Breaking Waves: Ocean News

02/23/2025 - 11:44
Exclusive: Top officials and climate policy experts believe delays in cutting emissions make it improbable 2045 target will be met Scotland is likely to miss its legally binding climate target by up to 20m tonnes, according to official data seen by the Guardian. The Scottish government set itself the world-leading target of reaching net zero – the point where any excess carbon emissions are soaked up by trees, peat or carbon capture – by 2045. Continue reading...
02/23/2025 - 10:19
Hospitals, schools and prisons to be given food welfare targets that should benefit British growers Labour can expect hostile reception at farmers’ gathering Hospitals, schools and prisons are to be urged to buy more British food, as part of a government push to heal a rift with farmers over changes to inheritance tax. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, will tell the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) annual conference on Tuesday that the public sector is to be set a target of sourcing at least half of all food from farms with the highest welfare standards, which should benefit British growers and food producers. Continue reading...
02/23/2025 - 09:00
Startling evidence of the dangers to birds and rivers from over-the-counter drugs should be a wake-up call for owners to press for alternatives When I was 10, I succeeded in my campaign for a family dog. Part of her care, and our joy as owners, was the monthly application of spot-on worm and flea treatment. With veterinary medicine on my mind as a career, I relished the theatre of vets-at-home. We bought doses over the counter, scheduling the dog’s treatment on the calendar like a five-a-side. We applied these drugs to our dog because every other owner did. Because it was encouraged, because it was easy, because it felt right. Sophie Pavelle is a writer and science communicator Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
02/23/2025 - 09:00
Despite conflicting laws, a wave of amateur homesteaders have started keeping fowl in the spirit of self-sufficiency Katie Whalen’s backyard in the Florida city of Port St Lucie is testament to her journey towards a life of self-sufficiency. She grows mangoes, avocados, starfruit, jackfruit and coconuts. She is cultivating a tropical tree spinach known as chaya. What she really wants, however, is a chicken coop and hens to provide eggs that are becoming increasingly unaffordable in stores. As bird flu worsens across the US and commercial suppliers struggle to keep up with demand, the keeping of fowl and production of eggs in home environments, has surged in popularity, and Whalen is keen to join the revolution. Continue reading...
02/23/2025 - 08:18
Unions have accused UK government of failing to act quickly enough to save jobs, but Labour says it took time to build credible proposal Keir Starmer has announced £200m in funding to boost investment at Grangemouth oil refinery, which is closing down with the loss of more than 400 jobs. The prime minister said the national wealth fund would provide £200m in state investment for up to five companies who moved to Grangemouth, where several thousand jobs in the wider supply chain are also at risk. He said that should leverage up to £600m more in private investment. Continue reading...
02/23/2025 - 07:00
Robust group of organizers – including midwives, environmental justice advocates and urban gardeners – rewrite what it means to be from the US mountain region Appalachia, which spans from southern New York to northern Mississippi, usually evokes images of white working-class people, as depicted in JD Vance’s 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy. But it’s little known to people outside of the region that there’s a robust community of Black organizers who are rewriting the narrative of what it means to be Appalachian. While just 10% of Appalachia is made up of Black residents, they are disproportionately impacted by resource extraction that has led to adverse effects on the environment, health and access to food. But Black activists in Appalachia such as Staysha Quentrill, a midwife and reproductive justice advocate in West Virginia; the Right Rev Marcia Dinkins, an environmental justice advocate in Ohio; and Femeika Elliott, a foodways practictioner in Tennessee are working to improve the wellbeing and safety of the people in their communities. Continue reading...
02/23/2025 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 23 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00090-6 Scaling biocultural initiatives can support nature, food, and culture from summit to sea
02/22/2025 - 22:01
Victim is in a stable condition at a Brisbane hospital with abdominal and leg injuries, authorities say Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A man is recovering in a Brisbane hospital after being bitten by a shark and airlifted for treatment from a Moreton Bay island. The man, who is reported to be 29, was mauled in the waters off the bay side of Moreton Island near the Wrecks Walking Track shortly after 3pm on Saturday. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023 Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program. World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html. Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs. World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world. World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org. media contact Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory   |   director@thew2o.net +12077011069
Read more »