Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Cold showers and ‘farmers’ hours’: how readers stay cool in a heatwave

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 13:30:02 +0000

Air conditioning isn’t always enough to keep you safe – but people across the US have hacks to handle extreme heat

Another heatwave is sweeping much of the US this week, with millions under heat advisory. The blistering and potentially life-threatening temperatures come as much of the western US faces devastating wildfires and the north-east endures “apocolyptic” floods.

Ecologist taking on MoD to protect skylarks says he has faced threats and assault

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 12:00:03 +0000

Campaigners say rare grassland on former firing range in Essex was mowed, killing the birds and their chicks that nest on the ground

The song of the skylark has filled poets’ hearts for centuries, from Shelley’s “blithe spirit” to Wordsworth’s “ethereal minstrel”. But there is little that is poetic about a row over the birds that has blown up in Colchester.

Charity appeals for people to stay away from dolphin in Thames

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 08:42:34 +0000

Rescue body says dolphin spotted on Thursday may be further disoriented by human interference

People have been urged to stay away from a dolphin spotted in the River Thames.

The common dolphin had been seen several times near Putney Bridge, south-west London, on Thursday, and had appeared to be “struggling with the tide”, but had not been seen since.

‘This is climate change’: Scottish beach eroding by 7 metres a year

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 06:00:08 +0000

Centuries-old Montrose golf links falling into the sea and town at risk of flooding as coastal erosion accelerates

A beach in north-east Scotland is eroding rapidly owing to climate change, leaving a town at risk of flooding and its centuries-old golf links crumbling into the sea.

The Dynamic Coast report in 2021 studied the rate of erosion at Montrose and predicted that 120 metres would be lost over 40 years, an average of 3 metres a year.

Sea level changes shaped early life on Earth, fossil study reveals

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 17:29:09 +0000

Shifts in the Earth's continental plates that drove long-term changes in sea level set the stage for the evolution of the earliest animals on Earth, a study suggests.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake rings climate alarm bells over release of 4.1m tons of carbon dioxide

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:00:39 +0000

Study has found that the lake, which has lost 73% of its water, released climate-warming emissions

For years, scientists and environmental leaders have been raising alarm that the Great Salt Lake is headed toward a catastrophic decline.

Choughs breed in Kent for first time in 200 years

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 13:00:33 +0000

Unexpected fledging is result of long-term restoration project to bring red-billed birds back to Kent coastline

The chough, a charismatic cliff-dwelling corvid, has bred in Kent for the first time in two centuries.

A young pair among eight birds released last year defied expectations to successfully breed this summer, making a nest on Dover Castle and rearing one chick, which fledged in June.

Harris is ‘perfect person’ to prosecute big oil, climate advocates say

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 10:00:30 +0000

Environmentalists want DoJ to hold fossil fuel firms accountable and for presumptive nominee to lead charge

If elected president, Kamala Harris should take on the fossil fuel industry for its history of spreading climate disinformation, environmentalists say.

Forty US states and municipalities have sued big oil for allegedly spreading climate disinformation. For years, climate advocates and some lawmakers have said the Department of Justice should file a similar case.

Week in wildlife – in pictures: a feisty sea lion, a retiring elephant and a fleeing fox

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 07:00:27 +0000

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

China sees highest number of significant floods since records began

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 06:01:20 +0000

So far this year officials warnings have been issued for 25 floods, and China is only halfway through its peak flood season

Halfway through the peak flood season, China has already experienced the highest number of significant floods since record keeping began in 1998, and the hottest July since 1961, authorities said on Friday.

This year so far it has recorded 25 “numbered” events, which the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources defined as having water levels that prompt an official warning or are measured at a magnitude of a “once in two to five years” event.