The extensive loss of biodiversity represents one of the major crises of our time, threatening not only entire ecosystems but also our current and future livelihoods. As scientists realize the magnitude and scale of ongoing extinctions, it is vital to ascertain the resources available for conservation and whether funds are being effectively distributed to protect species most in need.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/03/2025 - 21:54
03/03/2025 - 21:51
Tasmanian senator says she is ‘pro-salmon’ but the farms should move on to land or offshore
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Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has called on Tasmania’s salmon industry to stop farming in Macquarie Harbour on the state’s remote west coast, marking a dramatic intervention into a polarised debate with implications for the federal election.
“Macquarie Harbour has been a very hot, hot spud when it comes to the salmon industry for many, many years,” Senator Lambie told the Tasmanian Inquirer, “and it’s getting worse.”
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“Go and put them on land. Go and put your fish somewhere else. I’ve had a gutful. You’ve made more than enough money off the arse of Tasmania. Move it on.”
Senator Jacqui Lambie
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03/03/2025 - 20:11
The Wilderness Society launches legal action in hope of helping animals on brink of extinction
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One of Australia’s largest conservation organisations has launched legal action alleging that successive federal environment ministers failed to meet their obligation to create recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction.
The Wilderness Society (TWS) filed the proceedings in the federal court on Monday.
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03/03/2025 - 19:08
Gasps from dockside crowd watching Bigg’s orca pod in event described as ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’
A pod of orcas swam close to shore and amazed onlookers in Seattle by treating the whale watchers to the rare sight of the apex predators hunting a bird.
The pod of Bigg’s killer whales visited Elliott Bay and were seemingly on a hunt underwater just off Seattle’s maritime industrial docks. The pod exited the bay close to the West Seattle neighborhood across from downtown, where people were waiting to catch sight of them.
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03/03/2025 - 19:01
UCL team is inviting parents to share their experiences, as age at which children in west acquire the skill rises
Storybooks about potties, underpants featuring superheroes, rewards for doing a wee: toilet training is a rite of passage for any child. But with the average age of toilet training steadily creeping upwards, scientists are now hoping to crack the question of which methods are most effective.
A team at University College London is inviting people from across the world to share their experiences and techniques as part of the Big Toilet Project. The ultimate aim is to uncover evidence that could help parents toilet train children earlier and reduce the massive contribution that disposable nappies make to landfill waste.
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03/03/2025 - 15:02
President’s move to expand tree cutting across 280m acres evades rules to protect endangered species
Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be felled for timber, evading rules to protect endangered species while doing so and raising the prospect of chainsaws razing some of the most ecologically important trees in the US.
The president, in an executive order, has demanded an expansion in tree cutting across 280m acres (113m hectares) of national forests and other public lands, claiming that “heavy-handed federal policies” have made America reliant on foreign imports of timber.
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03/03/2025 - 14:11
Researchers are suggesting a more comprehensive approach for identifying at-risk wildlife populations -- such as caribou -- based on individual movement patterns. The article uses a long-term dataset of caribou wearing GPS collars across Western Canada. It identifies six distinct behavioral groups that would each deserve their own conservation actions.
03/03/2025 - 12:39
Regional governments bow to pressure from agricultural industry, often amplified by far-right Vox party
Only last year it was hailed as a conservation success story: the Iberian lynx, which had been close to extinction, had sprung back to life thanks to a two-decade-long effort to expand the population.
Now, however, that progress is at risk after several regional governments in Spain acceded to pressure from farmers and hunters to block the reintroduction of the species into the wild.
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03/03/2025 - 07:00
Scientist sounds alarm over ‘canary in the coalmine’ species including beetles and spiders
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Donald Trump’s blitz on federal science agencies has increased the risk of endangered species going extinct, fired government experts have warned.
The new administration, and its so-called “department of government efficiency”, led by the billionaire Elon Musk, has fired thousands of employees at science agencies, with funding halted at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
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03/03/2025 - 06:35
Sudden stratospheric warming event expected to develop in next two weeks and will probably weaken the jet stream
A sudden stratospheric warming event is expected to develop over the next two weeks, leading to a rapid collapse of the polar vortex.
This will be the second and probably final disruption of the polar vortex this winter in the northern hemisphere, the first having taken place earlier last month, which was associated with a severe cold spell across much of the eastern half of the US.
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