Breaking Waves: Ocean News

World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target

admin — Wed, 08 May 2024 09:00:39 +0000

Exclusive: Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds

Venezuela loses its last glacier as it shrinks down to an ice field

admin — Wed, 08 May 2024 06:00:38 +0000

Scientists reclassify Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, after it melted faster than expected

Venezuela has lost its last remaining glacier after it shrunk so much that scientists reclassified it as an ice field.

It is thought Venezuela is the first country to have lost all its glaciers in modern times.

Birdwatch: the invincible swift, effortless master of the air

admin — Wed, 08 May 2024 05:00:35 +0000

Also known as ‘devil birds’ for their haunting scream, they are just starting to arrive from sub-Saharan Africa

May Day dawns cold and breezy, with sullen grey clouds promising rain. Hope seems very far away. But then, a distant dark streak scythes through the skies over the Avalon Marshes, stiff-winged, direct and determined. A single swift, my first of the year.

Renewable energy passes 30% of world’s electricity supply

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 23:01:27 +0000

Report says humans may be on brink of cutting fossil fuel generation, even as demand for electricity rises

Renewable energy accounted for more than 30% of the world’s electricity for the first time last year following a rapid rise in wind and solar power, according to new figures.

Methane emissions: Australian cattle industry suggests shift from net zero target to ‘climate neutral’ approach

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 15:00:20 +0000

The US cattle industry adopted a ‘climate neutral’ goal in 2021 but scientists say that ‘misses the point’ in keeping global temperature rises below 1.5C

Sizewell C in Suffolk granted nuclear site licence

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 13:11:47 +0000

Campaigners ‘appalled’ as French energy company EDF gets go-ahead for next stage of project

A planned nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk has been granted the first site licence in more than a decade as investors and government officials race to finalise a deal for the multibillion-pound project this year.

UK public invited to dance for worms to help assess soil health

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 11:00:08 +0000

Charity asks people to charm worms to the surface and count their numbers to contribute to worm map of UK

Dancing for worms may seem an odd pursuit, but an environment charity is calling for people across the UK to charm the creatures from the depths in order to count them.

The Soil Association is trying to get a nationwide picture of worm abundance, to track their decline and see where they need the most help.

UN expert attacks ‘exploitative’ world economy in fight to save planet

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 10:00:27 +0000

Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says ‘there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand how grave this is’

The race to save the planet is being impeded by a global economy that is contingent on the exploitation of people and nature, according to the UN’s outgoing leading environment and human rights expert.

Scaling up: the app that’s transforming lives in South African fishing communities

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 06:00:02 +0000

Abalobi provides a real-time marketplace for fishers to sell their catch, while also monitoring fish populations, and the tech could go global

Scottish salmon industry challenged over move to drop ‘farmed’ from labels

admin — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:06 +0000

Fish welfare campaigners say Defra decision facilitates greenwashing and will mislead consumers

Animal welfare campaigners are challenging the decision to allow producers of Scottish salmon to drop the word “farmed” from labelling.

An application by the industry body claimed changing the protected name wording on the front of packaging from “Scottish farmed salmon” to “Scottish salmon” made sense because wild salmon was no longer sold in supermarkets, which consumers were aware of.