Vegetarians are less likely to develop certain cancers – notably of the blood, stomach, and bladder – than fish and/or meat eaters, a major UK/New Zealand study of over 60,000 people has found. Overall vegetarians develop cancer about 12% less than carnivores, with some cancers up to 75% less likely.

India will not commit to reducing greenhouse emissions, even though it is one of the biggest polluters, but will focus on fighting poverty and boosting economic growth instead, its Environment Minister has announced. Jairam Ramesh also said India would ignore the tariffs the US ACES bill would impose on countries not cutting emissions.

Warmer winter temperatures in Canada are apparently the cause of a plague of mountain pine beetles which has decimated forests in British Columbia and is now threatening to invade the United States.

Stay clear of the great white whale! That’s the message the public is getting as Migaloo, the only known white humpback in the world, migrates up the Australian east coast. The government has declared a special exclusion zone (500m) around the whale, with hefty fines for breaches. But will the Japanese whalers care?

At least 9 million barrels of oil have leaked into the Niger Delta over the past 50 years, Amnesty International says, singling out Royal Dutch Shell as the major polluter and chief villain in subsequent cover-ups.

Just six weeks after Prince Charles launched an internet initiative to preserve the world’s rainforests, the Queen has conferred an honorary knighthood on Malaysian Tiong Hiew King, billionaire chairman of the Rimbunan Group and said to be one of the main people responsible for illegal logging in Papua New Guinea.

New research suggests the British national grid is capable of handling a massive expansion of wind-generated power, with its associated peaks and lulls, clearing the way for increased investment in wind energy.

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