Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Extreme weather cost $2tn globally over past decade, report finds

admin — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:01:30 +0000

US suffered greatest economic losses, report commissioned by International Chamber of Commerce finds, followed by China and India

Violent weather cost the world $2tn over the past decade, a report has found, as diplomats descend on the Cop29 climate summit for a tense fight over finance.

The analysis of 4,000 climate-related extreme weather events, from flash floods that wash away homes in an instant to slow-burning droughts that ruin farms over years, found economic damages hit $451bn across the past two years alone.

Oysters doing well in Firth of Forth after reintroduction, say experts

admin — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:01:30 +0000

Early signs of success seen in area where native European oysters were fished to local extinction by early 1900s

Thousands of oysters released into the Firth of Forth appear to be thriving again after a century-long absence from the Scottish estuary since they were lost to overfishing.

Marine experts from Heriot-Watt University who have helped reintroduce about 30,000 European flat oysters to the estuary said divers and underwater cameras showed they were doing well.

The Guardian view on the rise of eco-poetry: writing cannot ignore global heating | Editorial

admin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 18:25:23 +0000

Verse’s connection to nature can inspire awareness and hope amid the climate crisis, offering clarity beyond data

Cop29: what are carbon credits and why are they so controversial?

admin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 16:00:20 +0000

Once heavily scorned because of fraud and poor outcomes, carbon trading is likely to be high on the agenda in Baku

For the next two weeks, countries will gather on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss how to increase finance for climate crisis adaptation and mitigation. A global agreement on carbon markets will be high on the agenda as countries try to find ways of generating the trillions they need to decarbonise in order to limit heating to below 2C above preindustrial levels.

Here is what you need to know.

Battery-powered electric vehicle sales plunge by 25% as Australian drivers choose hybrid models

admin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 14:00:23 +0000

Australian Automobile Association analysis notes hybrids are exempt from fringe benefits tax until 1 April 2025

Fears New York buildings’ deadly toll on migratory birds could be on the rise

admin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 12:00:16 +0000

Annual bird survey suggests ‘particularly bad’ autumn on key migration route through city’s brightly lit skyscrapers

As fall bird migration nears its end in New York City, a troubling trend may be emerging: preliminary evidence suggest that more avians collided with buildings this season compared with last autumn.

Who’s who at Cop29? The world leaders and others who will attend

admin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 12:00:15 +0000

Crucial question for summit will be how to help developing countries cope with extreme weather caused by high temperatures

Deleted tweets, missed warnings and calls for the ‘hangman’: the bitter political fallout from Spain’s floods

admin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 05:00:07 +0000

The region’s president responds to criticisms that he was slow to act by attacking the prime minister

The sun still hadn’t risen on Tuesday 29 October when the mayor of Utiel, Ricardo Gabaldón, took another look at the warnings from Spain’s state meteorological office and ordered all the schools in the small Valencian town to close.

“The warning early that morning – at 5am or 6am – was orange,” he said. “That’s when I was weighing up whether to close the schools here. In the end, I ordered them to close at six or seven that morning. Soon after, the alert went red.”

‘Devastating’: California fire victims return to sift through rubble of homes

admin — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 20:50:44 +0000

Ten people have been injured so far by the Mountain fire, which was 17% contained by Saturday morning

As firefighting crews continued to battle the Mountain fire on Saturday, some residents were allowed to return to areas destroyed by the blaze to sift through the destruction to their homes.

As of 7am Pacific time on Saturday, the fire had been 17% contained, according to Cal Fire, the state’s wildfire-fighting agency.

Tory former energy secretary facing conflict of interest claim over JCB owner links

admin — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 20:00:03 +0000

Shadow cabinet secretary Claire Coutinho accepted donation from Lord Bamford while overseeing millions awarded to his family businesses in green grants

A Conservative former cabinet minister who took donations from the billionaire boss of the JCB digger dynasty – including a £7,000 trip on his VIP private helicopter – oversaw decisions to award his family’s business empire millions in taxpayer-funded green energy grants.