Climate
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A thousand homes underwater as UK battles floods
After the wettest summer on record, UK rivers are engulfing the villages that huddle around them. How can we adapt our homes and settlements to the ever-rising waters?
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TV’s naturalist hero in call for fewer babies
David Attenborough has spent 60 years making ground-breaking wildlife programmes, changing attitudes to the natural world. Now he wants us to have smaller families.
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Venice under water as floods surge through city
Rising sea levels have left Venice submerged. Works of art, unique buildings and tourist attractions are under threat – can and should the city’s heritage be saved?
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America battered by monstrous ‘Frankenstorm’
Over one hundred dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and millions without electricity: Hurricane Sandy has wreaked destruction across America and the Caribbean. Is this a sign of things to...
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South Africans ready to fight off gas ‘frackers’
South Africa has lifted a ban on hydraulic fracturing in the beautiful Karoo region. ‘Fracking’ could unlock gas reserves worth billions, but campaigners say the price is too high.
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World’s richest ecosystems on brink of collapse
The coral reefs of the Caribbean are some of the most varied and beautiful natural habitats on the planet. But a new survey brings grim news: the reefs are dying.
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Green policies sacrificed in rush to heal economies
Only recently, politicians across the world regularly competed to persuade voters that the environment was their main concern. A few years and a financial crisis later, priorities have changed.
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SPECIAL: Summer stories you may have missed
Mars landings, punk protests, civil war, Olympics: it has been an eventful six weeks. In case you have not been paying full attention, here is a recap of some of the highlights.
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Electricity chaos plunges India into darkness
Half of India has been left without power in one of history’s biggest electricity shortages. The crisis has revealed worrying truths about the creaking infrastructure of an emerging nation.
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Sudden ice melt in Greenland shocks scientists
In the past two weeks, a sudden and dramatic melt has turned almost the entire surface of Greenland from ice to liquid water. This is totally unprecedented – but is it global warming?
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Giant water reserve found beneath African desert
Deep beneath the surface of dry, desertous Namibia, scientists have discovered an invaluable treasure: a huge water supply known as an aquifer, which could stave off drought for 400 years.
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Stormy summer set to continue for rain-soaked UK
Forecasters have issued flood warnings as more bands of rain approach British shores. Meanwhile, America has suffered an extreme heat wave. Is global warming to blame?
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World Population Day on an overcrowded planet
Last year, the number of people in the world hit seven billion. Today, World Population Day is drawing attention to the growing numbers on our planet – but is overpopulation really a problem?
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Anger as South Korea vows to bring back whaling
South Korea has revealed a plan to begin hunting whales. The proposals defy a worldwide ban, and the international community is furious. But is whaling really so unreasonable?
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Wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes sweep US
Thousands of Americans are still without electricity this morning after severe storms over the weekend destroyed power lines across the eastern United States. More than a dozen people have died.