Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Tasmania’s $1bn salmon industry to undergo ‘reset’ under 10-year plan
09/16/2021 - 17:56
The state government’s bid to increase land-based farming and operations in deeper waters includes a moratorium on new leases Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing Tasmania’s heavily scrutinised salmon industry will undergo a “reset” under a state government plan to increase land-based fish farming and operations in deeper waters. The island’s $1bn aquaculture industry has faced increased pressure since the release of Richard Flanagan’s book Toxic, which paints a bleak picture of its environmental impact. Continue reading...
Read more »
Cumbria coalmine firm ‘betting on UK breach of climate targets’
09/16/2021 - 12:33
Expert tells inquiry WCM’s plans are not legally compliant under UK’s and EU’s policy frameworks The company seeking to open the UK’s first new deep coalmine in 30 years is gambling on the UK’s and EU’s failure to address climate change, the public inquiry into the mining plans has heard. An expert witness for one of the parties opposed to West Cumbria Mining’s (WCM) plans to dig up 2.7m tonnes of coking coal a year says the firm’s case for the mine rests on the assumption that UK and EU governments will breach their legally binding climate targets by using the coal to supply steelmaking over the coming decades. Continue reading...
Read more »
Climate experts fear Aukus will dash hopes of China emissions deal
09/16/2021 - 12:26
Timing of defence deal, ahead of Cop26 summit where China will be key player, dismays campaigners The timing of the new defence deal between the US, UK and Australia has dismayed climate experts, who fear it could have a negative effect on hopes of a deal with China on greenhouse gas emissions ahead of vital UN climate talks. The Aukus trilateral security partnership has been interpreted as seeking to counterbalance Chinese power in the Asia-Pacific region, and has been likened to a new cold war by China. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson warned the three countries to “respect regional people’s aspiration and do more that is conducive to regional peace and stability and development – otherwise they will only end up hurting their own interests”. Continue reading...
Read more »
‘About damn time’: First Nation gets clean water after 24-year wait
09/16/2021 - 12:03
Residents of Shoal Lake 40 can drink from taps thanks to a new water treatment facility but dozens of communities lack access Residents of a First Nations community in Canada, who were deprived of clean drinking water for nearly a quarter of a century, can now drink from their taps after a water treatment facility became fully operational earlier this week. Shoal Lake 40, a community on the Manitoba-Ontario border, has been under drinking water advisory since 1997. Continue reading...
Read more »
Reforestation could help save coral reefs from catastrophe
09/16/2021 - 10:45
Increasing reforestation efforts in coastal regions could substantially reduce the amount of sediment run-off reaching coral reefs and improve their resilience, a new study has found.
Read more »
Labour condemns new trade secretary for tweets rejecting climate science
09/16/2021 - 08:41
Anne-Marie Trevelyan dismisses those who believe in global heating as ‘fanatics’ in resurfaced posts Cabinet reshuffle: who’s in, who’s out Politics latest – live The new international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, has been accused of rejecting the science behind the climate emergency after a series of tweets came to light showing her dismissing those who believe in global heating as “fanatics”. Labour has condemned the appointment of Trevelyan, who was elevated from junior business minister, which took in the brief of promoting clean growth, to replace Liz Truss, the new foreign secretary, as part of Boris Johnson’s reshuffle on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Read more »
​Fossilised long-legged giant penguin identified as new species
09/16/2021 - 06:59
Skeleton found by children in New Zealand helps fill in gaps in natural history In January 2006 a group of children in summer camp in Waikato, New Zealand, went on a fossil-hunting field trip with a seasoned archaeologist. They kayaked to the upper Kawhia harbour, a hotspot for this sort of activity, and they expected to find fossils of shellfish and the like, as they regularly did on these Hamilton junior naturalist club expeditions. But on this day, just before heading home, close to where they’d left the kayaks and well below the high tide mark, they noticed a trace of fossils that looked like much more than prehistoric crustaceans. After careful extraction, an archaeologist later identified it as the most complete fossilised skeleton of an ancient giant penguin yet uncovered. Continue reading...
Read more »
‘Dramatically more powerful’: world’s first battery-electric freight train unveiled
09/16/2021 - 06:00
Wabtec shows off locomotive amid fresh attempt by some US lawmakers to slash carbon emissions from rail transport The world’s first battery-electric freight train was unveiled at an event in Pittsburgh on Friday, amid a fresh attempt by some US lawmakers to slash carbon emissions from rail transport in order to address the climate crisis. Wabtec, the Pittsburgh-based rail freight company, showed off its locomotive at Carnegie Mellon University as part of a new venture between the two organizations to develop zero emissions technology to help move the 1.7bn tons of goods that are shipped on American railroads each year. Continue reading...
Read more »
Exxon helped cause the climate crisis. It’s time they owned up | Mark Hertsgaard
09/16/2021 - 05:00
The Cop26 climate summit will be an opportunity to put fossil fuel companies on trial through the court of public opinion Fossil fuel companies bear as much responsibility as governments do for humanity’s climate predicament – and for finding a way out. Our planetary house is on fire, and these companies have literally supplied the fuel. Worse, they lied about it for decades to blunt public awareness and policy reform. There’s no better time for ExxonMobil and other petroleum giants to be held accountable than at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November. The Glasgow summit is more than just another international meeting. It is the last chance for world leaders to limit future temperature rise to an amount that civilization can survive. Doing so, scientists say, will require a rapid, global decline in oil, gas and coal burning. Continue reading...
Read more »
Production of forever chemicals emits potent greenhouse gases, analysis finds
09/16/2021 - 05:00
EPA data reveals that one of America’s biggest PFAS-making plants is second largest polluter of highly damaging HCFC-22 gas A new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data has revealed that PFAS chemicals – often known as “forever chemicals” due to their longevity in the environment – are contributing to the climate crisis as their production involves the emission of potent greenhouse gases. In recent years, an ever-expanding body of scientific research has shown that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are among the most toxic substances widely used in consumer products. Continue reading...
Read more »
Syndicate content