Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Norway to open protected rivers to hydropower plants

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:21:31 +0000

Green politicians describe plan as ‘a historic attack on Norwegian nature’

The Norwegian parliament has voted to open up protected rivers to hydropower plants, prompting fury from conservation groups who fear for the fate of fish and other wildlife.

The bill allows power plants bigger than 1MW to be built in protected waterways if the societal benefit is “significant” and the environmental consequences “acceptable”. It was voted through on Thursday as part of measures to improve flood and landslide protection.

Thirteen more oil and gas licences could be cancelled after Rosebank court ruling

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 17:15:53 +0000

Exclusive: Future of further projects uncertain after Rosebank and Jackdaw licences were found to have been unlawfully granted

Thirteen more oil and gas licences could be cancelled as ministers decide new guidance for fossil fuel extraction after a landmark court case, the Guardian has learned.

Reform MP installed solar to cut bills but party calls renewables ‘massive con’

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:40:15 +0000

Exclusive: Rupert Lowe recently fitted panels on his farm, it emerges, as Reform claims renewables are more expensive

Price hikes and shortages flagged after banana crops ‘cop a flogging’ in north Queensland floods

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:00:03 +0000

Banana prices expected to rise in the short term, while cost of sugar should remain stable despite damage to cane crops

Climate crisis contributing to chocolate market meltdown, research finds

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:47:30 +0000

Scientists say more-frequent hotter temperatures in west African region are part of reason for reduced harvests and price rises

The climate crisis drove weeks of high temperatures in the west African region responsible for about 70% of global cacao production, hitting harvests and probably causing further record chocolate prices, researchers have said.

Farmers in the region have struggled with heat, disease and unusual rainfall in recent years, which have contributed to falling production.

Windfarm profits should be used to screen Scots for rare diseases, says scientist

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:39:44 +0000

Geneticist who discovered hotspots of illnesses in Scottish islands calls for redirection of community benefit funds

A leading geneticist has called for the profits from windfarms to be used for the mass screening of Scottish islanders at risk of rare cancers and blood disorders.

Prof Jim Wilson, who leads a Viking DNA project that has discovered hotspots of rare disorders in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, said that money could prove vital in identifying people who need life-saving treatments.

A ‘recipe for extinction’: can the US’s envied nature protections survive Trump and his ‘God squad’?

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:00:12 +0000

Fears grow for endangered species as the US president sets about dismantling basic laws to protect them to make way for oil and gas drilling

Donald Trump has already begun dismantling parts of the envied US endangered species protections in his quest to boost oil and gas drilling, in part using a panel with an ominous name: the God squad.

US wildfire suppressants rife with toxic heavy metals, study finds

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:00:02 +0000

Suppressants a ‘major’ source of toxic pollution that causes heavy-metal levels to spike in the environment

The US federal government and chemical makers have long concealed the contents of pink wildfire suppressants widely spread by firefighting aircraft to contain blazes, but new test results provide alarming answers – the substances are rife with cadmium, arsenic, chromium and other toxic heavy metals.

Solar panels could cut fuel-poor UK families’ energy bills by 24%, says study

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 06:00:49 +0000

Call for means-tested grants or loans to cover upfront costs that prevent poorer households from benefiting

Poorer households could cut their energy bills by a quarter if solar panels were installed on their rooftops, a report has found.

However, the upfront costs mean that those who stand to benefit most from decreased energy bills are prevented from getting panels installed, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

World’s largely unprotected peatlands are ticking ‘carbon bomb’, warns study

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 06:00:48 +0000

Bogs and swamps are a colossal carbon store but their continued destruction would blow climate change targets

The world’s peatlands are “dangerously underprotected” despite the colossal amount of climate-heating carbon dioxide already being emitted due to their destruction, a study has warned.