Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘All threats to the sea come from humans’: how lawyers are gearing up to fight for the oceans

admin — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 06:00:49 +0000

A rising number of lawsuits in courts around the world are holding governments and corporations to account for their treatment of the seas and those who rely on them

A few years ago, Anna von Rebay gave up her lucrative job in a corporate law firm specialising in art law to concentrate on her passion for the ocean. “All threats to the sea come from humans, who behave as though nature is nothing more than a resource,” says Von Rebay, who works in Germany and Indonesia. “But the ocean can’t stand up for itself.”

Wessex Water’s TV ad banned for omitting sewage record

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 23:01:40 +0000

Advert trumpeting storm overflow plans should have disclosed past environmental harms, says ASA

A Wessex Water TV advert about its plans to tackle storm overflows has been banned as misleading because it omitted key information about its record on sewage pollution.

The Advertising Standards Agency investigated after receiving a complaint about the ad for the supplier, which provides water to 1.4 million customers and sewerage services to 2.9 million people in the south-west of England.

UK startup secures extra £5m for its rented home technology

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 23:01:40 +0000

Switchee hopes to use funds to hit goal of preventing cold and damp in social housing properties

A British startup which uses technology to prevent renters from living in cold, damp homes has raised fresh funds to expand as landlords belatedly try to tackle outbreaks of mould in crumbling social housing.

Switchee has secured £5m, split equally between an existing investor, AXA IM Alts, and Octopus Ventures, part of the group which includes household gas and electricity supplier Octopus Energy.

Climate expert Chris Stark appointed to lead UK clean energy taskforce

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 18:11:40 +0000

‘Mission control centre’ to work with energy companies and regulators towards goal of clean and cheaper power by 2030

Labour has appointed one of the country’s foremost climate experts to lead a “mission control centre” on clean energy.

Chris Stark, the former head of the UK’s climate watchdog, will head a Covid vaccine-style taskforce aimed at delivering clean and cheaper power by 2030.

Shark bites teen training to be a lifeguard in Florida

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:55:51 +0000

Teen’s injuries weren’t considered life-threatening in shark attack, which are rare incidents, though Florida is US and world leader

A shark bit a Florida teen on the leg during a lifeguard training camp on Monday morning, officials said.

The attack on the 14-year-old boy in question occurred near the Ponce Inlet lifeguard tower shortly before noon, Volusia county beach safety officials said. The lifeguard trainee had been practicing water entries when he landed on a shark.

First local extinction in the US due to sea level rise, study suggests

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 16:18:14 +0000

The United States has lost its only stand of the massive Key Largo tree cactus in what researchers believe is the first local extinction of a species caused by sea level rise in the country.

Renewables firms already planning new onshore windfarms in England

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 16:06:44 +0000

At least six energy companies prospecting for first windfarms in almost a decade after Labour lifts limits

Renewable energy companies have begun work on new onshore windfarms in England for the first time in almost a decade after the new government reversed restrictions the Conservatives had put in place on turbines.

More heat deaths reported in Oregon as US heatwave continues to roast region

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 15:21:51 +0000

Forecast predicts ‘most dangerous portion of the heatwave’ would last through Tuesday evening in Pacific north-west

The Pacific north-west endured more sweltering temperatures on Tuesday as authorities in Oregon reported multiple heat-related deaths, with forecasters warning that the dangerous weather wasn’t over yet.

The heatwave, which has cooked Oregon in triple-digit temperatures for days on end, is suspected to have caused at least six deaths in the state, the state medical examiner’s office said on Tuesday.

‘Antidotes to despair’: five things we’ve learned from the world’s best climate journalists

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:00:29 +0000

From climate crisis being a crime story to presenting basic weather news in the context of climate change, here are some lessons from journalists

Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope of Covering Climate Now (CCNow) hail the winners of their organization’s annual global climate journalism awards, and here describe some lessons they have taken from the more than 1,250 entries.

Florida: tree cactus becomes first local species killed off by sea-level rise

admin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:00:28 +0000

Key Largo tree cactus no longer growing naturally in US thanks to salt water inundation and soil depletion

Scientists in Florida have recorded what they say is the first local extinction of a species caused by sea-level rise.

The climate emergency has killed off the Key Largo tree cactus growing naturally in the US through saltwater inundation and soil depletion from hurricanes, according to researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History, and Miami’s Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.