Paving over gardens with impermeable surfaces has and will continue to undermine urban resilience, says Prof Alistair Griffiths, the director of science and collections at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Water can't get through concrete, asphalt and paving, which contributes to surface flooding and overwhelms the sewer system, leading to pollution runoff. Loss of vegetation also contributes to global heating. We've got these increased extremes of heat and if you lose green space, you lose that cooling effect, he adds.
Birds throughout the US have adopted a disturbing habit that could have devastating implications for human society if it continues. Researchers have found that birds are abandoning their usual migration patterns, with warmer temperatures in their winter habitats disrupting their annual flights While delaying their yearly flight south may not sound like a major problem, a visiting scientist at Cornell University, Andrew Farnsworth, warned that it could lead to many bird species dying out and drastically altering nature.
Europe is losing green space that once harboured wildlife, captured carbon and supplied food at the rate of 600 football pitches a day, an investigation by the Guardian and partners has revealed. Analysis of satellite imagery across the UK and mainland Europe over a five-year period shows the speed and scale with which green land is turning grey, consumed by tarmac for roads, bricks and mortar for luxury golf courses and housing developments.
As biodiversity loss accelerates alongside the climate crisis, businesses are increasingly recognizing their role in both causing and potentially solving this planetary emergency. The scale of the problem is stark: humans and our livestock now make up around 96% of all land-based mammal biomass, leaving just 4% for the world's remaining wild species. But progress in combating such losses remains too slow.