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.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
02/28/2025 - 05:00
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.
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02/28/2025 - 03:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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02/28/2025 - 03:00
Chris Bowen accuses Coalition of creating ‘sovereign risk’ by opposing offshore projects as Nationals celebrate ‘major win’
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An offshore windfarm developer has asked the Albanese government to pause its application to progress its project off the Illawarra until after the coming federal election, after the Coalition campaigned against it.
BlueFloat Energy was the only applicant asking for a seven-year feasibility licence to further develop its project in the deep waters of the Illawarra offshore wind zone.
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02/28/2025 - 02:00
Exclusive: Government to grant nature groups a licence for release of rodent species after earlier setbacks
The release of beavers into English waterways is to be allowed for the first time in centuries, the Guardian can reveal.
The environment secretary, Steve Reed, is to announce that nature groups will be able to get a licence for the release. The first releases could happen this autumn.
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02/28/2025 - 00:00
For decades, the Swiss city has been transforming its skyline, and now boasts some of the greenest rooftops in Europe
Susanne Hablützel breaks up her work day by staring out the window at a rooftop garden. The view is not spectacular: a pile of dead wood sits atop an untidy plot that houses chicory, toadflax, thistle and moss.
But Hablützel, a biologist in charge of nature projects in Basel, is enthralled by the plants and creatures the roof has brought in. “Tree fungi have settled in the trunks, and they are great to see – I love mushrooms. You can also see birds now – that wasn’t the case before.”
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02/27/2025 - 20:09
UN biodiversity conference in Rome ends with fragile accord but questions remain over whether funding will emerge
The task of halting nature loss by 2030 is slipping out of reach, ministers have warned, as countries from around the world came to a hard-won compromise on nature finance after marathon negotiations in Rome.
Delegates at the UN biodiversity conference – known as Cop16 – broke into applause after finally reaching a deal in the Eternal City following a night of tense and painstaking discussions. Cop16 president Susana Muhamad wept as she brought down the gavel on the agreement outlining a roadmap for nature finance. The agreement broke a deadlock at UN talks seen as a test for international cooperation in the face of geopolitical tensions.
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02/27/2025 - 17:47
Employees informed by email that their jobs would be cut off at end of day in move a worker called ‘wrong all around’
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The Trump administration has fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency housed within the Department of Commerce, the Guardian has learned.
On Thursday afternoon, the commerce department sent emails to employees saying their jobs would be cut off at the end of the day. Other government agencies have also seen huge staffing cuts in recent days.
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02/27/2025 - 17:06
The 1890 National Scholars program gives full rides to HBCU students in fields like botany, forestry and food safety
Dr Marcus Bernard was shocked to learn last week that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had suspended the 1890 National Scholars program that funds undergraduate students’ education in agriculture or related fields at about 20 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Bernard is dean of the college of agriculture, health and natural resources at one of those institutions, Kentucky State University. At Kentucky State, close to 40 of the scholars have enrolled since the project’s inception in 1992. Nationwide, the program has supported more than 800 students, according to the USDA.
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02/27/2025 - 16:08
Couple unwittingly revealed to state wildlife agents that they were transporting the remains of a protected sea turtle
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A California couple learned the hard way that discussing their travel plans with strangers can have dire consequences, especially when those plans involve transporting the remains of a protected sea turtle in their carry-on luggage.
More than a year ago, two officers from the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW) were flying back to northern California from San Diego, dressed in plain clothes, and struck up a conversation with a couple seated nearby who were discussing hunting.
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