Breaking Waves: Ocean News

07/10/2025 - 05:44
Critics say change in biodiversity protections would harm environmental recovery and make scheme ineffective Plans to weaken environmental regulations for small housebuilders would allow developers in England to build on an area the size of the Yorkshire Dales in the next 10 years without replacing the nature they destroy, according to analysis. Labour wants to remove the requirement for small housebuilders – those whose sites are under a hectare (2.5 acres) – to replace the nature they destroy under existing rules known as biodiversity net gain. Continue reading...
07/10/2025 - 04:30
There’s no shortage of ideas for how to make air travel greener. But it has to start within the industry – and with workers George Hibberd appears alongside fellow pilot Todd Smith in the Guardian documentary Guilt Trip I love flying. I’ve wanted to be a pilot since I was young. I grew up in Chichester, West Sussex, under a flight path used by Gatwick airport planes, and used to watch as they traversed the sky. In 2019, once I had qualified as an airline pilot, I began working for easyJet. Aviation connected me to my extended family in Canada, exposed me to different cultures and gave me an unforgettable career. But in November 2022, I handed over my airport ID card for the last time. I had grown increasingly anxious about the effect that our industry was having on the planet and, deep down, I knew that my concern for the climate crisis meant being an airline pilot was damaging my mental health. Despite no longer working in the industry, my love of aviation has driven me to protect our ability to fly for future generations. It inspires me to address the uncomfortable realities and decisions our industry now faces. Everyone knows that aviation has a gigantic emissions problem. In 2022, the UK’s domestic and international flights produced 29.6m tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions, accounting for about 7% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions. This is projected to increase to 11% by 2030, because while other sectors are decarbonising, aviation emissions will remain stable or even increase. Continue reading...
07/10/2025 - 04:28
Commercial pilots George Hibberd and Todd Smith grapple with the reality of their dream jobs, torn between childhood ambitions of flying and the impact of their industry on the world beneath them. From the cockpit, they witness first-hand the climate crisis unfolding below and decide to take drastic measures. As part of Safe Landing, a community of aviation workers who want the industry to do better for the climate, they begin to transform their eco-anxiety and guilt into action. With an estimated 1.2 million passengers in the sky at any time, they ask when will society confront the urgent need to reimagine aviation - before it's too late To read more on how former Easyjet pilot George Hibberd thinks the aviation industry can be transformed, click here. Continue reading...
07/10/2025 - 04:00
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island gives 300th climate speech on the US Senate floor The Democratic party and the climate movement have been “too cautious and polite” and should instead be denouncing the fossil fuel industry’s “huge denial operation”, the US senator Sheldon Whitehouse said. “The fossil fuel industry has run the biggest and most malevolent propaganda operation the country has ever seen,” the Rhode Island Democrat said in an interview on Monday with the global media collaboration Covering Climate Now. “It is defending a $700-plus billion [annual] subsidy” of not being charged for the health and environmental damages caused by the burning of fossil fuels. “I think the more people understand that, the more they’ll be irate [that] they’ve been lied to.” But, he added, “Democrats have not done a good job of calling that out.” Continue reading...
07/10/2025 - 03:04
Proposal to vary electricity charges in England, Wales and Scotland based on supply and demand dropped in favour of ‘fair and affordable’ single price Business live – latest updates The government has abandoned plans for “zonal pricing” that would have charged electricity users in the south-east of England more than those in Scotland, saying that a single national price would help ensure the system was “fair, affordable, secure and efficient”. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, had been considering proposals for zonal pricing that would mean different parts of England, Wales and Scotland being charged different rates for their electricity, based on local supply and demand. Continue reading...
07/10/2025 - 01:00
With forests under pressure from drought, heat, disease and deer, a study has found fewer trees across a range of species surviving to maturity. But scientists say there is still hope To the untrained eye, Monks Wood looks healthy and lush in the summer sun. Hundreds of butterflies dance on the edge of footpaths in the ancient Cambridgeshire woodland, which is rich with ash, maple and oak trees. Birds flit through the hedgerows as they feed. A fox ambles through a forest clearing, before disappearing into long grass. But for a number of years, it has been clear to Bruno Ladvocat and Rachel Mailes that something is missing. In 2022, Ladvocat, Mailes and their research team from Birmingham University were out sampling when they noticed that the small trees that typically cover the woodland floor were increasingly hard to find. Continue reading...
07/09/2025 - 23:09
People can intuitively sense how biodiverse a forest is just by looking at photos or listening to sounds, and their gut feelings surprisingly line up with what scientists measure.
07/09/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 10 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00141-6 The rise and flows of blue carbon credits advance global climate and biodiversity goals
07/09/2025 - 09:06
Record temperatures and seasonal downpours raise fears of a repeat of the devastating flooding in 2022 Glaciers across northern Pakistan have been melting at an accelerated pace as a result of record-breaking summer temperatures, leading to deadly flash flooding and landslides. The floods and heavy monsoon rains have caused devastation across the country this summer, killing at least 72 people and injuring more than 130 since the rains began in late June. Continue reading...
07/09/2025 - 07:07
Mayor urges people to exercise utmost caution as weather service says situation around Mediterranean is critical More than 15,000 residents of Marseille confined to their homes have been allowed out after a wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second city was brought under control, but officials have warned the country faces an exceptionally high-risk summer. Fanned by gale-force winds and kindled by parched vegetation, several fires have burned swathes of southern France in recent days, including Tuesday’s just north of the port city. The weather service has said the weeks ahead could be critical. Continue reading...