Breaking Waves: Ocean News

08/06/2024 - 10:00
Ageing correctional centers and the people within are threatened by floods, extreme heat, and building collapses due to snowfall and thawing permafrost Over millions of years, glaciers slid across what is now northern Juneau, forming the craggy valleys and alluvial plains of south-east Alaska. Then about 200 years ago, when these glaciers shrank amid rising global temperatures, meltwater flowed downstream, depositing loose, silty soil along bodies of water like Lemon Creek. In 1969, the state chose to build a prison on this flat land – despite an assessment that the glacial deposits would be “poor … material” for the building’s foundation. Continue reading...
08/06/2024 - 10:00
The number of species recognised as threatened with extinction rises by 13 and now stands at 2,224 Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Another 13 animals and plants have been added to Australia’s list of threatened species, sparking renewed calls for the federal government to quickly overhaul the country’s nature laws. The species newly listed as at risk include the pig-nosed turtle (listed as vulnerable), the Dalhousie catfish (critically endangered), Pugh’s sphagnum frog (endangered) and the Coffs Harbour Fontainea, a rainforest tree (critically endangered). Other species are freshwater fish, lizards, flowering shrubs, a daisy and an orchid species. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
08/06/2024 - 09:00
More than half classed as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, with 20 categorised as ‘substances of very high concern’ Almost 500 different chemicals, some of which are banned, have been found in various mixtures across all 171 river and groundwater catchments tested in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency, analysed by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations. More than half of them are classified as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, according to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and a banned, carcinogenic “forever chemical” was among 20 “substances of very high concern” found. Continue reading...
08/06/2024 - 07:36
The penalties reflect the failings of the Environment Agency and Ofwat as much as the water companies Behind the record fines announced by Ofwat for the routine dumping of sewage into rivers and seas by three water companies, there is a voiceless victim, one that does not sit in boardrooms, or get a chance to count dividends. It is our rivers and coastal waters, subjected to years of continuous pollution under the noses of the regulators, which are suffering. In all likelihood the £168m penalties for the already struggling Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water will be followed by fines for the remaining eight water and sewerage companies, all of whom Ofwat is investigating over failure to treat sewage according to the law. Continue reading...
08/06/2024 - 06:00
Firm moves ore through land without telling tribal leaders as mine resurfaces painful legacy of nuclear development A coalition of hundreds of environmental activists, Navajo and Havasupai tribal members are protesting the transportation of uranium ore through the Navajo Nation, as a newly opened mine near the Grand Canyon resurfaces a painful legacy of nuclear development. Located just seven miles south of the famous national park, the controversial Pinyon Plain mine is one of the first uranium mines to open in years as the United States works to boost its nuclear arsenal and energy supply. Continue reading...
08/06/2024 - 01:47
Ofwat to penalise Thames, Northumbrian and Yorkshire for ‘catalogue of failure’ over illegal discharges Business live – latest updates Thames, Yorkshire and Northumbrian Water will be fined a record £168m between them for a “catalogue of failure” over illegal sewage discharges into rivers and the sea after the industry regulator’s biggest ever investigation. The water regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, has proposed penalties of £104m for Thames, £47m for Yorkshire and £17m for Northumbrian for failing to manage their wastewater treatment works and networks, including their operation of storm overflows. It said it was the first of more crackdowns to come. Continue reading...
08/06/2024 - 01:42
The environmental regulator has a history of backing fossil fuels – that is why its preliminary view on Woodside’s Browse project is extraordinary Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast The news that the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is likely to recommend that a massive gas export development off the state’s north-west shouldn’t go ahead is remarkable, but shouldn’t be. We don’t know much about what the EPA told Woodside Energy in February about its Browse project off the state’s Kimberley coast. All we have is a line that WAtoday extracted from the EPA – that it had formed a “preliminary view” that the proposal was “unacceptable”. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023 Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program. World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html. Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs. World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world. World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org. media contact Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory   |   director@thew2o.net +12077011069
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