Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Sanctioned Russia and Belarusian wood being smuggled into UK, study suggests

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 06:00:10 +0000

‘Chemical fingerprint’ shows 46% of wood samples certified as sustainable did not come from labelled country of origin

Nearly half of birch wood certified by leading sustainability schemes is misidentified and does not come from the labelled country of origin, according to new testing. The analysis raises fears that large quantities of sanctioned wood from Russia and Belarus are still illegally entering Britain.

Nigel Farage thinks net zero is the new Brexit. Starmer can prove him wrong | Rafael Behr

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 05:00:09 +0000

Labour must deliver the green transition voters want, leaving Reform and the Tories on the side of economic decline and dictators

Which former British prime minister described the climate emergency as “a clock ticking to the furious rhythm of hundreds of billions of pistons and turbines and furnaces and engines … quilting the Earth in an invisible and suffocating blanket of CO2”?

More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 04:00:10 +0000

An ashen pallor and an eerie stillness all that remains where there should fluttering fish and vibrant colours in the reefscape, one conservationist says

The world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, scientists have warned.

Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows.

‘It’s almost like Vaseline’: artists including Antony Gormley swap paint for seaweed ink in art challenge

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 04:00:08 +0000

Ocean-inspired artworks created using kelp-based pigment will be sold to raise funds for conservation

Last year in early summer, Alex Glasgow could be seen hauling up a long string of orangey-black seaweed on to the barge of his water farm, located off the west coast of Scotland near Skye. Growing on the farm was what Glasgow described as “perhaps the quickest-growing biomass on the planet”: seaweed.

Miniature horses race in New Zealand’s big wilderness – in pictures

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 03:05:30 +0000

Dozens of miniature horses and their human running mates have taken part in the Great Northern Gallop, an adventure race through dense forests and across rugged beaches in New Zealand’s Far North. Participants run or walk 100km over four days for the event, which raises money for the welfare of miniature horses

‘They dictate the rules’: BBC tells PM’s Evan Davis to stop hosting heat pump podcast

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 15:48:58 +0000

Presenter believes decision was taken due to the technology’s link with net zero after he was told he risked accusations of political bias

The BBC presenter Evan Davis has been told he can no longer host a podcast about heat pumps due to the corporation’s concerns that discussing the technology risks “treading on areas of public controversy”.

Al Gore draws parallels between Trump 2.0 and early Nazi Germany in speech

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:56:32 +0000

Former VP said the administration was creating its ‘own preferred reality’ and slammed it for green energy U-turn

Al Gore said there were “important lessons” to be learned from similarities between the early rise of Nazi Germany and the recent actions of the Trump administration, in scathing comments made Monday during remarks about climate change.

UK scientists to launch outdoor geoengineering experiments

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:56:21 +0000

Blocking sunlight could temporarily slow the climate crisis but the technologies remain highly controversial

UK scientists are to launch outdoor geoengineering experiments as part of a £50m government-funded programme.

Tariffs will raise prices. But the climate crisis is the real inflation risk | Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:00:23 +0000

As temperatures rise and countries back off their decarbonization efforts, we must confront a reality central banks can’t correct

Inflation is, at base, a tax on consumption – and it hits the poor the hardest, since they consume more of their incomes and the rich consume less.

That’s one reason for concern over Donald Trump’s tariffs, which will disproportionately affect the poor. When the 90-day pause on the tariffs expires, it is reasonable to expect prices to rise, and by a lot.

Rare dragonfly introduced into remote area of Cumbria to reverse its decline

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 11:22:43 +0000

White-faced darters transported to South Solway Mosses as hotter summers dry out its bog pool breeding sites

With its chalk-white face and bright flame-coloured markings, the white-faced darter dragonfly is a distinctive sight as it flutters around England’s peat bogs.

The rare dragonfly, which breeds in mossy pools, is at threat of local extinction, but now conservationists are trying to end its population crash by introducing it into a remote corner of Cumbria.