Flathead catfish -- native to the Mississippi River basin -- were first detected in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania in 2002, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In the two decades since then, the invasive species has spread throughout the river basin. The impact of the large predator on the waterway's food webs and ecology was unknown, but now a research team is beginning to understand what Susquehanna flatheads are eating and how their presence is affecting native aquatic species in the river.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/22/2024 - 14:00
Report also finds at least 1,344 individual birds of prey were persecuted in the UK between 2009 and 2023
More hen harriers were killed in 2023 than in any other year on record, a report has found.
The RSPB’s Birdcrime report also found that at least 1,344 individual birds of prey were persecuted in the UK between 2009 and 2023, and that 75% of people convicted of offences related to the persecution of birds of prey in that period were connected to the gamebird shooting industry.
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10/22/2024 - 10:55
The combined impact of so-called 'forever chemicals' is more harmful to the environment than single chemicals in isolation, a new study shows.
10/22/2024 - 10:00
In the mountainous area near Asheville, affected growers must now replenish water-logged and often tainted land
Hurricane Helene took much from western North Carolina where I live, farm and raise my family. The stories are harrowing: houses obliterated by landslides, whole families washed away, corpses revealed as the waters receded.
Suddenly, there’s deep climate trauma here, in a place where we mistakenly thought hurricanes happened to Floridians and coastal communities, not us. Helene stole our sense of security: we now side-eye trees, which crushed homes, power lines, cars and people. And the rain, the farmer’s frequent wish, turned our rivers maniacal.
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10/22/2024 - 08:00
Energy secretary prepares new pledge for big UK carbon cuts in next decade amid potential cabinet division
Ed Miliband is facing his first key test on Labour’s ambitions for global climate leadership, with a crucial decision looming on how far and how fast to cut the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The energy secretary is preparing a new international pledge for the UK to cut carbon sharply in the next decade, but could face opposition within the cabinet.
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10/22/2024 - 07:00
Critics say eels could be smuggled eastwards towards Asia but exporter says they are for ‘restocking’ project
Millions of critically endangered eels have been exported from the Severn estuary to Russia this year and conservationists fear export quotas will be increased next year.
A tonne of glass eels, the young elvers that swim into European estuaries from the Sargasso Sea each spring, was flown to Kaliningrad this year, double the amount exported to the Russian port the previous year.
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10/22/2024 - 06:00
Deforestation fell by a third when the guerrilla leader Ivan Mordisco violently enforced a logging ban, but now he has changed tack and is threatening Cop16 biodiversity talks
In the Amazon states of southern Colombia, uniform patches of cattle pasture suddenly give way to trees so numerous and densely packed that the blots of emerald, lime green and white overlap as vines, leaves and tree trunks merge into one.
According to official figures, this place is an international success story: the frontline of the country’s fight against deforestation, which it slashed last year by 36%.
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10/21/2024 - 23:00
Mowi Scotland, which supplies Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, blames a rise in sea temperatures for the deaths, while campaigners say expanding farms will make things worse
More than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK’s largest supplier.
The deaths at two adjacent Mowi Scotland sites in Loch Seaforth on the Outer Hebrides – licensed as one farm by the Scottish government – rose to just over a million during the year-and-a-half production cycle that it usually takes to raise a salmon in seawater, and which in this case began in spring 2023. Mowi supplies salmon to retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Ocado. Many of its farms, including those in the Hebrides, are certified under the RSPCA Assured label, which guarantees higher animal welfare standards.
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10/21/2024 - 20:42
NSW environment minister hopes ‘Mickey will be flying free by tomorrow’ after successful capture by wildlife services
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A sulphur-crested cockatoo called Mickey that had been “living on brioche” inside a Sydney supermarket for four weeks has been captured by wildlife services and is expected to be set free soon.
The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, announced on Tuesday evening that the bird had “been safely captured by wildlife rescuers after spending way too long in Macarthur Square”.
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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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