Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘This is ground zero for Blatten’: the tiny Swiss village engulfed by a mountain

admin — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 12:33:09 +0000

‘The memories preserved in countless books, photo albums, documentation – everything is gone,’ says village’s mayor

For weeks the weight had sat above the village, nine million tonnes of rock precariously resting on an ancient slab of ice. A chunk of Kleines Nesthorn mountain’s peak had crumbled, and its rubble hung over the silent, empty streets of Blatten, held back only by the glacier. The ice groaned beneath the pressure.

Natural disasters cost Australia’s economy $2.2bn in first half of 2025, new Treasury analysis shows

admin — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 12:30:12 +0000

Wild weather, including Cyclone Alfred and floods in NSW and Queensland, significantly slowed retail trade and household spending

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Six months of natural disasters in 2025 have cost the economy $2.2bn, largely in slower retail and household spending, according to new federal Treasury analysis.

How the little-known ‘dark roof’ lobby may be making US cities hotter

admin — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 10:55:10 +0000

As cities heat up, reflective roofs could lower energy bills and help the climate. But dark roofing manufacturers are waging a quiet campaign to block new rules

This story is co-published with Floodlight

It began with a lobbyist’s pitch.

Tennessee representative Rusty Grills says the lobbyist proposed a simple idea: repeal the state’s requirement for reflective roofs on many commercial buildings.

This elusive possum was thought to be extinct outside Victoria. Now ecologists have made an ‘amazing’ discovery

admin — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 01:24:38 +0000

Leadbeater’s possum spotted in NSW at Kosciuszko national park, at least 250km away from the nearest sighting in Victoria

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A critically endangered possum species thought to be isolated to Victoria has been found in a New South Wales alpine national park.

‘Gut punch’: top shark expert quits Queensland advisory panel after LNP expands cull program

admin — Sat, 31 May 2025 20:00:04 +0000

Exclusive: Colin Simpfendorfer’s resignation from working group comes as conservationists lash expansion of lethal program they say ‘does nothing to improve beach safety’

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Anger as Dorset estate withdraws public entry to ‘stunning’ local landmark

admin — Sat, 31 May 2025 10:00:41 +0000

Visitors lament ‘tremendous shame’ as notice withdrawing public access appears after £30m sale of Bridehead Estate

For decades the lake and waterfall on the Bridehead Estate in Dorset have brought joy to visitors who used the permissive path to access a scene of pastoral loveliness that could have come straight from the pages of a Thomas Hardy novel.

But there was melancholy – and anger – among the hundreds, possibly thousands, who made final pilgrimages to the village of Littlebredy this week after it was announced that access to the public was being halted from 2 June.

Brazil’s environmental governance is under threat – and Lula is siding with oil industry

admin — Sat, 31 May 2025 05:00:36 +0000

Politicians reviled environmental minister Marina Silva in the senate this week, but new legislation is fuelling the fire

What is an ecologically or biologically significant area?

admin — Sat, 31 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 31 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00126-5

What is an ecologically or biologically significant area?

‘Nothing left’: Irish whale-watching company closes amid ‘overfishing’

admin — Fri, 30 May 2025 17:42:33 +0000

Sprat fishing has disrupted the food chain and diverted humpback, minke and fin whales as well as dolphins

A whale-watching company has abandoned tours off Ireland’s southern Atlantic coast and declared the waters an empty, lifeless sea.

Colin Barnes, who ran Cork Whale Watch, announced he was closing the company because overfishing of sprat has disrupted the marine food chain and diverted humpback, minke and fin whales as well as dolphins.

Australia’s best photos of the month – May 2025

admin — Fri, 30 May 2025 15:00:21 +0000

Floods, elections and frocks: here is Guardian Australia’s pick of the month’s most striking images