The man was aboard a fishing vessel that became disabled off Madeira Beach, Florida, hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall, a Coast Guard press officer says. The man was able to radio the Coast Guard in nearby St Petersburg before contact was lost
Deaths expected to rise as Florida begins to assess Hurricane Milton destruction
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10/10/2024 - 18:18
10/10/2024 - 13:25
Biologists have curated the red milkweed beetle's genome and its arsenal of genes related to plant-feeding and other biological traits. They sequenced and assembled the entire genome of the host-specialist milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus). They then compared aspects of genome biology to a relative, the host-generalist Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), which is an invasive exotic species that feeds on a variety of trees important to forestry. Studying the secrets of how the common red milkweed beetle can safely feed on a toxic plant helps illuminate the ecological, evolutionary and economic impact of insect-plant interactions from a genomic perspective.
10/10/2024 - 13:25
The world's freshwater lakes are freezing over for shorter periods of time due to climate change. This shift has major implications for human safety, as well as water quality, biodiversity, and global nutrient cycles.
10/10/2024 - 12:36
Climate change deniers such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis lament the impact of such events but won’t acknowledge the underlying problem
The preparations for Hurricane Milton were on a mammoth scale, as the clean-up will be. The storm thankfully lost some of its force before it slammed into Florida, making landfall on Wednesday night as a category 3 hurricane. But many more lives would surely have been lost without the massive evacuation and the deployment of thousands of national guard troops and personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This was the second direct hit on the state in less than a fortnight, after Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 225 people in the US. The hotter ocean temperatures which worsened these storms are hundreds of times likelier because of human-made global heating, a new analysis has shown. Climate change may have increased the rain dumped on parts of the south by Helene by 50%, scientists believe. Another study has suggested such double punches could arrive every three years thanks to the continuing burning of fossil fuels.
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10/10/2024 - 11:52
Tempest brought up to 10ft of storm surge and left millions at risk from flooding after hitting Florida on Wednesday
Hurricane Milton has killed at least nine people and left extensive property damage across Florida, hitting some areas previously affected by Hurricane Helene last month.
Here are the key takeaways from what we know about its impact and what experts are saying about a hurricane that it had been feared could be one of the worst in the state’s history.
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10/10/2024 - 09:00
Shimmery cellulose-based alternative looks safer for soil than conventional microplastics, Australian-led research finds
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Even before Taylor Swift donned “glitter freckles”, the sparkly stuff was prolific – sold in tiny vials at craft shops and sprinkled on to a variety of products from clothing to Christmas decorations, cards and makeup.
Glitter ends up everywhere: in the environment as well as the carpet.
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10/10/2024 - 07:55
Wheat haul in England estimated to be down by 21%, with Britain’s wine producers also hit hard
England has suffered its second worst harvest on record – with fears growing for next year – after heavy rain last winter hit production of key crops including wheat and oats.
The cold, damp weather, stretching from last autumn through this spring and early summer, has hit the rapidly developing UK wine industry particularly hard, with producers saying harvests are down by between 75% and a third, depending on the region.
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10/10/2024 - 06:19
Firefighters are stoic about the risks they face but say climate change has affected every part of the job
A short drive and a world away from the tourist-thronged old town of Split, past retirees clambering out of cruise ships and stag parties stumbling into beachside bars, Ivan Sanader studied a smouldering hillside that stank of smoke.
The night before, he had fought a fire that charred the slope and threatened to engulf a roadside restaurant. Now, the commander of a mobile firefighter centre in Croatia was issuing orders to stop it flaring back up.
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10/10/2024 - 01:54
Former Sydney Morning Herald reporter part of community protest to protect endangered species in Bulga state forest
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Retired journalist Margo Kingston was arrested at a community protest in the mid-north of New South Wales on Thursday after she locked on to machinery to protest logging operations in endangered greater glider habitat.
Kingston and another activist who protested alongside her are the 13th and 14th people arrested since forestry operations recommenced at the Bulga state forest last week.
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10/10/2024 - 01:26
As average population falls reach 95% in some regions, experts call for urgent action but insist ‘nature can recover’
Global wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 73% in 50 years, a new scientific assessment has found, as humans continue to push ecosystems to the brink of collapse.
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the steepest average declines in recorded wildlife populations, with a 95% fall, according to the WWF and the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) biennial Living Planet report. They were followed by Africa with 76%, and Asia and the Pacific at 60%. Europe and North America recorded comparatively lower falls of 35% and 39% respectively since 1970.
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