BBC News

Warm winters and bad summers have hit the insect population, but seen other wildlife flourish, says the National Trust

Urgent action is needed to stop the cheetah - the world's fastest land animal - becoming extinct, scientists say.

A selection of the best science and environment reads this year.

Astronomer Vera Rubin, whose pioneering work led to the theory of dark matter, dies at 88.

A new study estimates there are just 7,100 now left in the wild as they face growing conflict with humans.

UK scientists have decoded the genome of the ash in the fight against a devastating plant disease.

A selection of the best science and environment reads this year.

British-born astronaut Piers Sellers has died of pancreatic cancer, aged 61, Nasa says.

Could wave energy ever power the world?

A UK designer launches the "30-year Christmas sweatshirt" to question the ethics of the "fast fashion" industry.

Temperatures at the North Pole could be up to 20 degrees higher than average this Christmas Eve.

A British team is in the final stages of designing its car for next year's World Solar Challenge in the Australian desert.

Some dinosaurs shed their teeth as they grew up, according to fossil evidence.

For the first time scientists have been able to track the high-flying insects that migrate across the skies of Southern England every year.

Two baby orangutans have been rescued from the back of a taxi in Thailand.

Threatened by habitat loss and hunting, Madagascar's lemurs, a critically endangered species, are finding refuge in a private sanctuary.

From the first direct evidence for black holes, to a rocky planet circling a neighbouring star, 2016 was packed with amazing science stories.

Japan scraps a 22-year-old experimental nuclear reactor that has cost $9bn but barely ever worked.

A hand-reared baby gorilla which was born 10 months ago has moved in with a surrogate mother.

Barack Obama has permanently banned offshore drilling in the "vast majority" of northern US waters.

Direct recordings have revealed what happens in our brains as we make sense of speech in a noisy environment, scientists say.

Uncertainty over the nature of the UK's future relationship with the EU is having a "corrosive" effect on science.

Surgeons describe a new treatment for early stage prostate cancer as "truly transformative".

Scientists at Cern have found a new way to unlock the secrets of antimatter.

A deep sea octopod, dubbed Casper after the film ghost, may be at risk from mining, scientists say.

Scientists say Earth's outer core contains a kind of "jet stream" - a fast-flowing river of liquid iron that is surging westwards under Alaska and Siberia.

Prehistoric pottery shows plants and grains were cooked as early as 10,000 years ago.

British-Chinese cameraman Jacky Poon is one of a few professionals documenting endangered animals in China.

An app that turns a smartphone into an earthquake detector helps citizens monitor tremors.

The UK fishing industry will need continued access to EU markets post-Brexit, a Lords report warns.

Mexican authorities try to save the world's smallest porpoise by seizing illegal fishing nets.

A global map of areas without roads shows large tracts of wilderness remain unprotected.

Why scientists are weighing the rainforests with lasers.

European scientists have flown instruments back and forth across the South Pole to map its hidden depths.

The Atacama Desert - the driest desert on Earth - may once have had lakes and wetlands, scientists report.

Limiting access to federal research would do an "enormous disservice" to the US and the world according to former Nasa chief scientist.

Small satellites, meant to detect wind speed in stormy weather, blast off over Cape Canaveral on an air-launched rocket.

Europe launches its long-delayed Galileo satellite system, aiming to be the world's most accurate.

Babies made from two women and one man win approval from the UK's fertility regulator.

The song and behaviour of the UK's favourite bird is being affected by light and noise pollution, a study reveals.

Six new animal species are identified at deep-sea vents beneath the Indian Ocean.

A newly discovered spider bears an "uncanny" resemblance to a magical hat in the Harry Potter books.

Canadian "guerrilla" archivists will help in scramble to preserve US federal climate data.

Scientists in Iceland are drilling in to a volcano to harness the energy from beneath the Earth.

Geologists in Iceland are drilling into the heart of a volcano to create a super-hot borehole they can tap for energy.

British researchers are now routinely mapping a great swathe of Earth's surface, looking for the subtle warping that ultimately leads to quakes.

The highest-ever wave recorded by a buoy is detected in the North Atlantic, say experts.

Scientists have discovered a new deep source of ancient water that is at least two billion years old.

Land Speed Record holder Andy Green has been visiting India to share insights about the Bloodhound supersonic car.

Footprints made by early humans millions of years ago have been uncovered in Tanzania.