Number of animals affected by neurological toxin increases in past week as experts warn of impact from climate crisis
The number of marine mammals in California affected by a neurological toxin from algae has surged in the past week, in what could be another deadly year for animals such as sea lions, seals, dolphins and larger whales.
According to the Marine Mammal Care Center, a rescue facility based in San Pedro, California, the facility is treating more than 30 animals affected by a toxic algal bloom, with eight animals admitted on Wednesday. The algae bloom off the California coast has been on the rise in recent years, producing a neurological toxin called domoic acid.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/10/2025 - 09:00
03/10/2025 - 09:00
They prefer to carry branches in their teeth, like dogs. And when they swim, they hold their front paws to their chests, like a severe governess in a Victorian novel
The heads of beavers, large rodents known for building dams, are their own kind of highly complex dam structure, with various retractable walls that let water in or keep it out. They can close valves in their nostrils and ears and a special membrane over their eyes; their epiglottis, the flap that stops water entering the lungs, is inside their nose instead of their throat; they use their tongue to shield their throats from water; and their lips to shield their mouths – their lips can close behind their front teeth. Their teeth are rust-orange, because they are strengthened with iron.
Their back feet are webbed like a duck’s; on land, their front feet act like hands, digging, grasping and carrying things from the riverbed to the surface – rocks, for example, tucked under their chins and cradled by their arms. When they swim, they do so while holding their front paws to their chests, like a severe governess in a Victorian novel, or a child pretending to be a rabbit. They prefer to carry branches in their teeth, like dogs. The biggest beavers weigh 50kg.
As boats will sometimes lie along the shore,
with part of them on land and part in water,
and just as there [...]
the beaver sets himself when he means war,
so did that squalid beast lie on the margin
of stone that serves as border for the sand.
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03/10/2025 - 06:00
Biodiversity is great in theory, but there are reasons to fend off invasive species and the knock-on effect of their presence
Britain would be a wasteland if it weren’t for immigration. Fifteen thousand years ago, most of the country was buried a kilometre deep in ice – not ideal conditions for life. That all changed as we moved out of the last ice age into the current, milder climate phase. The ice sheets retreated, leaving an empty landscape for anything with the wherewithal to seize the opportunity and move in. Tens of thousands of species did, mainly heading north from the European continent to which Britain was then joined. The result was a native biota where almost every species is an immigrant. Our ancestors were among them.
Immigration is a natural process, but it’s one that has been fundamentally changed thanks to humanity’s wanderlust. As we’ve moved around the world we have taken many other species along with us – some deliberately, some accidentally – to areas they couldn’t have reached without our assistance. These include many of the most familiar denizens of the British countryside. Grey squirrel, ring-necked parakeet, horse chestnut, rhododendron – none of these would be in Britain if they hadn’t been brought by people. They are what ecologists call aliens. Anywhere people live you’ll also find aliens.
Tim Blackburn is professor of invasion biology at University College London and author of The Jewel Box: How Moths Illuminate Nature’s Hidden Rules
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03/10/2025 - 05:48
Rainfall in Bahía Blanca led to 10 deaths, swept away vehicles, destroyed bridges and left areas underwater
The city of Bahía Blanca in Argentina had a new rainfall record on Friday, after a recent heatwave. More than 400mm (15.7in) of rain was recorded in just eight hours, more than twice the city’s previous record of 175mm set in 1930, and roughly equivalent to a year’s worth of rainfall.
The heatwave primed the atmosphere for heavy rainfall by creating high instability and raising humidity levels. Then on Friday, as a cold front swept across the region, this warm moist air was able to rise, cool and rapidly condense, leading to severe thunderstorms across the region. As the front then continued northwards towards Buenos Aires over the weekend, further severe storms were triggered, containing heavy rain, hail and strong gusts.
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03/10/2025 - 05:00
Pfas are poisoning our soil and polluting our lungs. The EPA is finally sounding the alarm – but that’s not enough
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Several years ago, I made a movie called Dark Waters, which told the real-life story of a community in West Virginia poisoned by Pfas “forever chemicals”. DuPont – a chemical manufacturing plant – contaminated the local water supply, killing cows and wildlife, making its workers sick and exposing local residents to toxic chemicals. It was an environmental horror story.
It’s still happening across the country.
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03/10/2025 - 05:00
Two Italian cacti smugglers have been fined for illegally trading plants from Chile – and for the cost of restoring the environment. Conservationists hope more cases will follow
Chile’s Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth, a surprisingly cool environment, sucked clean of moisture by the cold ocean to the west. This arid, golden landscape is home to many rare species of cacti, which attract professional and amateur botanists from around the world keen to make discoveries and experience the thrill of naming a new species.
But they are not the only ones prowling the sands: Atacama has become a hotspot for succulent smuggling.
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03/10/2025 - 00:33
The toxic Tasmanian salmon industry has gone too far this time
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03/09/2025 - 21:04
Chris Minns stresses that the New South Wales evacuation centres set up for people fleeing flooding will be closed once the immediate threat from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is over. The premier says his government contributed $5bn for social housing in its last budget. 'Evacuation centres are not going to be long-term solutions for homelessness on the northern rivers,' he says. 'And I just want to be really transparent and clear … They can’t operate longer than they were intended to'
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred update: residents warned to head for high ground as flood waters rise
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03/09/2025 - 17:30
Environment secretary points to measures to stop lake being ‘choked by unacceptable levels’ of pollution
The government has said it will “clean up Windermere” after criticism over the volume of sewage being pumped into England’s largest lake.
The environment secretary, Steve Reed, pledged “only rainwater” would enter the famous body of water in the Lake District, putting an end to the situation where it Windermere was being “choked by unacceptable levels of sewage pollution”.
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03/09/2025 - 16:29
Bureau urged to review its systems after Fraser Coast mayor says Hervey Bay was pelted with 260mm of rain after being told it was not in firing line
Ex-Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updates
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The Bureau of Meteorology has defended its forecasting against criticism it failed to give the coastal Queensland community of Harvey Bay enough notice of a torrential downpour in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The Fraser Coast mayor, George Seymour, said the bureau should review its systems, claiming the area was not adequately warned before it was pelted with more than 260mm of rain in a few hours on Sunday, sparking an emergency situation and about a dozen rescues.
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