Breaking Waves: Ocean News

UK’s seasonal farm worker scheme to be extended for five years

admin — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 06:00:33 +0000

Environment secretary will hope move can reset relations with farmers after inheritance tax row

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, is to announce a five-year extension of the seasonal farm worker scheme in an attempt to reset relations with farmers after fury over inheritance tax.

Dartmoor wild boar sightings prompt suspicions of guerrilla rewilding

admin — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 06:00:31 +0000

Dog walker’s close encounter prompts debate over whether the animals, once native to UK, should remain

Sightings of wild boar on Dartmoor have raised suspicions a guerrilla rewilder has been releasing them – and prompted a debate over whether they should be allowed to remain.

Videos of a group of boar on the moors in Devon were posted online earlier this month, and a dog walker has recently complained of a close encounter with one of them, which frightened his pet.

Most conservation funds go to large vertebrates at expense of ‘neglected’ species

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 20:00:19 +0000

Study shows funding bias towards animals like rhino while other endangered species including amphibians and algae disregarded

Most global conservation funds go to larger, charismatic animals, leaving critically important but less fashionable species deprived, a 25-year study has revealed.

Scientists have found that of the $1.963bn allocated to projects worldwide, 82.9% was assigned to vertebrates. Plants and invertebrates each accounted for 6.6% of the funding, while fungi and algae were barely represented at less than 0.2%.

US fossil fuel industry campaigns to kill policies that ban gas in new buildings

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 19:09:35 +0000

Oil and gas interests coordinate campaign to stop local and state policies, putting climate at risk, new report shows

Oil and gas interests have waged a coordinated campaign to kill pro-electrification policies that ban gas connections in new buildings, putting the climate at risk, according to a new report.

Since 2019, utilities and fossil fuel trade groups, including the American Gas Association (AGA) and National Propane Gas Association (NPGA), have worked together to successfully thwart various local and state efforts.

Sellafield nuclear site plans cuts as chief says £2.8bn funding ‘not enough’

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 15:02:23 +0000

Exclusive: Union concerned over safety as site’s bosses say budget does not cover work planned

Sellafield has said nearly £3bn in new funding is “not enough” and bosses are now examining swingeing cuts, prompting fears over jobs and safety at the vast nuclear waste dump.

The Cumbrian nuclear site, which is home to the world’s largest store of plutonium, was last week awarded £2.8bn for the next financial year, the bulk of the total of just over £4bn funds allotted to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, a taxpayer-owned and funded quango.

BP expected to scrap renewables target in shift back to fossil fuels

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:39:46 +0000

Goal of increasing renewable energy generation 20-fold to be ditched, shareholders to be told this week

BP is expected to ditch a target to ramp up renewable energy generation by 2030 as part of a shift back towards fossil fuels when it presents its strategy to investors this week.

The chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, is poised to tell shareholders that the oil and gas company is scrapping its target to increase renewable generation 20-fold between 2019 and 2030 to 50 gigawatts, Reuters reported.

LA’s urban farmers pledge to rebuild and replant ‘even more than ever before’ after devastating wildfires

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:00:10 +0000

The January blazes wiped out a thriving communal food pathway unique to the Altadena neighborhood, but farmers are starting to plan for its renewal

A frog: their eyes can detect a single photon of light | Helen Sullivan

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:00:01 +0000

Their metamorphosis seems more like a human’s than a butterfly’s – so much is visible, and awkward, whereas the butterfly forms in secret

German election shows how far green wave has receded in Europe

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 13:12:31 +0000

Result is further evidence that political conversation around the climate crisis has shifted

Elimination of federal climate tools, some used to inquire in to Musk’s firms, sparks alarm

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 13:00:57 +0000

Environment justice advocates say tools to study pollution in vulnerable communities by companies, including xAI and SpaceX, have disappeared

As Donald Trump’s administration continues its purge of federal agencies, environmental justice campaigners are alarmed by the disappearance of federal environmental and climate data tools – some of which have been used to identify pollution concerns about Elon Musk’s companies.