Science & Earth

A new BioScience paper applies the WHO 'one health' concept to seagrass meadows and highlights that these habitats stabilise sediments, filter nutrients and store carbon; many coastal ecosystems are declining due to pollution, overfishing, coastal development and warming seas.

A yellow weather warning for heavy rain covers parts of southern England tomorrow between 9am and 10pm, and the article mentions 23 areas including much of London and the south. The Met Office advised people to check whether their properties could be at risk of flooding and reported possible surface water flooding and travel disruption.

A Goodfellow's tree kangaroo joey at Chester Zoo has emerged from his mother's pouch for the first time and now weighs 1.85kg; he was born under an international conservation programme for the endangered species.

A study using air quality and radar motion sensors in two office spaces found that fine particles (PM1 and PM2.5) tracked outdoor conditions while coarser PM10, TVOCs and CO2 were closely linked to indoor occupancy and measured kinetic energy, with reported correlations up to about r = 0.8.

The Government awarded 8.4GW of offshore wind across six projects in a recent auction, with an average strike price of £91 per MWh; officials said the schemes could power about 12 million homes and attract around £22 billion of private investment.

The UK awarded 8.4GW in its largest offshore wind auction, which the government says could power about 12 million homes and secure an average price of £90.91/MWh; critics warn taxpayer-backed guarantees and grid limits could raise household levies in coming years.

Two wind farm projects off the Welsh coast have received UK government funding to supply the national grid; officials say the developments could support up to 7,000 jobs and include Wales' first floating offshore wind farm, Erebus.

Toby Kiers has received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for her research on mycorrhizal fungal networks and for creating a global Underground Atlas that maps below-ground biodiversity; those fungi are reported to draw down about 13.12 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Five climate monitoring groups reported 2025 as the third-warmest year on record, with global average temperatures near 1.47°C above pre-industrial levels; researchers say recent years show an accelerating warming trend.

EU scientists report 2025 was the planet's third-warmest year and that the three-year average temperature has exceeded 1.5°C above pre‑industrial levels, the first such period on record.

Scientists confirm 2025 was the third warmest year on record, with the HadCRUT5 dataset at about 1.41°C above pre‑industrial levels and Copernicus reporting around 1.47°C.

An unedited manuscript introduces ETHOS.RESKit, an open-source global wind power simulation workflow validated against millions of meteorological and turbine measurements and reporting low errors at site and country scales.

Scientists report 2025 was among the hottest years on record and say human-driven emissions were the main driver; some agencies warn the 1.5C Paris limit could be passed before the end of the decade.

Archaeologists opened a chamber at Gorham's Cave on the Rock of Gibraltar that had been sealed for about 40,000 years and exposed a concentration of artefacts associated with Neanderthal activity.

NASA announced Artemis II's earliest launch is February 6 within a January 31–February 14 window, and the crewed 10-day mission will fly four astronauts around the moon without landing.

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings affecting 59 areas across England and Wales for heavy rain and possible strong winds on Thursday, January 15; ice may cause travel disruption on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Ukraine has experienced widespread environmental damage during the war, and its 2024 law mandates an emissions trading system with a pilot planned for 2026.

As Wikipedia turns 25, the article argues that many academics have long resisted contributing to the site while relying on it privately, and warns that large language models trained on Wikipedia risk displacing the volunteer-driven, transparent knowledge resource.

Forecasters say blizzards and snow are expected Thursday night into Friday across parts of Wales, the Midlands and northwest England, while gales up to 60mph are forecast; several weather warnings and high river levels have been reported.

Researchers estimate the number of mountain locations able to reliably host the Winter Olympics could fall from 93 today to about 52 by the 2050s, and the International Olympic Committee is considering a permanent pool of host sites and earlier dates to cope with warming winters.

Crisis meetings are taking place in Thorpeness after rapid coastal erosion prompted the demolition of a fourth home; council officers say eight more properties have been flagged as at risk and some homeowners have been put on notice.

An energy expert told The Mirror that raising the thermostat won’t make a home heat faster and shared reported ways to reduce heat loss and manage heating during possible colder spells.

The Met Office downgraded an amber snow warning early on Sunday for central Scotland, Grampian and the Highlands, while yellow warnings for snow and ice, and for wind and rain in parts of the country, remain in force.

New Jurassic fossils — including Baminornis from China and a well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen — show varied early bird anatomy and raise questions about whether flight evolved once or multiple times.

Ground-penetrating radar has revealed the 572 square metre footprint of what researchers describe as the largest Roman villa identified in Wales beneath Margam Country Park, inside a historic deer park; excavations are planned as early as next summer to investigate possible mosaics and artefacts.

NASA images and an ISS photograph show iceberg A-23A covered in surface meltwater and large blue melt ponds, and scientists report these features indicate the iceberg could collapse within days or weeks.

Presenters Michaela Strachan, Chris Packham and Iolo Williams highlighted the show's silent 'mindfulness moments' and urged daily screen-free time; the four-night Winterwatch series is set at Mount Stewart and begins on 20 January.

Ai, a chimpanzee central to Kyoto University's Ai Project, died on 9 January from multiple organ failure linked to old age.

MIT Energy Initiative researchers built a harmonized dataset covering costs and lifecycle emissions for six ammonia production pathways across 63 countries, and the study quantifies large tradeoffs between lower-cost, higher-emissions pathways and low-carbon, higher-cost options.

A study found same-sex sexual behaviour is widespread across many primate species and may help reinforce social bonds in species facing environmental stress and social competition.