Breaking Waves: Ocean News

01/22/2025 - 10:00
From LNG to drilling in Alaska, here’s everything you need to know about Trump’s energy and climate executive orders Through a flurry of executive orders, a newly inaugurated Donald Trump has made clear his support for the ascendancy of fossil fuels, the dismantling of support for cleaner energy and the United States’ exit from the fight to contain the escalating climate crisis. “We will drill, baby, drill,” the president said in his inaugural address on Monday. “We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have – the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We’re going to use it.” Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 07:01
Representatives of Heartland Institute linking up with MEPs to campaign against environmental policies Climate science deniers from a US-based thinktank have been working with rightwing politicians in Europe to campaign against environmental policies, the Guardian can reveal. MEPs have been accused of “rolling out the red carpet for climate deniers” to give them a platform in the European parliament, amid warnings of a “revival of grotesque climate denialism”. Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 07:00
Some areas of the Amazon experienced their worst drought in 120 years in 2024. Brazilian rivers such as the Negro fell to their lowest levels on record, affecting more than 140,000 families for months. Photographer Musuk Nolte documented the crisis Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 06:00
Climate crisis is making it harder for insurance companies to operate, with many pausing or withdrawing policies Homeowners in the United States are facing an enormous financial crunch due to the climate crisis, with many struggling to find insurance or even dropping premiums that are soaring due to a mounting toll of wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters, new federal government data shows. The figures, the most comprehensive numbers ever released by the US treasury department on the issue, show insurance premiums are increasing quickly across the country, with people living amid the greatest climate-driven risks experiencing the steepest rises of all. In the four years to 2022, people living in the top 20% riskiest places for such perils paid, on average, 82% more than those in the 20% lowest climate risk zip codes. Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 05:54
António Guterres issues warning at Davos, days after Donald Trump pulled US out of Paris climate agreement Davos day two live – latest updates The world’s addiction to fossil fuels is a “Frankenstein’s monster sparing nothing and no one”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, told leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. “Our fossil fuel addiction is a Frankenstein’s monster, sparing nothing and no one. All around us, we see clear signs that the monster has become master,” Guterres said in a speech days after 2024 was revealed to have been the hottest year on record and Donald Trump began his second term as US president by pulling the country out of the Paris climate agreement and pledging to “drill, baby, drill” for more oil and gas. The fossil fuel industry gave $75m (£60m) to Trump’s campaign. Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 05:39
Experts say UK should stop biomass burning as electricity sector decarbonisation by 2030 can be achieved without it The UK should stop burning wood to generate power because it is not needed to meet the government’s target of decarbonising the electricity sector by 2030, according to analysis. Ed Miliband, the energy security and net zero secretary, is expected to make a decision soon on whether to allow billions of pounds in new public subsidies for biomass burning, despite fierce opposition from green groups. Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 03:05
Fifty-one sites in NSW have significant PFAS contamination requiring continued monitoring and remediation, EPA tells Senate inquiry Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Experts and water providers have called for a broad ban on so-called “forever chemicals” at a Senate inquiry into PFAS, warning of environmental harm and increasingly costly removal. The Water Services Association of Australia’s executive director, Adam Lovell, said a ban should be imposed on PFAS in non-essential consumer products. “We need to reduce now, as much as possible, how much PFAS is in the environment. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
01/22/2025 - 01:00
Juan Guillermo Garcés had a brush with death while burning jungle for cattle pasture – now he runs a nature reserve in Colombia where more than 100 new species have been discovered Words and photographs by Anastasia Austin and Douwe den Held Juan Guillermo Garcés remembers coming face to face with death at age 17. Smoke filled the air, choking his lungs. The temperature rose and Garcés struggled to see through the haze. Panic set in as he watched monkeys, snakes, lizards and birds desperately trying to escape the flames surrounding them. Garcés and his brother started the fire that nearly killed them to clear a large stretch of land. But when the wind suddenly changed direction, they found themselves locked in. The brothers survived, but the fire destroyed the little remaining patch of virgin forest on the family’s 2,500-hectare (6,200-acre) ranch, nestled along Colombia’s Magdalena River. Experiencing firsthand what the animals and plants endured was a turning point for Garcés. Continue reading...
01/21/2025 - 22:00
New report says more than 30m hectares burned, 79% more than in 2023, after country saw worst drought on record After enduring its worst drought on record in 2024, Brazil closed the year with another alarming milestone: between January and December, 30.86m hectares of wilderness burned – an area larger than Italy. The figure published in a new report is 79% higher than in 2023 and the largest recorded by Fire Monitor since its launch in 2019 by MapBiomas, an initiative by NGOs, universities and technology companies that monitors Brazil’s biomes. Continue reading...
01/21/2025 - 16:41
Climate negotiator André Aranha Corrêa do Lago given top job, bypassing Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva Brazil has announced the top team for the next UN climate summit, which will be hosted in Belém this November, bypassing the country’s environment minister, Marina Silva, in favour of a veteran diplomat for the crucial role of president of the talks. The experienced climate negotiator and secretary for climate, energy and environment, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, will preside over the Cop30 summit, which is expected to draw scores of world leaders to Brazil – though not Donald Trump, who soon after his inauguration on Monday ordered the US’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading...