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(CBC)<\/p>\n (CBC)<\/p>\n
Welcome to our weekly newsletter where we highlight environmental trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world.<\/p>\n
Hi, I\u2019m Jill. Sometimes it\u2019s nice to be reminded of the impact we can have. I hope you\u2019ll enjoy this look at the U.K.\u2019s annual plant hunt and how it\u2019s become a useful tool for scientists studying climate change. <\/p>\n
This week:<\/p>\n
Flowers are now blooming in January in the U.K.The Big Picture: Solar-powered EVsFuneral home’s memorial trees grow into award-winning forestCitizen science offers insights into climate change impacts in U.K.![\"Girl](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769872714_120_default.jpg\")
Young botanist Ada Ryan looks for holly flowers in Cornwall, U.K., as part of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland\u2019s 15th annual New Year Plant Hunt. (Dan Ryan)<\/p>\n
Data collected by thousands of citizens across the British Isles on New Year’s Day shows hundreds more native plant species in bloom on Jan. 1 than would have been expected a few decades ago. It\u2019s a finding scientists have been able to correlate with warming temperatures.<\/p>\n
Using 10 years of data from the annual New Year Plant Hunt, the U.K.\u2019s Met Office found for every 1 C rise in temperature in a given location, an average of 2.5 additional species are blooming on Jan. 1. A more robust report using this \u201ccitizen science\u201d is expected in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis started off as a bit of fun,\u201d said Louise Marsh of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, which runs the annual event. \u201cNow we’re really looking at it as collecting hard scientific data that can be analyzed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its 15th year, the New Year Plant Hunt started with two botanists curious about changing blooming patterns in the U.K. It\u2019s grown to an event with nearly 3,700 participants kicking off the new year with neighbourhood hikes and hot chocolate breaks to track nature in their communities.<\/p>\n
Marsh says traditional phenology textbooks \u2014 those that study seasonal life cycles in nature \u2014 indicate 10 native plant species should be expected to be in bloom across the U.K. and Ireland on Jan. 1. This year, 663 total species were recorded in bloom, more than half of them native species.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s astonishing,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cThe worrying thing is going to be, what impact does this have on our other wildlife? You know, the invertebrates, the pollinators.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone can participate in the New Year Plant Hunt. The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland provides educational resources and has experts reviewing submitted records and photos to ensure reports are accurate. With those checks in place, the scale of observation has huge value.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can’t get that kind of level of detail and the specific information [with satellites and drones] that a human can get,\u201d said Debbie Hemming, the Met Office\u2019s scientific manager for nature and climate. She says citizen science and weather are \u201ca match made in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Applying citizen observation to study climate impacts isn\u2019t new \u2014 in fact, a similar study<\/a> was conducted in Canada in 2013, concluding that plant flowering here is advancing by about nine days per degree Celsius, using data from 2001 to 2012. It used data from a citizen science program called PlantWatch, under a broader observation program called Canada NatureWatch<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hemming says she\u2019d like to work with other citizen science networks to find trends in their observations, and help paint a fuller picture of climate change\u2019s impacts on nature.<\/p>\n The message Marsh wants people to glean from the events in the British Isles is the power in observation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of us are concerned about the way the world is changing, the climate is warming, and we wonder what it’s going to mean for the wildlife on our doorstep. We’re noticing plants and places disappearing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou don’t have to be an expert. You don’t have to have a PhD or a lab coat,” she said. “Everybody can get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Jill English<\/p>\n Old issues of\u00a0What on Earth?\u00a0are\u00a0here<\/a>. The CBC News climate page is\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check out our podcast and radio show.\u00a0In our newest episode<\/a>:<\/a> Since January 2025, it\u2019s cost about $9 US to drive in downtown New York City during peak times. A year later, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is heralding the policy as a success, with fewer cars downtown, a drop in pollution and less honking. Alexa Sledge with Transportation Alternatives tells us about the policy\u2019s progress to date. Then, we check in with Mychal Johnson of South Bronx Unite about worries that his community may be facing unintended consequences as a result of the pricing.<\/p>\n LISTEN | Manhattan drives down emissions with tolls on the roads:<\/p>\n What On Earth30:06Manhattan drives down emissions with tolls on the roads<\/p>\n What On Earth<\/a>\u00a0drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday.\u00a0You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand at\u00a0CBC Listen<\/a>. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.<\/p>\n Check the CBC News Climate Dashboard<\/a> for live updates on record-breaking weather and current conditions across the country. Set your location to find out how today’s temperatures compare to historical trends.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Nicholas Tunnacliffe wrote: “Your article on the climate-aware doula in Florida<\/a> got me thinking about my contribution to producing carbon dioxide through diapers. For my first family (1973 and 1974) we used cloth diapers and laundered them, say, twice a week. After a divorce, I remarried in 2018, and in 2019 we had a child. My wife, much younger than I, told me we had to get into the 21st century, and so we used disposable diapers. So which produces the most greenhouse gases?”<\/p>\n The most recent life-cycle analysis we could find, a 2023 report commissioned by the U.K. government<\/a>, finds disposables generate more greenhouse gases over 2\u00bd years of a child’s life \u2013 roughly 460 kg of CO2, compared to 340 kg for reusable or cloth diapers. However, exact numbers may differ in your region depending on the type of local electricity generation (for washing cloth diapers) and disposal methods for disposables (which include incineration in the U.K.). Those who favour cloth diapers can reduce their impact further by using a more efficient washer, air drying and using second-hand diapers (especially for subsequent children). The report notes that kids are being potty trained later now, and that could increase the impact of all diapers. (Meanwhile, some parents are going diaper-free altogether<\/a>.) Our co-editor Emily Chung notes that you don’t have to stick to one method \u2014 she used a combination of cloth diapers (mostly second-hand, sometimes in combination with disposable diaper liners), disposables and infant potty training with both of her kids.<\/p>\n We also got some responses to Nick Logan’s article on the China-Canada EV deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Danny Nowak of Vancouver wrote: “I was one of the first to receive my Tesla Model 3 in the summer of 2018. My previous car was costing me roughly $90\/week in gas. So now in January 2026, I\u2019ve saved $34,500 \u2014 and that\u2019s based on the old 2018 gas prices. I pay about $7 weekly to charge my car. Multiply that for our household of three fully electric cars, with no maintenance costs, and you can imagine the savings. Almost like a free car.”<\/p>\n Write us at\u00a0whatonearth@cbc.ca<\/a>\u00a0(and send photos there too!)<\/p>\n Scott Rae wrote: “I’d be interested in learning: are EVs being planned\/sold that will use built-in solar power to help recharge?”<\/p>\n Many people put solar panels on the roof of their house<\/a> to recharge their car.<\/p>\n It’s harder to find EVs with their own solar panels. Solar car design competitions<\/a> have been a staple at university engineering programs for years, but no one expects to see those low-riding one- or two-seaters on the road. We’ve also profiled Aptera Motors’ three-wheeled two-seater, currently in development, in this section of the newsletter before<\/a>.<\/p>\n When it comes to mass market cars, some Nissan<\/a>, Hyundai<\/a> and Toyota<\/a> models have had solar panels as an option in some parts of the world at various times \u2014 but none that seemed to add much to the cars’ range. Mercedes put 117 solar panels on a concept car it designed, called the Vision EQXX<\/a>, to power the 12 V battery used for low-voltage devices such as door locks in EVs.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"blue](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766587663_10_default.jpg\")
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(CBC)Reader feedback<\/p>\nThe Big Picture: Solar-powered EVs<\/p>\n
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(\u00a92026 Nissan)Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769872715_692_default.jpg\")
The wind phone is seen in the Fred Cada Memorial Forest at Hillman Marsh in Leamington, Ont. (Reid Funeral Homes\/Facebook)<\/p>\n