Campaigners are concerned at how the tourist treat could affect the species, and how it could become an event like whale watching or shark diving
A tall, slim fin slashes the Mediterranean’s surface for a split second and the bait fish is gone, provoking a few gasps and some nervous laughs from the 40 or so snorkellers lined up to enter the open-water pen.
Most wear wetsuits and clutch masks and air tubes, a few are in swim shorts and goggles. Some have already had a beer or a glass of wine. The midday sun is out, The Trammps’ Disco Inferno is playing from the catamaran’s speakers and now people are climbing down a stepladder into a ring of netting that stretches 35 metres down into the sea near the Spanish port of L’Ametlla de Mar, about 80 miles from Barcelona.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/17/2024 - 01:00
07/17/2024 - 00:00
A fox in the sun, fireflies and a brush fire, and trees blanketed with butterflies are among the striking images caught by winners of the California Academy of Sciences’ annual contest. Now in its 11th year, it highlights biodiversity and the many threats our planet faces
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07/17/2024 - 00:00
Review says capital needs new reservoir, better flood defences and ‘heat plan’ for vulnerable people
Londoners who concrete over their gardens should be charged for doing so and given incentives to remove paving, a report to the mayor has recommended.
The city also needs a new reservoir, improved flood defences, and a “heat plan” to protect vulnerable residents from the increased risk of heatwaves, the report on the impact of the climate crisis has found.
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07/16/2024 - 22:14
Researchers from California Polytechnic State University have set up a webcam to observe a 'mega den' of as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes. Emily Taylor, the Cal Poly biology professor leading the Project RattleCam research, says the exact location in Colorado is being kept secret to keep snake lovers – or haters – away
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07/16/2024 - 18:05
This blog is now closed.
Screaming, freezing, struggling to breathe: confronting Queensland watch house footage exposes anguish of children locked in isolation cells
AFP asked to investigate CFMEU corruption allegations as ACTU suspends union’s construction and general division
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Tim Ayres flags ‘proportionate’ federal response to CFMEU
A Labor senator says that federal intervention into alleged criminal behaviour within the CFMEU will be effective and proportionate, AAP reports.
Tony and the team in there are doing the careful work of making sure that the government’s response is effective, well-weighted and effective.
While I don’t forecast the debates in terms of the national executive, we have received these requests from the premiers, we will act upon them, and we’ll act in accordance with the requests from the premiers.
We’re very blessed in this country. We don’t have a gun culture, we don’t have a history of political violence, we don’t at this point in time – thank God – have the fragmentation and polarisation that sadly exists in America to quite the same extent.
So look, can you rule these things out? Of course not. Do I expect it? Well, maybe some time in the next 100 or 200 years, sure. Almost anything could happen in that period of time. But is is imminent? I doubt it very much.
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07/16/2024 - 14:12
A new global assessment of scientific literature finds that nature-based solutions (NbS) are an economically effective method to mitigate risks from a range of disasters -- from floods and hurricanes to heatwaves and landslides -- which are only expected to intensify as Earth continues to warm.
07/16/2024 - 13:05
Half of Americans live in states without rules restricting disconnections for unpaid or overdue bills, report finds
Millions of low-income households are at risk of having their power disconnected this summer, exacerbating the risk of deadly heat as the climate crisis drives up temperatures.
A new report by the Centre for Energy Poverty and Climate (EPC) and the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada) found that almost half of Americans live in states without rules restricting disconnections for unpaid or overdue energy bills during potentially deadly heatwaves, forcing some low-income families to choose between cooling their homes and paying rent.
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07/16/2024 - 12:31
Nashville and surrounding areas have been hit by severe storms and flooding, overwhelming city’s infrastructure
Residents in Nashville, Illinois, are evacuating their homes after emergency management officials warned the failure of the city’s dam was “imminent”.
Nashville, a small city in Illinois with a population of nearly 3,000 people, and surrounding areas have been hit with severe storms which have caused flooding, overwhelming the city’s infrastructure. More than 5in of rain fell in the region within six hours on Tuesday.
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07/16/2024 - 12:30
Government will also overhaul state laws after Guardian Australia uncovered serious problems with biodiversity offsets scheme
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The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying: “We cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis.”
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Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;
Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;
Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;
Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment.
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07/16/2024 - 11:27
A new study has unveiled surprising findings about mercury pollution: where it comes from and how it moves through the environment vary significantly depending on the ecosystem. In drier regions, most mercury is deposited through rain and snow. In wetter, forested areas, gaseous mercury from the air sticks to leaves, which then fall and carry the toxin into the ground.
