Some areas see days of temperatures over 100F, drying plants and fueling wildfires as extreme heat creates deadly conditions
California experienced its hottest month on record in July as grueling heat baked the American west for weeks on end.
The state’s average temperature for the month was 81.7F (27.6C), according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, but some areas endured days of temperatures greater than 100F (about 38C). Several cities broke temperature records during a heatwave in early July – Palm Springs hit 124F on 5 July, while Redding in the state’s far north saw a high of 119F on 6 July.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/10/2024 - 06:00
As California sees increasingly devastating fires, Butte county residents lose their insurance – and homes
Kristy and Michael Daneau breathed a deep sigh of relief when they found the home for sale on a heavily wooded lane in northern California’s Butte county five years ago. Everything lined up.
The owner was looking to sell only to survivors of the Camp fire. A few months earlier, the couple and their four daughters had lost everything in the blaze, save for their four dogs. Kristy barely escaped the fast-moving flames.
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08/10/2024 - 03:15
The group says the logging in a state-owned forest in Queensland is taking place less than 3km from a high-density population group of endangered greater gliders. Conservation groups want swathes of St Mary state forest near Maryborough to be included in the Queensland government's proposed Greater Glider Forest park
• After 25 years, logging and bushfires, a greater glider has been spotted in Deongwar state forest
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08/10/2024 - 00:00
For first time, moors must hold licence under regime aiming to reduce unlawful killing of birds of prey by gamekeepers
Wildlife campaigners are calling for even tougher policing of Scottish grouse moors on the eve of this year’s “Glorious Twelfth”, which marks the legal start of the grouse shooting season.
On Monday 12 August moors across the British uplands will echo to the sound of shotguns and estate vehicles.
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08/09/2024 - 19:00
Queensland Conservation Council is urging the state government to protect the endangered greater glider population as logging continues
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There is “damning evidence” of logging occurring close to endangered greater glider populations, conservationists say as they call on the Queensland government to urgently act on a promise to create a park to protect the species.
Volunteers used drones in July to film logging in St Mary state forest near Maryborough, about three km from where gliders had been seen.
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08/09/2024 - 12:58
New research has shown that glossy black-cockatoos prefer to feed from trees growing in acidic soils.
08/09/2024 - 12:58
The need for a dramatic selfie or the perfect landscape photo is proving detrimental to nature, a new research collaboration has found.
08/09/2024 - 07:00
For a writer and runner in Denver, Colorado, the city’s severe air pollution creates a daily dilemma: do something you love, or risk your health?
Outdoor runners have always had a lot of data to juggle: their pace, heart-rate, mileage, route, calories, weather and much more. Though in recent years there’s been a new, considerably more ominous data point for alfresco athletes to monitor: the Air Quality Index (AQI).
The index, which measures the level of air pollution at any given time and location, is an increasingly necessary tool for outdoor enthusiasts in the age of climate change.
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08/09/2024 - 07:00
New research shows toxic ‘forever chemicals’ gas may escape landfills and threaten the environment
Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that leach from landfills into groundwater are among the major pollution sources in the US, and remain a problem for which officials have yet to find an effective solution.
Now new research has identified another route in which PFAS may escape landfills and threaten the environment at even higher levels: the air.
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08/09/2024 - 07:00
Flea treatments for dogs, ant killer, washing-up liquid and herbicides may be partly to blame for decline in UK
Insect numbers are in freefall and most people know that pesticide use in agriculture is partly to blame.
But many domestic products including topical flea treatments for dogs, ant killer applications, washing-up liquid and herbicides can also contribute to the problem.
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