Breaking Waves: Ocean News

03/27/2024 - 00:00
Some ‘ecologically sound’ brands contain as little as 2.7% of the eco-friendly paper alternative In the bathrooms of the ecologically conscious, bamboo toilet paper is the new bottom line – a supposedly green alternative to the bog-standard pulp-based loo roll that requires the chopping down of 1m trees a year, just to be flushed down the pan. But findings from consumer watchdog Which? will wipe away that smug feeling: samples of three out of the five of the UK’s top bamboo brands were actually made from other woods, some of them heavily implicated in deforestation. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 19:01
Bacteria discovered during regular testing by River Action Winning teams jumping in river could be consigned to history Boat Race organisers have issued new safety guidance for the race on Saturday, warning rowers not to enter the water and to cover any open wounds, after high levels of E coli bacteria were found on the River Thames course. It means the traditional celebration in which members of the winning team often jump into the river – which was seen last year when the Cambridge men’s cox Jasper Parish jumped into the Thames at Mortlake – could be consigned to history. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 18:00
Just 2% of continent’s gas capacity has planned retirement date despite pledges to decarbonise, study shows Europe’s “tone-deaf” expansion of fossil gas is accelerating climate breakdown and increasing reliance on hostile regimes, campaigners have warned. Just four of Europe’s gas-fired power plants have a retirement plan and new projects will increase the continent’s gas generation capacity by 27%, according to analysis from the campaign group Beyond Fossil Fuels. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 16:00
While Wyoming is home to some of North America's most abundant populations of pronghorn that have largely been stable in recent years, a new analysis shows that many herds are experiencing long-term declines in fawn production.
03/26/2024 - 09:38
An international team of 25 scientists has proposed a roadmap for how to prevent the next pandemic by conserving natural areas and promoting biodiversity, thereby providing animals with enough food, safe havens and distance to limit contact and the transfer of pathogens to humans.
03/26/2024 - 08:48
Fears of overcharging on bill grows after jump from 2.7m machines is blamed on reporting errors from energy providers Nearly 4m energy smart meters in homes and businesses are faulty, government figures have shown, in a further blow to the “troubled” rollout of the technology. Data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reported that, at the end of last year, 3.98m meters in Great Britain were not working properly. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 07:00
Exclusive: Fingers of willow gloves, found in only two woodlands, will be rushed to Cumbria and tied to new trees Fingers of a critically endangered fungus will this week be removed from its last sites in Scotland and fixed to trees in three woodlands in England to save it from extinction. Willow gloves, which resembles the fingers of washing-up gloves and grows on dead trees, is found only in two woodlands, and the vast majority is living on just one fallen tree. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 05:37
Campaigners say activities leading to severe environmental harm usually also violate human rights The international criminal court (ICC) has been urged to start investigating and prosecuting individuals who harm the environment. Academics, lawyers and campaigners from around the world have sent expert opinions to the court outlining what they call its current regime of “impunity” for serious environmental crimes. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 04:00
Inexpensive and easy to use, drones are proving invaluable for activists monitoring illegal fishing, hunting and deforestation – as well as keeping tabs on zoos and aquariums Late last year, UrgentSeas received an anonymous tip from a former employee at the Miami Seaquarium about animal tanks away from public view. The advocacy group went to investigate. In November, they posted a short clip of what they found by flying a drone over the property: an elderly manatee living alone in a decaying private pool. Within a month, the clip had been watched millions of times and the outcry had grown so intense that the US Fish and Wildlife Service moved the manatee, Romeo, and his mate, Juliet, to a sanctuary. Continue reading...
03/26/2024 - 02:00
Asymptomatic cases may seem reassuring for the penguins, but scientists fear they could act as ‘Trojan horses’ for other species Adélie penguins in Antarctica are testing positive for bird flu without showing outward signs of disease, according to researchers who travelled around 13 remote breeding sites on an ice-breaking cruise ship. Since bird flu arrived in the region this year, there have been concerns about the virus reaching the Antarctic’s fragile penguin populations. In November last year, researchers warned in a pre-print research paper that if the virus caused mass mortality in these colonies, “it could signal one of the largest ecological disasters of modern times”. Continue reading...