Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Teaching crocodiles not to eat cane toads saves them from fatal poisoning, researchers discover

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 07:23:46 +0000

In gorges already infested with the pest amphibians, rangers have managed to cut the freshwater crocodile mortality rate by 95%

Britain experiencing a beaver baby boom as kits spotted across the country

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 06:00:34 +0000

Kits emerge for after-dark dips in Northumberland, London, Kent and the Cairngorms after reintroduction drive

A beaver baby boom is under way across Britain this summer in places where the species had been extinct for centuries.

From Ealing in London to the Cairngorms in Scotland, and from Canterbury in Kent to the Wallington Estate in Northumberland, new kits have emerged from their lodges for an after-dark dip in the water.

Activists warn of ‘extreme anger’ if ministers fail to reform water regulator

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 05:00:33 +0000

Sources say government has dismissed some of the more ambitious ideas for fixing sewage crisis

Anti-sewage campaigners have warned of “extreme anger” if the Labour government does not radically reform the water regulator.

Sources at the Environment Agency (EA) and in the Labour party have told the Guardian that while Labour had spent time considering reforms of the EA and Ofwat in order to fix the sewage crisis, some stricter options that had been proposed were now off the table.

Major incident in West Midlands after sodium cyanide spill into Walsall canal

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 03:55:45 +0000

Public told to stay away from 12-mile stretch of canals and towpaths after spillage of toxic chemical

A major incident was declared on Wednesday after authorities said a spill of sodium cyanide into a West Midlands canal posed a serious health risk to the public.

Members of the public are being advised to avoid a 12-mile stretch of canals and towpaths centred in Walsall after the toxic spillage, understood to have happened on Monday.

Half a billion children live in areas with twice as many very hot days as in 1960s

admin — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 23:01:25 +0000

Unicef analysis also finds children in eight countries spend more than half the year in temperatures above 35C

Almost half a billion children are growing up in parts of the world where there are at least twice the number of extremely hot days every year compared with six decades ago, analysis by Unicef has found.

The analysis by the UN’s children’s agency examined for the first time data on changes in children’s exposure to extreme heat over the past 60 years.

RSPB criticised by watchdog for accusing politicians of being liars on X

admin — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 23:00:26 +0000

Charity Commission says tweets about environmental protections were inappropriate in ‘tone and nature’

The RSPB has been criticised by the English charities watchdog over social media posts in which it accused named government ministers of being “liars” for watering down environmental protections.

Canada’s 2023 wildfires produced nearly a decade’s worth of blaze emissions

admin — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 22:01:24 +0000

Fires made at least three times more likely by climate crisis and emitted about 2bn tonnes of CO2, data reveals

Canada’s “record-shattering” wildfires last year produced nearly as much greenhouse gas emissions in one season as would be expected over a decade of fires in normal circumstances, data has shown.

Study reveals urban trees suffer more from heat waves and drought than their rural counterparts

admin — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 18:14:12 +0000

A recent study details how trees in New York City and Boston are more negatively impacted by heat waves and drought than trees of the same species in nearby rural forests. The finding highlights the challenges urban trees face in the context of climate change and underscores the importance of tailored urban forestry management as a tool for protecting tree species and reducing urban heat islands.

‘The dumbest climate conversation of all time’: experts on the Musk-Trump interview

admin — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 17:59:15 +0000

Trump talked about ‘nuclear warming’ while Musk said the only reason to quit fossil fuels is that their supply is finite

US workers launch Heat Week to fight for ‘the right to water, shade and rest’

admin — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 16:00:18 +0000

In probably the hottest summer ever, workers are organizing in 13 cities to raise alarm about workplace heat exposure

As temperatures in Baltimore neared 100F earlier this month, 36-year-old sanitation worker Ronald Silver II died after he was found lying on the hood of a car and asking for water.