Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Florida’s manatees are actually relative newcomers, historical research suggests

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 12:00:48 +0000

State’s beloved but under-pressure sea cows were barely recorded in the area before seas warmed in the late 1700s

Manatees, long considered among Florida’s most beloved and enchanting inhabitants, are not native at all, and only came to the Sunshine state for warm temperatures and clear blue waters like any other visitor, researchers have found.

Live ones go in paper bags, dead ones in the freezer: the volunteers saving birds that fly into windows

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 12:00:48 +0000

Across Toronto, a team sets out at dawn to rescue migrating birds that have collided with buildings, and keep a record of the thousands each year that don’t make it

Every morning at dawn, a dozen volunteers scour the streets of Toronto picking up small birds. Some days they will find hundreds of them, most already dead or dying. A few they are able to save. Live birds are put in brown paper bags and driven to wildlife recovery centres, while dead birds are put in a large freezer. If no one picks them up, their carcasses are swept up by street cleaners.

‘Extraordinary longevity’: great whales can live a lot longer than we thought – if we leave them alone

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 08:00:37 +0000

Bowhead whales may not be the only species that can live to 200 years old. Researchers have found that the industrial hunting of great whales has masked the ability of these underwater giants to also live to great ages

In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s epic novel of 1851, the author asks if whales would survive the remorseless human hunt. Yes, he says, as he foresees a future flooded world in which the whale would outlive us and “spout his frothed defiance to the skies”.

Fig and almond trees thriving in UK thanks to fewer frosts, RHS says

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 06:00:36 +0000

Society to retire plants no longer suited to UK’s changing climate after 14% fewer days of ground frost recorded

Fig and almond trees are thriving in Britain as a result of fewer frosts, the Royal Horticultural Society has said.

The lack of frost, one of the effects of climate breakdown, means plants used to warmer climes have been doing well in RHS gardens. Almond trees from the Mediterranean were planted at Wisley in Surrey several years ago, and without frost this year have fruited well for the first time.

BoM data finds 2024 was Australia’s second-hottest year on record

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 02:48:04 +0000

Rise in greenhouse gases responsible for average temperatures rising to 1.46C above average, with one climate scientist saying this is ‘the norm now’

Each year I insist we visit the same beach. Repetition tricks the mind into thinking a thing will last for ever | Jenny Sinclair

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:19:45 +0000

I want to give my kids that overarching sense of a single summer going on all through childhood, a door to a memory they can open any time

Searchers find hiking poles of man missing for a week in Kosciuszko national park

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 23:13:37 +0000

Hadi Nazari, 23, last seen on Boxing Day descending the challenging Hannels Spur track

Hopes are dwindling that a missing hiker will be found alive as experts warn of the rough terrain and scarce water availability.

Infrastructure neglect and poverty lead to parasites in the Mississippi Delta

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 15:00:17 +0000

New research suggests parasitic infections in US south are far more widespread than previously acknowledged

For years, Marecitta Dorsey’s four children – ages seven to 14 – suffered regular bouts of nausea, vomiting and sore stomachs. Their unexplained symptoms were bad enough to keep them out of school a few days each month.

“My eldest would tell me, ‘I feel like my tummy’s burning,’” recalled Dorsey. “Every week I was taking at least one kid to the doctor because of something with their stomach.”

Republican-run states see opportunity to push extreme policies under Trump

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 15:00:17 +0000

Emboldened red states could advocate for rightwing reforms from steep tax cuts to slashes to education

Republican state lawmakers and conservative leaders around the United States see Donald Trump’s re-election as a mandate that will help them enact rightwing policies in Republican-run states across the US.

At Extinction Rebellion, we aimed for UK net zero in 2025. That won't happen – so here’s what to do instead | Rupert Read

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 14:00:17 +0000

With the climate crisis hitting Britain, we must build resilience at a local level by rewilding, saving water and fighting floods