A third of ‘protected’ nature zones are quietly being ruined
The world’s nations have set up 200,000 protected areas in which nature is supposed to flourish, but in many cases the protection is pretty much theoretical
Harsh: Europe’s cannabis died just as the first farmers arrived
Cannabis – the source of the drug marijuana – virtually disappeared from Europe just as farmers arrived, so they didn’t get the chance to grow it for another 4500 years
Hawaii’s erupting volcano may blast out ‘10-tonne cannonballs’
As Kilauea continues erupting, lava is mixing with water, creating steam that could trigger massive explosions and throw large rocks up to a kilometre away
The tides are getting stronger thanks to the shifting continents
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
Worst-case climate change scenario is even worse than we thought
A possible future that climatologists treat as the worst of the worst, because it would produce huge greenhouse gas emissions, might lead to even more emissions than believed
Rich nations restore their own forests but trash those elsewhere
As countries get richer, they start replanting their forests – but this is not a big environmental gain because they “export” the deforestation to poor countries
We messed up our figures on how much carbon dioxide is too much
Climatologists have tried to set a “carbon budget” that tells us how much greenhouse gas we can emit and stay below 2°C, but their efforts have only caused confusion
A plague from South Korea is killing frogs and toads worldwide
The world’s amphibians are dying in swathes because of the lethal chytrid fungus, and it seems the epidemic had its origins on the Korean peninsula
Colombia’s peace deal unwittingly unleashed hell on the Amazon
Ever since Colombia signed a historic peace deal with the FARC guerrillas, farmers and criminal gangs have been burning its portion of the Amazon rainforest
The birds of South Georgia are finally safe from marauding rats
Invasive rats have cut a swathe through the birds living on the island of South Georgia, but a decade-long project has now eradicated every last rat