The power of spring flowers
Guardian Unlimited | 08 Apr 2011
Spring in Britain is one of the best shows on earth - Laura Barton describes the sweet smell of this season. Here in the deepest, darkest corners, the roots are spreading, fine threads silvering the soil, a delicate macrame of pale tendrils and wet earth. Above, the leaf litter stirs, shoots press upwards into cool air, and there comes the soft unfurling of petals, the rush of scent rising.
 United Kingdom | Forests and Woodlands | Health and Environment

Send us your ideas for stopping radiation leaks
Guardian Unlimited | 05 Apr 2011
We're looking for your views on the best ways to make the plant safe again. The latest ideas to prevent the escape of radiation from Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant are to discharge 11,500 tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific and plug leaks with an absorbent polymer mixed with sawdust and shredded newspaper.
 United Kingdom | Environmental Awareness | Education | and Public Participation

What will Cycling England's successors do?
Guardian Unlimited | 28 Mar 2011
Critics already fear its successor will be unable to achieve the shift needed toward sustainable transport because it is crippled by the "localisation agenda". The Department for Transport will bring key functions of Cycling England in-house. It says the work can be done better within the...
 England | Energy Efficiency | Health and Environment | Public Transport | Transport

Wales to press ahead with badger cull
Guardian Unlimited | 09 Mar 2011
Welsh rural affairs minister Elin Jones gives go ahead to much-delayed move intended to control bovine tuberculosis. A badger cull in Wales to curb tuberculosis in cattle could finally be launched, just weeks after the Welsh assembly government said the necessary powers would come into force from...
 Wales | Agriculture and Fisheries | Biodiversity Conservation | Conservation | Health and Environment

The UK needs a labelling scheme for GM-free meat
Guardian Unlimited | 10 Feb 2011
If meat and dairy from animals reared on GM feed is not labelled we allow crops without safety approvals to enter the food chainMost people don't like eating foods that have been genetically modified. Where they have a choice - that is, the products are clearly labelled and there are alternatives – they tend to avoid GM offerings. This is one reason why GM crops tend to form animal feeds or staple foods, where consumers either have no choice or no awareness.
 Environmental Awareness | Education | and Public Participation | Genetically Modified Organisms

Man pays £145,000 to settle toxic fuel bribe case
Guardian Unlimited | 25 Jan 2011
Paul Jennings had been accused of approving bribes to boost sales of toxic fuel additives. A British businessman will pay $229,000 (£145,000) to settle allegations that he authorised his company to pay multimillion-dollar bribes to Iraqi and Indonesian officials. Paul Jennings, chief executive of...
 United Kingdom | Economics and the Environment | Environmental Awareness | Education | and Public Participation | Fossil Fuels | Health and Environment

Northern Ireland Water chief resigns over crisis
Guardian Unlimited | 06 Jan 2011
Laurence MacKenzie steps down after thousands of households left without water over Christmas and New Year. The head of Northern Ireland Water (NIW) has resigned over the mishandling of the water crisis that hit the province over Christmas and the New Year in the wake of freezing temperatures. The...
 Northern Ireland | Health and Environment | Urban Planning | Urban Water and Sanitation | Water Management

'Too clean children' link to asthma
Yahoo! News | 13 Dec 2010
Support for the idea that children can be too clean for their own good has come from a study in which flu prevented asthma. Baby mice infected with the influenza A virus grew into adults that were protected against induced symptoms of the condition. But adult animals catching flu remained susceptible to asthma.
 Health | Health and Environment | Science and Environment

Dwindling biodiversity raises disease risk in humans, study finds
Guardian Unlimited | 01 Dec 2010
First species to go extinct in an ecosystem tend to be those that reduce disease transmission, research suggests. Dwindling biodiversity could cause more humans to contract infectious diseases such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus, according to scientists who have reviewed the results of 24 separate studies. Biodiversity hotspots must be protected to prevent the transmission of dangerous diseases from increasing, they warn.
 England | Biodiversity | Climate Change Impacts | Health and Environment

Huhne apologises to Sellafield families
Epolitix.com | 16 Nov 2010
Human tissue should never have been taken from individuals who had worked in the nuclear industry, Chris Huhne has said. In a statement to the Commons this afternoon, the energy secretary welcomed a report into the processes and practices surrounding the analysis of human tissue that was carried...
 United Kingdom | Health and Environment | Nuclear Power