Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Italian hospitals report rise in heat cases as weather fails to deter tourists

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 13:20:48 +0000

Number of people seeking emergency care for heat-related illnesses is up in cities including Rome, Florence and Venice

The number of people accessing emergency care for heat-related illnesses has risen sharply in some of Italy’s most popular tourist cities, as the country experiences an intense heatwave that is failing to deter visitors.

Italy has been engulfed in consecutive heatwaves since around the middle of June. Some central and southern areas are expected to record temperatures above 40C in the coming days.

US air force avoids PFAS water cleanup, citing supreme court’s Chevron ruling

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 11:29:30 +0000

EPA says Tucson’s drinking water is contaminated but air force claims agency lacks authority to order cleanup

Greece has brought in the army to help extinguish fires raging out of control in eastern Attica – as it happened

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 08:14:01 +0000

Eighty-eight soldiers had been seconded in the battle to contain blazes with firefighting efforts

AFP reports from Penteli:

Thick smoke from burning trees filled a small square in Penteli where local resident Mariana Papathanasi said they could only pray that their houses would be saved.

“There is still a strong fire. Some houses were burned after midnight and we are trying to protect our local restaurant,” the 49-year-old supermarket employee told AFP.

‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetland

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 06:00:34 +0000

Hidrovia project to dredge Paraguay River and build ports may destroy vast biodiversity and refuge of jaguars, giant otters and armadillos – and an age-old riverine way of life

Pantanal waterway project would destroy a ‘paradise on Earth’, scientists warn

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 06:00:32 +0000

The South American wetland, which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, would be vulnerable to biome loss and increased wildfires

Pushing the boundaries: Indian women in a man’s world – in pictures

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 05:00:32 +0000

A Thousand Thorns is a project by photographer Deepti Asthana documenting women’s changing aspirations in rural India through the story of two young female forest guards in Rajasthan’s Thar desert. Theirs is a scenario playing out in millions of homes – of the fight for equality and independence in a deeply patriarchal society

Climate crisis helped drive payouts to seven-year high, say insurers

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 05:00:32 +0000

Weather-related claims hit £144m in second quarter of 2024 and total payouts rose by 5% to £1.4bn

Britain’s largest insurance firms have warned that the climate crisis has contributed to driving up insurance payouts to the highest level in seven years, after a sharp rise in damage to households and businesses from weather events.

Australian fossil fuel exports ranked second only to Russia for climate damage with ‘no plan’ for reduction

admin — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 01:17:06 +0000

Coal and gas exports expected to remain roughly at current level until at least 2035 with 4.5% of emissions linked to Australia, report finds

Startling genome discovery in butterfly project reveals impact of climate change in Europe

admin — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 09:00:07 +0000

Project to study all 11,000 species of butterflies and moths finds ‘two species in the act of being created from one’

The chalkhill blue has some surprising claims to fame. For a start, it is one of the UK’s most beautiful butterflies, as can be seen as they flutter above the grasslands of southern England in summer.

Thousands of Serbians protest in Belgrade against lithium mine

admin — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 22:14:49 +0000

Controversial mining project is a political fault line in Balkan country over fears about environmental impacts

Thousands hit the streets in Serbia’s capital Belgrade Saturday to protest against the rebooting of a controversial lithium mine set to serve as a vital source to power Europe’s green energy transition.

Before the rally, two leading protest figures said they were briefly detained by security officials who warned that any moves to block roads during the protest would be viewed as illegal.