Breaking Waves: Ocean News

A drone image of two humpback whales ‘bubble-net feeding’ by Western Australian photographer Scott Portelli has taken out the top prize in the 2024 Australian Geographic nature photographer of the year competition. This is a cooperative hunting strategy used by humpbacks that allows as many of them as possible to feed in a short time. It is widely believed the whales developed this feeding method after they were hunted to near extinction. The image was chosen from 1,856 entries and the exhibition is now on at the South Australian Museum until 3 November Focusing in on the microscopic world of nanophotography – in pictures Continue reading...

Had fires been ranked alongside countries they would have been world’s fourth-largest emitter, study finds Wildfires that swept Canada’s woodlands last year released more greenhouse gases than some of the largest emitting countries, a study found on Wednesday, calling into question national emissions budgets that rely on forests as carbon stores. At 647 megatonnes, the carbon released in last year’s wildfires exceeded those of seven of the 10 largest national emitters in 2022, including Germany, Japan and Russia, the study published in the journal Nature found. Continue reading...

Numbers surged after changes to the agricultural census. Advocates say that’s not what they’ve seen on the ground Earlier this summer, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released data that suggested that, after years of decline, the number of Black farmers has grown to more than 45,000. This is in stark contrast to the dire situation of Black producers in the 1990s, when a New York Times article predicted their coming extinction; Black farm numbers had fallen below 20,000 in that decade. Continue reading...

Government says it will not challenge reviews of approval given to controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank fields UK politics live – latest updates The future of two of the UK’s most controversial oil and gas projects has been thrown into doubt, after the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, withdrew government support for the companies in two legal cases brought by campaigners. The Jackdaw gasfield, operated by Shell, was given approval in 2022, and Greenpeace applied for a judicial review shortly after the decision. Last year, the previous Conservative government gave the green light to Equinor-operated Rosebank, the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield, against the recommendation of climate advisers. Greenpeace and Uplift demanded a judicial review, arguing that the approval was incompatible with the UK’s legally binding climate commitments, and saying that ministers’ original analysis ignored the devastating impact of burning oil from the site. Continue reading...