Breaking Waves: Ocean News

We examined anti-protest laws across the west. Britain stood out, and not in a good way | Linda Lakhdhir

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:00:41 +0000

Under the Tories, non-violent climate protesters were jailed for up to five years – and there is little sign that Labour will change tack

Half a million oysters to be introduced to Humber estuary in restoration plan

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:00:19 +0000

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.

How China and a tariffs row cast a shadow over booming US solar power

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 10:00:21 +0000

The source of new renewable energy is also a battleground over China’s cheap exports of panels that has split US firms

‘Two incredible extreme events’: Antarctic sea ice on cusp of record winter low for second year running

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 09:01:11 +0000

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.

Remainder of year’s water bills will pay dividends and service debts, say campaigners

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 05:00:35 +0000

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”.

Rich countries silencing climate protest while preaching about rights elsewhere, says study

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 04:00:34 +0000

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.

Fukushima nuclear plant: operation begins to remove radioactive debris

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 03:41:34 +0000

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.

Grim statistics on koala survival odds

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 00:36:05 +0000

Records of koala admissions to veterinary hospitals in South East Queensland shows euthanasia was the most common outcome.

Almost 200 people killed last year trying to defend the environment, report finds

admin — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 23:01:29 +0000

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.

Pathogenic microbes blown vast distances by winds, scientists discover

admin — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 19:00:24 +0000

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.