NSW environment minister reassures public ‘Mickey will be freed’ after false rumours of ‘kill order’ spread online
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Wildlife services are working to rescue a cockatoo called Mickey that has been “living on brioche” inside a Sydney supermarket for four weeks.
The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, on Tuesday promised the bird was “not going to be shot” after false rumours of a “kill order” had spread online.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/21/2024 - 20:42
10/21/2024 - 20:09
Efforts to reduce levels of PFAS chemicals in our drinking water are important – but most water supplies are already below the new limits
The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has today released draft guidelines for acceptable levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water. PFAS chemicals are also known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily and can persist in the environment, including drinking water supplies.
The new guidelines – which are not mandatory but will inform state and territory policy – are expected to be finalised in April 2025. They propose a reduction in the maximum levels previously considered safe for four key PFAS chemicals: PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and PFBS.
Evidence to date does not establish whether PFAS at exposure levels seen in Australia might increase risks of cardiovascular disease … Established risk factors … are likely to be of a much greater magnitude than those potentially caused by PFAS.
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10/21/2024 - 18:01
Subsidiary of electricity firm SSE signs ‘unique and novel’ employment and social housing deal with local councils
More than 1,000 new homes are expected to be built across northern Scotland linked to a £20bn investment in grid infrastructure needed to meet the UK’s green energy targets.
SSEN Transmission, a subsidiary of the electricity firm SSE, has signed a deal with local councils and housing associations in the Highlands to fund at least 1,000 new properties as well as the refurbishment of existing, unoccupied ones.
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10/21/2024 - 17:30
Rapid urbanisation thought to be damaging adolescent health, as researchers say need for medication and diagnostic tests is urgent
Millions of teenagers in Africa are suffering from asthma with no formal diagnosis as the continent undergoes rapid urbanisation, researchers have found.
The study, published in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, involved 27,000 pupils from urban areas in Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria. It found more than 3,000 reported asthma symptoms, but only about 600 had a formal diagnosis.
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10/21/2024 - 11:18
Largest group lawsuit in English legal history opens over collapse of dam owned by mining firm that killed 19 people
The Anglo-Australian mining company BHP has been accused of “cynically and doggedly trying to avoid” responsibility for Brazil’s worst environmental disaster at the opening of the largest group lawsuit in English legal history.
The claim for up to £36bn in compensation was opened by lawyers acting for more than 620,000 individuals at the high court in London. It comes nine years after the breach of a dam holding toxic waste from an iron ore mine killed 19 people near the town of Mariana in south-eastern Brazil.
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10/21/2024 - 10:30
As nations meet in Colombia to confront species and ecosystem loss, the onus is on the global north to put science and collaboration at the heart of the issue
Angela McLean is chief scientific adviser to the UK government
Biodiversity, the incredible variety of life on Earth, is the backbone of the ecosystems that allow life on this planet to flourish. From the rich soil that nurtures our food and stores our carbon, to the green spaces that improve our mental health, biodiversity is an unsung hero upon which our societies and economies thrive.
Despite the clear benefits of – and moral arguments for – protecting nature, human activities are accelerating biodiversity loss at unprecedented rates. We are destroying habitats, overexploiting natural resources and introducing invasive species, which put plant and animal species at risk of extinction. Human-induced climate change is intensifying biodiversity loss and altering ecosystems, reducing their ability to provide natural climate solutions. Right now, in South America, devastating drought and fires – exacerbated by climate change – are destroying millions of acres of forest habitats.
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10/21/2024 - 05:00
The small town of Dimock saw its water become brown, undrinkable, even flammable – and its residents are still feeling the effects
Fracking has burst back on to the national stage in the US presidential election contest for the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. But for one town in this state that saw its water become mud-brown, undrinkable and even flammable 15 years ago, the specter of fracking never went away.
Residents in Dimock, a rural town of around 1,200 people in north-east Pennsylvania, have been locked in a lengthy battle to remediate their water supply that was ruined in 2009 after the drilling of dozens of wells to access a hotspot called the “Saudi Arabia of gas” found deep underneath their homes.
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10/21/2024 - 02:00
Delegates from 196 countries are discussing progress in preserving biodiversity. So what are the sticking points?
Every two years, leaders from around the world gather to discuss the state of life on Earth, negotiating agreements to preserve biodiversity and stop the destruction of nature. This week, representatives of 196 countries are gathering in Cali, Colombia, for the 16th UN Conference of the Parties summit (Cop16).
It is the first biodiversity-focused meeting since 2022, when governments struck a historic deal to halt the destruction of ecosystems. Scientists, Indigenous communities, business representatives and environment ministers from nearly 200 countries will discuss progress towards the targets and negotiate how they will be monitored. Here are the main things to look out for during the summit.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features
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Humanity is on the verge of ‘shattering Earth’s natural limits’, say experts in biodiversity warning
10/21/2024 - 00:00
As the Cop16 conference begins, scientists and academics say human activity has pushed the world into a danger zone
Humanity is “on the precipice” of shattering Earth’s limits, and will suffer huge costs if we fail to act on biodiversity loss, experts warn. This week, world leaders meet in Cali, Colombia, for the Cop16 UN biodiversity conference to discuss action on the global crisis. As they prepare for negotiations, scientists and experts around the world have warned that the stakes are high, and there is “no time to waste”.
“We are already locked in for significant damage, and we’re heading in a direction that will see more,” says Tom Oliver, professor of applied ecology at the University of Reading. “I really worry that negative changes could be very rapid.”
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10/21/2024 - 00:00
Exclusive: Researchers find 61% of fresh waters in the UK contain high levels of phosphate and nitrate
The UK’s rivers contain a cocktail of chemicals and stimulants including caffeine, antidepressants and painkillers from water company sewage releases, polluting freshwaters at levels which can pose a risk to aquatic life, testing has found.
Results from three days of testing in rivers by 4,531 volunteers for the environmental research group Earthwatch showed that, in addition to the chemical mix in rivers, 61% of fresh waters in the UK were in a poor state because of high levels of the nutrients phosphate and nitrate, the source of which is sewage effluent and agricultural runoff. England had the worst level of poor water quality in rivers, with 67% of freshwater samples showing high levels of nitrate and phosphate.
Of the 91 samples already analysed, 100% contained caffeine, with levels in 80% of these samples presenting some risk to aquatic life, said Woods.
Nicotine was found in 25% of samples, with concentrations that present some risk to aquatic life found in 7% of samples. The antidepressant venlafaxine was found in 30% of samples analysed, with 13% of samples containing levels that posed a risk to aquatic life.
The antibiotic trimethoprim was found in 10% of samples, all at concentrations that posed some level of risk to aquatic life.
Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, was in 11 % of samples, all of which showed some level of risk.
In 5% of samples, the fungicide tebuconazole was present as a result of agricultural runoff.
The neonicotinoid acetamiprid was present in 19% of samples, all showing some level of risk to aquatic life.
Earthwatch said the results showed the strong contribution that citizen science played in presenting a clearer picture of the health of rivers.
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