Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Governor Newsom calls on state legislature to approve $2.5bn in extra aid as experts predict wildfires could be costliest disaster in US history Tell us about the financial consequences you are facing due to the California fires Weather forecasters are predicting that the dry season in Los Angeles is likely to get worse in the coming weeks and that the drought which intensified last week across southern California will continue to worsen into March. Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has written for the Guardian and says the rain forecast for the next three weeks in Los Angeles means the city’s record-dry start to its rainy season will keep getting worse. This year’s rainy season is running at just 2% of normal for Los Angeles, which has only seen 0.16in of rain so far. Weather models increasingly indicate that southern California will receive no rain at all during the rest of January, and potentially no rain during the first week or two of February as well. Continue reading...

Concerns that dangerous fine particle pollution can become embedded in bloodstream and lungs Los Angeles wildfires – live updates Los Angeles wildfires: full report The Los Angeles wildfires have claimed the lives of at least 24 people and have burned more than 100,000 structures. While the focus is understandably on avoiding the flames, another immediate danger lurks across the county and beyond, one more difficult to escape: smoke. The most dangerous component of wildfire smoke is fine particle pollution, also known as PM2.5 or soot. These tiny particles, smaller than one 20th the width of a human hair, can, if inhaled, become embedded in the bloodstream and lungs. It is estimated that about one-third of all particulate matter pollution in the US now comes from wildfire smoke. Continue reading...

Rhino ‘unintentionally’ punctured zebra’s stomach in enclosure they shared, zoo says A male zebra died after a female rhino unintentionally punctured his stomach, a zoo in Essex has said. The rhino, called Astrid, had been sparring with her son Tayo when she tried to move Ziggy out of the way last Friday. Colchester zoo said Ziggy died of his injuries within minutes. Continue reading...

What the president-elect calls a ‘giant hoax’ is changing the strategic calculus in the Arctic and for the Panama canal Donald Trump’s desire to seize control of Greenland and the Panama canal is being shaped in part by a force that he has sought to deny even exists – the climate crisis. Last week, Trump ramped up his demands that the United States annex both Greenland and the Panama canal, refusing to rule out economic or even military interventions to take them and threatening “very high” tariffs upon Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, if it opposes him. Continue reading...