore Gap tree grew for more than 100 years before vandals chopped it down

New research by Historic England has established just how long the world famous symbol of nature stood before it was felled by two vandals, causing widespread outrage

Politics

1 week ago Last person to see Jay Slater alive makes bizarre return to the Tenerife AirBnB he vanished from

Stephen Roccas was staying at the remote mountain cottage in Masca with Jay and convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, 31, on the night Mr Slater disappeared.

Society

2 w. ago Psychedelic rock! Formations that mess with your mind – in pictures

In Glass Mountain, Michael Lundgren captures remote American landscapes with a haunting stillness, revealing the hidden rhythms and enthralling mystery of the natural world Continue reading...

Science

3 w. ago Indian officials fear several people have been killed by Kashmir flash floods

Indian officials say several people are feared dead in flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Events