Breaking Waves: Ocean News

The world’s most populous country needs state-generated demand to industrialise, decarbonise and avoid China’s overcapacity trap India is attempting to do something the world has never seen before. So claimed Niti Aayog, the government of India’s policy thinktank, earlier this year. It said that no major economy has tried to expand GDP nearly eightfold within a generation while simultaneously redirecting its energy and industrial systems to reach net zero within two generations. Hence its detailed report’s claim that there is “no historical precedent”. There is something to this. China industrialised at vast scale, but not on a sustainable net zero path. Korea, Japan and Europe became wealthy by industrialising before decarbonising. Today, rich nations have already satisfied the basic demands of their people and created the infrastructure and high per-capita energy use that India is still trying to build. The world’s most populous country has to do this while also reducing emissions. Continue reading...

While there are fears that people harvesting their food could put pressure on habitats, some ecologists suggest responsible foraging can boost conservation and biodiversity Angus Morton crouches behind a cricket pavilion in a London park to snip stinging nettles from an unkempt patch of greenery. “They’re so abundant and they’re so good,” says Morton, a regenerative gardener who pops out once a week to forage bits for dinner. “I use them in pesto, tea … I’ve even seen someone putting them in croquetas.” Continue reading...

The 3,500 population is divided over the venture, which would bring investment and jobs, but critics claim the environmental cost would be too high It is among the world’s last pristine wildernesses, with unique coastal waters rich in krill and squid that attract sea lions, elephant seals, dolphins and whales, and where penguins, of which there are five different species locally, outnumber people. But plans to make the Falkland Islands, one of the most remote and furthest-flung British overseas territories, a new frontier for salmon farming has split the 3,500-strong population. Now, people opposed to salmon farming are calling for a referendum because they have lost confidence in a consultation process they claim is biased towards the industry. Continue reading...

Researchers find microplastics can persist in compost, leaching into agricultural soils Plastic contamination should be a central concern in efforts to deal with food waste, which campaigners call one of the most overlooked problems of the climate crisis, researchers have said. This is despite the fact that, as the chef, author and activist Max La Manna puts it, food waste management is “one of the few climate problems where everyone wins”. Continue reading...