Breaking Waves: Ocean News

07/15/2024 - 15:54
Nearly 300,000 residents without electricity as governor gives company until end of month to address outages Power outages persist in Houston, Texas, after Hurricane Beryl tore through the area last week leavings hundreds of thousands of residents without electricity in the middle of a brutal heatwave. Nearly 300,000 customers have now gone almost a week without electricity and air conditioning during excessive heat where temperatures are reaching 94F (34C). Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 15:50
The hikers were a father and daughter lost in Canyonlands and a woman who passed out at Snow Canyon state park Three hikers died over the weekend in suspected heat-related cases at state and national parks in Utah, including a father and daughter who got lost on a strenuous hike in Canyonlands national park in triple-digit temperatures. The daughter, 23, and her father, 52, sent a 911 text alerting dispatchers that they were lost and had run out of water while hiking the 8.1-mile (13km) Syncline Loop, described by the National Park Service as the most challenging trail in the Island in the Sky district of the south-east Utah park. Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 15:43
Figure represents 64-66% of global output of tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoroethane, MIT study finds Emissions of two of the most potent greenhouse gases have substantially increased in China over the last decade, a study has found. Perfluorocarbons are used in the manufacturing processes for flat-panel TVs and semiconductors, or as by-products from aluminium smelting. They are far more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, and can persist in the Earth’s atmosphere for thousands of years, unlike CO2 which can persist for up to 200 years. Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 14:00
Melting of ice is slowing planet’s rotation and could disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS The climate crisis is causing the length of each day to get longer, analysis shows, as the mass melting of polar ice reshapes the planet. The phenomenon is a striking demonstration of how humanity’s actions are transforming the Earth, scientists said, rivalling natural processes that have existed for billions of years. Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 13:11
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments over Ella’s fatal asthma attack The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate has said she wants an official apology for her daughter’s suffering as her high court claim against the government heads to trial. Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments for compensation for personal injury arising from the illness and premature death of her daughter Ella, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution. Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 12:57
Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, researchers describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole.
07/15/2024 - 12:04
MPs approve cull of 481 bears this year, up from 220 last year, to control ‘overpopulation’ of protected species Romania’s parliament has approved the culling of almost 500 bears this year in an effort to control the “overpopulation” of the protected species after a deadly attack on a hiker sparked nationwide outcry. The country is home to 8,000 brown bears, according to the environment ministry, Europe’s largest brown bear population outside Russia. Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 10:00
Winds blow particulates from drying lake into minority neighborhoods, exposing people to harmful particulates Toxic dust storms from the dried, exposed Great Salt Lake bed disproportionately poisons the air in Utah neighborhoods with higher levels of Hispanic and Pacific Islander populations, new research finds. The disparity between their average exposure and those of white populations will grow as the lake dries further. Continue reading...
07/15/2024 - 10:00
Lending puts banks in ‘complete violation’ of commitments to Paris agreement, climate group says, even as overall funding to sector ebbs Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Australia’s big four banks are in “complete violation” of commitments to the Paris climate accord by funding fossil fuel expansion even as their overall lending to the sector continues to ebb, according to a new report. The climate activist group Market Forces said in the report that the banks lent the industry $3.6bn in 2023, bringing their total loans to more than $61bn since 2015. Last year, though, was first year in the past eight that banks avoided explicitly backing a new or expanded fossil fuel project. Continue reading...
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023 Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program. World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html. Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs. World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world. World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org. media contact Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory   |   [email protected] +12077011069
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