Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Putricia the corpse flower: would you wait 3.5 hours to smell a rotten carcass? - video

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 02:23:46 +0000

First there was Moo Deng, then there was Pesto the Penguin – but have you met Sydney's Putricia, the corpse flower? To the scientific community, the Botanic Gardens of Sydney’s corpse flower is known as Amorphophallus titanum, which translates to 'large, deformed penis'. But online, the rare endangered plant has taken a life of its own.

It’s the first time a corpse flower has bloomed in the Royal Botanic Garden in 15 years – and when they do blossom, they last just 24 to 48 hours

‘Chaos agent’ Trump revives California water wars as experts warn of turmoil

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 22:05:31 +0000

President claims to be ‘putting people over fish’ but critics say order could derail years of carefully crafted water policy

It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to reignite the California water wars he waged in his first term.

On his first day in office, Trump directed the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the interior to develop a new plan that will “route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply”.

Government overturns Tory measure and bans emergency use of bee-killing pesticide

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:39:04 +0000

Emergency use of Cruiser SB, a neonicotinoid pesticide highly toxic to bees, to be outlawed in UK in line with EU

Bee-killing pesticides have been banned for emergency use in the UK for the first time in five years after the government rejected an application from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar.

Labour MPs ordered to sink landmark climate and environment bill

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:12:52 +0000

Exclusive: Supporters of bill say Labour has already insisted on removal of clauses requiring UK to meet targets agreed at Cop and other summits

A landmark bill that would make the UK’s climate and environment targets legally binding seems doomed after government whips ordered Labour MPs to oppose it following a breakdown in negotiations.

Supporters of the climate and nature bill, introduced by the Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, say Labour insisted on the removal of clauses that would require the UK to meet the targets it agreed to at Cop and other international summits.

How the ‘forever tote’ became the It bag du jour

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 16:10:46 +0000

The original cotton totes have a ‘disarmingly short’ life cycle – so demand is high for a more environmentally friendly version

This year’s It bag isn’t made by any of the usual designers. And if this bag could talk, it wouldn’t say “calf leather” so much as “wash me at 40C”. What’s more, in an ideal world, you would never want to buy another again.

‘A hugely significant sighting’: red goshawk photographed for first time in central Australia

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:00:26 +0000

Bird snapped by Newhaven wildlife sanctuary ecologist is likely a juvenile on risky 1,500km journey away from parents, expert says

Conspiracy-laden, fire-prone icons: what will happen to LA’s palm trees?

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:00:24 +0000

Many palm species in the city are receptive to embers, hard to extinguish – and probably helped spread the fires

Environmental activist steps back from the fight ‘disappointed’ by Labour so far

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 13:45:45 +0000

Mark Avery to stand down from role with Wild Justice but won’t completely give up campaigning, he insists

If government ministers and civil servants are grey squirrels, they may think they can rest easy – the predatory pine marten in the Westminster jungle is leaving them in peace.

A campaigner who has “created a landscape of fear” over the authorities’ failure to protect nature is stepping back from Wild Justice to spend more time with the wildlife – and grandchildren – in his garden.

I’m obsessed with icebreaking: I was trained not to hit anything – now I drive my ship into ice 24/7

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 10:00:40 +0000

As the captain of a royal research ship, I break ice to get to British stations in the Antarctic. It’s great fun - but getting stuck is always a risk

I have been working for the British Antarctic Survey since I was 19. I started icebreaking on my first trip to the Antarctic and got hooked. Now I am the captain of the royal research ship Sir David Attenborough and I find icebreaking addictive.

Rachel Reeves’s bid to expand Heathrow could add £40 to airline ticket

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 05:00:36 +0000

Exclusive: Treasury analysis shows ticket prices expected to go up across board with no plans for frequent flyers to shoulder more of the cost

Rachel Reeves’s bid to expand Heathrow airport could add £40 to the cost of an airline ticket, according to the Treasury’s own analysis.