Better Planet
Education’s Blog

It would seem that fracking (the hydraulic fracture of shale rock to recover shale gas) is to be permitted in the countryside near Blackpool in the northwest of England after all. A review of the fracking operations, which caused two earthquakes in Lancashire of Magnitudes 2.3 and 1.5 has concluded that further earthquakes are quite likely, but that they will be of a magnitude too small to cause damage on the surface and would be very unlikley to produce an earthquake in excess of Magnitude 3. If I were living in that area, I don't think I'd find that expert assessment particularly reassuring.

Did you know that the Young People's Trust for the Environment had its 30th birthday a couple of days ago? We were so busy we nearly forgot! That's 30 years of inspiring young people to look after our world and take an active role in protecting our planet for the future.

Last week, Edinburgh Zoo's giant pandas, who are, on loan from China failed to mate, despite or perhaps because of much anticipation and interest from the UK's media. Yang Guang (male) and Tian Tian (female) showed only a passing interest in each other when they were put into the same enclosure, despite the fact that Tian Tian was on heat.

The noise from our cars, factories, shops and services is drowning out some important singing in the bird world, a new study shows. We often hear bird song when we're outdoors, sometimes those birds are telling others to keep off their patch, but sometimes they're just looking for a new partner - something that is becoming quite a challenge in urban areas!