Even average use of nitrogen fertilisers cut flower numbers fivefold and halved pollinating insects
Using high levels of common fertilisers on grassland halves pollinator numbers and drastically reduces the number of flowers, research from the world’s longest-running ecological experiment has found.
Increasing the amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus doused on agricultural grassland reduced flower numbers fivefold and halved the number of pollinating insects, according to the paper by the University of Sussex and Rothamsted Research.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
01/20/2025 - 05:00
01/20/2025 - 01:00
String jellyfish species that has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms reported in Scotland
A jellyfish species that has been wreaking havoc on Norway’s salmon industry has made its way to Scotland, causing significant damage and prompting calls for urgent action.
The string jellyfish has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms with officials urging an extermination of affected stocks.
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01/19/2025 - 21:42
Federal government aims to encourage power-intensive producers to switch to renewables by 2036
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Anthony Albanese says smelters will close and cost many jobs without their newly announced aluminium production incentive, which opposition leader Peter Dutton has labelled a “con job”.
The mining industry welcomed $2bn in federal funding to incentivise power-intensive aluminium producers to switch to renewables by 2036, with Rio Tinto calling it a “critical piece in helping future-proof the industry”.
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01/19/2025 - 18:32
Ecologists have identified significant ecological risks associated with the release of hybrid groupers into Hong Kong's coastal waters, a practice often linked to religious 'mercy release' rituals. Their study highlights how the Tiger Grouper-Giant Grouper hybrid (TGGG), also known as the Sabah grouper, disrupts local marine ecosystems by exploiting unique ecological niches and potentially becoming a dominant predator. This research, the first to use advanced DNA metabarcoding to analyze the diet of this hybrid species, underscores the urgent need for public education and conservation measures to mitigate unintended ecological impacts.
01/19/2025 - 15:39
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Australian billionaires Anthony Pratt and Gina Rinehart praise Trump in US newspaper ads ahead of inauguration
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Lambie says Labor doing ‘a fair bit of clean up’ from nine years of Coalition
Asked about polling showing Peter Dutton had drawn level to Anthony Albanese as preferred PM, and whether this could be attributed to Dutton’s stance on law and order, Jacqui Lambie responded:
It hasn’t got any worse or better, I can assure you. You didn’t get much out of him after nine years, but if people want to fall back into that and go, well, you know, Labor’s had three years and that’s all we’re going to give them, and you want to go back to the good old days – which I wouldn’t say were the good old days under the Liberal National party – then be my guest.
It’s not just about the last three years in government, it’s probably about the last 10. So have a look at who had control of that for nine years beforehand.
Because quite frankly, I think Labor’s doing a fair bit of clean up. Labor’s also put a lot of things in which you will not see coming to fruition until the next three years.
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01/19/2025 - 09:58
Exclusive: Restoration fund in England could be ‘siphoned off’ to be used for general government spending, not repairing rivers
Rachel Reeves’s Treasury is looking to keep millions of pounds levied on polluting water companies in fines that were meant to be earmarked for sewage cleanup, the Guardian has learned.
The £11m water restoration fund was announced before the election last year, with projects bidding for the cash to improve waterways and repair damage done by sewage pollution in areas where fines have been imposed.
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01/19/2025 - 06:00
Volunteers who leave water in the desert describe rising fears of vigilantes and climate peril
It was a blustery day in the Sonoran desert as a group of humanitarian aid volunteers hiked through a vast dusty canyon to leave gallons of bottled water and canned beans in locations where exhausted migrants could find them.
Empty plastic bottles, rusty cans and footprints heading north were among the signs of human activity strewn between the towering saguaro and senita cacti, in an isolated section of the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument – about 20 miles (32km) north of the US-Mexico border.
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01/19/2025 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 19 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00101-6
Offshore wind energy: assessing trace element inputs and the risks for co-location of aquaculture
‘Net zero hero’ myth unfairly shifts burden of solving climate crisis on to individuals, study finds
01/18/2025 - 20:40
Shifting responsibility to consumers minimises the role of energy industry and policymakers, University of Sydney research suggests
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It’s not unusual to see individuals championed as heroes of climate action, with their efforts to install rooftop solar and buy electric cars promoted as pivotal in the fight to save the planet.
Hero figures can motivate others to follow suit, but a University of Sydney study suggests the way the energy sector shapes this narrative sets individuals up to fail.
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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 | director@thew2o.net +12077011069
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