PFAS chemicals present in air, rain, atmosphere and water in basin, which holds nearly 95% of US freshwater
Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” are ubiquitous in the Great Lakes basin’s air, rain, atmosphere and water, new peer-reviewed research shows.
The first-of-its-kind, comprehensive picture of PFAS levels for the basin, which holds nearly 95% of the nation’s freshwater, also reveals that precipitation is probably a major contributor to the lakes’ contamination.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/18/2024 - 07:00
05/18/2024 - 06:42
About 60 flights cancelled after members of Letzte Generation glue themselves to ground at Munich
Eight climate activists have been arrested after causing Munich airport to close, leading to about 60 flight cancellations.
Six activists broke through a security fence and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, officials and local media reported.
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05/18/2024 - 05:35
Thousands of homes and farming land damaged in Ghor province, a week after over 300 killed in flash floods
At least 50 people were killed in a fresh bout of heavy rain and flooding in central Afghanistan, according to an official.
Dozens others remain missing, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesperson for Ghor’s provincial governor, on Saturday. He said the province had suffered significant financial losses with thousands of homes and properties damaged and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land destroyed in the floods on Friday, including in the province’s capital city, Feroz Koh.
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05/18/2024 - 05:16
South West Water identifies ‘damaged valve’ as possible cause of cryptosporidium contamination in Brixham area
Health officials are expecting more cases of a waterborne disease in Devon, as an MP said “heads are going to roll” over the outbreak and that the anger among residents was “palpable”.
The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed 46 cases of cryptosporidium infection in the Brixham area, while more than 100 other people have reported symptoms, including diarrhoea, stomach pains and dehydration.
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05/18/2024 - 00:00
Edible oil droplets trap bugs without the harm to people and wildlife that synthetic pesticides can cause
Tiny sticky droplets sprayed on crops to trap pests could be a green alternative to chemical pesticides, research has shown.
The insect glue, produced from edible oils, was inspired by plants such as sundews that use the strategy to capture their prey. A key advantage of physical pesticides over toxic pesticides is that pests are highly unlikely to evolve resistance, as this would require them to develop much larger and stronger bodies, while bigger beneficial insects, like bees, are not trapped by the drops.
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05/17/2024 - 10:16
Recognizing and respecting the different ways nature is valued can enable better environmental decision-making, according to new research.
05/17/2024 - 09:43
San Pedro Sula is rated ‘dangerous’ as effects of forest fires, El Niño and the climate crisis cause a spike in respiratory illnesses
The air quality in San Pedro Sula, the second-largest city in Honduras, as been classified as the most polluted on the American continent due to forest fires and weather conditions aggravated by El Niño and the climate crisis.
IQAir, a Swiss air-quality organisation that draws data from more than 30,000 monitoring stations around the world, said on Thursday that air quality in the city of about 1 million people has reached “dangerous” levels.
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05/17/2024 - 09:00
A 1C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world gross domestic product, researchers have found
The economic damage wrought by climate change is six times worse than previously thought, with global heating set to shrink wealth at a rate consistent with the level of financial losses of a continuing permanent war, research has found.
A 1C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world gross domestic product (GDP), the researchers found, a far higher estimate than that of previous analyses. The world has already warmed by more than 1C (1.8F) since pre-industrial times and many climate scientists predict a 3C (5.4F) rise will occur by the end of this century due to the ongoing burning of fossil fuels, a scenario that the new working paper, yet to be peer-reviewed, states will come with an enormous economic cost.
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05/17/2024 - 06:00
Fossil-fuel dependent country hopes to provide bridge between wealthy global north and poor south at November gathering
Oil is inescapable in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The smell of it greets the visitor on arrival and from the shores of the Caspian Sea on which the city is built the tankers are eternally visible. Flares from refineries near the centre light up the night sky, and you do not have to travel far to see fields of “nodding donkeys”, small piston pump oil wells about 6 metres (20ft) tall, that look almost festive in their bright red and green livery.
It will be an interesting setting for the gathering of the 29th UN climate conference of the parties, which will take place at the Olympic Stadium in November.
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05/17/2024 - 05:56
Authorities confirm 46 cases and warn of weeks-long disruption as firms in Brixham hit by cancellations before school half-term
Cases of an illness caused by a microscopic parasite in a Devon harbour town could continue for a further two weeks, experts said, with businesses predicting thousands of pounds of losses as school half-term approaches.
The comments came as the UK Health Security Agency confirmed that cases of cryptosporidium infection in the Brixham area had more than doubled from 22 to 46, with more than 100 others reporting symptoms of the disease.
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