Dailan Pugh says protecting the endangered species, only identified in 2004 ‘is not rocket science’
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At 68, Dailan Pugh says he isn’t sure which extinction event will come first – his own or that of an ancient frog named after him.
When news broke in recent days that Pugh’s frog had been listed as endangered under federal environment laws, the veteran conservationist felt a mix of emotions.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/08/2024 - 21:33
08/08/2024 - 18:55
Last month large parts of Tonga were left without internet when an undersea cable was broken. It’s a scenario that is far more common than is understood
It was the opening days of 2022, in the aftermath of a huge volcanic eruption, when Tonga went dark. The underwater eruption – 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima – sent tsunami waves across Tonga’s nearby archipelago and blanketed the island’s white coral sands in ash.
The strength of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai eruption severed internet connectivity with Tonga, causing a communication blackout at just the moment that a crisis was unfolding.
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08/08/2024 - 18:13
Second activist also arrested during ‘summer of heat’ protest against second largest financier of fossil fuels
A 63-year-old climate activist and professional cellist faces up to seven years in prison after being arrested on Thursday while performing a Bach solo outside the headquarters of one of the world’s largest fossil fuel financier Citibank in downtown New York.
John Mark Rozendaal, an adjunct music instructor at Princeton university and Alec Connon, director of the climate nonprofit group Stop the Money Pipeline, were arrested for criminal contempt in the public park at the bank’s global headquarters as the crackdown against nonviolent climate protesters escalates.
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08/08/2024 - 14:06
Another report found pesticide levels posing ‘significant risks’ in 20% of tested fruits and vegetables
A new scientific report lends weight to consumer concerns about pesticide residues on food, presenting fresh evidence that washing fruit before eating does not remove various toxic chemicals commonly used in agriculture.
The paper, published on Wednesday in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, comes amid ongoing debate over the extent of pesticide contamination of food, and the potential health risks associated with a steady diet that includes pesticide residues.
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08/08/2024 - 13:38
Climate scientists say that the world is continuing to warm, despite brief respite in record breaking temperatures
Earth’s string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Niño climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced on Wednesday.
But July 2024’s average heat just missed surpassing last year’s July, and scientists said the end of the record-breaking streak changes nothing about the threat posed by the climate crisis.
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08/08/2024 - 13:19
Nuclear site awaits sentencing over breaches that it admitted could have threatened national security
Sellafield has apologised after pleading guilty to criminal charges relating to a string of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site, which it admitted could have threatened national security.
Among the failings at the vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria was the discovery that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attacks, Westminster magistrates court in London heard.
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08/08/2024 - 10:27
Devastation in Brazil wetlands was made at least four times more likely by fossil fuel use and deforestation, scientists say
The devastating wildfires that tore through the world’s biggest tropical wetland, Brazil’s Pantanal, in June were made at least four times more likely and 40% more intense by human-caused climate disruption, a study has found.
Charred corpses of monkeys, caimans and snakes have been left in the aftermath of the blaze, which burned 440,000 hectares (1.1m acres) and is thought to have killed millions of animals and countless more plants, insects and fungi.
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08/08/2024 - 10:00
Exclusive: Victorian Environment Protection Authority launches ‘proactive program’ to investigate potential risks from recycled soil fill
Asbestos found in recycled soil at more than half NSW waste facilities
Victoria’s environment watchdog has launched a compliance blitz of waste facilities that produce cheap landscaping soil after a Guardian Australia investigation revealed systemic problems with similar recycled products in New South Wales.
The Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said it had begun “a proactive program looking at recovered fines” – the cheap soil or sand substitute made from construction and demolition waste residues after larger recyclable materials are removed.
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08/08/2024 - 09:42
Juneau residents clear sodden homes after lake dammed by Mendenhall Glacier gives way in what is now yearly event
Residents in Alaska’s capital cleared out waterlogged homes on Wednesday after a lake dammed by the picturesque Mendenhall Glacier gave way, causing the worst flooding in Juneau yet from what has become a yearly phenomenon.
At least 100 homes and some businesses were damaged by rapidly rising floodwaters that crested early on Tuesday, according to initial estimates. In some areas, cars floated in chest-high water as people scrambled to evacuate. The waters receded by Wednesday, and the river level was falling.
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08/08/2024 - 08:00
Volunteers are helping save baby sea turtles as the endangered species’ favourite nesting spots come under pressure from development, poaching and tourists
Photographs by Thilina Kaluthotage
It’s a sweltering night on the western coast of Sri Lanka, and on Mount Lavinia beach there’s an unusual flurry of activity. Several young people in orange hi-vis vests are squatting in a circle, digging in the sand in the semi-darkness.
The team of volunteers is patrolling a popular tourist beach on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, scouting for turtle nesting sites. Finding the nests can involve a bit of detective work.
Turtle volunteers at a nesting site on Colombo’s Mount Lavinia beach. ‘Sometimes we dig holes on the beach to look for the eggs’
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