Environment

Are your trees in good shape?

Tree survey_1Become a tree investigator with the OPAL Tree Health Survey

The Open Air Laboratories’ (OPAL) seventh nature survey, Tree Health, opens today

Spring into action and discover more about our trees by taking part in the OPAL Tree Health survey. OPAL researchers, together with experts from the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) and Forest Research, are asking everyone to examine the trees in their local area and keep a special eye out for pests and diseases, particularly those affecting our most loved trees, Oak, Ash and Horse Chestnut.

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It's a meteor, right?

swns meteor_2A wildlife photographer was left baffled after capturing this Russian meteor-like object hurtling through the British sky.

Stunned Annie Henderson, 65, was taking pictures of starlings on the Somerset Levels with a friend when she saw the bright light moving at high speed.

She took a number of shots of the spectacle and was amazed when she blew them up on her computer the next day.

The distant light appears to be burning with flaming gases shooting off its form, baffling the retired garden centre owner.

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Public Appeal For The South West Coast Path

Lannacombe in_South_Devon_cliff_fallWith record levels of rainfall causing the highest rate of cliff falls ever seen in one year along the South West Coast Path, the public is being urged to come forward and help raise much needed funds through a special event.

Over the 630 miles of South West Coast Path, there are usually two or three cliff falls each year, with a total of 11 falls in the past five years; yet between November 2012 and mid-January 2013, there have been 21.

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Tip of the iceberg

fly tipping_1Park rangers at one of the country’s most beautiful nature reserves were stunned when fly-tippers dumped a CARAVAN filled with household waste in one of the site’s car parks.

Staff at the picturesque Cotswold Water Park, which boasts 150 lakes, couldn’t believe their eyes when they discovered the mess last Tuesday morning.

Rangers found the entrance to Waterhay Car Park near Ashton Keynes, Wilts., blocked by the top half of a caravan which was crammed with unwanted household waste.

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Forty days and forty nights without plastics!

Emily SmithA Bristol woman is going plastic free for Lent in an effort to highlight just how much we depend on the stuff, and to encourage people to think twice abut single-use products.

Emily Smith is a Sea Champion volunteer for the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). MCS campaign to cut down on the use of plastic, from bags to bottles. The amount of plastic litter on beaches and in the sea is increasing, and with it grows the risk it poses to marine life.

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Ill wind

Wind TurbineA controversial wind turbine that stood at a whopping 115FT has collapsed after it was brought down by - heavy WINDS.

The £250,000 tower - as tall as a ten storey building - toppled over after gale force gusts of 50mph left it a ''mangled, blackened wreck with melted blades''.

Experts say the winds were so strong the blades literally span out of control causing the massive structure to catch fire and collapse on Sunday evening.

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Stone Me

When a retired businessman bought one of Britain’s most important prehistoric monuments as a pension investment, he plainly felt a responsibility to keep it looking nice.

But Roger Penny, 73, found himself in court after contractors he asked to “tidy” up a 5,000-year-old earthwork ring filled in historically-important holes with rubble. 

Mr Penny, a retired plant-hire manager, was found to have caused serious damage to the Somerset monument, known as Priddy Circles, as a judge warned him “significant archaeological information” could have been lost.

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Government Green Deal could "open floodgate" to rogue traders

Tgreendealqualitymarklogohe elderly and other vulnerable homeowners most at risk from cowboys cashing in on the £14billion energy efficiency home improvement scheme.

The Government’s £14billion ‘Green Deal’ home improvement scheme could open the floodgates to tens of thousands of rogue traders, experts warned yesterday.

Under the scheme - the coalition’s flagship environmental policy - homeowners can borrow up to £10,000 and pay it back through their energy bills for up to 25 years.

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Green is not necessarily good

It is often said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and I fear that fashionable notions on so called green issues are in danger of proving just how much truth there is in that old saw.

While there are no doubt many who feel that they are acting in good faith the results, particularly for the poor and the old, are likely to be disastrous.

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