Breaking Waves: Ocean News

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.

‘A house battery you can drive around’: how some Australians are selling power from their cars back to the grid | Scott Dwyer, Jaime Comber and Kriti Nagrath for the Conversation

admin — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 05:04:30 +0000

The technology is new, chargers are expensive and regulations hard to navigate – but all that could soon change

Our cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there’s another step you could take. If you have a bidirectional charger, you can set it to sell power back to the grid when demand is high.

Trump names oil and gas advocate to lead agency that manages federal lands

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 20:46:56 +0000

Kathleen Sgamma to oversee Bureau of Land Management, agency that manages quarter-billion acres of public land

Donald Trump has nominated a longtime oil and gas industry representative to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land concentrated in western states.

Global warming and mass extinctions: What we can learn from plants from the last ice age

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 20:15:07 +0000

Global warming is producing a rapid loss of plant species -- according to estimates, roughly 600 plant species have died out since 1750 -- twice the number of animal species lost. But which species are hit hardest? And how does altered biodiversity actually affect interactions between plants?

Love rats: Canadians get chance to feed rodents named after old flames to owls

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:53:30 +0000

Program is meant to help the endangered northern spotted owl – and it’s only C$5! – but rat lovers are not amused

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. And for an endangered owl breeding program in Canada, it’s also a dish best served dead.

For the price of a coffee, spurned and disgruntled lovers can revel in the satisfaction of having a dead rat named after an ex, before it is fed to a northern spotted owl.

‘Like finding gold’: plains-wanderers spotted in Melbourne’s west for first time in 30 years with help of AI

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:05:38 +0000

Critically endangered bird detected after analysis of tens of thousands of hours of song meter recordings

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Critically endangered plains-wanderers have been found living in Melbourne’s west for the first time in more than 30 years.

Noaa imposes limits on scientists, sparking concerns over global forecasts

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:00:27 +0000

‘Crackdown on climate’ predicted as oversight enacted over agency staffers’ email and meetings with foreign nationals

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) has placed onerous new restrictions on its scientists that people within the agency say could hamper the quality and availability of the world’s weather forecasts, among other key services.

The new requirements have created a sense of unease within the agency, according to current and former high-level Noaascientists and officials the Guardian spoke with, and alarmed partners at European agencies.

‘Dark day for parks’: Plans to build Spurs academy on London green space approved

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:05 +0000

Residents had unsuccessfully challenged Enfield council in court over club’s plan to build pitches on rewilded area rich in bats and newts

A women’s football academy will be built over public green space and a rewilded former golf course after Enfield council approved controversial plans by Tottenham Hotspur football club.

Philippines storm survivors join climate protest outside Shell HQ in London

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:38:22 +0000

Greenpeace protest draws attention to worsening typhoons and demands accountability from major polluters

For two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours.