Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Arsenic and old sugarcane: cleaning up Hawaii in the fallout from wildfires

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:00:35 +0000

When canec, Hawaii’s building material, is damaged, it can release toxic dust like asbestos – requiring special cleanup

When fire engulfed Lahaina last year, some of the older structures that burned contained canec, a historic Hawaiian-made building material made of solid sugarcane waste and potentially harmful inorganic arsenic.

It's a rave: Underground acoustics amplify soil health

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:15:31 +0000

Barely audible to human ears, healthy soils produce a cacophony of sounds in many forms -- a bit like an underground rave concert of bubble pops and clicks. Special recordings made by ecologists show this chaotic mixture of soundscapes can be a measure of the diversity of tiny living animals in the soil, which create sounds as they move and interact with their environment.

‘Strange and mysterious’: rarely seen, 12ft-long oarfish found in waters off San Diego

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:00:13 +0000

Group finds elusive deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times since 1901

A group of people kayaking and snorkeling off the San Diego coast made an unusual discovery when they came across an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times in over a century.

The 12ft-long silvery fish was found floating dead in the water last weekend. The group, along with marine experts, helped bring the creature ashore for study.

Chair of Nuclear for Australia denies that calling CO2 ‘plant food’ means he is a climate denier

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:00:40 +0000

Dr Adi Paterson’s statements are apparently at odds with the group’s official position, which says nuclear is needed to tackle the climate crisis

Say less to the dress: why I’m cutting back on secondhand clothes shopping

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:00:34 +0000

While the intention behind buying preloved is often rooted in sustainability, I’m uncomfortable enabling our culture’s shopping addiction

Why do whales beach themselves? A vial of parasites in a Tasmanian museum may hold the answer

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:00:33 +0000

Pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 was infested with thousands of parasitic nematodes that may have eaten away at its blowhole

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A vial of white parasitic worms left for decades in a Tasmanian museum may help solve a timeless mystery: why do whales strand themselves on beaches?

Climate activists in frame for £1m costs of protest bans run up by UK’s biggest law firm

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:00:32 +0000

DLA Piper seeking to recover costs in relation to injunctions it secured for National Highways and HS2, records show

Britain’s biggest law firm has sought more than £1m from climate protesters to cover the cost of court orders banning them from protesting, an investigation has found.

The multibillion-pound City law firm DLA Piper has been trying to recover costs from activists for work done on behalf of National Highways Limited (NHL) and HS2 Ltd – both public bodies – obtaining injunctions banning protests on their sites.

Beach battle in Malibu as billionaire accused of stealing sand for $30m home

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 13:41:05 +0000

Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio accused by fellow billionaire of using public beach as ‘personal sandbox’

In the posh city of Malibu, Barbie and Ken rollerblade, homes sell for up to $210m – and a billionaire is digging up the beach.

Tax credits in Biden’s landmark climate law disproportionately benefit well-off

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:00:31 +0000

Analysis of Inflation Reduction Act suggests working-class Americans missing out on renewable energy transition

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed exactly two years ago, was pitched as a policy that puts the “middle class first”. But the spending bill’s residential tax credits have so far disproportionately benefited wealthy families, new data indicates.

That’s a major challenge for the efforts to decarbonize the US economy in time to avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

Heat inequality ‘causing thousands of unreported deaths in poor countries’

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:00:30 +0000

Friederike Otto of World Weather Attribution says poor people and outdoor workers are dying around the world

Heat inequality is causing thousands of unreported deaths in poor countries and communities across the world, a leading analyst of climate impacts has warned, following global temperature records that may not have been seen in 120,000 years.