Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Nevada lithium mine approved despite possible harm to endangered wildflower

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 20:36:50 +0000

Advocates vow to sue, saying plan, crucial to Biden’s clean energy agenda, will drive Tiehm’s buckwheat to extinction

For the first time under Joe Biden, a federal permit for a new lithium mine has been approved for a Nevada project essential to his clean energy agenda, despite conservationists’ vows to sue over the plan, which they say will drive an endangered wildflower to extinction.

Hawaii sets rules to stop spread of tree-killing coconut rhinoceros beetles

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 19:48:35 +0000

Agriculture board approves regulations, including ban on moving infested soil between islands, to thwart pests

Hawaii is doubling down in its fight against invasive coconut rhinoceros beetles, with state authorities greenlighting rules to prevent the damaging insects from spreading across the Pacific archipelago.

New mapping techniques empower bird conservation in Colombia

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 17:20:35 +0000

Researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling techniques.

Plant diversity enhances soil carbon retention

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 17:18:22 +0000

A new study shows that increasing plant diversity in agriculture can be used to improve the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural soils. As the agricultural sector strives to reduce its carbon footprint, promoting biodiversity in agricultural practices could be the key to more sustainable and climate-friendly food production systems.

Would abandoning hope help us to tackle the climate crisis?

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 15:35:07 +0000

Leaders are eager to fill us with positivity, but research shows people in distress are more likely to take collective action

If despair is the most unforgivable sin, then hope is surely the most abused virtue. That observation feels particularly apposite as we enter the Cop season, that time of United Nations megaconferences at the end of every year, when national leaders feel obliged to convince us the future will be better, despite growing evidence to the contrary.

‘It’s a big lever for change’: the radical contract protecting Hamburg’s green space

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:50:13 +0000

Citizen power forced Germany’s greenest city-state into a binding agreement balancing housing and nature

When Fritz Schumacher laid out his vision for Hamburg a century ago, the sketch looked more like a fern than a town plan. Fronds of urban development radiated from the centre to tickle the countryside, bristling with dense rows of housing. The white spaces in between were to be filled with parks and playgrounds.

Dog owners warned about boom in ticks on Australia’s east coast after last year’s hot and wet summer

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:00:55 +0000

Expert reminds owners ‘freeze it, don’t squeeze it’ when it comes to the parasites, ideally with a freezing spray from a chemist

‘Crunch time for real’: UN says time for climate delays has run out

admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:00:51 +0000

Means to stop catastrophic global heating exist, says UN chief, but political courage is needed to end world’s fossil fuel addiction

The huge cuts in carbon emissions now needed to end the climate crisis mean it is “crunch time for real”, according to the UN’s environment chief.

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.