Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Butterfly numbers fell by more than a fifth across the UK last year, a study has revealed.
The 22 per cent drop in butterflies is thought to be the result of an unusually cold summer and the ongoing deterioration of suitable habitat for the insects, wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation said.
The "wider countryside butterfly survey" involves counting butterflies in more than 700 random one kilometre squares across the UK.
A garden favourite, the small tortoiseshell, pictured, did particularly badly last year, with fewer than one butterfly seen per kilometre.
The common blue also struggled, with the butterfly spotted in only a third of the sites surveyed, compared to more than half in 2010.
And the once-widespread wall butterfly was largely absent from central England. The meadow brown was the most widespread and abundant butterfly, spotted in 80 per cent of surveys.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments