What is the 'most Canadian' animal? Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. A new study ranks species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: the amount of time animals have evolved independently from other Canadian species. The study found that, overall, amphibians and reptiles are Canada's most evolutionarily distinct species, with Apalone spinifera -- better known as the spiny softshell turtle -- being the most evolutionary distinct terrestrial animal in the land.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/25/2024 - 10:27
Councillor has reportedly suggested using pills to control gulls, but experts say it may not be ethical or practical
Their brazen chip-snatching, swooping and aggressive squawking has earned seagulls a reputation as the scourge of seaside towns, terrorising unsuspecting tourists and enraging residents alike.
And as the marauding birds have ventured inland and established urban colonies, towns have deployed spikes, netting and even birds of prey as deterrents. Now Worcester city councillors appear to be contemplating a new escalation in the battle: bird contraceptives.
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10/25/2024 - 09:00
Shelly beach, Bronte, Coogee and Malabar among those rated ‘poor’ as swimmers urged to check water quality online
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More than a quarter of New South Wales’ favourite swimming spots have been polluted by faecal matter over the past year including Sydney’s Coogee, Bronte and Malabar beaches.
With the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a wet summer, the government has urged swimmers to check its online water quality monitor for updates after its annual state of the beaches report found 28% of the 218 tracked sites experienced pollution.
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10/25/2024 - 08:00
Petition to Ecuador’s copyright office is first legal attempt to recognise an ecosystem’s moral authorship
A forest in Ecuador could be recognised as the co-creator of a song under a groundbreaking legal proposal.
A petition is to be submitted to Ecuador’s copyright office to recognise the Los Cedros cloud forest as the co-creator of the composition Song of the Cedars. The action by the More Than Human Life (Moth) project is the first legal attempt to recognise an ecosystem’s moral authorship of a work of art.
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10/25/2024 - 05:52
Kevin Jordan and two other claimants argued the country’s climate adaptation plans were insufficient and unlawful
An East Anglian man who lost his home to coastal erosion has lost his high court challenge against the government’s climate adaptation plans.
Kevin Jordan was one of three claimants who argued the government’s plans for adapting to the existing and predicted impacts of climate change, known as the National Adaptation Programme 3 (NAP3), were insufficient and unlawful.
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10/25/2024 - 04:01
Researchers criticised and gaslighted after sharing fears with Guardian say acknowledging feelings is critical to their work
Climate scientists who were mocked and gaslighted after speaking up about their fears for the future have said acknowledging strong emotions is vital to their work.
The researchers said these feelings should not be suppressed in an attempt to reach supposed objectivity. Seeing climate experts’ fears and opinions about the climate crisis as irrelevant suggests science is separate from society and ultimately weakens it, they said.
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10/25/2024 - 04:00
Subtle temperature difference between ‘ocean skin’ and water beneath found to drive more CO2 absorption
A sliver of cool surface water less than 2mm deep helps oceans absorb carbon dioxide, a British-led team of scientists has established after months of voyages across the Atlantic painstakingly measuring gas and temperature levels.
The subtle difference in temperature between the “ocean skin” and the layer of water beneath it creates an interface that leads to more CO2 being taken in, the scientists observed.
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10/25/2024 - 02:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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10/25/2024 - 00:56
The Labor opposition, conservationists and Indigenous groups have expressed shock at the move
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The newly elected Northern Territory government wants to grant itself sweeping new powers to exempt major projects from environmental assessments in a move described by conservationists and Indigenous groups as authoritarian and anti-democratic.
A leaked consultation document, seen by Guardian Australia, outlines how a new Territory Coordinator (TC) would have powers to “step in” and take the role of government agencies to make assessments and approvals and could order other agencies to make decisions within a specific timeframe.
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10/25/2024 - 00:00
Biotech giant’s alleged comments come as world leaders at Cop16 discuss how to share benefits from genetic code discoveries fairly
AstraZeneca has said it may cut jobs at its UK operation if the government enforces a global push to make companies share profits derived from nature’s genetic codes, multiple sources have told the Guardian.
The alleged comments from the company came amid a concerted lobbying push by the pharmaceutical industry against the profit-sharing measures.
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