Breaking Waves: Ocean News

11/20/2024 - 10:00
OECD complaint alleges top firm has increased investments in companies implicated in environmental devastation BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset management company, faces a complaint at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for allegedly contributing to environmental and human rights abuses around the world through its investments in agribusiness. Friends of the Earth US and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil accuse BlackRock of increasing investments in companies that have been implicated in the devastation of the Amazon and other major forests despite warnings that this is destabilising the global climate, damaging ecosystems and violating the rights of traditional communities. Continue reading...
11/20/2024 - 09:36
Chris Uhlmann says power costs are soaring while renewables are falling short, but do the pair have anything in common? Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast What is “The Real Cost of Net Zero” the political journalist Chris Uhlmann asked this week, after weeks of trailing his new documentary on Sky News Australia. Uhlmann is no fan of Australia’s shift to renewables and, in a preview published in the Australian said politicians and governments “pushing ambitious renewables targets” were “breathtakingly, stunningly energy illiterate”. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
11/20/2024 - 08:00
Interviews and analysis of court documents show how the world’s most prestigious consulting firm quietly helps fuel the climate crisis Two giant, mirrored walls are set to rise out of the sands of the Arabian desert. They will run parallel for more than 100 miles from the coast of the Red Sea through arid valleys and craggy mountains. Between them, a futuristic city which has no need for cars or roads will be powered completely by renewable energy. This engineering marvel, its creators say, will usher in “a revolution in civilization”. It’s the jewel in the crown of a $500bn Saudi government project known as Neom, turning a vast scrubland into a techno-utopia and world-class tourist and sporting destination. Perhaps a harbinger for the end of oil, it will supposedly put the powerful petrostate at the forefront of the energy transition. For American consulting giant McKinsey & Company, its advising on this project appears to be making good on the firm’s green promises. Continue reading...
11/20/2024 - 01:43
‘Talks aren’t just about figures on paper, they’re about people’s lives’, says Climate Action International as talks reach critical final days Earlier today I posted about an excellent piece colleagues at the Guardian have published tracking how Earth’s heating has led to rising sea levels and extreme weather – and yet there is no sign of emissions slowing. Unfortunately I did not include a link to the piece [it was early UK time!] so here it is [and as I said original if negotiators at Cop need any motivation to reach a deal they could do worse than read this] Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 19:24
Powerful storm is predicted to be strongest region has seen this season, causing ‘life-threatening’ conditions A set of powerful storms that could rank among the strongest in decades will slam British Columbia, thepacific north-west, and northern California this week, with torrents of rain, inches of snow in high altitudes and damaging winds. The region is bracing for widespread power outages and flash flooding, with extreme rainfall that could linger until the weekend. After a relatively mild autumn, these rains are part of a familiar pattern caused by atmospheric rivers – strong storm systems that can bring both relief and ruin. Continue reading...
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023 Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program. World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html. Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs. World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world. World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org. media contact Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory   |   [email protected] +12077011069
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