Breaking Waves: Ocean News

What lies beneath: the growing threat to the hidden network of cables that power the internet

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 23:55:12 +0000

Last month large parts of Tonga were left without internet when an undersea cable was broken. It’s a scenario that is far more common than is understood

It was the opening days of 2022, in the aftermath of a huge volcanic eruption, when Tonga went dark. The underwater eruption – 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima – sent tsunami waves across Tonga’s nearby archipelago and blanketed the island’s white coral sands in ash.

Cello-playing climate activist arrested at New York Citibank protest as crackdown escalates

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 23:13:11 +0000

Second activist also arrested during ‘summer of heat’ protest against second largest financier of fossil fuels

A 63-year-old climate activist and professional cellist faces up to seven years in prison after being arrested on Thursday while performing a Bach solo outside the headquarters of one of the world’s largest fossil fuel financier Citibank in downtown New York.

Peel those apples: washing produce doesn’t remove pesticides, study finds

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 19:06:45 +0000

Another report found pesticide levels posing ‘significant risks’ in 20% of tested fruits and vegetables

A new scientific report lends weight to consumer concerns about pesticide residues on food, presenting fresh evidence that washing fruit before eating does not remove various toxic chemicals commonly used in agriculture.

July ends 13-month streak of global heat records, but experts warn against relief

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 18:38:31 +0000

Climate scientists say that the world is continuing to warm, despite brief respite in record breaking temperatures

Earth’s string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Niño climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced on Wednesday.

Sellafield apologises after guilty plea over string of cybersecurity failings

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 18:19:54 +0000

Nuclear site awaits sentencing over breaches that it admitted could have threatened national security

Sellafield has apologised after pleading guilty to criminal charges relating to a string of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site, which it admitted could have threatened national security.

Among the failings at the vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria was the discovery that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attacks, Westminster magistrates court in London heard.

Wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal wetland fuelled ‘by climate disruption’

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 15:27:30 +0000

Devastation in Brazil wetlands was made at least four times more likely by fossil fuel use and deforestation, scientists say

Victoria investigates waste facilities over cheap landscaping soil after asbestos found in NSW

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 15:00:14 +0000

Exclusive: Victorian Environment Protection Authority launches ‘proactive program’ to investigate potential risks from recycled soil fill

Asbestos found in recycled soil at more than half NSW waste facilities

Victoria’s environment watchdog has launched a compliance blitz of waste facilities that produce cheap landscaping soil after a Guardian Australia investigation revealed systemic problems with similar recycled products in New South Wales.

Alaska capital takes stock after worst flooding yet caused by retreating glacier

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 14:42:52 +0000

Juneau residents clear sodden homes after lake dammed by Mendenhall Glacier gives way in what is now yearly event

Residents in Alaska’s capital cleared out waterlogged homes on Wednesday after a lake dammed by the picturesque Mendenhall Glacier gave way, causing the worst flooding in Juneau yet from what has become a yearly phenomenon.

‘It’s nice to help a life to live’: meet Sri Lanka’s turtle guardians

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 13:00:08 +0000

Volunteers are helping save baby sea turtles as the endangered species’ favourite nesting spots come under pressure from development, poaching and tourists

Photographs by Thilina Kaluthotage

It’s a sweltering night on the western coast of Sri Lanka, and on Mount Lavinia beach there’s an unusual flurry of activity. Several young people in orange hi-vis vests are squatting in a circle, digging in the sand in the semi-darkness.

‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy

admin — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 12:29:48 +0000

UN says a global ‘backlash’ against climate action is being stoked by fossil fuel companies

Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said.