The ancient fish were successfully hatched by scientists in Tasmania using two adults and 50 eggs. The Maugean skate is thought to be found only in the vast harbour on the state’s west coast. Numbers have fallen sharply due to the impact of salmon farms, hydro power stations altering upstream river flows, gillnet fishing and rising harbour temperatures due to the climate crisis, studies have found
Politics and science: Tasmanian leaders back salmon farms ‘at all costs’ while researchers work to save endangered Maugean skate
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/13/2024 - 10:00
05/13/2024 - 09:13
A US report argues that to move away from a disposable culture, businesses need robust, efficient reuse systems
For several months last year, patrons of a Seattle coffee shop called Tailwind Cafe had the option of ordering their americanos and lattes in a returnable metal to-go cup. They could borrow one from Tailwind, go on their way and then at some point – perhaps a few hours later, perhaps on another day that week – return it to the shop, which would clean it and refill it for the next person. If the cup wasn’t returned within 14 days, the customer would be charged a $15 deposit, although even that was ultimately refundable if the cup was returned by the end of 45 days.
But the system quickly ran into trouble. It was “overwhelming” trying to explain the return system to every interested customer, said Tailwind’s head chef, Kayla Tekautz. Many were hesitant to participate after learning that they could only return the cups to Tailwind or the other drop-off location, six miles away. Plus, Tailwind’s QR code reader kept malfunctioning, requiring repeated visits from a mechanic. At the end of last summer, Tailwind quietly ended the scheme. “It just didn’t work,” Tekautz said.
This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
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05/13/2024 - 09:00
Read more from the DIY Climate Changers, a new series on everyday people’s creative solutions to the climate crisis
Jannine Mancilla, 32, and Nicole Macias, 34, bonded over a shared love of DIY fashion and hand-me-downs, and frustrations with an environmentally-destructive industry and a throwaway culture that creates huge amounts of waste. So they came up with a radical idea: asking people to offer up their old clothes – for free. Their Los Angeles clothing swaps have grown from humble origins to “overwhelmingly” popular events that receive hundreds of pounds of clothing donations each month, helping attendees save the planet and keep money in their pockets.
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05/13/2024 - 07:42
British Columbia wildfire service says blaze is burning 2km from Fort Nelson and encourages remaining people to leave
An intense wildfire could hit a town in western Canada on Monday, based on forecasts of strong winds that have been fueling the out-of-control blaze which has already forced the evacuation of thousands, fire experts and officials warned.
The British Columbia wildfire service said the blaze was burning just 2km (1.2 miles) north-west of Fort Nelson, which has already seen about 3,500 people evacuated from there after an order to leave was issued on Friday.
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05/13/2024 - 07:23
More than 4,000 species are targeted by traffickers, with illegal trade active in 80% of countries, says Office on Drugs and Crime
More than 4,000 species around the world are being targeted by wildlife traffickers, causing “untold harm upon nature”, a UN report has warned.
Wildlife crime is driven by demand for medicine, pets, bushmeat, ornamental plants and trophies. Out of all the mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians seized, 40% were on the red list of threatened or near-threatened species, the report found.
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05/13/2024 - 02:00
Common infections will kill millions if drug resistance through misuse of antibiotics is not curbed, says England’s ex-chief medical officer
What is antimicrobial resistance and how big a problem is it?
The Covid-19 pandemic will “look minor” compared with what humanity faces from the growing number of superbugs resistant to current drugs, Prof Dame Sally Davies, England’s former chief medical officer, has warned.
Davies, who is now the UK’s special envoy on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), lost her goddaughter two years ago to an infection that could not be treated.
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05/13/2024 - 01:00
Water campaigner Feargal Sharkey says newly designated sites will join ‘ignoble, floundering list of failure’
Twenty-seven new bathing sites will be designated in England ahead of this summer’s swimming season, the government has announced.
Giving waterways bathing status means the Environment Agency has to test them for pollution during the summer months, putting pressure on water companies to stop dumping sewage in them.
Church Cliff beach, Lyme Regis, Dorset
Coastguards beach, River Erme, Devon
Coniston boating centre, Coniston Water, Cumbria
Coniston Brown Howe, Coniston Water, Cumbria
Derwent Water at Crow Park, Keswick, Cumbria
Goring beach, Worthing, West Sussex
Littlehaven beach, Tyne and Wear
Manningtree beach, Essex
Monk Coniston, Coniston Water, Cumbria
River Avon at Fordingbridge, Hampshire
River Cam at Sheep’s Green, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
River Dart estuary at Dittisham, Devon
River Dart estuary at Steamer Quay, Totnes, Devon
River Dart estuary at Stoke Gabriel, Devon
River Dart estuary at Warfleet, Dartmouth, Devon
River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset
River Nidd at the Lido leisure park in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
River Ribble at Edisford Bridge, Lancashire
River Severn at Ironbridge, Shropshire
River Severn at Shrewsbury, Shropshire
River Stour at Sudbury, Suffolk
River Teme at Ludlow, Shropshire
River Tone in French Weir Park, Taunton, Somerset
River Wharfe at Wetherby Riverside, High St, Wetherby, West Yorkshire
Rottingdean beach, Rottingdean, East Sussex
Wallingford beach, River Thames, Berkshire
Worthing Beach House, Worthing, West Sussex
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05/13/2024 - 01:00
Charity that challenged UK’s Rwanda policy helps create space designed to evoke happier memories of homelands
The healing power of horticulture for survivors of torture is to be celebrated at this year’s Chelsea flower show in a garden also promoting the work of a charity at the forefront of challenging the government’s Rwanda deportation plans.
The garden, one of the most politically themed yet to appear at the annual event, will be relocated afterwards so it can be used as part of the therapy work undertaken by the human rights charity Freedom from Torture (FFT).
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05/12/2024 - 23:00
Among world’s top 60 banks those in US are biggest fossil fuel financiers, while Barclays leads way in Europe
The world’s big banks have handed nearly $7tn (£5.6tn) in funding to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris agreement to limit carbon emissions, according to research.
In 2016, after talks in Paris, 196 countries signed an agreement to limit global heating as a result of carbon emissions to at most 2C above preindustrial levels, with an ideal limit of 1.5C to prevent the worst impacts of a drastically changed climate.
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05/12/2024 - 21:52
Animal lingered around a campsite at night, wildlife officers say – days before a 10-year-old boy was bitten
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A man is accused of killing a dingo with a speargun at a popular Queensland holiday spot.
Wildlife officers said the man had used the speargun after the dingo lingered around a camp site at night on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island.
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