Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Salmon industry in key Tasmanian location should be cut to save Maugean skate, scientists advise government

admin — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 05:49:00 +0000

Exclusive: Fish farms in Macquarie Harbour are the greatest threat to survival of ancient ray-like species, scientists advising Australian government find

Minuscule wasps enlisted to fight off moths in new pest control strategy

admin — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 05:00:36 +0000

Rentokil to use the wasps as a sustainable alternative to sprays in museums and homes

The newest recruits for the battle against moths will be the smallest pest control team in town.

Rentokil plans to release entosite parasitoid wasps into the nooks and crannies of museums, heritage sites and homes to stop moth infestations.

What’s happened to all the butterflies? – podcast

admin — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 04:00:37 +0000

Butterfly numbers in the UK appear to be at the lowest on record after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating. This comes on top of a long and worrying trend of decline.

‘I am so happy to see them!’: fan mussels are back in Europe’s waters – but can scientists keep them alive?

admin — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 04:00:35 +0000

After a series of mass mortality events, it is more common to find these huge Mediterranean clams dead. Which is why the species’ ‘biggest fangirl of all’, Susan Smillie, is thrilled to see a thriving population in Greece

I swim and I stare as my shadow causes panic on the seabed below. Shells snap shut, one, two, three. Alive, alive, alive. I am so happy to see them: noble pen shells, all improbably but indisputably alive. These giant Mediterranean clams are a species on the verge of extinction, with so few left that it is rare to find one living anywhere in Europe.

‘This year has been dead’: where have Britain’s insects gone?

admin — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 04:00:35 +0000

Surveys suggest that wet weather and habitat deterioration are among the causes of devastating population declines, but there are ways to help

When Christina Letanka moved to Chiddingly village in East Sussex 28 years ago, insects were everywhere. “Everything was prolific when we first arrived,” she says. The kitchen used to be full of flies during the day and moths at night, swarming under the light. “Now they’ve all gone.”

Cost of fighting flooding is soaking up English councils’ cash, ministers warned

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 23:01:28 +0000

District councils in low-lying areas say they have cut day-to-day services such as bin collections to fund pumping stations

The costs of preventing major floods caused by extreme weather and excessive rainfall have fuelled a growing financial crisis among district councils in low-lying areas of England, ministers have been warned.

Districts in the east of the country say they are having to cut day-to-day services such as bin collections to meet dramatic and unsustainable rises in payments levied to fund pumping stations used to protect communities from flooding.

Liquefied natural gas pollution linked to 60 premature US deaths a year – report

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 19:14:17 +0000

LNG exports responsible for $957m in total annual US health costs, says new Greenpeace and Sierra Club report

The expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports is responsible for scores of premature deaths and nearly $1bn in annual health costs, according to a new report from the green groups Greenpeace and Sierra Club.

Ecologists put an insect group on century-old map of biodiversity

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 16:42:33 +0000

The distribution of species around the globe is not a random process but an outcome resulting from several evolutionary mechanisms as well as past and current environmental limitations. As a result, since the mid-19th century, biologists have identified several main regions, called biogeographic realms, that depict these large ensembles of species around the world. These biogeographic realms represent one of the most fundamental descriptions of biodiversity on Earth and are commonly used in various fields of biology.

Fallout from Woodside’s birthday bash shows Australia is far from united in climate fight | Temperature Check

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 15:00:20 +0000

WA newspaper throws tantrum and Tony Abbott blames ‘climate cult’ after prime minister misses fossil fuel company’s party

Project 2025 promises billions of tonnes more carbon pollution – study

admin — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:00:14 +0000

Experts say climate policies contained within rightwing manifesto would wreck US climate targets and cost jobs

The impact of Donald Trump enacting the climate policies of the rightwing Project 2025 would result in billions of tonnes of extra carbon pollution, wrecking the US’s climate targets, as well as wiping out clean energy investments and more than a million jobs, a new analysis finds.