Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Britons urged to dig out unwanted electricals to tackle copper shortage

admin — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 05:01:22 +0000

Items such as cables and old tech could contain £266m worth of metal vital for decarbonisation drive, study finds

Scientists have called for people to go “urban mining” after a study revealed that old cables, phone chargers and other unused electrical goods thrown away or stored in cupboards or drawers could stave off a looming shortage of copper.

Tiny parasitic wasp helps save one of world’s rarest birds from extinction

admin — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 05:00:22 +0000

Wasps released on Nightingale Island have protected Wilkins’ bunting by halting spread of mould-causing insects

A tiny parasitic wasp has given a lifeline to one of the world’s rarest bird species by killing off an invasive insect that was threatening its survival.

The Wilkins’ bunting lives on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha group; the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago. It eats the fruit of the Phylica arborea, the island’s only native tree.

Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction

admin — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 04:01:21 +0000

Demand for beef, soy, palm oil and nickel hindering efforts to halt demolition by 2030, global report finds

The destruction of global forests increased in 2023, and is higher than when 140 countries promised three years ago to halt deforestation by the end of the decade, an analysis shows.

The rising demolition of the forests puts ambitions to halt the climate crisis and stem the huge worldwide losses of wildlife even further from reach, the researchers warn.

Lab-grown meat could be sold in UK in next few years, says food regulator

admin — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 04:00:21 +0000

Food Standards Agency says applications for cultivated steak, chicken and foie gras have already been submitted

Cell-cultivated meat could be on sale in the UK within a few years, the food regulator has said, with applications for lab-grown steak, beef, chicken and foie gras already submitted, while another 15 applications are expected in the next two years.

Curious koala survives close call at Sydney train station

admin — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 02:00:47 +0000

Marsupial caught on camera at Casula in city’s south-west, where urban development threatens wildlife

Winter blackouts risk in Great Britain ‘lowest in four years’ despite end of coal

admin — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 23:01:15 +0000

Energy system operator expects winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this year

The risk of winter blackouts in Great Britain has tumbled to its lowest in four years even after the shutdown of the UK’s last coal plant, thanks to investments in low-carbon electricity sources.

Salmon swim freely in Klamath River for first time in more than 100 years

admin — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 21:55:45 +0000

News comes after Iron Gate dam was removed to let river near California-Oregon border return to natural flow

For the first time in more than a century, salmon are swimming freely along the Klamath River and its tributaries, just days after the largest dam removal project in US history was completed.

BP ‘abandoning plan to cut oil output’ angers green groups

admin — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 18:22:09 +0000

Reports of strategy reset leave campaigners saying company is prioritising profits over planet

Green groups have reacted with fury to reports that BP has dropped a target to cut its oil output in the next five years, saying the company was prioritising profits over the health of the planet.

Large French Alpine ski resort to close in face of shrinking snow season

admin — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 16:59:01 +0000

Local people and businesses left ‘in lurch’ after council says it cannot afford to support or develop Alpe du Grand Serre

A large French Alpine ski resort has announced it is to close, citing a lack of funds to become a year-round destination, as low- and medium-altitude mountain areas around Europe struggle with a truncated season due to global heating and declining snowfalls.

Low stream diatom biodiversity potentially decreasing stream oxygen production in remote islands

admin — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:52:36 +0000

Benthic diatoms are the most important and biodiverse primary producers in streams and comprise the basis for the food webs, fueling animals such as insects and stream fishes including trout.