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Competition named after champion surfer Eddie Aikau is held only when waves in Waimea Bay top 30ft

A rare surfing event, the Eddie, took place in Hawaii last week, thanks to some giant waves.

Formed about a week ago in the north Pacific Ocean, the waves emerged as a low-pressure system produced an exceptionally large swell. They went on to hit Hawaii, enabling the Eddie to take place for just the 11th time in its 40-year history.

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UN secretary general, António Guterres, says ‘we must exit this road to ruin’ in annual new year message

The world has endured a “decade of deadly heat”, with 2024 capping 10 years of unprecedented temperatures, the UN has said.

Delivering his annual new year message, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the 10 hottest years on record had happened in the past decade, including 2024.

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Wildlife Victoria expects ‘catastrophic and long-term impacts’ for wildlife, including substantial loss of life, burns, blindness and starvation

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As fires headed toward her Grampians property in the Australian state of Victoria on Boxing Day, wildlife carer Pam Turner sheltered 20 joeys in her living room.

The animals gathered inside – standing alert from the noise of the sprinklers – are all hand-reared by her after being orphaned through car accidents, fence hangings and shootings.

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Astronomers are poised to see a star system about 3,000 light years away explode into brightness.

Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime – specifically the taking, possessing and trading of wild birds’ eggs. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, worth up to A$500,000 (£250,000).

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Analysis of insurance payouts by Christian Aid reveals three-quarters of financial destruction occurred in US

The world’s 10 most costly climate disasters of 2024 caused $229bn in damages and killed 2,000 people, the latest annual analysis of insurance payouts has revealed.

Three-quarters of the financial destruction occurred in the world’s biggest economy, the US, where climate denier Donald Trump will become president next month.

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Australia’s economic future would be at risk if we stop wind and solar to build nuclear: Big industries would have to close and the risk of blackouts would be significant.

The post This talk of nuclear is a waste of time: Wind, solar and firming can clearly do the job appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Slightly more Australians drown in rivers and creeks than at the beach. As more of us flock to waterfalls, hidden dangers at these idyllic spots are claiming lives Richard Franklin, Professor of Public Health, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Exclusive: Report finds poorer areas particularly affected by varying availability and cost of charging electric cars

The UK is at risk of a drastic slowdown in its transition to electric cars because of big disparities in the availability and cost of charging points, especially in poorer areas, a report says.

The study, by the consultancy Stonehaven, argues that given rapid advances in batteries and car range, persuading more people to move to electric vehicles is now less an issue of technology than one of “urban management and social equity”.

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Climate change caused 41 additional days of dangerous heat and extreme weather, say scientists.

Climate change caused 41 additional days of dangerous heat and extreme weather, say scientists.

Moments to celebrate included a solar eclipse seen by millions and a lost city discovered by accident.

Protests, Taylor Swift and chubby penguins are all part of the best images from the wire agencies in 2024

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The Desertas Island land snails have been set free to roam on the uninhabited island of Bugio, near Madeira

More than 1,300 tiny, critically endangered snails have been set free to roam on an island off the coast of Morocco after a breeding programme rescued two obscure species from the brink of extinction.

The Desertas Island land snails had not been recorded for more than 100 years and were believed to have disappeared from their natural habitat on the windswept, mountainous island of Deserta Grande, close to Portugal-owned Madeira.

Experts at the Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza (IFCN) rediscovered minute populations of two species of the snail, each consisting of fewer than 200 survivors, in conservation expeditions between 2012 and 2017 amid fears that invasive predators might have eaten the pea-sized molluscs into oblivion.

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Birmingham City University thinktank imagines new approach to urban areas and land use across the region

“When I show people this, they think it’s Mordor,” says landscape architecture professor Kathryn Moore with a smile.

She is pointing at a map of the West Midlands. But instead of buildings, roads and a sprawling canal network, this map shows the natural hills and undulations that lie below the human-made architecture.

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Call for illicit market to be taken out of hands of criminals as numbers continue to fall drastically due to poaching

International trade in rhino horns should be legalised, a leading wildlife expert has urged.

Writing in the research journal Science, Martin Wikelski argues only carefully monitored, legitimate transactions in horns can save the world’s remaining species of rhinoceros.

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Conservationists issue warning as figures show three-quarters of SSSI sites have had no recent assessments

Conservationists have said wildlife could be “disappearing in the dark” after figures showed that three-quarters of England’s most precious habitats, wildlife and natural features have had no recent assessment of their condition.

The warning follows the publication of figures covering assessments of protected natural sites known as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) in the last five years. SSSIs are legally protected because they contain special features such as threatened habitats or rare species, and together they cover more than 1.1m hectares (2.7m acres), about 8% of England’s land area.

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Several days of snow brought avalanche risk at Christmas, as wintry weather also caused four deaths in India

A snowstorm developed across the Alps on Saturday 21 December due to a low-pressure system situated over the Adriatic Sea. This depression allowed relatively warm and moist air to push into the Alps, condensing and falling as snow as it met the much colder alpine air mass. Snowfall continued for several days, with well over 1 metre of snow on some peaks and significant snowfall across many ski villages. Consequently, there was a significant avalanche risk over the Christmas period.

Ski resorts in Bulgaria also experienced significant snow starting on Christmas Day, which caused disruption in the mountainous west, where ski resorts had to temporarily shut down due to road closures. Towns such as Troyan, Samokov and Teteven were particularly badly affected with snowdrifts and power failures.

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Scientists hope the probe can help us better understand how the Sun works.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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