Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘VCs need their money back’: why sustainable startups struggle to fix our broken food system

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 14:00:05 +0000

Firms such as Smallhold have lessons to be learned on what business can – and can’t – do in transforming agriculture

When Andrew Carter and Adam DeMartino started their business Smallhold in 2017, they set out with a simple vision they thought could have a big impact: feed people mushrooms.

“Mushrooms are one of the most sustainable calories on the planet, in every aspect,” Carter said, whether you’re looking at water, waste, plastic use or greenhouse gas emissions. “We just wanted to get more people eating them.”

Outraged that some plastic you send for recycling ends up being burned? Don’t be | James Piper

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 13:33:53 +0000

Recycling is, by its nature, complicated. The imperfections in the process don’t mean the whole system is a con

Exported gas produces far worse emissions than coal, major study finds

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:00:05 +0000

Research challenges idea that sending liquefied natural gas around the world is cleaner alternative to burning coal

Exported gas emits far more greenhouse gas emissions than coal, despite fossil-fuel industry claims it is a cleaner alternative, according to a major new research paper that challenges the controversial yet rapid expansion of gas exports from the US to Europe and Asia.

Chris Packham urges protesters to stop blocking roads as he takes climate role

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 10:43:25 +0000

Exclusive: Broadcaster joins board of Climate Emergency Fund and says there needs to be new ways of pushing for change

Climate activists need to stop blocking roads and start holding fossil fuel executives personally to account, Chris Packham has said, after being appointed to the board of one of the biggest activist funds in the world.

The naturalist and broadcaster is the first non-US-based director of the Climate Emergency Fund, which has given almost $15m (£11.4m) to activists taking part in non-violent civil disobedience around the world since 2019.

Hurricane Helene is a humanitarian crisis – and a climate disaster | Rebecca Solnit

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 10:00:07 +0000

Behind the violence of extreme weather is that of the fossil fuel industry, and Americans are suffering for it

Antarctica is ‘greening’ at dramatic rate as climate heats

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 09:00:04 +0000

Analysis of satellite data finds plant cover has increased more than tenfold over the last few decades

Plant cover across the Antarctic peninsula has soared more than tenfold over the last few decades, as the climate crisis heats up the icy continent.

Analysis of satellite data found there was less than one sq kilometre of vegetation in 1986 but there was almost 12km2 of green cover by 2021. The spread of the plants, mostly mosses, has accelerated since 2016, the researchers found.

Politicians flying less or cutting out meat is ‘missing link’ in climate action

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 08:03:42 +0000

Exclusive: Study suggests people more willing to reduce own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same

Political leaders “walking the talk” on climate action by flying less or eating less meat could be a “crucial missing link” in fighting global heating, according to a study.

Researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same. The finding, by psychologists in the UK, was not a given, as green action by high-profile people can sometimes be dismissed as virtue-signalling.

Sharks found to eat sea urchins as large as their heads in accidental discovery by Australian researchers

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 07:02:44 +0000

Researchers tethered 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined urchins outside lobster den and sharks were observed ‘smashing the whole thing’

Researchers wanted to study lobsters eating sea urchins. But sharks ate their lunch — video

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 07:01:27 +0000

An experiment designed to investigate the role lobsters play in regulating sea urchin numbers unexpectedly found sharks were eating them instead. The research, led by the University of Newcastle marine ecologist Jeremy Day, involved 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined sea urchins tethered to the entrance of a lobster den on the south coast of NSW. Over the course of 25 nights, sharks ate 45 of the urchins, while lobsters ate only four. Sea urchins are native to NSW but have become are a pest in Tasmania, where they are threatening local ecosystems

Week in wildlife in pictures: bears caught in the act, a glamorous seal and a fugitive emu

admin — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 07:00:47 +0000

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world