Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Rain expected to ease but no respite from cold nights in New South Wales and Victoria until well into July, with just 1C forecast for Melbourne on Wednesday Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Many Australians will be weathering cold winter nights well into July before rising daytime temperatures bring averages up, after parts of the country’s east coast faced their coldest start to the season in decades. Melbourne is forecast to record its coldest day yet this year on Wednesday, with residents expected to wake up to a brisk 1C morning, followed by a string of sub-4C overnight temperatures. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Rainfall is down 40% since 2003 and experts predict a third of Sicily will be desert by 2030 Every morning, as soon as he wakes up, Luca Cammarata looks to the sky in the hope that some clouds on the horizon will bring a few drops of water. On his farm in the Sicilian interior, it hasn’t rained for months. Cammarata’s 200 goats graze on a parched landscape resembling a lunar surface, forced to eat dry weeds and drink from a muddy pond. The 53-year-old has never experienced a drought like it. “If things continue like this,” he said, “I will be forced to butcher my livestock and close down my farm.” Continue reading...

The full-size adult whale was first spotted a week earlier with approximately 200 metres of rope and fishing buoys wrapped around it. In a multi-agency operation, rescuers were able to free the animal of 800kg ropes and buoys. However, because of how the rope was wrapped around the whale and safety concerns for rescuers, the crew were not able to disentangle all of the rope. Ellen Dwyer, an incident controller in the rescue team, says they are 'pleased' they have been able to 'successfully remove a significant amount of weight and rope from the whale' ► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube Humpback whale tangled in rope rescued off New South Wales coast – video Low-flying drones could disrupt whale migration off Australia’s east coast, experts warn Continue reading...

Absorption through skin could be ‘significant source of exposure’ to toxic forever chemicals, study shows New research “for the first time proves” toxic PFAS forever chemicals are absorbed through human skin, and at levels much higher than previously thought. Though modeling and research has suggested the dangerous chemicals are absorbed through skin, University of Birmingham researchers say they used lab-grown tissue that mimics human skin to determine how much of a dose of PFAS compounds can be absorbed. Continue reading...