European flat oyster is defined as ‘collapsed’ in UK but there are hopes it could return to coastal waters
A box marked “special delivery” arrived about midday at Spurn Discovery Centre, on a remote East Yorkshire peninsula in the Humber estuary.
It is unlikely the postal worker had any idea it contained 300,000 living oyster larvae – tiny pinprick-sized organisms destined to become part of a new oyster reef just off the English coast.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/10/2024 - 06:00
09/10/2024 - 05:00
The source of new renewable energy is also a battleground over China’s cheap exports of panels that has split US firms
The Biden administration touts solar energy as one of its big success stories, a booming new industry that is curbing the effects of the climate crisis and creating high-paying jobs across the country. But the more complicated truth is that the United States is mired in a long-running trade war with China, which is flooding the market with artificially cheap solar panels that carry an uncomfortably large carbon footprint and threaten to obliterate the domestic industry.
The price of solar panels has plummeted 50% over the past year, largely, industry insiders say, because of deliberate Chinese overproduction of key components and a game of international cat-and-mouse over trade rules often likened to a game of “whack-a-mole”. As different sets of rules get established, Chinese companies have proved adept at moving their manufacturing plants to other countries, in south-east Asia, and shifting strategies to work around US tariffs and other deterrent measures.
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09/10/2024 - 04:01
Last year Antartica’s sea ice was 1.6m sq km below average – the size of Britain, France, Germany and Spain combined. This week it had even less than that
Sea ice surrounding Antarctica is on the cusp of reaching a record winter low for a second year running, continuing an “outrageous” fall in the amount of Southern Ocean that is freezing over.
The Antarctic region underwent an abrupt transformation in 2023 as the sea ice cover surrounding the continent crashed for six months straight. In winter, it covered about 1.6m sq km less than the long-term average – an area roughly the size of Britain, France, Germany and Spain combined.
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09/10/2024 - 00:00
We Own It says 31% of water bills went on shareholder payouts and company debts in last financial year, while the same percentage of 2024 remains
Tuesday is the day water bills will start servicing debt and paying shareholders rather than fixing leaks and ending the sewage scandal, campaigners have said, dubbing it “cost of water privatisation day”.
The public services campaign group We Own It has shared analysis from the University of Greenwich that reveals roughly 31% of money collected from water bills goes towards shareholders and paying off debts. Last financial year, an average of 11% of revenue was spent on dividends and 20% went towards servicing debts, while as of 10 September 31% of 2024 remains.
This article was amended on 10 September 2024 to remove a quote incorrectly attributed to Chris Weston, the chief executive of Thames Water.
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09/09/2024 - 23:00
Report says governments in global north increasingly using draconian measures while criticising similar tactics in global south
Wealthy, democratic countries in the global north are using harsh, vague and punitive measures to crack down on climate protests at the same time as criticising similar draconian tactics by authorities in the global south, according to a report.
A Climate Rights International report exposes the increasingly heavy-handed treatment of climate activists in Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and the US.
Record prison sentences for non violent protest in several countries including the UK, Germany and the US.
Preemptive arrests and detention for those suspected of planning peaceful protests.
Draconian new laws passed to make the vast majority of peaceful protest illegal.
Measures to stop juries hearing about people’s motivation for taking part in protests during court cases, which critics say fundamentally undermines the right to a fair trial.
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09/09/2024 - 22:41
Robots being used to gather sample that will give clues about conditions inside the reactors, a step towards decommissioning plant hit by tsunami in Japan 13 years ago
A difficult operation to remove a small amount of radioactive debris from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant has begun, after technical issues suspended an earlier attempt.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said in a statement on Tuesday that its “pilot extraction operation” had started. It will take about two weeks, according to the company.
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09/09/2024 - 19:36
Records of koala admissions to veterinary hospitals in South East Queensland shows euthanasia was the most common outcome.
09/09/2024 - 18:01
Latin America was the most deadly region in which to defend ecosystems from mining and deforestation, with Indigenous people among half the dead
At least 196 people were killed last year for defending the environment, with more than a third of killings taking place in Colombia, new figures show.
From campaigners who spoke out against mining projects to Indigenous communities targeted by organised crime groups, an environmental defender was killed every other day in 2023, according to a new report by the NGO Global Witness.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features.
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09/09/2024 - 14:00
Living microbes that cause disease in humans and host antibiotic-resistance genes carried 1,200 miles
Microbes that cause disease in humans can travel thousands of miles on high-level winds, scientists have revealed for the first time.
The winds studied carried a surprising diversity of bacteria and fungi, including known pathogens and, some with genes for resistance to multiple antibiotics. Some of the microbes were shown to be alive – in other words, they had survived the long journey and were able to replicate.
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09/09/2024 - 13:30
Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa want international criminal court to class environmental destruction as crime alongside genocide
Three developing countries have taken the first steps towards transforming the world’s response to climate breakdown and environmental destruction by making ecocide a punishable criminal offence.
In a submission to the international criminal court on Monday, they propose a change in the rules to recognise “ecocide” as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes.
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