While the category 2 storm was ‘worse than expected’, locals are grateful damage didn’t exceed Hurricane Ida
As Hurricane Francine churned offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Danielle Morris, a resident of the city of Dulac out in the swampy Louisiana coast, made a crucial decision.
“We’re crazy and we’re staying,” she said, speaking by phone before the hurricane hit, as she stocked up on gasoline for the family’s generator. Some might agree with her judgment of her own sanity – Morris lost her previous home in Hurricane Ida in 2021.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/12/2024 - 14:51
09/12/2024 - 13:00
Landslide in Greenland caused unprecedented seismic event that shows impact of global heating, say scientists
A landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days, a scientific investigation has found.
The seismic event was detected by earthquake sensors around the world but was so completely unprecedented that the researchers initially had no idea what had caused it. Having now solved the mystery, the scientists said it showed how global heating was already having planetary-scale impacts and that major landslides were possible in places previously believed to be stable as temperatures rapidly rose.
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09/12/2024 - 11:58
Four galleries to be overhauled and two more spaces to reopen, including Fixing Our Broken Planet exhibition
The Natural History Museum in London has announced a major programme of transformation it says will mark “a step-change from being a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change” in response to the climate emergency.
The scheme to renovate the museum’s celebrated Victorian building and develop a new research and storage facility will build on its aim to turn visitors into “advocates for the planet”, it said on Thursday.
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09/12/2024 - 10:29
Study suggests hydrogel microparticles increase survival by 30% in bumblebees exposed to lethal doses of neonicotinoids
Scientists have developed a “vaccine” for bees against pesticides – and it appears to work, according to an initial study.
According to the findings, published in Nature Sustainability, hydrogel microparticles fed to bumblebees in sugar water caused a 30% higher survival rate in individuals exposed to lethal doses of neonicotinoids, and significantly milder symptoms in those exposed to lower doses that would not usually be lethal but can cause harm.
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09/12/2024 - 10:00
Calls for suppression efforts to be extended after at least five nests discovered at Logan in the Daisy Hill koala bushlands
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Fire ants have reached protected koala habitat and a koala priority area in south-eastern Queensland, with experts warning of the danger the highly invasive pest poses to native wildlife.
At least five red imported fire ant (Rifa) nests were discovered in Neville Lawrie reserve at Logan, which is part of the Daisy Hill koala bushlands, at the end of August.
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09/12/2024 - 10:00
While the Greens remain hopeful of compromise, the PM has indicated he wants a deal struck with the Coalition
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Anthony Albanese is rejecting demands from the Greens and some Senate crossbenchers to subject development projects to climate-impact assessments and remove forestry’s effective exemption from environmental protection law, as the government negotiates on stalled legislation with parties to the left and right.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is in talks with the Greens, crossbenchers and the Coalition over legislation to establish an environment protection authority.
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09/12/2024 - 08:52
The storm’s winds increased 35mph in 24 hours – something that global heating is only making more common
Hurricane Francine may now be weakening after pummeling Louisiana but the storm’s rapid and surprise intensification into a category 2 storm is one that scientists say is only getting more common due to global heating.
Francine crunched into Terrebonne parish, in southern Louisiana, on Wednesday, bringing sustained winds of about 100mph (160km/h) as it came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, causing flash flooding and power outages for hundreds of thousands of people. New Orleans got a month’s worth of rain within just a day.
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09/12/2024 - 08:38
Rollout of pylons in countryside is a cheaper, quicker way to integrate green electricity, energy adviser says
The government has ruled out burying electricity cables underground as part of its energy strategy, which will involve the unrolling of hundreds of pylons across the British countryside, Ed Miliband’s clean energy adviser has said.
Chris Stark, the former leader of the Climate Change Committee, now heads the government’s “mission control” department for decarbonising the grid by boosting renewable energy and building connections across the country.
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09/12/2024 - 08:18
Wildfires east of Los Angeles threaten tens of thousands of homes since accelerating during weekend heatwave
Firefighters battling three major wildfires in the mountains east of Los Angeles took advantage of cooler weather as they slowly gained the upper hand, but not before dozens of homes were destroyed and thousands of people were forced to evacuate.
California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023. The wildfires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures across southern California since they accelerated during a triple-digit heatwave over the weekend.
The Airport fire in Orange county, which has burned more than 35 sq miles (91 sq km). The fire was 5% contained on Wednesday night and was reportedly sparked by heavy equipment operating in the area.
The Line fire in the San Bernardino national forest, which was 18% contained on Wednesday and had charred 57 sq miles (148 sq km). The blaze has injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested on Tuesday.
The Bridge fire east of Los Angeles, which grew tenfold in a day and has burned 78 sq miles (202 sq km), torched at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire is not yet known. It remained 0% contained on Wednesday night.
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09/12/2024 - 08:00
As increasingly explosive fire seasons ravage the country, federal firefighters say their employer is exacerbating exhaustion by misclassifying their jobs
Firefighters are feeling the strain of another long and intense season, with months to go before the highest risks subside. But as they battle the flames, the thousands of people working for the US Forest Service (USFS), the largest federal employer of firefighters, are also fighting for changes within the agency to tackle issues they say have made the work even harder.
Federal firefighters have been waiting for years for revisions to outdated job descriptions, which have forced them to do more for less. Many have opted to leave altogether.
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