Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Roots and refuge: the year’s best mangrove images – in pictures

admin — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 06:00:42 +0000

From an unexpected glimpse of a silky anteater to a tagged terrapin, here is a selection of this year’s winning, runner-up and commended images from the 2024 Mangrove photography awards, run by the Mangrove Action Project

Childhood air pollution directly linked to adult lung health, study says

admin — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 05:00:41 +0000

Connection found between early exposure and bronchitic symptoms in adults without previous lung problems

Air pollution breathed in during childhood is one of the factors in adult lung health, according to a new study.

The origins of the study date back to 1992 when researchers began investigating the effects of air pollution on groups of children in California. Some of these children are now in their 40s.

Olympic demand for ‘unproven’ ice therapy is unsustainable, scientists say

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:30:32 +0000

Researchers say 650 tonnes on order for Paris Games is a potential stress on local and regional resources

From cold-water swimming to ice baths, deliberately freezing yourself has been hailed as a panacea for everything from menopause symptoms to arthritis, headaches and immunity conditions.

And for sportspeople, ice is widely used to aid recovery after exercise. But now researchers have said the clinical benefits of ice therapy are not evidence-based and its popularity is bad for the environment.

Man gets third-degree burns from walking on sand dunes in Death Valley

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:00:29 +0000

European visitor rushed to hospital after briefly walking barefoot in California national park amid extreme heat

A European visitor got third-degree burns on his feet while briefly walking barefoot on the sand dunes in California’s Death Valley national park over the weekend, park rangers said Thursday.

Great Salt Lake a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 19:47:11 +0000

Newly announced research examining greenhouse gas emissions from the drying lake bed of Great Salt Lake, Utah, calculates that 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were released in 2020. This research suggests that drying lake beds are an overlooked but potentially significant source of greenhouse gases, which may further increase due to climate change.

UN chief urges wealthy countries to beat fossil fuel ‘addiction’ amid expansions

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:43:36 +0000

Secretary general said wealthiest countries are ‘signing away our future’ with more production and called for phase-out of fossil fuels

The world’s wealthiest countries are “signing away our future” by leading a “flood” of expansion in fossil fuel activity that threatens worsening heatwaves and other climate impacts that imperil billions of people, the head of the United Nations has warned.

Canadian Rockies town Jasper badly damaged by fast-moving wildfire

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:32:39 +0000

More than 25,000 residents and tourists evacuated from national park region as firefighters forced into a retreat

A fast-moving wildfire has destroyed parts of Jasper, the old mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, with the mayor warning the damage was “beyond description and comprehension”. The blaze had forced more than 25,000 people to flee earlier this week.

Starmer to take on Labour councils that block pylons delivering clean energy

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 12:48:04 +0000

At formal launch of state-run GB Energy, PM sets out plan to build enough offshore wind facilities to power 20m homes

UK politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer has pledged to take on Labour MPs and councils that try to block pylon networks delivering a planned new generation of clean electricity, as he promised the government’s plans would lower people’s bills in this parliament.

‘They are so handsome’: the unusual day in the life of a pangolin carer

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 12:00:20 +0000

At a wildlife centre in Mozambique, trafficked animals are fed, nursed, taken for walks and eventually released back to the wild. Vet Mércia Ângela describes what it’s like to bond with these rare and charismatic mammals

I had never seen a pangolin before I started working with them in Mozambique’s Gorongosa national park. They are the only mammal in the world covered with scales. I think they are so handsome – just seeing them makes me fall in love.

Life at 115F: a sweltering summer pushes Las Vegas to the brink

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:00:19 +0000

Record heat is killing hundreds in Clark county. But one of America’s fastest-growing metro areas just keeps getting bigger

Hot air wafted through the heavy, gold-lined doors of a Las Vegas casino as they opened, offering a reminder of a disaster quietly unfolding outside. Even though the sun had just set on an evening in mid-July, temperatures were yet to dip below 100F (37C).

Spawned from a paved-over oasis in the Mojave, this desert metropolis has always been hot. But a string of brutal heatwaves this summer has pushed Sin City to a deadly simmer.