Breaking Waves: Ocean News

03/01/2025 - 09:00
Regulators extended the life of two of the oldest US reactors in Miami. Millions of people in the area are now vulnerable Don’t let a billionaire’s algorithm control what you read. Download our free app to get trusted reporting. A decision by regulators to extend the life of two of the oldest reactors in the US decades beyond their original permits has elevated the risk of a nuclear disaster in heavily populated south Florida, environmental groups are warning. The Miami Waterkeeper says the ageing Turkey Point facility in south Miami-Dade county, which was built in 1967 and generates power for a metropolitan area covering about 3 million people, is especially vulnerable to flooding and excessive heat from the climate emergency, in part because of its low-lying position and coastal exposure to a major hurricane. Continue reading...
03/01/2025 - 07:00
In February, thousands of civil servants were fired from agencies that study the country’s soils, seas and skies It’s become known as the Valentine’s Day massacre. On 14 February, tens of thousands of civil servants were fired, as the Trump administration hacked away indiscriminately at the federal government. Continue reading...
03/01/2025 - 05:22
More than a thousand people have been evacuated near forest of Ofunato in northern region of Iwate More than a thousand people have been evacuated as Japan battles its largest wildfire in more than three decades. The flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since a fire broke out on Wednesday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Continue reading...
03/01/2025 - 03:00
Despite wet weather hitting yields, supermarkets are reporting a doubling in rhubarb sales compared to last year It takes a while for the eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the shed. Slowly, the shapes of hundreds of pale stalks emerge from the gloom like an alien species, visible only by the glow cast by a handful of candles. This candlelit ritual is the harvest of Yorkshire forced rhubarb, being carried out by growers Robert and Paula Tomlinson. Continue reading...
02/28/2025 - 11:12
Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their spring encounters with nature Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14. The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a field of early spring flowers, a nest-building bird or a pond full of frogspawn. Continue reading...
02/28/2025 - 09:00
The nuclear plan handily leapfrogs the next 10 years – when a Dutton government might actually hold office – a critical time for emissions reduction • Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast I don’t often agree with Matt Canavan on matters to do with global heating. But when the senator labelled the Coalition’s nuclear plan a “political fix” last year, I think he was speaking the truth. For 15 gruelling years the Coalition has been trying to distract a voting public, ever more aware of the climate crisis, from its inability to get a credible climate and energy policy past the climate sceptics and do-nothing-much-to-reduce-emissions exponents in its own ranks (including the Queensland senator). Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
02/28/2025 - 09:00
The World Nature Photography awards have announced their winners for 2025. From white-cheeked terns to a blue-tailed damselfly peeking through a daisy, the photographs are a stark reminder of the beauty and chaos of the natural world. The top award went to Maruša Puhek’s image of two deers running through a Slovenian vineyard Continue reading...
02/28/2025 - 08:29
Chris Jones is behind change in law to release beavers in England after witnessing the incredible benefits on his land • Beaver releases into wild to be allowed in England for first time in centuries Chris Jones, a beef farmer, is very proud of his beavers. “They are just extraordinary,” he says. Since releasing a couple into an enclosure on his Cornwall farm in 2017, he says they have saved it from drought, prevented flooding in the nearby village, boosted the local economy and even improved oyster beds in Falmouth Bay. Continue reading...
02/28/2025 - 05:00
Floods, whale strandings and coral bleaching all more likely, say researchers, as 10% of ocean hits record high temperatures in 2023-24 The world’s oceans experienced three-and-a-half times as many marine heatwave days last year and in 2023 compared with any other year on record, a study has found. The sustained spike in ocean temperatures cost lives and caused billions of dollars in storm damage, increased whale and dolphin stranding risks, harmed commercial fishing and sparked a global coral bleaching, according to the paper published on Friday in Nature Climate Change. Continue reading...
02/28/2025 - 04:00
Small patches of scrambled egg lichen moved from Cornwall to Breckland region, where it was last seen in 1994 A rare lichen has been reintroduced to its historical habitat of East Anglia – with the help of some bookbinding glue. Scrambled egg lichen, so named for its bright yellow, crumbly appearance, was once common in the Breckland region of Norfolk and Suffolk but was last seen there in 1994. Continue reading...