Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘Britain’s wildlife safari’: baby boom in Norfolk as seal colonies flourish

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 12:00:39 +0000

Grey seals are growing in numbers on England’s east coast as a result of environmental safe havens and cleaner North Sea waters

It is a cold winter’s day to be lying on a beach, but the seal pup suckling from its mother doesn’t mind. A few metres away, a pregnant seal is burrowing into the sand, trying to get comfortable, while a third seal, which has just given birth, is touching noses with her newborn pup.

The shoreline – a mass of seals and their white pups – is one of Britain’s greatest wildlife success stories: a grey seal colony on the east Norfolk coast.

‘The dead zone is real’: why US farmers are embracing wildflowers

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 12:00:39 +0000

Strips of native plants on as little as 10% of farmland can reduce soil erosion by up to 95%

Between two corn fields in central Iowa, Lee Tesdell walks through a corridor of native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Crickets trill as dickcissels, small brown birds with yellow chests, pop out of the dewy ground cover.

“There’s a lot of life out here, and it’s one of the reasons I like it, especially in these late summer days,” Tesdell said.

Campaigners call for right to roam on edges of private farmland in England

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:31:58 +0000

Group says people in rural areas have to walk on roads without pavement, which can be very dangerous

Give people the right to walk around the edges of privately owned fields, say campaigners seeking to open up more paths in the countryside in England and Wales.

Slow Ways, a group advocating for more access to the countryside, said people in rural areas often have to walk on roads that do not have pavements, which can be extremely dangerous.

Birdsville notches up another temperature record as Australia faces more heat before New Year’s Eve

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 08:04:33 +0000

The town hit 47.2C by mid afternoon, but locals are already well-versed in the art of staying cool

UK churchyards are havens for rare wildlife, finds conservation charity

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 06:00:32 +0000

Caring for God’s Acre mapped out 20,000 cemeteries and recorded 10,000 species

Churchyards are vital havens for rare wildlife including dormice, bats and beetles, according to an extensive audit of burial grounds around the UK.

The conservation charity Caring for God’s Acre mapped out 20,325 cemeteries, with 800,000 wildlife records submitted and more than 10,800 species recorded.

They lived through the ice age. Can the mighty musk ox survive the heat?

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 05:00:32 +0000

Rising temperatures are pushing these Arctic mammals ever farther into Greenland’s north. But eventually there will be nowhere left for them to go

Built like a small bison, weighing as much as a grand piano and covered in thick, shaggy coat, the musk ox is one of the most distinctive species in the high Arctic. But from a hill on Greenland’s tundra, they seem impossible to find.

Indian Ocean tsunami: how survivors found love after Boxing Day disaster

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 01:00:25 +0000

A rise in the number of remarriages and a baby boom in the years since 2004 gave hope to survivors and helped them cope with the tragedy

It was Mahyuddin’s mother who had pestered him to go out on Sunday morning, 20 years ago. Dozens of relatives were visiting their small coastal village in Indonesia for a wedding party, but a powerful earthquake had struck just before 8am. Buildings in some areas had collapsed. He should go and check on his employer’s office to see if they needed help, his mother said.

Defra scraps England deadline to register thousands of miles of rights of way

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:01:25 +0000

Campaigners jubilant after government heeded warning 2031 cutoff would mean loss of precious footpaths

A deadline for registering historic rights of way is to be scrapped after a warning that the looming cutoff date could result in the loss of thousands of miles of footpaths.

The last government set a deadline of 2031 for all rights of way in England to be added to an official map, after abandoning a previous commitment to scrap the policy.

Canadian researchers trial nature trick to boost mood in winter

admin — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:00:15 +0000

Volunteers asked to go about normal routine while paying more attention to natural world

The start of a new year: a time for optimism, ambitious plans to improve the world, and the grim suspicion that the first couple of months may well be a miserable slog through the deepest of winter’s gloom.

But for those who fear the cold and dark ahead, help is on the horizon. Researchers in Canada are investigating a simple trick they hope will boost flagging spirits even when the days are short and frost is in the air.

Researchers race to climate-proof Christmas tree production: ‘We’re up to the task’

admin — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:00:15 +0000

Scientists search for a variety to withstand the climate crisis as high temperatures and drought can stress trees

The climate crisis is increasingly affecting agriculture in the United States, including the production of Christmas trees.