Breaking Waves: Ocean News

What would it witness in Azerbaijan? A species that knows it is destroying itself but is too greedy to change course Imagine, as many people do, an all-seeing eye in the sky, looking down on planet Earth. Imagine seeing what it sees. It watches, over the course of decades, ice caps shrinking, rainforests retreating, deserts expanding, ocean circulation slowing, freshwater dwindling and sea levels rising, and it thinks – for it has been there since the beginning – “this is familiar”. All the signs are there, of an Earth system sliding towards collapse, as it has done five times since animals with hard body parts first evolved. But this time, it knows, is different. Not only is one of the life forms causing the collapse, but it shares some of the eye’s supernatural abilities: it too can see what is happening. So, with heightened curiosity, the eye zooms in, to see what this well-informed being is doing to avert catastrophe. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Primary schools ordered to cease in-person classes as air pollution deteriorates to dangerous levels in Indian capital India’s capital, Delhi, has ordered all primary schools to cease in-person classes until further notice due to worsening pollution in the sprawling megacity, while over 100 miles away the smog was so thick it obscured the Taj Mahal monument. Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, consistently tops world rankings for air pollution in winter which is estimated to reduce life expectancy for the capital’s residents by up to seven years. Continue reading...

Future UN conferences should only be held in countries that show support for climate action, urge influential group Over 1,700 coal, oil and gas lobbyists granted access to Cop29, says report Future UN climate summits should be held only in countries that can show clear support for climate action and have stricter rules on fossil fuel lobbying, according to a group of influential climate policy experts. The group includes former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and the prominent climate scientist Johan Rockström. Continue reading...

Fifty years of change on iconic limestone pavements has revealed mixed fortunes for one of the most distinctive landscapes in the UK. The findings, which reveal large changes since the 1970s, are from the first national assessment in half a century of plants and vegetation in Britain's rare and iconic limestone pavements.