Breaking Waves: Ocean News

10/04/2024 - 00:47
The stars of 367 Collins Street have welcomed baby birds to the nest. Two hungry chicks are taking meals after entering the world on a Melbourne skyscraper. Last year’s eggs were unable to hatch after the mother stopped incubating – likely due to a territorial dispute – making the stakes all the higher this year Good eggs: fans delighted as new peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Melbourne skyscraper Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 22:26
New vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) will not apply to at least four large vehicles, source says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast New fuel efficiency standards due to come into force from January will not apply to at least four large vehicle models because of a gap within the legislation, the motor industry has been told. The Albanese government said earlier this year its new vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) would save motorists about $1,000 a year while cutting fuel use and carbon emissions. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 18:01
Investment will fund two CCS clusters – but environmental campaigners have criticised plans What is carbon capture, usage and storage? Rachel Reeves is paving the way for a multibillion-pound increase in public-sector investment at the budget after the government announced plans to commit almost £22bn over 25 years to fund carbon capture and storage projects. In what is expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament, the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, will unveil the details on a visit to the Liverpool city region on Friday declaring a “new era” for clean energy jobs. Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 13:54
The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in avian functional diversity -- a measure of the range of different roles and functions that birds undertake within the environment -- and resulted in the loss of approximately 3 billion years of unique evolutionary history, according to a new study.
10/03/2024 - 11:10
Harris reiterates she won’t ban fracking if elected as Trump runs ads stating the opposite in tight Pennsylvania race Kamala Harris reiterated that she won’t ban fracking on Wednesday in an interview with KDKA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though the US vice-president once backed a ban on the fuel extraction process, she said on Wednesday that she changed her mind since joining Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020 and has since remained firm. The statement comes as she and Donald Trump compete for votes in Pennsylvania, a swing state with 20 seats in the electoral college and a major gas producer. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has been running ads claiming that if elected, Harris would enshrine a ban on fracking, costing Pennsylvania over 300,000 jobs. Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 11:00
Laborers from the Caribbean nation pick berries and process Thanksgiving turkeys across rural America On a foggy morning in June 2021, I left my Durham, North Carolina, home to travel two and a half hours to rural Whiteville, North Carolina, population 5,000-ish. I headed there to meet some of the town’s newest, albeit temporary, residents: 200 Haitian migrants employed as blueberry pickers. These farm workers put food on our tables – and on family tables back in Haiti. But they’re a less visible work force in our food supply chain, toiling largely out of sight on farms in places like Columbus county, with its miles of fields. They are doubly invisible among US guest workers, who overwhelmingly hail from Mexico. Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 10:00
Sea levels along the US coastline could rise as much as 12in from 2020 to 2050 due to climate crisis, scientists warn Floods affecting much of the south-east US show the destructive force of higher sea levels and warmer temperatures. Now, researchers at the non-profit Climate Central are using artificial intelligence to predict how climate-related flooding will affect US communities into the next 75 years if warming continues at its current pace. Previous research has shown that by 2050, sea levels along the US coastline could rise as much as 12in (30cm) from 2020 levels. High-tide flooding, which can occur even in sunny weather, is projected to triple by 2050, and so-called 100-year floods may soon become annual occurrences in New England. Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 09:00
As the Line fire exploded, dense smoke made it difficult to breathe and heat became ‘intolerable’, but work carried on Life as a roofer in Florida’s sweltering heat: ‘It feels like 120F’ Uncontrolled wildfires ripped across southern California amid a startling late summer heatwave this month, shrouding the region in thick, dark smoke as temperatures climbed past 110F (43.3C). But Cynthia Ayala, a ramp agent at one of Amazon’s largest air freight hubs, had to report to work anyway. Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 07:23
Nature was the painter’s ultimate muse, and he would have admired those seeking to protect it Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot and former political prisoner I woke up to a call from Vincent van Gogh today. He told me he wants the Just Stop Oil protesters who threw soup on his Sunflowers to be released immediately. I nodded and promised to do everything I could to ensure Phoebe and Anna would be freed soon. Our conversation continued. “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” Van Gogh remarked. “We must try and keep courage alive.” He sounded upset about the sentence given the other day to Just Stop Oil activists – two years in jail for Phoebe Plummer, 23; 20 months for Anna Holland, 22. I sympathise with him. He seemed crestfallen that two young women were being thrown behind bars because a judge deified him and his painting, which, in Van Gogh’s mind, was not meant to be venerated, but instead inspire young artists and activists to do exactly what Phoebe and Anna had done – to push the boundaries of life and art even further, and raise uncomfortable questions. Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot and former political prisoner Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
10/03/2024 - 07:00
A row over sea life, lice and livelihoods is dividing communities as the government plans to end open-net pen farming in British Columbian waters On a clear August morning, Skookum John manoeuvres his fishing boat, Sweet Marie, out of the Tofino harbour and into the deep blue waters of Clayoquot Sound on Canada’s west coast. On shore, the late summer sun shines on visitors from all over the world who have flocked to the bustling fishing town on Vancouver Island, where they wander in and out of surf shops, art galleries and restaurants and pile into small boats in the hope of glimpsing orca, humpback and grey whales. Continue reading...