Breaking Waves: Ocean News

A cicada: ‘What cicadas leave behind is a kind of crystallised memory’ | Helen Sullivan

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 14:00:41 +0000

Part of their body is hollow, this amplifies the sound. The longer you listen to their sound, the more they seem to sync up

Bleak outlook for US farmers – and Trump tariffs could make it worse

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:00:36 +0000

Bumper grain crop set to weigh heavily as farmers count costs of seed, fertilizer – and effects of possible trade war

Many US midwestern grain farmers will lose money this year after reaping a bumper crop, and the outlook for their future income is bleak.

World endures 'decade of deadly heat' as 2024 caps hottest years on record

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 09:35:55 +0000

UN secretary general, António Guterres, says ‘we must exit this road to ruin’ in annual new year message

The world has endured a “decade of deadly heat”, with 2024 capping 10 years of unprecedented temperatures, the UN has said.

Delivering his annual new year message, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the 10 hottest years on record had happened in the past decade, including 2024.

I’m obsessed with broken shells: they are marked by life, like our skin

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 06:00:28 +0000

I wind my thread around their holes to create sculptures that connect with ageing and time

I have collected hundreds and hundreds of broken shells. I select them by holding them up to the sea, looking at the shape of them and deciding whether I want to work with them – and whether they will work with my thread.

Police seize 6,000 illegal wild birds’ eggs as raids net largest haul in UK history

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 05:00:27 +0000

Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

2024’s most costly climate disasters killed 2,000 people and caused $229bn in damages, data shows

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 00:01:21 +0000

Analysis of insurance payouts by Christian Aid reveals three-quarters of financial destruction occurred in US

The world’s 10 most costly climate disasters of 2024 caused $229bn in damages and killed 2,000 people, the latest annual analysis of insurance payouts has revealed.

Three-quarters of the financial destruction occurred in the world’s biggest economy, the US, where climate denier Donald Trump will become president next month.

Disparities in EV charging provision risk drop-off in UK transition, study warns

admin — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:00:09 +0000

Exclusive: Report finds poorer areas particularly affected by varying availability and cost of charging electric cars

The UK is at risk of a drastic slowdown in its transition to electric cars because of big disparities in the availability and cost of charging points, especially in poorer areas, a report says.

The study, by the consultancy Stonehaven, argues that given rapid advances in batteries and car range, persuading more people to move to electric vehicles is now less an issue of technology than one of “urban management and social equity”.

How extreme car dependency is driving Americans to unhappiness

admin — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:00:06 +0000

A car is often essential in the US but while owning a vehicle is better than not for life satisfaction, a study has found, having to drive too much sends happiness plummeting

The United States, with its enormous highways, sprawling suburbs and neglected public transport systems, is one of the most car-dependent countries in the world. But this arrangement of obligatory driving is making many Americans actively unhappy, new research has found.

Kew Gardens adds over 300 wild seeds in significant boost to living collection

admin — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 08:00:01 +0000

In 2024 horticulturalists made single biggest introduction of rare seeds to collection in the past decade

The Codonopsis clematidea smells like a skunk, the Tulipa toktogulica has a peculiar, elongated bulb and the Fritillaria imperialis is exceptionally tall. But to the horticulturalists who journeyed to remote alpine meadows and forests to find these rare flowers growing in the wild this year, they are nothing less than the “jewels of the earth”.

Australia’s best agency photography for 2024 – in pictures

admin — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 23:00:50 +0000

Protests, Taylor Swift and chubby penguins are all part of the best images from the wire agencies in 2024

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