Breaking Waves: Ocean News

06/02/2024 - 08:00
For decades, the Chevron deference doctrine has given broad powers to federal agencies. Now it could be overturned – with major consequences The US supreme court is poised to decide the fate of a decades-old legal framework that has helped determine how the federal government regulates everything from pollution to financial markets. With cases on abortion, homelessness and Donald Trump grabbing the spotlight, the so-called Chevron deference doctrine has flown somewhat under the radar. But it could be among the court’s most influential decisions this year, upending the way Congress legislates, how bureaucrats carry out presidential directives and how courts rule when conflicts arise over the regulatory process. Is a statute ambiguous? Is the agency’s interpretation reasonable? Continue reading...
06/02/2024 - 08:00
For decades, the Chevron deference doctrine has given broad powers to federal agencies. Now it could be overturned – with major consequences The US supreme court is poised to decide the fate of a decades-old legal framework that has helped determine how the federal government regulates everything from pollution to financial markets. With cases on abortion, homelessness and Donald Trump grabbing the spotlight, the so-called Chevron deference doctrine has flown somewhat under the radar. But it could be among the court’s most influential decisions this year, upending the way Congress legislates, how bureaucrats carry out presidential directives and how courts rule when conflicts arise over the regulatory process. Continue reading...
06/02/2024 - 04:39
With elections affecting half the world’s population this year, campaigners offer their views on the chances of real change This year elections are taking place across the globe, covering almost half of the world’s population. It is also likely to be, yet again, the hottest year recorded as the climate crisis intensifies. The Guardian asked young climate activists around the world what they want from the elections and whether politics is working in the fight to halt global heating. Continue reading...
06/02/2024 - 04:00
A decision from Unesco on giving the peat-rich Flow Country the same standing as the Great Barrier Reef is just weeks away It is a land of mire, mist and midges that could soon be awarded a special status among the planet’s wild habitats. In a few weeks, Unesco is set to announce its decision on an application to allow the Flow Country in north Scotland to become a world heritage site. Such a designation is only given to places of special cultural, historical or scientific significance and would put this remote region of perpetual dampness on the same standing as the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon and the Pyramids. Continue reading...
06/01/2024 - 10:02
Our nature series Young Country Diary is looking for pieces written by children about their summer wildlife adventures Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14. The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a trip to the beach, a worm-hungry blackbird or a thriving rockpool. Continue reading...
06/01/2024 - 07:41
Woman from Riposte Alimentaire arrested after sticking poster on impressionist painter’s Coquelicots A climate activist has been arrested for sticking an adhesive poster on a Monet painting at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris to draw attention to global heating, a police source said. The action by the woman, a member of Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response) – a group of environmental activists and defenders of sustainable food production – was seen in a video posted on X, placing a blood-red poster over Coquelicots (Poppies) by the French impressionist painter Claude Monet. Continue reading...
06/01/2024 - 07:00
On first day of predicted intense Atlantic hurricane season, Nature Conservancy urges action and warns against misinformation Misinformation spread by climate deniers such as Florida’s extremist Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, increases the “vulnerability” of communities in the path of severe weather events, scientists are warning. The message comes on Saturday, the first day of what experts fear could be one of the most intense and dangerous Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, threatening a summer of natural disasters across the US. Continue reading...
06/01/2024 - 06:48
Meteorologists found 52.9C reading to be false, though new record does appear to have been set A record temperature registered this week for the Indian capital of 52.9C (127.22F) was too high by 3C, the Indian government has said. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had investigated Wednesday’s reading by the weather station at Mungeshpur, a densely packed corner of New Delhi, “and found a 3C sensor error”, the earth sciences minister, Kiren Rijiju, said. Continue reading...
06/01/2024 - 04:00
Approach replaces sugar with mashed pulp and husk of cocoa pod and uses less land and water Healthier and more sustainable chocolate could hit store shelves after Swiss scientists and chocolatiers developed a recipe that swaps sugar for waste plant matter. By mashing up the pulp and husk of a cocoa pod instead of just taking the beans, scientists have made a sweet and fibrous gel that could replace the sugar in chocolate, according to a report published in Nature Food. Continue reading...
06/01/2024 - 02:00
With hundreds of highly prized species, bird tourism is thriving in the country – and farmers are increasingly turning their land into nature reserves When it came to dividing up his late father’s farm between five brothers, Vinicio Bacuilima says he drew the short straw. Maraksacha, on the main road out of Ecuador’s capital Quito, is a tiny patch of land on the edge of a steep ravine, making it very difficult to make a living from farming. Then Bacuilima’s wife Anita Cajas had an idea: turn their paltry inheritance into a site to attract visiting birders. Creating the Maraksacha Reserve was a risky venture, but it paid off, with feeders attracting a host of colourful hummingbirds and tanagers. Continue reading...