Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘Pattern of negligence’: a chemical plant fire in Georgia forces tens of thousands to take shelter

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 10:00:41 +0000

The smell of chlorine pervades Conyers as residents say BioLab’s accident was a danger hiding in plain sight

For Vonnetta West the plume of smoke rising in the sky outside her home in the city of Conyers, Georgia, was a sign not just of immediate risk – but a danger that had been hiding in plain sight for years.

Calls for failing English water firms to be taken over using special administration

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:40:44 +0000

Government urged to use power to control companies such as Thames Water and reform the industry

Thames Water and other failing water companies should be placed into special administration to allow the government to tackle much-needed reforms to the industry, campaigners say.

Triggering special administration would put Thames and other failing companies in government control, removing company directors and ending the dividends paid to shareholders. The companies could then be transferred to new owners who could be publicly owned or controlled.

‘Nowhere is safe’: shattered Asheville shows stunning reach of climate crisis

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:00:04 +0000

The historic North Carolina city was touted as a climate ‘haven’ – a reputation deadly Hurricane Helene left in ruins

Nestled in the bucolic Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina and far from any coast, Asheville was touted as a climate “haven” from extreme weather. Now the historic city has been devastated and cut off by Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic floodwaters, in a stunning display of the climate crisis’s unlimited reach in the United States.

Most soft plastic collected for recycling is burned, campaigners say

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 07:00:25 +0000

Everyday Plastic calls supermarket takeback schemes a diversion and says there is too much plastic packaging

Seventy per cent of soft plastic collected in supermarket recycling schemes and tracked after collection ended up being burned, an investigation by campaigners has found.

By placing trackers inside packages of soft plastic that were collected by Sainsbury’s and Tesco in July 2023 and February 2024, campaigners found that most of them ended up being incinerated rather than recycled.

Pine martens return to Dartmoor after 150-year absence

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 06:00:24 +0000

Fifteen of the nimble, tree-climbing mammals were released last month at secret locations in Devon

Fifteen pine martens are darting through the woods of Dartmoor for the first time in 150 years after the rare but recovering species was reintroduced into south-west England.

The nimble, tree-climbing mustelids were released last month at secret locations in the steep, tree-lined valleys of Devon in what conservationists are hailing as a historic step in the restoration of the region’s woodlands.

‘We look to the past to move forward’: the ancient method boosting cuttlefish numbers in the Mediterranean

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:00:24 +0000

A project on Spain’s Costa Brava is reviving dwindling populations of the prized seafood – and keeping small-scale fishers in business

Clinging to almost vertical cliffs on the Costa Brava in north-east Spain, the resort of l’Estartit has a dramatic location but the real drama is unfolding under the waves, where an innovative approach to ancient techniques is helping to revive declining populations of prized cuttlefish

Botanists identify 33 global ‘dark spots’ with thousands of unknown plants

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:00:22 +0000

Kew study reveals areas with at least 100,000 undiscovered plant species – most likely to be under threat of extinction

Botanists have identified 33 “dark spots” around the world where thousands of plant species are probably waiting to be discovered, according to new research.

Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

admin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:27:41 +0000

This blog is now closed

Amid Australia’s chaotic climate politics, the rooftop solar boom is an unlikely triumph | Adam Morton

admin — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 22:39:06 +0000

It’s difficult to overstate how rapidly Australians have embraced solar power – there’s now more rooftop solar than coal-fired power. The key question is what policymakers can learn from its success

Firefly species may blink out as US seeks to list it as endangered for first time

admin — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 21:14:24 +0000

Bethany Beach firefly, found in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, faces dangers to habitat because of climate change

The US government is seeking to consider a firefly species as endangered for the first time, according to a proposal from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.