Breaking Waves: Ocean News

01/21/2025 - 09:00
Cost of fixing PFAS pollution should be borne by manufacturers and polluters, not governments and consumers, expert will tell Senate inquiry Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A water quality expert has called on the Australian government to expand a planned ban of certain PFAS as a Senate committee heard concerns from a New South Wales community affected by chemical contamination. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a group of several thousand synthetic compounds, are found in a wide variety of products including waterproof fabrics, food packaging, hygiene products and firefighting foam. They are sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are slow to break down and persist in the environment for extended periods. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
01/21/2025 - 08:56
Gusts could peak at 70mph (113km/h) along the coast and 100mph (160km/h) in the mountains and foothills Winds picked up on Tuesday in southern California and at least a couple of new wildfires broke out as firefighters remained on alert in extreme fire weather, two weeks after two major blazes started that are still burning in the Los Angeles area. The fresh high winds – that are coming amid still bone-dry conditions – mark the end of a break in dangerous high fire-risk conditions that have allowed the beleaguered city’s fire-fighters to largely contain the disastrous blazes that have burnt thousands of homes. The fires have killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out during fierce winds on 7 January. Continue reading...
01/21/2025 - 05:00
Critical CO2 stores held in permafrost are being released as the landscape changes with global heating, report shows A third of the Arctic’s tundra, forests and wetlands have become a source of carbon emissions, a new study has found, as global heating ends thousands of years of carbon storage in parts of the frozen north. For millennia, Arctic land ecosystems have acted as a deep-freeze for the planet’s carbon, holding vast amounts of potential emissions in the permafrost. But ecosystems in the region are increasingly becoming a contributor to global heating as they release more CO2 into the atmosphere with rising temperatures, a new study published in Nature Climate Change concluded. Continue reading...
01/21/2025 - 02:00
Artisanal shellfish farmers face ruinous losses but money meant to help is going to the powerful fishing industry, say critics Early on a warm September morning in southern Italy, Giovanni Nicandro sets out from the port of Taranto in his small boat. Summoning his courage, the mussel farmer inspects his year’s work – only to find them all dead, a sight that almost brings him to tears. “We have many problems,” he says. “The problems start as soon as we open our eyes in the morning.” The loss is total – not only for Nicandro but also for Taranto’s 400 other mussel farmers, after a combination of pollution and rising sea temperatures devastated their harvest. Continue reading...
01/21/2025 - 01:00
Move is part of £300m investment that includes deepwater quay and building of hundreds of homes near city centre Belfast harbour is to invest £90m to upgrade its port to serve a wave of wind energy projects and cruise ships as part of a £300m investment plan. A new deepwater quay capable of supporting wind projects will be the largest part of an investment plan that also includes the construction of hundreds of homes at a site near the city centre. Continue reading...
01/20/2025 - 21:10
President tells crowd that US ‘will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity’ What executive orders did Trump sign on day one? Donald Trump took aim at federal support for the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) on Monday, amid a flurry of promised executive orders on his first day back in the White House. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” Trump said during a ceremony at Capitol One Arena, where he signed a raft of executive orders before a roaring crowd. Trump embraces role of demagogue, claims to be ‘peacemaker’ – follow inauguration updates as it happened Factchecking Trump’s speech Elon Musk appears to make back-to-back fascist salutes Activists ask: is there any point in mass protest? Continue reading...
01/20/2025 - 20:46
President declares energy emergency, reiterates Paris withdrawal plan and overturns emissions standards Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency on the first day of his new presidency, as part of a barrage of pro-fossil fuel actions and efforts to “unleash” already booming US energy production that included also rolling back restrictions in drilling in Alaska and undoing a pause on gas exports. The emergency declaration, which made good on a campaign-trail promise but could be open to legal challenge, would allow his administration to fast-track permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure. Trump sworn in as 47th president – follow live inauguration updates Factchecking Trump’s speech A who’s who of far-right leaders in Washington Migrant groups at US-Mexico border await mass deportations ‘Doge’ violates federal transparency rules, lawsuit claims Continue reading...
01/20/2025 - 10:36
Banks, asset managers and industry groups move to accommodate US president’s anti-net zero stance The second Trump administration is expected to strike a blow to efforts to align the global financial sector with the path to net zero, with banks, asset managers and industry groups already moving to accommodate the incoming president’s avowed policy of “drill, baby, drill”. As authorities declared 2024 the hottest on record, atmospheric carbon dioxide leapt by a record amount and fires ravaged Los Angeles, a key private sector climate alliance, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) abandoned a requirement that members be aligned to the Paris agreement. Continue reading...
01/20/2025 - 09:00
These ibises have a special skill called ‘remote touch’, which they use to find their worm, grub and snail prey through vibrations Hadedas are iridescent grey-brown ibises – jack russell-sized birds with long, curved bills and very small heads – found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They have a special skill called “remote touch”, which they use to find their worm, grub and snail prey. At the tip of their bills is an organ that, when they stick it into the soil, can sense the vibrations of their food nearby. Continue reading...
01/20/2025 - 09:00
Australian Conservation Foundation’s analysis finds amount of habitat approved to be razed double previous year’s as it calls for stronger protections Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Almost 26,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was greenlit for destruction in 2024 – more than double the previous year – according to analysis that environmentalists are using to pressure Anthony Albanese to revive his stalled nature watchdog. A new Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) report has revealed a huge increase in the scale of habitat approved to be cleared under federal environmental protection laws in the past 12 months. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...