Breaking Waves: Ocean News

US imposes strict limits on dust from lead-based paint to protect children

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 11:50:49 +0000

More than 30m homes are thought to contain lead paint, including nearly 4m where children under age of six live

Two weeks after setting a nationwide deadline for removal of lead pipes, the Biden administration is imposing strict new limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and childcare facilities.

A final rule announced on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency sets limits on lead dust on floors and window sills in pre-1978 residences and childcare facilities to levels so low they cannot be detected.

US power grid added battery equivalent of 20 nuclear reactors in past four years

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:00:08 +0000

Pace of growth helps maintain renewable energy when weather conditions interfere with wind and solar

Faced with worsening climate-driven disasters and an electricity grid increasingly supplied by intermittent renewables, the US is rapidly installing huge batteries that are already starting to help prevent power blackouts.

Disposable vapes to be banned in England next June, says Labour

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 07:39:09 +0000

Move is designed to combat environmental damage from single-use vapes and their widespread use by children

Disposable vapes will be banned from sale in England next summer, the government has confirmed.

From June 2025 it will be illegal to sell single-use vapes, in a move designed to combat environmental damage and their widespread use by children.

‘Potential issues’ with Coalition’s planned nuclear reactor sites, safety expert warns

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 07:02:46 +0000

Government agencies and departmental officials spend full day scrutinising Peter Dutton’s controversial plan to build seven nuclear power plants

Biodiversity declining even faster in ‘protected’ areas, scientists warn Cop16

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 05:00:02 +0000

Just designating key areas will not meet 30x30 target on nature loss, study says, pointing to oil drilling in parks

Biodiversity is declining more quickly within key protected areas than outside them, according to research that scientists say is a “wake-up call” to global leaders discussing how to stop nature loss at the UN’s Cop16 talks in Colombia.

‘There is a python with a platypus in its mouth’: botanist’s extreme monotreme v reptile encounter

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 04:00:12 +0000

Plant enthusiasts stumble across 2-metre long snake consuming egg-laying mammal in Marys Creek State Forest in Queensland

A botanist was admiring a myrtle shrub in bloom in an obscure state forest just west of Gympie in Queensland when his companion uttered 10 words that can rarely have been heard before – at least in English.

“I was just looking at a Gossia bidwillii, in flower and Darren calls out,” Elliot Bowerman said.

Carpet python discovered with platypus in its mouth in Australian creek – video

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 03:54:08 +0000

Plant enthusiast Darren Williams made the discovery in Marys Creek State Forest just west of Gympie in Queensland. The male platypus was freshly killed, probably after what would have been a fierce struggle with the ambush predator. Williams and his companion Elliot Bowerman photographed the roughly 2-metre long carpet python with its jaw firmly clasped around the platypus before quickly moving on. 'We didn’t want to disturb the snake,' Bowerman said

‘Ambassador’ grizzly bear dies after being hit by car in Wyoming

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 21:25:36 +0000

Grizzly No 399 was at least 28 years old and beloved by many in Grand Teton national park

A famous grizzly bear beloved for decades by countless tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers in Grand Teton national park is dead after being struck by a vehicle in western Wyoming.

Grizzly No 399 died on Tuesday night on a highway in Snake River Canyon south of Jackson, park officials said in a statement on Wednesday.

Include gardens in new rules for UK housebuilders, green groups urge

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:17:43 +0000

RHS says ensuring access to green space as part of housebuilding push could make Britons healthier

Requirements for gardens and the planting of trees must be included in Labour’s planned new rules for housebuilders, green groups have said.

The government is drawing up its future homes standard for new developments and it is not yet clear what requirements there will be for green space.

Disaster dining: cookouts became a lifeline in a hurricane-ravaged North Carolina city

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:00:31 +0000

With no power, no water and soon-to-spoil food, Asheville residents fired up their grills and emptied their freezers for communal meals

Erin Kellem’s Asheville, North Carolina neighborhood is a short drive from the city center, but feels remote. The Haw Creek area’s culs-de-sac are fronted by spacious yards and surrounded by thick woods that give the illusion of isolation.