Breaking Waves: Ocean News

In today’s newsletter: Widespread flooding, snow and power outages have left thousands of households and travellers facing the aftermath of a cold snap – with more disruption to come Good morning. British winters have grown markedly milder over the past century: analysis has shown that the average UK winter has gotten 1C warmer and 15% wetter in the last century. Last February was the warmest in recorded history. There have been fewer and fewer snow days and the Met Office found that ground frost periods are three weeks shorter compared to the 1970s. Canada | Justin Trudeau has said he will step down as Canada’s prime minister. His resignation throws open the doors to a fierce political battle to be the country’s next leader, with polls showing the Liberals losing badly to the official opposition Conservatives. Child sexual exploitation | Keir Starmer has condemned Elon Musk’s increasingly erratic attacks on the government, suggesting that his “lies and misinformation” on grooming gangs were amplifying the “poison” of the far right. Ministers meanwhile promised to implement a key demand of a 2022 child sex abuse inquiry so that professionals who do not report claims of abuse will be sanctioned. US politics | The US Congress certified Donald Trump’s presidential election victory on Monday, in an event heavy with symbolism four years to the day since he incited a violent mob to disrupt a similar ceremony. Kamala Harris presided over a joint Senate and House of Representatives session to validate the result. Foster care | The UK is facing a fostering crisis where retiring carers are not being replaced by younger people, while the number of children entering care homes is rising, a charity has warned. The decline in foster carers is due to the impact of the pandemic, the costof living crisis, biological children staying at home for longer, spare rooms being used as home offices and changing family situations, Barnardo’s children’s charity said. Tibet | A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities, the China Earthquake Networks Centre has said, killing 53 people, injuring 62 and damaging buildings around Shigatse, according to state media. Continue reading...

Officials warn of fire risks and potential outages as gusts could reach 80mph in Los Angeles county and Ventura Southern California could experience a “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm this week, with forecasters warning of major fire risks unusual for January and potential power outages. The gusts are expected to intensify on Tuesday into Wednesday, potentially reaching 80mph (129km/h) across much of Los Angeles county and Ventura to the north, according to a National Weather Service alert on Monday. In the foothills and mountains, there could be isolated winds over 100mph (160km/h). Continue reading...

‘Future homes standard’ will not mandate replacing boilers with environmentally friendly alternative The government is to scrap the 2035 ban on gas boilers in its new housebuilding standards. The previous Conservative government had laid plans to phase out gas heating for homes by banning the sale of new gas boilers by 2035, so people replacing their gas boilers after that date would instead have to buy a heat pump or other environmentally friendly way of heating homes. Continue reading...

British chef Mike Keen paddled up the coast of Greenland eating only what local people did, and the health benefits led him to question the global food system For a period of two months last year, a typical day for chef Mike Keen would see him skipping breakfast and lunch in favour of snacks such as dried capelin (a small bait fish), dried halibut, jerky-like dried whale and a local Greenlandic whale skin and blubber treat called mattak. Mike Keen eats fermented seal blood in Sermilik fjord, east Greenland. Photograph: Mike Keen Continue reading...