Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘I turned into a solar nerd’: money and fun were the unexpected benefits of installing panels

admin — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 05:00:54 +0000

Our former environment correspondent had solar panels installed in 2010 and later added a heat pump. He’s totted up the energy generated and cash saved over the years

An abiding memory of a day in August 2010, the first time my solar panels were connected to the grid, was of the builders downing tools and watching the electricity meter whiz round backwards.

It was a sunny day and they were supposed to be finishing the plastering and insulation, but the novel sight of the old-style electricity meter in reverse was too entertaining.

Take a tour of the South Australian seabed on the back of a sea lion - video

admin — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 04:15:51 +0000

Eight Australian sea lions were enlisted to map the ocean floor by sticking cameras with satellite tracking to their backs. Almost 90 hours of footage and 500km later, conservationists hope to have much clearer ideas on how to protect the sea lions. “I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”

‘Best slow TV ever’: scientists mount cameras on endangered sea lions to map Australia’s ocean floor

admin — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 04:14:38 +0000

Eight females from two seal colonies have filmed almost 90 hours across more than 500km, helping scientists map 5,000 sq km of habitat

UK failing to monitor apparently falling wasp populations, expert warns

admin — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 04:00:52 +0000

Gardeners and pest controllers say wasps, important predators and pollinators, appear to be in sharp decline

The UK is not doing enough to track wasp populations as numbers appear to plummet, a leading expert has warned.

While there were national monitoring schemes for some invertebrates, including bees and butterflies, there was no such programme in place for wasps, said Dr Gavin Broad, principal curator of wasps at the Natural History Museum.

Understanding surfing as a ‘blue space’ activity for its contributions to health and wellbeing

admin — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 07 August 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00076-4

Elephants on the move: Mapping connections across African landscapes

admin — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 20:37:45 +0000

Elephant conservation is a major priority in southern Africa, but habitat loss and urbanization mean the far-ranging pachyderms are increasingly restricted to protected areas like game reserves. The risk? Contained populations could become genetically isolated over time, making elephants more vulnerable to disease and environmental change.

A new way of thinking about the economy could help protect the Amazon, and help its people thrive

admin — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 17:13:00 +0000

To protect the Amazon and support the wellbeing of its people, its economy needs to shift from environmentally harmful production to a model built around the diversity of indigenous and rural communities, and standing forests.

In Alaska, advocates say reducing prison population is a key climate strategy

admin — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:00:38 +0000

Ageing correctional centers and the people within are threatened by floods, extreme heat, and building collapses due to snowfall and thawing permafrost

Over millions of years, glaciers slid across what is now northern Juneau, forming the craggy valleys and alluvial plains of south-east Alaska. Then about 200 years ago, when these glaciers shrank amid rising global temperatures, meltwater flowed downstream, depositing loose, silty soil along bodies of water like Lemon Creek.

Pig-nosed turtle and Pugh’s frog among new species added to Australia’s endangered species list

admin — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:00:36 +0000

The number of species recognised as threatened with extinction rises by 13 and now stands at 2,224

Almost 500 chemicals found in England’s rivers and groundwater

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

More than half classed as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, with 20 categorised as ‘substances of very high concern’

Almost 500 different chemicals, some of which are banned, have been found in various mixtures across all 171 river and groundwater catchments tested in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency, analysed by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations.