Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘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. Continue reading...

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. “We did not have shelter, we did not have food … we just had to wait for the government for two days,” Carbonel said. “It is not easy, no electricity, no light, we just wait for the sun to rise. The children were scared, we had never experienced anything like this.” Continue reading...

Introduction of 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports could push up canned food and drink prices Coca-Cola has said it may have to increase its use of plastic in the US if Donald Trump’s tariffs raise the cost of aluminium cans. The drinks company’s warning follows Trump’s introduction of 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium entering the US, which could push up the prices of canned food and drink. Continue reading...

In three years Natural England has designated just two new SSSIs, which protect areas from development The government’s wildlife watchdog for England is failing to halt the decline of nature after a sharp fall in the number of new places given top protection, according to campaigners. On average over the past 15 years, Natural England has designated four new sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) each year. SSSIs are nationally or internationally important places for rare wildlife and habitats, meet strict criteria and are then usually protected from almost all possible development. Continue reading...