Breaking Waves: Ocean News

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

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

‘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.

Project to build German EV microchip factory put on hold

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 16:06:51 +0000

US firm Wolfspeed and German car parts supplier ZF postpone plans over doubts about viability

A project to build a €3bn factory making microchips for electric vehicles once hailed as part of a “return of the industrial revolution” in Germany has been put on hold, as the crisis in the country’s hi-tech manufacturing industry deepens.

‘I had to fill the tub with ice water’: Americans on how they climate-proof their homes

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:17:07 +0000

US readers are responding to the reality of the climate crisis by adapting their homes, from insulation as a refuge from heat to removing yard debris in case of wildfires

Rose, 62, was living in a remote area of Washington, west of Seattle, when the scorching “heat dome” of 2021 hit the Pacific north-west. As the house Rose shared with her then 93-year-old mother grew hotter, and their two air conditioning units struggled to make any dent on the wall of heat, Rose’s heart rate climbed, and she watched as all the rubber bands in the house liquefied.

Bill Maher puts the fate of the Great Barrier Reef in the spotlight – but do the claims stack up? | Temperature Check

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:00:42 +0000

The Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg has told the US cable host its biggest threat is not the climate crisis, but do his claims stack up?

‘What the hell is happening’: calls for answers after 10% of Tasmanian salmon die in Macquarie Harbour fish farms

admin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:00:39 +0000

Greens MP says number of mortalities is ‘enormous’ and ‘most likely the result of overstocking’

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Environmentalists are calling on the Tasmanian salmon industry to explain why more than 1,000 tonnes of salmon died in fish farms in Macquarie Harbour over seven months last spring and summer.