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The Normans built old St Nicholas Church at Uphill on a cliff that looks out to sea; if you stand at the churchyard wall, you have a strong sense of being at a frontier, and not only because you are on the English coast looking across to Wales. Just beyond the wall is a vertical drop where the seawa

Find by Cairn Energy off Greenland could open door to huge reserves of oil - and potential for more environmental disastersA British oil firm will tomorrow announce that it has struck oil off Greenland, a find that could trigger a rush to exploit oil reserves in the pristine waters of the Arctic.Cai

From Australia to the US, the rightwingers who claim climate change is a leftwing conspiracy will grab green subsidiesIt was Australia's second climate change election. Climate change deposed the former leaders of both main parties: Kevin Rudd (Labor) because his position was too weak, Malcolm Turn

Thousands of drivers on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway just outside the Chinese capital have been snared by roadworks ever since 14 AugustWhen you next find yourself gnawing on your steering wheel as the vehicles ahead of you concertina into a wall of metal, spare a thought for the drivers current

On 21 August our environmental resource budget ran out. Now we're living beyond the planet's means to support usAt the weekend, Saturday 21 August to be precise, the world as a whole went into "ecological debt".That means in effect that from now until the end of the year, humanity will be consuming

I'm glad to see that in our parish it's now official. Moths are magical. As confirmation we have a poster for our forthcoming village fete, on which one of the events is entitled Mark Cocker's Moth Magic. I entirely disown any personal contribution but I would never deny the extraordinariness of the

Astronomy writer Stuart Clark tackles some of the biggest questions about our universe, including gravity and dark energy. His book The Big Questions: The Universe is out now. We send Heather Christie to the Secret Garden Party in Cambridgeshire, where she encounters a giant colour-reading eyeball a

Forecaster says heavy rainfall and possible gale-force winds across southern regions may cause widespread disruptionA large part of the country is braced for flash floods tonight, with up to 3in (8cm) of rain expected to fall during a blast of stormy weather.The swath of southern England, running

Communities continue to complain of grinding poverty with deteriorating land and water, says environment editor John Vidal, 10 years after he visited OgonilandYou smell the oil in the creeks and farmland of Ogoniland and the Niger delta long before you see it. Nigerian crude is a sweet oil which bar

Political short-termism has failed the young. Yet attacking the elderly and sick instead of inequality will only help OsborneIt's an anxious time for those 180,000 teenagers chasing the last university places in clearing; nails are bitten to the quick, eyes glazed from internet searching. Politician

Why fresh air today smells pretty badLet's address the air that you breathe: I'm afraid it's not good. A 2002 World Health Organisation report connected rising indoor air pollutants to serious illness including asthma, cancer and reproductive and neurological disorders. The smoking ban will have hel

In recent years the cork has been steadily usurped by cleaner, more convenient screw caps. But the environmental impact of this social shift is massive. Now the traditional cork growers are fighting back. But have they left it too late?There is a strong Asterix vibe to the annual cork oak harvest of

Behind government dismissals of 'alarmist' fears there is growing concern over critical future energy suppliesSpeculation that government ministers are far more concerned about a future supply crunch than they have admitted has been fuelled by the revelation that they are canvassing views from indus

The battle for the fertiliser giant points to a near future in which world food supplies may need to rise by 70%BHP Billiton's £28bn hostile bid for Canada's Potash Corporation sets the scene for one of mining's biggest takeover battles. But this is more than a clash between multinationals intent on

Britain's finest export could soon be powering our carsIs there no bad news about whisky? Yes, admitted, it can lead you to odd places - specifically to a culvert off the M62 at dawn (twice, since you ask), wondering why your trousers are smouldering and there's a tired rodent in your mouth ? but, i

Friends of the Earth's thoughts on Earth Overshoot Day.

Toads rescued from extinction, sexing a sloth and radioactive boar - the pick of this week's images from the natural world

John Vidal's review of a compendium on agricultural technologies and the future demand for food recently published by the Royal Society, discussed artificial (or "cultured") meat as a solution for the 21st century (Artificial meat? Food for thought by 2050, 16 August). To clarify, the "artificial me