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1 week ago | 
tavistock-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
Oysters- Image by Kate Baucherel from Pixabay (Oysters- Image by Kate Baucherel from Pixabay)David Attenborough’s new documentary film Ocean highlights that the health of our blue planet is tied with the health of our oceans. Yet every year in UK seas, bottom trawling and shellfish dredging damage an area of seabed larger than the whole of the country’s land area.
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1 week ago | 
kingsbridge-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
A young hare - Image by Kev from Pixabay (A young hare - Image by Kev from Pixabay)Solar farms that are managed to support nature with long grass, wildflowers and hedgerows support more wildlife than surrounding farmland, providing havens for endangered farmland birds, butterflies, pollinators and other insects, and even mammals like hares, as recorded in surveys conducted by UK universities.
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2 weeks ago | 
kingsbridge-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
swift by Image by Kev from Pixabay (swift by Image by Kev from Pixabay)Swifts are back and screaming through our skies once more as they catch their insect food on the wing. Having flown 3,400 miles from central and southern Africa, swifts are returning to their nests to breed. Sadly some won’t have nests, as we modernise and renovate our buildings removing the small cavities they nest in. Swifts spend 10 months of the year entirely airborne.
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3 weeks ago | 
kingsbridge-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
okavango delta - Image by Christo Ras from Pixabay (okavango delta - Image by Christo Ras from Pixabay)Spending time in nature or close to water is linked to better physical and mental health in multiple studies and the latest neuroscience research seeks to explore why and how being in nature boosts our wellbeing. Our bodies have measurably different physical responses to being in a natural landscape compared to an urban setting.
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1 month ago | 
kingsbridge-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
An old Oak tree - Image by RegalShave from Pixabay (An old Oak tree - Image by RegalShave from Pixabay)Our ancient trees have been standing tall for hundreds of years, witnessing momentous events in our history. The recently felled oak in Enfield is thought to have been up to 500 years old. The Woodland Trust has identified 118 oaks in England with trunk circumferences over 9 metres, making them around 900 years old.
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1 month ago | 
kingsbridge-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
Steel construction - Pixabay (Steel construction - Pixabay )Steel is the most used metal in the world. It is strong, easy to shape, and can be recycled over and over without losing its performance – a valuable characteristic as the UK’s iron ore deposits, like those in the rest of Europe, are now depleted. To make virgin steel, we import iron ore from countries like Australia and Brazil.
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1 month ago | 
kingsbridge-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
A Curlew - Image by David Pinder from Pixabay (A Curlew - Image by David Pinder from Pixabay)This week, the government has announced plans to strengthen the ban on burning vegetation on upland peatland, known locally as swaling. The new law is expected to protect an additional 150,000 hectares of England’s peatland and closes some of the previous loopholes – the ban now applies to any peat deeper than 30cm whether or not in a conservation area.
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1 month ago | 
middevonadvertiser.co.uk | Caroline Snow
tablet-2471184 - Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay (tablet-2471184 - Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay)For decades, energy experts have been advising us that to save energy and protect the climate we need to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, and to do this we should apply a ‘fabric first’ approach. In other words, take steps to reduce heat loss from our buildings by increasing insulation, sealing draughts and fitting high-performance glazing.
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2 months ago | 
middevonadvertiser.co.uk | Caroline Snow
turtledove-9459781 - Image by Peter Schmidt from Pixabay (turtledove-9459781 - Image by Peter Schmidt from Pixabay)The government aims to speed up planning consent for new housing, energy infrastructure and other developments through its Planning and Infrastructure Bill, now out for consultation.
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2 months ago | 
totnes-today.co.uk | Caroline Snow
Kemi Badenoch - Parliamentry Photo (Kemi Badenoch - Parliamentry Photo)Kemi Badenoch has joined politicians on both sides of the Atlantic in telling us that net zero is too expensive. Although she does not offer a figure for the costs of failing to limit climate breakdown, for which the huge economic losses will likely be the least of our problems. However, a brief look at what we have achieved so far may guide us on the economic feasibility of achieving net zero.
