Activists say Kennedy could’ve committed felony violation for allegedly driving with whale skull strapped to car roof
His independent White House campaign has fizzled, but the flow of bizarre stories of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s unorthodox handling of the carcasses of wild mammals has experienced no similar suspension.
An environmental group is calling for a federal investigation into the former presidential candidate for an episode in which he allegedly severed the head of a washed-up whale with a chainsaw – and drove home with it strapped to his car’s roof.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/27/2024 - 11:16
08/27/2024 - 11:15
Moisture from crops drives up already high humidity in areas where 55 million are under extreme heat alerts
You won’t believe your ears, but corn is making the extreme heat the US midwest is battling feel more intense, according to experts.
The moisture – or “sweat” – that corn and other crops release in high temperatures is contributing to the humidity in the air in the midwest US, where 55 million people have been under alerts for extreme heat in recent days. The increase in moisture pushes up dew points, making it harder for water vapor to condensate – and for it to feel cooler.
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 10:34
More than 21,500 US deaths over last two decades were connected to heat, top medical journal finds
As record-breaking heatwaves continue across parts of the US, a new report shows that heat-related deaths in the country rose by 117% between 1999 and 2023.
The report, released on Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama), found that from 1999 to 2023, there have been more than 21,500 heat-related deaths recorded in the US.
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 10:00
The cameras that made the falcons a social media phenomenon are rolling again for a new breeding season
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
For more than three decades, Melbourne’s famed Collins Street peregrine falcons have treated a CBD skyscraper ledge as home.
Now, the cameras that made them a social media phenomenon are again rolling for a new breeding season, with the first egg laid this week.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 06:54
Open letter to Labour energy secretary from 41 groups says wood-burning biomass plants are putting forests and biodiversity at risk
Business live – latest updates
More than 40 green groups have called on Ed Miliband to scrap plans to pay billions in subsidies to the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire for it to keep burning wood pellets imported from overseas forests.
In an open letter to the energy secretary, 41 groups from across Europe and the US say they are “deeply concerned” about the UK government’s plans to foot the cost of extending the subsidy scheme, which supports the UK’s most polluting power plant from 2027 until the end of the decade.
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 06:00
Michael Dourson receives funds from chemical makers and plans to develop and publish studies that benefit firms
Scientists with financial ties to industry and histories of producing controversial research to derail chemical regulations are mobilizing to attack strict new federal drinking water limits for toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, documents reviewed by the Guardian reveal.
In July, Michael Dourson, a contentious toxicologist who receives some funding from chemical makers, sent an email to scientists, consultants and lawyers detailing a plan to develop and publish peer-reviewed science for chemical companies to wield as evidence against PFAS limits. It went out just after industry groups mounted a legal challenge to the restrictions.
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 05:55
Location of recently found sample of Britain’s rarest plant kept secret to protect it from enthusiasts and poachers
Britain’s rarest plant, a “holy grail” orchid, has been rediscovered for the first time since 2009, and scientists are now working to protect it from slugs, deer – and poachers.
The ghost orchid was discovered earlier this month by Richard Bate, a dental surgeon, orchid lover and member of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).
Herefordshire and Shropshire: Found flowering in only five years between 1854 and 1910, followed by a 72-year gap until 1982, and then a 27-year gap until the last sighting in 2009.
Oxfordshire: Discovered by a schoolgirl in 1924, the ghost orchid was found flowering in about a dozen years between 1924 and 1979.
Buckinghamshire: First found in 1953, the ghost orchid was recorded in bloom in 25 of the years between 1953 and 1987.
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 04:38
It’s paper straws and compostable cups for the masses, space travel and $600m weddings for their overlords. No wonder everyone who can afford it wants a doomsday bunker
Jesus, if I remember correctly, usually travelled by donkey or by foot. Today’s corporate saviours, however, have more elevated tastes. Last week Starbucks made headlines after it was revealed its new CEO, Brian Niccol – who has been described as the “messiah” the ailing coffee company had been searching for – will be commuting to the office via private jet. Niccol, you see, is generously going to abide by the company’s policy of being in the office three days a week. But since he lives in California and the Starbucks HQ is more than 1,000 miles away in Seattle, a corporate jet is really the only way to go.
Did anyone at Starbucks sit down with a cup of coffee and ponder the optics of this before sealing the deal? Because the optics are terrible. Back in 2018 the company made a lot of noise about how it was getting rid of plastic straws and working towards a recyclable and compostable “cup solution”. What’s the point of that posturing if you’re then going to stick your CEO on an emission-spewing private jet a couple of times a week? As environmental groups and plenty of angry people on the internet have pointed out, this supercommute makes a mockery of Starbucks’ supposed “green agenda”.
Continue reading...
08/27/2024 - 01:45
Millions of sharks are killed every year, but a population in the island paradise could hold clues to where they breed and give birth, enabling better protections
Within minutes the sharks, with their characteristic stripes and sharp, jagged teeth, appear from the depths of the Indian Ocean. They follow the scent of fish blood and oil coming from tuna heads a research team has hidden under a pile of rocks in a shallow sandy area.
The tiger sharks, perhaps eight or nine and up to four metres long, circle the divers, at times only an arm’s length away. All are females, two with bite marks on their flanks and fins, indicating recent mating. Some have remarkably fat bellies.
Tiger sharks circle at the Tiger Zoo dive site
Continue reading...
08/26/2024 - 23:01
Australian study of guppies shows that pharmaceutical pollution could threaten species’ long-term survival
Contamination of waterways with the antidepressant Prozac is disrupting fish bodies and behaviours in ways that could threaten their long-term survival, new research has found.
As global consumption of pharmaceuticals has increased, residues have entered rivers and streams via wastewater raising concerns about the effects on ecosystems and wildlife.
Continue reading...
