Gloucestershire in Pictures: Pop-up sofa in the Forest of Dean
Our weekly round-up of pictures from the county includes beautiful sun pictures and stunning flowers in the county.Another mixed week of weather for Gloucestershire but the sunshine broke through on many occasions revealing these stunning photos of brightly coloured flowers.
New additions: These Hawaiian geese, also known as nēnē goslings, have hatched at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre. During the 1950s the species was close to extinction due to the introduction of predators and the loss of habitat, but now the world population is more than 3,000 because of WWT breeding them.
Put your feet up: A sofa dumped by the side of a road in Lydbrook has become an unlikely tourist attraction. Despite fly-tipping being illegal and punishable by large fines or even prison time, more furniture has since been added and the site has become a popular resting spot. Local photographer Alex Elton-Wall has now taken the portraits of more than 140 nearby residents at the site.
Pretty in pink: What a great contrast between green and pink. This tiny area of blooms in Abbeymead caught the eye of weather watcher, Wildwoman.
Stunning sunshine: Thank you to Ursula for sending this one through to us. A sun halo is known to be an atmospheric optical phenomenon where a ring of light, often white but can be coloured, appears around the sun.
Green Gloucestershire: This gorgeous picture of Frampton on Severn was caught by Space Walker, one of our weather watchers.
Flower power: What a capture! This has been a highlight for us this week as the blue flowers and sunshine in the background suggest that summer may well be on the way.
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BBC News
27-04-2025
- BBC News
Gloucestershire in Pictures: Pop-up sofa in the Forest of Dean
Our weekly round-up of pictures from the county includes beautiful sun pictures and stunning flowers in the mixed week of weather for Gloucestershire but the sunshine broke through on many occasions revealing these stunning photos of brightly coloured flowers. New additions: These Hawaiian geese, also known as nēnē goslings, have hatched at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre. During the 1950s the species was close to extinction due to the introduction of predators and the loss of habitat, but now the world population is more than 3,000 because of WWT breeding them. Put your feet up: A sofa dumped by the side of a road in Lydbrook has become an unlikely tourist attraction. Despite fly-tipping being illegal and punishable by large fines or even prison time, more furniture has since been added and the site has become a popular resting spot. Local photographer Alex Elton-Wall has now taken the portraits of more than 140 nearby residents at the site. Pretty in pink: What a great contrast between green and pink. This tiny area of blooms in Abbeymead caught the eye of weather watcher, Wildwoman. Stunning sunshine: Thank you to Ursula for sending this one through to us. A sun halo is known to be an atmospheric optical phenomenon where a ring of light, often white but can be coloured, appears around the sun. Green Gloucestershire: This gorgeous picture of Frampton on Severn was caught by Space Walker, one of our weather watchers. Flower power: What a capture! This has been a highlight for us this week as the blue flowers and sunshine in the background suggest that summer may well be on the way.
The Guardian
22-04-2025
- The Guardian
Berlin's ancient ‘Dicke Marie' oak feels effects of prolonged dry spell
An ancient English oak believed to be Berlin's oldest tree is suffering the effects of a prolonged dry spell in the German capital, local authorities have said, compounding already significant damage to its once lush canopy and branches. 'Dicke Marie' (Fat Marie), as Berliners affectionately call the tree located in the northern Tegel Forest, has been deprived of essential moisture in recent years as a result of extended periods of sparse rainfall blamed on the climate crisis, according to natural resource officials. 'But we hope that she'll still be with us for another couple decades or even centuries,' Marc Franusch, the head of the Tegel Forestry Office, told the newswire DPA. Franusch said the remainder of spring could bring relief in the form of more precipitation but that pruning the gnarled Marie, whose age is estimated at 500-600 years, was not an option. 'We want to be very gentle and prudent in stabilising the tree and its situation to do our best to support its vitality,' he said. The ancient oak stands about 18.5 metres tall, with a trunk about 2 metres in diameter. Dicke Marie has long been a popular attraction for nature lovers, particularly in the years of Berlin's cold war division by the Wall, when protected forests offered West Berliners a cherished refuge while the surrounding countryside lay beyond the border in communist East Germany. But the tree's remote location at the northern end of Lake Tegel and its diminished, increasingly knotty profile as neighbouring trees overshadowed it have meant ever fewer visitors seek it out, forestry officials say. Dicke Marie nevertheless was granted National Heritage Tree status by the German Dendrological Society in 2021, the first awarded to a tree in a forest. Its remarkable longevity had been attributed to its lakeside home, with its roots soaking up the available moisture even during drought periods. But increasingly arid conditions in the region now appear to be taking their toll. This March was the driest ever recorded in Germany, according to the German Weather Service, and April has seen little improvement. The vast rural Brandenburg state surrounding Berlin reported only 10-20% of the expected precipitation in February and March, Raimund Engel, a regional forest fire protection officer, told the broadcaster RBB. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Many traditional Easter weekend bonfires in Berlin and Brandenburg were called off this year owing to parched conditions in the region, to prevent uncontrolled blazes. The festivities trace their roots to pagan rituals to banish evil winter spirits. The Berlin oak's nickname Dicke Marie is believed to have come from the aristocratic brothers Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt, who grew up in nearby Tegel Palace, after their beloved cook. The Humboldts gave their own name to Berlin's 'fattest' tree, a 350-year-old oak in the same forest with a circumference of nearly 8 metres. Germany is believed to have about 100 trees that are at least 400 years old.
The Independent
09-02-2025
- The Independent
The science behind the rainbow capital of the world
Hawaii 's regular sunshine, short rain showers and clean air come together to create some of the planet's best conditions for viewing rainbows. They're such a frequent sight that a University of Hawaii professor calls the state the 'rainbow capital of the world.' Right now it's the winter rainy season in the islands, which means the odds of seeing a rainbow are even higher than usual. Rainbows emerge so often in Hawaii they've become popular symbols of island life. Pictures of them adorn buildings, the sides of public buses and appear on standard vehicle license plates. University of Hawaii sports teams are even named after rainbows. They are so prevalent that there are about 20 names for them in the Hawaiian language. 'For me, rainbows really signify hope and new beginnings,' said Liane Usher, the president of the Children's Discovery Center in Honolulu, which features rainbows on its exterior wall and in its exploration rooms. 'I can't ever help but smile whenever I see a rainbow after the rain.' Rainbows form when raindrops refract sunlight into a spectrum of colors. The brighter the sun, the clearer the rainbow. Look for them when it is both sunny and raining at the same time. They will appear opposite the sun. They will seem larger and higher in the sky in the early morning and late afternoon, when the sun is lower on the horizon. Steven Businger, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, says the archipelago's trade winds bring many small showers with enough blue sky between them for the sun to shine through. Hawaii's clean air also helps. Other places tend to have more air particles from dust, pollen and cars. Conditions improve further during Hawaii's rainy season, which lasts from October through April. 'Hawaii has maybe the best rainbows on the planet,' Businger said. Businger created an app called RainbowChase to help people find rainbows in Hawaii. Rainbows represent divine or supernatural power in Native Hawaiian tradition. Sam 'Ohu Gon III, senior scientist and cultural adviser at The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii, said rainbows are considered a symbol of Kāne, one of the four main gods in Hawaiian tradition. Traditionally, the closer one got to a rainbow, the more likely they were to encounter a supernatural force, or an extremely powerful or chiefly person, he said. In one centuries-old story, a rainbow appears over the secluded home of a Hawaiian princess for four straight days. Another emerges above the ocean when her suitor arrives, a man so strong his punch pierces an opponent's chest like a spear. To Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a teacher and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, a rainbow signals an 'aumakua,' which is a deified ancestor or a family or personal god. 'When those of our loved ones go before us, they precede us in life and they leave us in this realm. They are able sometimes to show their presence," Wong-Kalu said. "The rainbow is one of those ways.' Rainbows let her know spiritual protection is present and that she is loved and watched over, said Wong-Kalu, who is also known as Kumu Hina. Rainbow imagery decorates everything from buildings and restaurant facades to athletic uniforms. The Hawaii men's athletic teams are called Rainbow Warriors and the women's teams are Rainbow Wahine, using the Hawaiian word for women. The teams are called 'Bows' for short. The origin of the rainbow mascot dates to New Year's Day in 1924. Hawaii was locked in a scoreless tie against the visiting Oregon Aggies when a rainbow appeared over the field. Hawaii scored soon after and reporters began calling the team the Rainbows, according to the book 'Hawai'i Sports: History, Facts and Statistics.' The Hawaii football team in 2000 dropped 'Rainbow' from its nickname when a coach expressed concern it carried a 'stigma' because of its association with the LGBTQ+ community. The school restored the name in 2013. When Kimberly Carlson was a professor at Manoa, she saw a rainbow outside her apartment window that made her wonder how climate change would affect them. Now a New York University environmental studies professor, she's studied the impact over the next century. Her team's analysis, published in a paper two years ago, predicts Brazil, the Mediterranean and parts of Central Africa will have fewer rainbows by 2100. They found places that currently get lots of snow, but that will instead receive more rain, will likely see more rainbows. Alaska falls in that category. Scientists believe rainbows will continue to be plentiful in Hawaii, but in the coming decades, longer dry spells might lead to fewer rainbows on the arid, leeward sides of the islands, Businger, the atmospheric sciences professor, said. Maui and the Big Island might be particularly affected, he said. The singular experience of glimpsing a rainbow makes them worth studying, he said. 'Rainbows are a cultural touchstone for us. They cause us to stand still and for a moment, forget about the past and the future,' Businger said. 'We are really in the moment when we see a spectacular rainbow, and that's a rare experience in our busy lives.'
