Leeforum

Nature is worryingly absent from the National Development Plan review It is imperative that nature is adequately funded, writes Ciarán Brennan, communications officer at the Irish Environmental Network

Government underinvestment in nature is not just neglect. It’s a slow death for the land and waters we love and the rejection of any potential nature restoration.

Ciarán Brennan of the Irish Environmental Network poses many important questions here.

What about the 10,000 hostages that Israel holds and tortures?
Meanwhile they starve an entire population and murder civilians including women and children trying to get the meagre aid offered at death traps disguised as the euphemistic 'GHF'
Its like 'Albrecht Macht Frei'

End the double standards

‘Say what you like about Haughey, he knew how to unblock planning,’ says former Fianna Fáil minister Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Cowen has said the Government needs to follow Charles Haughey’s example to circumvent “planning blockages” and speed up the delivery of housing.

That's the reason we are living with the consequences of bad and corrupt decisions today.
FF have clearly learned nothing from their past.

m.independent.ie/irish-news/s...

If you think electric bikes are bad, there’s a much bigger menace hitting our roads Electric bikes are a menace. They go almost as fast as a car (if the car is parking), they’re whisper...

electrek.co/2025/07/20/i...

She trusted him with her most prized possession 🥺



I’ve included some of my personal favorite sea otter facts in this video! 🤗

P.S. sorry about the quality, bsky makes you compress videos so much:(

📸 user8736150399263 (TT) / Georgia Aquarium / Adobe / envato / Wikimedia Commons / openwaterpedia

Rivers choose their path based on erosion, a discovery that could transform flood planning and restoration Rivers are Earth's arteries. Water, sediment and nutrients self-organize into diverse, dynamic channels as they journey from the mountains to the sea. Some rivers carve out a single pathway, while oth...

Scientists point out the obvious🫣

phys.org/news/2025-07...

Overuse of riprap to prevent riverbank erosion is harming B.C. rivers Riprap can bury the spawning habitats of fish, increase river temperatures and exacerbate erosion elsewhere. There are alternative ways to stabilize riverbanks.

Overuse of rip-rap harms rivers.

theconversation.com/overuse-of-r...

Consultation opens on 100-year Jersey coastal defence plans The plans are described as the largest coastal defence project in the island since the 1800s.

Interesting tidal flooding defence project in Jersey.
It involves extending the shoreline into the bay and integrating cycle paths and public amenity areas.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Why the Texas floods were so severe Flooding rains in and around Kerr County had brought a widespread 10 to 15 total inches by Friday morning. Four months of rainfall came down in four hours.

Tragedy in Texas hill country, where 4 months’ worth of rain in just four hours caused Guadalupe River levels to spike 30 feet in just an hour and a half - in the middle of the night.

Two dozen are dead in the resulting floods and another 20 young campers still missing.

apnews.com/article/texa...

English farms could be taken out of food production to boost nature, says minister Plans announced by environment secretary mean many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming

This is the single biggest, easiest and most cost effective thing that can be done for nature, the environment, flooding and carbon.
An absolute no-brainer.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This is suicide.
Polar ice is needed to keep the globe habitable.
Accelerating its destruction with ice breakers and even more fossil fuel is madness.

‘Completely unexpected’: Antarctic sea ice may be in terminal decline due to rising Southern Ocean salinity Scientists once thought Antarctica might hold onto its sea ice as the world warmed. No longer.

Ocean around Antarctica is rapidly getting saltier, drawing up heat from the deep ocean and making it harder for sea ice to regrow
Less sea ice releases more heat into atmosphere, increasing number and intensity of storms and accelerating global warming

theconversation.com/completely-u...

‘Completely unexpected’: Antarctic sea ice may be in terminal decline due to rising Southern Ocean salinity Scientists once thought Antarctica might hold onto its sea ice as the world warmed. No longer.

🚨Antarctic ice melting accelerates

'We may have passed a tipping point and entered a new state defined by persistent sea ice decline, sustained by a newly discovered feedback loop'.

theconversation.com/completely-u...

China’s largest flood on record 💔 Cities wiped out! The Duliu River in Rongjiang, Guizhou in China just saw its most extreme flood ever, with water surging at 11,400 cubic meters per second and rising a staggering 11 metres above normal levels
#earth #photography #flood #city

Butterflies- not just beautiful, but essential! 🦋

Sadly, they are declining in many areas of the world...🌍

Protecting pollinators safeguards #biodiversity.

Learn more: @ipbes.net #PollinationAssessment

www.ipbes.net/assessment-r...

Design by Eleanor Lutz🧪

Only two years left of world’s carbon budget to meet 1.5C target, scientists warn Breaching threshold would ramp up catastrophic weather events, further increasing human suffering

“I tend to be an optimistic person. But things are not only moving in the wrong direction, we’re seeing some unprecedented changes and acceleration of the heating of the Earth & sea level rise.” - @piersforster.bsky.social, @priestleycentre.bsky.social

#ClimateCrisis

Insects are dying: here are 25 easy and effective ways you can help protect them From turning out the lights to letting leaves rot, these small steps can create big changes at home or in the wild

The world’s tough on #insects, but a few simple steps can turn your space into a much-needed bug haven:

🌼 Plant a native flower
💧 Leave shallow water bowls
🌙 Turn off outdoor lights
🍂 Keep leaf litter & compost
🦋 Create balcony or window gardens

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

They're doing a great job in Ireland at bringing invasive grey squirrels under control, allowing native red squirrels to make a comeback.

Copenhagen is adapting to a warmer world with rain tunnels and 'sponge parks' Copenhagen is expected to receive 30% more rainfall by the end of the century. The city is responding with a massive long-term adaptation plan.

Copenhagen is expected to receive 30% more rainfall by the end of the century. The city is responding with a massive long-term adaptation plan. https://n.pr/4dYZOvs

The ESB have been, in effect, managing the dams for flooding since after the 2009 floods.

Cork is vulnerable to tidal flooding and sea level rise.
The proposed LLFRS does not allow for SLR nor does it protect the Docklands or harbour area, which a tidal barrier would.

‘Cleaner, greener and absolute reliability’: trams make UK comeback Pioneering light-rail tech poised to revamp network after chancellor announces £15bn transport boost

Big part of what makes trams great:

“It’s permanent infrastructure. People can see that the tracks have been laid and that it’s here to stay. They know where the route’s going because they can see it and that gives them confidence – and it also gives businesses confidence to invest in the area…”

Luas Cork Luas Cork is a transformative project, developed in close consultation with BusConnects, that aligns with this ambition, supporting the shift from cars to public transport and active travel. Luas Cor...

The Cork Luas public consultation ends tomorrow, Monday at 5.30 pm.
Get your say in.

consult.tii.ie/luas-cork

Today's Berardelli Bonus... Earth's CO2 hit a new milestone in May - 430 parts per million. Our best science tells us it's the highest in 14 million yrs & the rate of growth is ~100X natural. For the past 10K years CO2 was steady at 280ppm, but our Goldilocks climate is now done.

The Netherlands boasts over 35,000 km of separated cycle paths, half of which have been built since 1996. This (fairly recent) success is built on design principles which are embedded in urban planning and together form a deliberate, systematic approach to infrastructure design: youtu.be/pdsUjjncUp0

New Study Reveals Mysterious Jet-Like Winds Accelerating “Doomsday” Glacier Meltdown New research reveals powerful Antarctic winds that could be accelerating glacier melt and rising seas. In the far reaches of West Antarctica, along the rugged coastline of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, ...

Meanwhile down south dangerous “doomsday” glaciers teeter on the edge: “the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers are losing ice at an accelerating pace, contributing more and more to rising sea levels worldwide.” @SciTechDaily1
scitechdaily.com/new-study-re...

The docklands, which aims to house over 20,000 people was not included in the last version of the scheme.

The only sane solution is the dams protecting Cork from fluvial flooding and a tidal barrier protecting from rapidly rising sea levels.

The LLFRS is dead and should be buried

Neither does the article mention the overwhelming local opposition to the previous scheme which is would destroy the look and feel of the city.
The indication of another round of public consultation sounds positive, but last time it was completely ignored.

This is because the 2009 flood was caused by ESB mismanagement of the dams & the SC found it has a duty of care to protect the city from flooding, which it has done since.
The LLFRS is the official response to the 2009 flood.

While the article does say that 'It does say that there has been 'significant legislative changes in the areas of environmental assessment, climate change, and biodiversity'

It does not say that the scheme is already redundant due to the 2020 Supreme Court ruling in UCC Vs ESB