Breaking Waves: Ocean News

06/16/2025 - 02:59
IADB’s proposals involve lenders using public money to buy up renewable energy loans in poor countries An innovative plan to use public money to back renewable energy loans in the developing world could liberate cash from the private sector for urgently needed climate finance. Avinash Persaud, a special adviser on climate change to the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), who developed the proposals, believes the plan could drive tens of billions of new investment in the fledgling green economy in poorer countries within a few years, and could provide the bulk of the $1.3tn in annual climate finance promised to the developing world by 2035. Continue reading...
06/16/2025 - 01:17
The bureau has forecast cooler temperatures, gusty winds, showers and alpine snow for the south-east on Tuesday Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Nippy weather was expected to continue across south-eastern Australia, after a cooler than usual start to June and record-setting cold in some outback towns. Cooler temperatures, gusty winds, showers and alpine snow were forecast for the south-east into Tuesday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Qian Zhou, with alpine snow expected in Victoria, Tasmania, and south-eastern New South Wales. Rainfall was expected for south-west Western Australia from Tuesday. Continue reading...
06/15/2025 - 18:01
Report says billpayer funds are being used irresponsibly, after news that Thames Water paid bonuses from £3bn loan Bonuses and dividends for water company bosses and shareholders should be approved by the regulator before they are paid, as billpayer funds are being used irresponsibly, MPs have said. They also recommended that the government consider ending the profit-driven water company model and making English companies non-profit, similar to how the system works in Wales, in the report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee. Continue reading...
06/15/2025 - 15:50
Officials ‘never seen anything like this’ after up to 4in of rain fell within half an hour in northern part of state Flash flooding caused by torrential rains killed three people in northern West Virginia and rescue crews were searching for missing people on Sunday, while authorities were assessing damage to roads, bridges, natural gas lines and other infrastructure. Officials said 2.5-4in (6-10cm) of rain fell in parts of Wheeling and Ohio county within about a half hour on Saturday night. Continue reading...
06/15/2025 - 05:00
Miccosukee Tribe partners with Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation to safeguard lands as part of ‘moral obligation’ Almost two centuries ago, Native American tribe members sought the protection of Florida’s Everglades during the Seminole wars as they hid from government forces seeking to banish them to Indian territories that later became Oklahoma. Now, as the Trump administration continues its wholesale slashing of federal funding from conservation projects, the Miccosukee Tribe is stepping up to fulfill what it sees as a “moral obligation” to return the favor. Continue reading...
06/15/2025 - 01:00
Bord na Móna, which was once a peat extraction company, has now committed to one of the largest peatland restoration projects ever undertaken, targeting 33,000 hectares in over 80 bogs with the hope of reducing carbon emissions and increasing biodiversity. But many households still continue to cut turf, relying on it for heating as have previous generations Continue reading...
06/15/2025 - 01:00
Richard Tice says voters will turn on government unless energy bills fall A useful enemy? Why Tories and Reform are calling net zero policy into question Labour will back down on its policies aimed at achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the deputy leader of the Reform has predicted. Richard Tice, the energy spokesperson for Reform and MP for Boston and Skegness, told the Guardian his party would withdraw from the 2015 Paris agreement that tries to limit global heating to 1.5C. Continue reading...
06/14/2025 - 23:07
Nonbinding vote at state conference sends strong signal to state and federal Nationals leaders Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales Nationals have voted to abandon Australia’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the party’s weekend state conference in Coffs Harbour, increasing pressure on the federal Nationals leader, David Littleproud, to follow suit. Attendees at the conference said the motion, moved by the Tweed state electorate council, passed easily with 60 to 65% support, after vigorous debate for nearly an hour among the 300-odd delegates. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
06/14/2025 - 15:00
Among the dead in the internationally significant wetland are estuarine snails, shore crabs, baby flounder and ‘a thick stew of polychaete worms’ Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast When South Australia’s algal bloom arrived in the Coorong, it stained the water like strong tea before turning it into a slurry of dead worms. Many had hoped the storm in late May would break up the bloom of Karenia mikimotoi algae, which has killed more than 200 different marine species. Instead, high tides swept the algae into the Coorong, an internationally significant Ramsar wetland at the mouth of the Murray River. Continue reading...