Research finds that the higher the levels of air pollution in a region, the more cancer-promoting mutations are present
Air pollution has been linked to a swathe of lung cancer-driving DNA mutations, in a study of people diagnosed with the disease despite never having smoked tobacco.
The findings from an investigation into cancer patients around the world helps explain why those who have never smoked make up a rising proportion of people developing the cancer, a trend the researchers called an “urgent and growing global problem”.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/02/2025 - 10:00
07/02/2025 - 09:12
Special soil spray is used to increase amount of water grass can absorb to prevent courts from drying out
A special chemical is being used at Wimbledon to make “water wetter” to try to reduce water bills and tackle rising temperatures.
As the championship welcomed rain on Wednesday after opening with scorching temperatures, Neil Stubley, Wimbledon’s head of courts and horticulture, said the tournament uses a soil spray to adjust the amount of water a plant root system can absorb.
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07/02/2025 - 09:00
The event of the oligarchical season showcased the carelessness of a couple who claim to care about the climate
If last week was the best of times for Zohran Mamdani and the working people of New York City, it was the worst of times for the billionaires who spent a small fortune trying to stop him from securing the city’s Democratic mayoral nomination. The media mogul Barry Diller, to name just one, donated a cool $250,000 to Andrew Cuomo’s campaign, only to see the disgraced former governor lose by a decisive margin.
But Diller would soon be able to drown his disappointment in Great Gatsby-themed cocktails as he joined Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and at least three Kardashians for the cheeriest event on this season’s oligarchic social calendar: the Venetian wedding of the former TV journalist Lauren Sánchez and the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
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07/02/2025 - 08:58
French far-right leader’s ‘grand plan’ to expand AC comes under attack, while Germany braces for possible record heat
The European heatwave has moved east, threatening record temperatures in Germany, as a political row broke out in France over air conditioning.
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen seized a canvassing opportunity before the 2027 presidential election, announcing she would launch a “grand plan for air conditioning” for the nation if she won power.
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07/02/2025 - 07:30
Water shortages hitting crops, energy and health as crisis gathers pace amid climate breakdown
Drought is pushing tens of millions of people to the edge of starvation around the world, in a foretaste of a global crisis that is rapidly deepening with climate breakdown.
More than 90 million people in eastern and southern Africa are facing extreme hunger after record-breaking drought across many areas, ensuing widespread crop failures and the death of livestock. In Somalia, a quarter of the population is now edging towards starvation, and at least a million people have been displaced.
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07/02/2025 - 05:13
This blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here
In other high stake talks, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič will be in Washington today in another attempt to strike a tariff deal with the US before the 9 July deadline next week.
Our Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin takes a look at the EU’s longest-serving commissioner, who has built up a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy fixer.
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07/02/2025 - 05:00
Many of the democratic socialist’s policies aim to slash carbon emissions and boost environmental justice
As she canvassed for Zohran Mamdani in New York City on Tuesday last week, Batul Hassan should have been elated. The mayoral candidate – a 33-year-old state assemblymember – was surging in the polls and would within hours soundly defeat Andrew Cuomo on first preference votes in the Democratic primary election.
But Hassan’s spirits were hampered by record-breaking temperatures. In Crown Heights, where she was the Mamdani campaign’s field captain, the heat index soared into the triple digits.
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07/02/2025 - 05:00
Adult raptor was found with one of its legs ripped open from knee to ankle and appearing severely underweight
A veterinarian saved the life of a badly injured American bald eagle using a pioneering fish skin graft procedure more commonly used for human wound, releasing the bird back into the wild in a symbolic act ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
The adult raptor named Kere was found by a park visitor in Hayward, Wisconsin, in August, with one of its legs ripped open from knee to ankle from an unknown injury, and appearing severely underweight.
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07/02/2025 - 05:00
Research says Google’s carbon emissions went up by 65% between 2019-2024, not 51% as the tech giant had claimed
In 2021, Google set a lofty goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Yet in the years since then, the company has moved in the opposite direction as it invests in energy-intensive artificial intelligence. In its latest sustainability report, Google said its carbon emissions had increased 51% between 2019 and 2024.
New research aims to debunk even that enormous figure and provide context to Google’s sustainability reports, painting a bleaker picture. A report authored by non-profit advocacy group Kairos Fellowship found that, between 2019 and 2024, Google’s carbon emissions actually went up by 65%. What’s more, between 2010, the first year there is publicly available data on Google’s emissions, and 2024, Google’s total greenhouse gas emissions increased 1,515%, Kairos found. The largest year-over-year jump in that window was also the most recent, 2023 to 2024, when Google saw a 26% increase in emissions just between 2023 and 2024, according to the report.
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07/02/2025 - 01:00
Ellie Wilson’s piece titled Moth x Human assigns different sounds to the species on Parsonage Down in Salisbury
They are vital pollinators who come out at night, but now moths have emerged into the bright light of day as co-creators of a new piece of music – composed using the insects’ own flight data.
Ellie Wilson composed Moth x Human in a protected habitat on Parsonage Down in Salisbury, Wiltshire. She assigned each of the 80 resident moth species a different sound, which was triggered when it landed on her monitor.
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