Breaking Waves: Ocean News

12/02/2024 - 07:35
Small Socialist Left party threatens to block budget if government becomes first to issue licences for deep-sea exploration The Norwegian government has paused its plans to mine the deep sea in the Arctic, after pressure from a small leftwing party. The agreement was reached after the Socialist Left (SV) party said it would not support the government’s budget unless it halted the first round of licences for deep-sea mining exploration, planned for the first half of 2025. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 07:00
With Biden soon to leave the White House, Republicans start an assault on the Environmental Protection Agency Donald Trump’s allies have fired the opening salvoes of his coming administration’s attack on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal agency that enforces and regulates laws on air, soil, and water quality among other crucial environmental and health issues. In a letter from Republican House leadership to the EPA administrator Michael Regan, Republicans trained their sights on the agency’s scientific integrity policies that are designed to insulate scientists and research from political interference. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 06:59
Vanuatu envoy makes claim as landmark hearing gets under way at international court of justice in The Hague A handful of countries should be held legally responsible for the ongoing impacts of climate change, representatives of vulnerable nations have told judges at the international court of justice (ICJ). During a landmark hearing at the Peace Palace in The Hague, which began on Monday, Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and environment, said responsibility for the climate crisis lay squarely with “a handful of readily identifiable states” that had produced the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions but stood to lose the least from the impacts. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 05:33
Group of 85 countries and blocs press for ambition in plastic waste treaty after no agreement was reached in Busan Binding global targets to cut plastic production must be at the centre of any continuing negotiations to secure the world’s first treaty to tackle plastic waste, a group of 85 countries has said. Talks in Busan, South Korea, attempting to secure agreement between more than 200 countries on the details of a plastic pollution treaty ended in failure over the weekend. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 04:04
An ambitious multi-part project will transform seven miles of seabed into an artistic destination with a cautionary message Over the next few years, coastal waters just off of Miami Beach will be transformed by The ReefLine, an ambitious new project that aims to occupy seven miles of seabed within shouting distance of the sands. The ReefLine aims to one day create an enormous, art-studded underwater playland, including a sculpture park, snorkel trail and hybrid reef. One of the first pieces of this project, Miami Reef Star – a gigantic 90ft star that will eventually be visible to landing aircraft descending over the waters – will be on exhibition during Art Basel Miami Beach. Set up in prototype on Miami Beach itself, it will be a part of Star Compass, a series of three large-scale installations curated by Ximena Caminos and Dodie Kazanjian. In addition to Reef Star, Star Compass will also include The Great Elephant Migration, a work consisting of 100 life-sized sculptures of elephants, and Voile/Toile – Toile/Voile by French conceptual artist Daniel Buren, which will stage an enormous sailboat race. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 04:00
Move to exclude fossil fuel firms from investment portfolios follows years of campaigning by staff and students More than three-quarters of UK universities have pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, according to campaigners. The move, which is part of a wider drive to limit investment in fossil fuels, follows years of campaigning by staff and students across the higher education sector. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 02:00
Bringing back the long-vanished bird to the UK was hailed as a conservation triumph. Then farmers started finding the corpses of their prized livestock Photographs by Murdo MacLeod Two spinal columns, a dozen ribs and a hollowed-out head lie next to a peak called “rock of the eagle” in Gaelic. These are the remains of a pair of three-month-old lambs. It’s muggy, and maggots and foxes will make light work of the remaining skin and bone. In a few weeks, it’ll be as if it never happened. Ruaridh MacKay, who has been farming here at Stronmagachan Farm in Inveraray for 25 years, picks up one of the spines: sodden and slimy from successive fronts of rain, every morsel of flesh has been excavated. He was expecting to take these lambs to market next month. Mackay says the mysterious deaths started about 12 years ago Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 01:29
Aemo says it does not want to ‘directly control people’s rooftop solar’ but it may be necessary to reduce or cut off power gleaned from the sun Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The power grid in eastern Australia could experience “outage conditions” as soon as next spring unless states speed up actions to cope with surplus generation from solar panels on sunny days, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has warned. In a report released on Monday, Aemo called for an “emergency backstop” mechanism to ensure grid stability when households and other solar photovoltaic (PV) owners export excess electricity. Continue reading...
12/02/2024 - 00:00
Direct flights from the US to Nuuk expected to double next year but there are concerns about the expected influx The capital’s new airport has been opened, two more are in the making, and expectations are high: the Americans are coming to Greenland. On Thursday, the first ever international flight into Nuuk, the most populous settlement on the autonomous Danish territory, landed to cheers on the ground and in the cabin of Air Greenland flight GL781 where passengers were served miniature bottles of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne. Continue reading...
12/01/2024 - 18:35
Leading the charge towards clean energy would bring some much-needed positive momentum to international climate policy When Australia announces its 2035 emissions target to the world, there will be a unique opportunity to promote Australia’s ambition to help other countries decarbonise through exports of renewable energy-based commodities, while coal and gas exports will fall. Coal and gas exports from Australia are equivalent to well over a billion tonnes of CO2 when burned in other countries. That is around 3% of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions – far more than Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions at home that the national emissions target applies to. Continue reading...