There’s new science on the burning of upland peatlands and which is getting a good airing in both the media and climate change circles. 

Every big scientific project needs a good acronym these days and the Leeds University team hits the spot with EMBER - Effects of Moorland Burning Ecohydrology of River basins. And in line with the acronym, the results show that the damage that burning heather has on wildlife, climate…

In response to the Prime Minister’s speech to the UN Climate Summit, Martin Harper, Director of Conservation at the RSPB said:

“Climate change is happening and is already putting pressure on wildlife across the world – from the coral reefs to the uplands of the United Kingdom. Unless leaders take serious and urgent action to put global emissions on a downward trend we will be facing widespread extinctions.”…

For the love of rhinos, hedgehogs, our coastlines and gardens....

Snorkelling, walks in bluebell woods, and my local birding patch....

These are just some of the stories about how climate change threatens the things we love that have been shared as part of the For the Love of campaign on our website.

With an historic climate change summit in New York later this month, now’s the time to stand up for what we love:…

Earlier this year the RSPB, the National Trust and other countryside conservation groups published a major review of the risks fracking could pose to the natural environment in the UK.

The review concluded that the risks were significant and diverse, particularly when fracking is carried out at the commercial scale. At this stage well sites of up to 3 hectares are needed at frequent intervals, each with their own environmental…

Major new research has been published by Government today that demonstrates that power generated from biomass can be good for the climate - but it can also be worse than coal. It is clear that certain sources of bioenergy should not be receiving public money under the guise of being clean green energy sources, so the RSPB is calling for urgent action to make sure this doesn't happen.

Today’s report has been long…

Guest blog by David Christian Rose, PhD student University of Cambridge, http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/rose/

Devastating floods in southern England, destructive storms in the Philippines, massive wildfires in Australia: just some of the recent events where climate change is believed to have played a significant part. And yet despite the growing realisation amongst policy-makers that climate change is increasing the…

Post by RSPB Economist Adam Dutton (@AdamJDutton) 

Even the most diligent among us struggle to reduce our personal impact on the world. One thing we are sure of is that international flights will stick a huge red mark in our household carbon budget meaning we need to take fewer or make bigger carbon savings elsewhere in the house. So if flying is so carbon intensive why, we might ask, is the UK even thinking of expanding…

Guest post by Paul Barwell, Chief Executive of the Solar Trade Association

Today, solar farms up and down the country will be opening their doors to the public in an effort to raise awareness about how solar works and the environmental benefits it can bring. It is Solar Independence Day.

From Nottingham to Cornwall, Skegness to Swansea, local schoolchildren, community groups and decision makers will be making their way…

We’re calling for 200,000 hectares of upland peatlands in England to be restored.

Perhaps not a surprising call for a nature conservation organisation to make. But why are two water companies among our partnership of 12 organisations seeking this – and why are you reading about this on the RSPB’s climate change blog?

First of all, England upland peatlands are in a fairly terrible state. Only 4% are…

The climate is warming, and so basic logic suggests we should expect fewer bouts of cold weather. Yet severe winter weather, such as the cold wave over the US this year, and the chilly winter of 2009/10 in the UK have left people questioning this assumption.

Record minimum temperatures were set across North American in early January this year, including at Chicago O’Hare Airport (-26.7°C, January 6), New York Central Park…

Jim Densham  RSPB Senior Land Use Policy Officer, Climate

Last week the Scottish Government announced that Scotland had once again missed an annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target – as set out in Scotland’s Climate Act. scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/06/5527/0 

If that wasn’t bad enough, the nations emissions actually went up in 2012 from 52.5m tonnes CO₂ equivalent in 2011 to 52…

The pro-shale gas steam roller continues

Helen Crow  RSPB Climate Change Policy Officer

This cartoon sums up how I feel about shale gas in the UK. Yes, it’s one option but why on earth would you go to all that effort when there are more obvious and less planet-killing alternatives available?

Aside from the tax breaks already announced, the new Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil, and a new licensing round…

We now know much about how climate change affects wildlife - species such as the Dartford warbler and the bee orchid are moving further north and recent storms have highlighted the vulnerability of coastal and wetland habitats. Yet - how should habitat management respond?

A hugely useful practical guide is now available. The RSPB and Natural England, in partnership with the Environment Agency’s Climate Ready support…

Guest blog by Matt Williams, Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project  

In my previous blog, I examined the vast amounts of carbon stored beneath the peat-swamp forests of Indonesia, in southeast Asia. Today I’m going to look at the threats facing these forests, in particular the backwards and perverted conversion of these forests to oil palm. 

This conversion is the number one cause of deforestation in Indonesia, and…

Did you see the RSPB's Dr Richard Bradbury on Countryfile on Sunday night? He was talking to presenter Tom Heap about Dartford warblers and other species whose ranges are moving as a result of climate change. Never fear if you didn't manage to catch it, there's still time to view the show on BBC iPlayer:

www.bbc.co.uk/.../countryfile-lee-valley

Are you beginning to see symptoms of climate change in your…

Today a Committee of Lords have warned that fracking won’t take off in the UK any time soon unless  ministers take urgent action to cut red tape and convince the public to support fracking. The report concludes that most risks to the environment are “unfounded” and that Government should take decisive measures to quicken the pace of development of this new industry, principally by streamlining regulations that are…

Guest blog Matt Williams,  Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project 

I’m writing this with a backing track of singing gibbons and the curt electric buzz of van Hasselt’s sunbirds. My desk is in an office in a wooden building with a corrugated metal roof, which makes a musical din when it rains – and it usually pours most nights.  I’m at the northern edge of the Sabangau rainforest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian…

Guest blog from Simon Duffield, Natural England’s Senior Specialist for Climate Change Adaptation

Climate change is already changing the distribution of many species. In general species are moving further north, and higher up as a warming climate means they can exploit previously inhospitable environments. This can be positive in that some species will increase their ranges, however for as many species that will…

We talk about ‘renewable energy in harmony with nature’ a lot at the RSPB. In fact, it has become the mantra for everything we’re trying to achieve with the energy sector. At its simplest it means the right type of renewable energy in the right place, managed in a way that maximises the benefits to wildlife.

Windfarms like Whitelee and Blacklaw in Scotland are good illustrations; both projects involved…

Guest post by Richard Bradbury, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

Recently, I’ve been involved in a great collaboration between partners from across the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI). Led by the British Trust for Ornithology, the first findings of the project have just been published online here in the journal Global Change Biology. The recent IPCC report clearly shows that climate change is having…

Guest post by Dr Martin Warren, Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation

The latest report from the IPCC concludes that we are facing a big change in world’s climate that will have a huge impact on humans and wildlife alike. 

Data gathered by Butterfly Conservation shows that butterflies are already being strongly affected by climate change. More than one-quarter of UK species are spreading north, with butterflies…

Guest post by Nik Shelton in our media team

The kittiwake is a species we often talk about when we are asked about how climate affects wildlife.

Last week’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report covered that very issue and again we highlighted the kittiwake when talking to the media about climate and wildlife. They have declined rapidly - by as much as 68% in Scotland since 1986.

Before writing this…

Guest post by Paul Walton, Head of Habitats and Species in Scotland

Lapwing with chick in machair, South Uist. copyright Chris Gomersall (RSPB images)

In November 2008, we in the Species and Habitats team at RSPB Scotland were living in a febrile world created by the simultaneous appearance of a looming deadline, and a mountain to climb.

We were racing to pull together the funding package for a major four…

Guest post by Stephen Ewing from the RSPB's Centre for Conservation Science 

High mountain habitats in the UK, which reach their greatest extent in places like the Cairngorms, are beautiful, but remarkably unforgiving and harsh environments. The severe conditions mean that only the hardiest cold-adapted specialists can eke out an existence. The report released recently by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…

Guest post by Richard Bradbury from the RSPB's Centre for Conservation Science

The latest IPCC report presents evidence that climate change is having widespread and profound impacts on the world’s wildlife and ecosystems, on land and at sea. Climate change in the UK is arguably less extreme than in many other parts of the world, yet even here wildlife is responding – acting as the ‘miner’s canary’ to alert us to…