Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Youth activists win ‘unprecedented’ climate settlement in Hawaii

admin — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 02:02:26 +0000

State’s transport department given a 2045 deadline to fully decarbonize and achieve zero emissions under agreement

Hawaii officials have announced a “groundbreaking” legal settlement with a group of young climate activists, which they said will force the state’s department of transportation to move more aggressively towards a zero-emission transportation system.

Former Tory minister vows to vote Labour over party’s climate failures

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 18:00:38 +0000

Exclusive: Chris Skidmore, ex-energy minister, says Rishi Sunak’s bid to turn net zero into culture war issue is ‘greatest tragedy of his premiership’

I was a Tory minister – but I think we need a Labour government | Chris Skidmore

The Conservatives’ former net zero tsar has revealed that he intends to vote Labour for the first time because Rishi Sunak has been “siding with climate deniers” to politicise the energy transition.

Record high temperatures sweep US north-east as tropical storm hits Texas

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:20:08 +0000

Heatwave leads to record daily highs in New York and Maine, as US south-west sees wildfires and excessive rainfall

The United States continues to suffer extreme weather as a heatwave baked millions across the upper midwest and north-east and a tropical storm soaked Texas and northern Mexico.

The National Weather Service said the heatwave was expected to peak in the eastern Great Lakes, New England, the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic over the coming weekend.

‘Grolar’ hybrid of grizzlies and polar bears remains rare in wild, study finds

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:18:52 +0000

DNA analysis of old samples finds only five historical cases raising hopes for polar bears as a distinct species

A family of “grolars” in Canada’s Arctic remains the only confirmed example of hybrid offspring between polar and grizzly bears, according to a new study which may provide some optimism for conservationists worried about the future of polar bears as a distinct species.

A team of North American researchers examined old bear samples collected between 1975 and 2015 using a newly developed tool to look for previously unknown examples of hybrid bears.

UK parties ignoring food shortage risks, say farming and retail bodies

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:13:20 +0000

NFU and the BRC write to Tories, Labour and Lib Dems over lack of focus on food security in campaigns

Farmers and supermarkets have accused the main political parties of ignoring the risk of severe food shortages in Britain, calling the issue a “worrying blind spot” in their general election campaigns.

The UK’s main farming and food and drink bodies have joined forces to voice their frustration at the lack of focus on food security by politicians as the attempt to gain votes, despite the headwinds faced by producers.

Nuclear engineer dismisses Peter Dutton’s claim that small modular reactors could be commercially viable soon

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:00:42 +0000

Hugh Durrant-Whyte says 2045 is a realistic timeframe, adding it was likely to be ‘more expensive than anything else you could possibly think of’

Future impact of proposed fossil fuel projects must be assessed, UK court rules

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:15:15 +0000

Landmark judgment says planning bodies must account for burning of extracted fuel when considering site proposals

The climate impact of burning coal, oil and gas must be taken into account when deciding whether to approve projects, the supreme court in London has ruled.

The landmark judgment, handed down on Thursday, sets an important precedent on whether the “inevitable” future greenhouse gas emissions of a fossil fuel project should be considered.

Iberian lynx no longer endangered after numbers improve in Spain and Portugal

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:00:33 +0000

The animal, which is still categorised as ‘vulnerable’, has been the subject of a 20-year conservation programme

Less than a quarter of a century after the Iberian lynx was feared to be only a whisker away from extinction, populations of the animal have recovered enough across Spain and Portugal for it to be moved from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on the global red list of threatened species.

‘Water just makes you feel better’: the Cornish angling club that’s not about catching fish

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:00:32 +0000

On Falmouth pier, volunteer angling coaches and men and women of all ages gather regularly for fresh air, companionship and the mindfulness that comes from casting a rod into the sea

When Justin Keight saw two ambulances outside his best friend’s house one morning during the Covid lockdown, he knew instantly what it meant. His friend, who was married with children, had lived with depression.

Activists spray planes with paint at UK airfield where Taylor Swift jet landed

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 08:24:28 +0000

Two Just Stop Oil activists broke into private airfield at Stansted airport on Thursday before targeting jets

Just Stop Oil activists have sprayed orange paint over private jets at Stansted airport on the airfield where Taylor Swift’s plane is stationed, the environmental group has said.

Two activists, Jennifer Kowalski, 28, a former sustainability manager from Dumbarton, and Cole Macdonald, 22, from Brighton, broke into a private airfield in Stansted at 5am on Thursday before targeting the jet.