Breaking Waves: Ocean News

US plan to exploit Venezuela’s oil could eat up 13% of carbon budget to keep 1.5C limit

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:54:21 +0000

Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe

US plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.

The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation’s oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe.

Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce use Gina Rinehart’s private jet to visit flooded parts of Queensland

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:00:08 +0000

Joyce says the pair were saving taxpayers’ money and ‘I’ve got no problems with that at all’

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Major incident declared as 30,000 homes left without water in Kent and Sussex

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:45:25 +0000

South East Water blames cold weather and Storm Goretti for problems, with schools and libraries closed for day

A major incident has been declared after 30,000 homes in Kent and Sussex were left without water.

People in areas including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone have been without water for as long as five days.

Trump’s move to pull US from key UN climate treaty may be illegal, experts say

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:30:04 +0000

President’s memo stating US ‘shall withdraw’ from UNFCCC marks first time any country has tried to exit the agreement

The Trump administration’s long-anticipated decision this week to pull the US from the world’s most important climate treaty may have been illegal, some experts say.

“In my legal opinion, he does not have the authority,” Harold Hongju Koh, former head lawyer for the US state department, told the Guardian.

Energy and health optimism help lift civil service morale under Labour

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 07:00:50 +0000

Foreign Office and MoD among only four departments with declining morale in annual Whitehall monitor report

Civil service morale rose slightly after Labour took power in 2024, with the biggest jumps in satisfaction in the energy and health departments, an annual Whitehall monitor report will show.

The survey from the Institute for Government (IfG) thinktank, due to be published this week, found that morale rose from 60.7 to 61.2% on the civil service employee engagement index.

Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst mass-mortality event since Australia’s black summer

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:29:35 +0000

Volunteers found thousands of dead bats at Melbourne’s Brimbank park, wildlife expert says

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Thousands of flying foxes have perished in the heatwave that scorched south-east Australia last week, the largest mass mortality event for flying foxes since black summer.

‘We want people to sit, pause, relax’: National Trust to open its libraries for public use

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 05:00:48 +0000

Charity plans to make stately homes more welcoming by inviting visitors to use furniture and reading rooms

There was a time, not so long ago, when a visit to a National Trust stately home could be a staid affair and sitting on the furniture tended to be discouraged, with pine cones or teasels often placed on chairs to remind people not to perch.

Queensland braces for heavy rain and floods after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji batters north

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 23:43:46 +0000

Flood warnings in place as BoM forecasts more rain while thousands remain without power

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One person dead as PM visits bushfire-ravaged towns with 300 structures destroyed and 350,000 hectares burned

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 02:57:28 +0000

Almost a dozen emergency warnings remain in place across Victoria, with state premier saying ‘we are not through the worst of this by a long way’

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Human remains found in bushfire area – as it happened

admin — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:36:10 +0000

This blog is now closed

One person dead as PM visits bushfire-ravaged towns with 300 structures destroyed and 350,000 hectares burned