How Will Creatures That Can Barely Move Handle Climate Change? – Hakai Magazine

Ochre Sea Star (by wild trees CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

As the world warms, animals living near the coast are being battered by stronger storms, rising seas, and extreme temperatures. While fish, birds, and other species might be able to escape—often toward the poles—many marine creatures can barely move, let alone speed out of the way.

Scientists have long known that on hot days more mobile shoreline creatures like crabs take steps to control their body temperature by scuttling into cool crevices…

Here’s why a California beach town just banned balloons – the Grist

The Blue Balloon (by Simon James CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr)

Celebrations in a beachside California city will soon have to take place without an iconic, single-use party favor: balloons.

The city council of Laguna Beach, about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles, banned the sale and use of all types of balloons on Tuesday, citing their contribution to ocean litter as well as risks from potential fires when they hit power lines…

Private yacht runs aground, leaks fuel over Hawaii marine sanctuary – SF Gate

Honolua Bay (by Kirt Edblom CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

A 94-foot luxury yacht grounded near a marine sanctuary in Hawaii on Monday, leaking fuel into the ocean, the Department of Land and Natural Resources said…
“I am devastated that it happened,” Maui resident Kaila Tiri told SFGATE. “[Honolua Bay] was a marine sanctuary that was protected for over a decade and a spot on Maui that everyone loved and adored deeply…”

Why are Tunisia’s beaches disappearing and what does it mean for the country? – Reuters

Fishing Boats in the Old Hammamat - Tunisia (by Ghassan Tabet CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Rising sea levels are causing Tunisia’s beaches to gradually disappear. This is making life hard for the country’s tourism and fishing industries.

The Maghreb – made up of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya – is more affected by coastal erosion than any region outside South Asia, the World Bank found in a 2021 study. Among these countries, Tunisia has had the highest erosion rates in the last three decades, averaging almost 70cm a year, it found…

Beach erosion: Satellites reveal how climate cycles impact coastlines – UNSW Sydney

Collaroy Beach (by Mark D CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

New research shows coastlines across the Pacific Ocean may respond differently to El Niño and La Niña cycles.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney have analyzed millions of satellite photos to observe changes in beaches across the Pacific Ocean. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience today (Feb. 10), reveal for the first time how coastlines respond to different phases of the El-Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle…

Bio-Based Plastics Aim to Capture Carbon. But at What Cost? – Wired Magazine

Packaging peanuts made from thermoplastic starch (by Christian Gahle, nova-Institut GmbH, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia).

Growing crops to make plastic may theoretically reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but at an enormous environmental cost…bio-based plastics are problematic for a variety of reasons. It would take an astounding amount of land and water to grow enough plants to replace traditional plastics — plus energy is needed to produce and ship it all…But let’s say there was a large-scale shift to bioplastics — what would that mean for future emissions? That’s what a new paper in the journal Nature set out to estimate…

Is YOUR town at risk? – Daily Mail

South Bay, Scarborough, Yorkshire Coast, UK (by Roland Turner CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

Terrifying interactive map reveals the areas that could be plunged UNDERWATER by 2050 amid sea level rise fuelled by climate change.

With the allure of deck chairs, ice cream and amusement arcades, the Great British seaside holds a special, nostalgic place in the hearts of UK holidaymakers.

But fast forward just 25 years and scores of the country’s beaches, piers and bays could be underwater because of increasing global sea levels caused by global warming…