Breaking Waves: Ocean News

04/25/2024 - 03:53
Cabinet votes to leave historic Bute House agreement after government abandons emissions target UK politics – latest updates The historic power-sharing agreement between the Scottish National party and Scottish Greens is to end after a crisis over the Scottish government’s climate strategy. The Bute House agreement was signed in August 2021 by the then SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Greens co-leader, Patrick Harvie, bringing the Greens into government for the first time in the UK. Continue reading...
04/25/2024 - 02:20
Broad terms of subpoenas a ‘chilling’ precedent that could undermine future climate litigation, legal experts say Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast A federal court judge has allowed Santos to subpoena paperwork held by three activist groups who were not directly involved in a lawsuit against the oil company. Justice Natalie Charlesworth ruled on Wednesday afternoon that Santos could pursue financial records and communications between activist groups – Sunrise, Jubilee Australia and the NT Environment Centre – and the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) in order to determine whether the company will also pursue the campaign organisations for costs for the lawsuit carried out by the EDO on behalf of Tiwi Island traditional owners. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
04/25/2024 - 00:19
Authorities are rushing to save more than 150 whales from a mass stranding at a beach in Western Australia’s south-west. Four pods have spread across roughly 500 metres at Toby Inlet near Dunsborough and 26 of these have died, Parks and Wildlife Service Western Australia confirmed. Wildlife officers, marine scientists and veterinarians are on site assessing the conditions of the whales that have become stranded ► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube Mass pilot whale stranding on WA beach sparks rescue Continue reading...
04/25/2024 - 00:00
Brazil, Germany, Spain and South Africa sign motion for fairer tax system to deliver £250bn a year extra to fight poverty and climate crisis ‘Why we need a global tax on billionaires’ The world’s 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their fast-growing wealth to raise £250bn a year for the global fight against poverty, inequality and global heating, ministers from four leading economies have suggested. In a sign of growing international support for a levy on the super-rich, Brazil, Germany, South Africa and Spain say a 2% tax would reduce inequality and raise much-needed public funds after the economic shocks of the pandemic, the climate crisis and military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. Continue reading...
04/25/2024 - 00:00
Green Finance Institute report said further pollution could cut 12% off GDP by 2030s The destruction of nature over the rest of the decade could trigger a bigger economic slump in Britain than those caused by the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, experts have warned. Sounding the alarm over the rising financial cost from pollution, damage to water systems, soil erosion, and threats from disease, the report by the Green Finance Institute warned that further breakdown in the UK’s natural environment could lead to a 12% loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by the 2030s. Continue reading...
04/24/2024 - 23:00
Few economic and social benefits will come to Africans if processing is all done overseas, says Wanjira Mathai Africa must take greater control in the industries it supplies with raw materials to lift its people from poverty and seize its own destiny in a low-carbon world, one of the continent’s leading environmentalists has urged. Wanjira Mathai, the managing director for Africa and global partnerships at the World Resources Institute thinktank, said much more of what the continent produced must be processed and made use of close to where it is produced, if the world is to shift to a low-carbon footing. Continue reading...
04/24/2024 - 23:00
Illnesses such as dengue and malaria to reach unaffected parts of northern Europe, America, Asia and Australia, conference to hear Mosquito-borne diseases are spreading across the globe, and particularly in Europe, due to climate breakdown, an expert has said. The insects spread illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever, the prevalences of which have hugely increased over the past 80 years as global heating has given them the warmer, more humid conditions they thrive in. Continue reading...
04/24/2024 - 15:22
Proliferation of hubs for online shopping disproportionately sited in low-income neighborhoods or communities of color Hundreds of mega-warehouses have been built in Illinois for online shopping in recent years and the rise in delivery trucks is polluting neighborhoods already burdened with poor air quality, a new study says. Two million people in Illinois live within a half-mile of large warehouses, which are disproportionately located in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Continue reading...
04/24/2024 - 13:00
Study confirms Philip Morris International, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are worst offenders Fewer than 60 multinationals are responsible for more than half of the world’s plastic pollution, with five responsible for a quarter of that, based on the findings of a piece of research published on Wednesday. The researchers concluded that for every percentage increase in plastic produced, there was an equivalent increase in plastic pollution in the environment. Continue reading...
04/24/2024 - 12:00
Sugarcane biodiversity disappeared as big plantations dominated the sugar trade in Hawaii, but now native varieties are making a comeback Noa Kekuewa Lincoln remembers when he first encountered native Hawaiian sugarcane in 2004. The fresh stalks, bursting with color, might have sprouted from Willy Wonka’s imagination, not the soil. Lincoln, a kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) expert in Indigenous cropping systems and an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, said: “I grew up seeing grayish-green cane fields. But these canes are fluorescent pink, bright apple-green striped. They looked like huge cartoon candy canes. They almost don’t look real!” Continue reading...