Breaking Waves: Ocean News

After her sister died, Victoria Bennett left Cumbria for the remote Scottish archipelago, where she learned to go with the ebb and flow of life It was during her first winter in Orkney that the nature writer Victoria Bennett experienced the joy of baying into the sea during a storm. “There’s something very physically releasing about howling,” she says. “It’s quite animalistic and powerful.” On a stormy beach, when waves are crashing on the rocks, “you can really let rip”, she says. “The sound just disappears.” Until that moment, Bennett had been struggling with her decision to move to the remote archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. “I was beginning to feel like I was in a fight against the sea, and against the weather.” Continue reading...

Extreme weather likely to continue after devastating homes and endangering millions in US south and midwest At least two people are dead after a very powerful tornado struck northern Texas on Saturday night, as extreme weather continued to devastate homes and put millions across the south and midwestern US at risk, with wildfires also raging on in parts of Georgia. Officials from Wise county in Texas said the storm reached the area at around 10pm and caused significant damage across multiple neighborhoods. In addition to the confirmed deaths, six people were treated or transported by emergency responders to be treated for storm-related injuries. Continue reading...

Researchers find ‘alarming’ effect on fertility across global species from simultaneous exposures Simultaneous exposure to toxic chemicals and climate change’s impacts likely generates an additive or synergistic effect that increases reproductive harm, and may contribute to the broad global drop in fertility, new peer-reviewed research finds. The review of scientific literature considers how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, often found in plastic, coupled with climate change’s effects, such as heat stress, are each linked to reductions in fertility and fecundity across global species – including in humans, wildlife and invertebrates. Continue reading...

Early birds were like ‘T rex reincarnated’, says scientist who believes avian skulls offer insight into dinosaurs’ behaviour T rex is often depicted as more brawn than brains, but now scientists are hoping to probe just what was going on inside its head, drawing on findings from another kind of dinosaur: birds. Scientists have previously found some species of bird not only make and use tools, but are able to plan ahead and show basic forms of empathy – with laboratory tests suggesting emus can recognise other birds might have different experiences to themselves. Continue reading...