As the black stuff burnt in the UK plummets to a level not seen since the early steam age, we trace its long, deep history and the problems left in its wake
Britain achieved an unlikely status as a power provider last year. Its annual consumption of coal plunged to the lowest level in 250 years. According to figures released last week, a mere 8 million tonnes were incinerated in UK factories and power plants. That is roughly the same amount that was burned nationally in 1769, when James Watt was patenting his modified steam engine.
That invention helped to spark the Industrial Revolution and triggered a massive rise in annual coal use in Britain, which soared to well over 200 million tonnes by the mid-20th century. Now levels have plummeted back to their original pre-revolution state. King coal – once the undisputed ruler of British industry – has finally been dethroned.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/08/2020 - 15:00
Review recommends ‘trailing liability’, where owners remain liable for decommissioning sites after selling them
Energy giant Woodside Petroleum is facing calls to pay more than $200m to clean up a moribund oil production site in the Timor Sea, after a government review recommended past owners of offshore facilities should be made liable for remediation costs.
Woodside operated the Northern Endeavour oil production ship, permanently moored about 550 kilometres north-west of Darwin, from 1999 until 2016. It announced the site would close, but then paid the newly incorporated group Northern Oil and Gas Australia (Noga) $24m to take it over.
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08/08/2020 - 15:00
The information commissioner says release of material previously redacted by the scientific agency is a matter of public interest
An important freedom of information ruling from the information commissioner involving the CSIRO has set a new bar on when the public service can withhold documents detailing internal deliberations if they concern matters of public importance.
South Australian senator Rex Patrick has been trying to gain access to CSIRO documents that touch on how the scientific agency dealt with criticisms from the SA royal commission into the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
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08/08/2020 - 07:57
A new publication on the impacts of deep-seabed mining by 13 prominent deep-sea biologists seeks to dispel scientific misconceptions that have led to miscalculations of the likely effects of commercial operations to extract minerals from the seabed.
08/08/2020 - 07:57
A new study of more than 1,000 years of North American droughts and global conditions found that forecasting a lack of precipitation is rarely straightforward.
08/08/2020 - 04:00
President’s eldest son opposes controversial Pebble mine at headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to world’s largest wild salmon run
A surprise intervention from Donald Trump Jr has breathed life into efforts to protect the biggest remaining wild salmon run on the planet.
Earlier this week, Trump Jr expressed his opposition to the controversial Pebble mine at the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The move breaks with the Trump administration’s efforts to advance the mine’s development.
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08/08/2020 - 02:00
Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘self-reliant India’ comes at a terrible price for its indigenous population
Over the past decade, Umeshwar Singh Amra has witnessed his homeland descend into a battleground. The war being waged in Hasdeo Arand, a rich and biodiverse Indian forest, has pitted indigenous people, ancient trees, elephants and sloths against the might of bulldozers, trucks and hydraulic jacks, fighting with a single purpose: the extraction of coal.
Yet under a new “self-reliant India” plan by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to boost the economy post-Covid-19 and reduce costly imports, 40 new coalfields in some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests are to be opened up for commercial mining.
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08/08/2020 - 00:37
The Olive Ridley turtles are part of conservationists’ attempts to boost the population and promote environmental protection
More than 10,000 baby turtles were released into the sea off the Indonesian island of Bali, as part of conservationists’ attempts to boost the population of a vulnerable species and promote environmental protection.
Conservation groups carried crates each full of dozens of tiny turtles to the island’s Gianyar beach on Friday and encouraged local people and volunteers to line up on the sand and release the hatchlings together.
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08/07/2020 - 21:37
Alicia Ramsay was hit by humpback whale’s fin days after two others injured swimming at tourist hotspot Ningaloo reef
A woman snorkelling on Ningaloo Reef, on the north-west coast of Western Australia, has become the third person to be injured by a humpback whale there in less than a week.
The woman, Alicia Ramsay, 30, was flown to Royal Perth hospital with rib fractures on Thursday after being hit by the whale, which was swimming nearby with its calf.
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08/07/2020 - 16:36
Country’s prime minister has asked France for help in tackling the disaster
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling tons of fuel.
The prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, made the announcement late on Friday as satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near environmental areas that the government called “very sensitive”.
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DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES
To support all educators and parents teaching from home in the weeks ahead, the World Ocean Observatory is pulling together a compendium of home-study tools and resources for teaching and learning about the ocean. These resources can be used by parents, schools, educators and others to address the educational gaps being created by local and national ‘shelter in place’ initiatives to help flatten the curve on the Covid-19 outbreak. This list of resources is a work in progress: please reach out if you have other key elements that we should be sharing with our global community.
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WORLD OCEAN EXPLORER 2020
With a game capable of reaching a global audience, WORLD OCEAN EXPLORER can expand interest in ocean issues and habitats, and excite students about the infinite possibilities associated with ocean exploration. LEARN MORE.
