Climate
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Storms gather as Charles visits drowned Somerset
Two months of flooding have turned tracts of Somerset into a vast lake. Locals are angry and in despair. Should we return these borrowed lands back to nature?
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Fatal shark attacks spark Australian cull
This week, Western Australia took drastic steps in an attempt to make its coastline safer for humans. But can killing dangerous or irritating animals ever be justified?
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Hunter turns hunted in bitter black rhino row
Corey Knowlton has received death threats after paying $350,000 for a licence to kill an endangered black rhino. Is he right to insist he has the best interests of the species at heart?
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New mini ice age warning as Sun ‘goes to sleep’
Space physicists are talking about an extraordinary and inexplicable slowdown in solar activity. It sounds hugely alarming but just how much should we actually worry?
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Cars face ban in new ‘green-networked’ city
Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, will ban cars from its urban centre under plans to cover the metropolis in a new ‘green network’ by 2034. Are drivers’ liberties under threat?
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New rules threaten ancient woods with the chop
Conservationists are up in arms over government proposals that could allow centuries-old woodlands to be cut down. But do trees really matter when human needs are at stake?
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Icy Arctic ‘vortex’ too cold for US polar bear
As freak weather sees North American temperatures plummet, climate change sceptics, who say ‘global weirding’ undermines climate science, face an online ban? Is this fair?
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Syria’s hidden Christmas refugee crisis
Three quarters of the Syrian population will need aid during 2014, according to the UN. As the winter snows draw in, a massive refugee disaster unfolds. Why is it not on the front pages?
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New global warming claims over deadly typhoon
Is climate change to blame for the Philippines typhoon? Scientists are cautious but David Cameron and some United Nations leaders are now arguing that there is a link.
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Baby brings joy amid Philippines ‘bedlam’
In the Philippines, a nation famous for its optimism, aid workers are struggling to cope with the aftermath of the strongest ever storm to reach land. How should the rest of the world react?
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Philippines devastated by ‘worst ever storm’
A monstrous typhoon has blasted the Philippines, leaving thousands dead and many more without water or electricity. Are poor countries more vulnerable to environmental catastrophe?
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Iceland’s writing boom provokes creativity debate
Debate is raging over why it is that so many Icelanders have become novelists. Do the freezing conditions tend to produce an outburst of creativity? Or are such theories dangerous?
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Britain swelters in longest heat wave since 2006
The grass is barely visible in Britain’s parks for the sea of bodies sunning in 30°C heat. For sun-deprived Northern Europe, is this a glimpse of what life ought to be like?
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Warnings of early deaths as smog chokes China
The rise of China as an economic superpower has brought the downsides as well as the advantages of industrialisation. Air pollution is now so bad it is shortening lives.
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Act now to save declining species, experts beg
A wide-ranging study of British wildlife has revealed the hopes and fears of conservationists for the most endangered species in the UK. Does modern life prevent us valuing nature?