Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘When I show people this, they think it’s Mordor’: the architect viewing the West Midlands as a national park

admin — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:00:37 +0000

Birmingham City University thinktank imagines new approach to urban areas and land use across the region

“When I show people this, they think it’s Mordor,” says landscape architecture professor Kathryn Moore with a smile.

She is pointing at a map of the West Midlands. But instead of buildings, roads and a sprawling canal network, this map shows the natural hills and undulations that lie below the human-made architecture.

‘We have to change our attitude’: wildlife expert says rhino horn trade must be legalised

admin — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 11:59:47 +0000

Call for illicit market to be taken out of hands of criminals as numbers continue to fall drastically due to poaching

International trade in rhino horns should be legalised, a leading wildlife expert has urged.

Writing in the research journal Science, Martin Wikelski argues only carefully monitored, legitimate transactions in horns can save the world’s remaining species of rhinoceros.

English wildlife ‘could be disappearing in the dark’ due to lack of scrutiny

admin — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 05:00:28 +0000

Conservationists issue warning as figures show three-quarters of SSSI sites have had no recent assessments

Conservationists have said wildlife could be “disappearing in the dark” after figures showed that three-quarters of England’s most precious habitats, wildlife and natural features have had no recent assessment of their condition.

Weather tracker: Storm brings well over a metre of snow to peaks in Alps

admin — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:05:35 +0000

Several days of snow brought avalanche risk at Christmas, as wintry weather also caused four deaths in India

Week in wildlife in pictures: a seasonal robin and newborn lion cubs in Bedfordshire

admin — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:00:07 +0000

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

UK steel industry calls for government to buy British in offshore wind push

admin — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 06:00:01 +0000

Only 2% of steel used in British offshore wind projects in past five years was UK-made, study finds

The UK steel industry has called for the government to promise to buy British as it prepares for a major expansion of offshore wind generation.

Climate crisis exposed people to extra six weeks of dangerous heat in 2024

admin — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:00:02 +0000

Analysis shows fossil fuels are supercharging heatwaves, leaving millions prone to deadly temperatures

The climate crisis caused an additional six weeks of dangerously hot days in 2024 for the average person, supercharging the fatal impact of heatwaves around the world.

Labour backs plans for £15m fund to distribute surplus food from farms

admin — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:01:54 +0000

Grant will go towards repackaging food that would go to waste and delivering it to shelters, food banks and charities

Labour ministers have backed plans for a £15m fund to redistribute food from farms that otherwise go to waste, particularly around Christmas.

Grants starting from £20,000 will be handed to the not-for-profit food redistribution sector in England to repackage farm food and deliver it to homeless shelters, food banks and charities.

National Trust records ‘alarming’ drop in insects and seabirds at its sites

admin — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:01:54 +0000

Charity says unstable weather patterns caused by the climate crisis had a ‘devastating impact’ in 2024

There have been alarming declines this year in some insect species including bees, butterflies, moths and wasps, while many seabirds have also been “hammered” by unstable weather patterns caused by the climate emergency, a conservation charity has said.

California residents urged to avoid ocean as high surf pounds coastline

admin — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:10:38 +0000

At least one dead and three missing amid storm that has split wharf, wrecked boat and piled up debris

California residents are being warned to stay off wharves, piers and other waterside structures as 20-30ft waves are expected to batter the northern Pacific coast for the rest of the week.