Breaking Waves: Ocean News

The president wooed farmers in his campaign, but now the USDA is yanking funding, citing ‘DEI’ and wasteful spending It’s just an eighth of an acre, but for Lawrencia Rogers, the plot where she grows broccolini, lettuce and beans on land once tilled by poorhouse residents in eastern Iowa is the closest she has come to living her dream. Iowa is one of the most agriculturally productive states in the country, but getting into farming is not easy, particularly for people like Rogers who have no family connections to the business. It’s nonetheless been a lifelong passion for the 33-year-old Iowan: at age six, she planted a rosebush that’s still alive today, and managed to grow cantaloupe on a strip of dirt and chain-link fence next to the driveway of her grandmother’s house. Continue reading...

Increase in sightings may not reflect increase in sharks with little evidence that threat to swimmers has risen Experts say that despite recent increased investment in drones to monitor for sharks in states like New York, the machines have limited usefulness as a public safety tool and there does not appear to be evidence that the threat to swimmers from sharks has increased. There have, however, been more reports of sharks around local beaches. Continue reading...

The tube cannot easily be adapted to cope with heatwaves, making conditions almost unbearable As the escalator descends below ground at King’s Cross St Pancras station in London, the shift from what was already a hot station entrance to the furnace-like subterranean depths is perceptible. On the tube it’s worse: a man leans back in his seat, eyes closed, sweltering; people hold electric fans an inch away from their faces. London commuters are known for their stoicism and the heat appears to be another tribulation to accept. They will need to: heatwaves in the capital are becoming routine. Continue reading...

Teachers call for schools to be urgently adapted for hot weather amid reports of nausea, fainting and heatstroke The extreme heat that has hit the UK twice in the past few weeks has left teachers struggling to cope as temperatures in some classrooms climb above 40C, with pupils and staff suffering from heatstroke, nausea and headaches. Teachers say they have been desperately trying to keep children safe, with some covering younger pupils in wet paper towels as they lie on the floor, while older students have been given trays of water under their desks to put their feet in. Continue reading...