Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Australia to toughen rules around acceptable levels of key PFAS chemicals in drinking water under draft guidelines

admin — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 01:12:47 +0000

National Health and Medical Research Council proposal lowers the limits for four PFAS chemicals in drinking water

UK appoints first nature envoy to tackle species decline

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 17:00:49 +0000

Ruth Davis named special representative for nature ‘to put climate and nature at the heart of our foreign policy’

The government has appointed the UK’s first envoy for nature, a former environment campaigner described as “the environmentalist’s environmentalist”, who will be charged with forging global agreement on halting the precipitous decline of species.

Rain and slugs blamed for this year’s green-tinged Halloween pumpkins

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 14:16:33 +0000

It has been a nightmare season for farmers, with England said to have had its second-worst harvest on record

Giant orange pumpkins with ghoulish grins have become a Halloween doorstep tradition but this year trick-or-treaters may be greeted with even spookier green-tinged jack-o-lanterns after a nightmare season for growers.

In Asda, pumpkin displays have signs telling shoppers “don’t worry if I’m slightly green, I will ripen at home and turn orange”.

Cotswold wildlife park successfully breeds endangered Madagascan lemur

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 14:03:06 +0000

Greater bamboo lemur births in captivity are extremely rare and park is only UK collection to have bred it this year

Cotswold wildlife park has successfully bred one of Madagascar’s most endangered lemurs.

The as yet unnamed youngster was born to a breeding male, Raphael, and female, Bijou, at the wildlife park.

The ‘active transport’ ideas from around the world that could make Australians healthier and our cities cleaner

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 14:00:48 +0000

Policies such as cash payouts for bicycle commuters have knock-on effects including reduced pollution and better physical and mental health

University of Toronto’s environment school cuts financial ties to fossil fuels

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 14:00:47 +0000

Princeton University, the only other North American school to do so, rolled back its commitment recently

The University of Toronto’s environment school has announced it will financially dissociate from fossil fuel companies, in a landmark win for climate activists.

Degrowth has an image problem it desperately needs to overcome | Larry Elliott

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 10:58:55 +0000

We need to deal with the climate effects of global capitalism the way we deal with inflation – by applying the brakes

Cop16: Colombia prepares to host ‘decisive’ summit on biodiversity

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 07:00:41 +0000

Experts say UN event will be critical for world’s declining wildlife population as host nation pushes for inclusivity

World leaders, environmental activists and prominent researchers have begun to arrive in Cali, Colombia, for a biodiversity summit that experts say will be decisive for the fate of the world’s rapidly declining wildlife populations.

The host nation is also hoping that the summit, which formally opens on Sunday evening, will be the most inclusive in history.

‘It’s a monster task’: can culling ferrets and rats save one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies?

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 07:00:41 +0000

Puffins, Manx shearwaters and kittiwakes on Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland have been dying. Now islanders and experts think they have the solution

The dramatic sea cliffs, crags and stacks of Rathlin Island, county Antrim, rise more than 200 metres above the Atlantic Ocean and host one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies, including hundreds of endangered puffins, attracting up to 20,000 birders and tourists a year.

Does air pollution cause dementia? UK scientists launch study to find out

admin — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 06:00:36 +0000

Research at the Francis Crick Institute could lead to new drugs to counter progress of diseases like Alzheimer’s

British scientists are about to launch a remarkable research project that will demonstrate how the air we breathe can affect our brains. This work will be vital, they say, in understanding a major medical problem: how atmospheric pollution can trigger dementia.