Breaking Waves: Ocean News

UK politics: Miliband tells MPs UK needs to ‘speed up, not slow down’ in net zero drive – as it happened

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 18:10:46 +0000

Energy secretary insists there is ‘no contradiction between net zero and economic growth’ in hearing at Commons committee

The hearing has stopped for a short break. Heather Hallett, the chair, tells Badenoch that her evidence will be finished by lunchtime.

Human case of avian flu detected in England as virus spreads among birds

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 17:55:49 +0000

Second human case of H5N1 bird flu caught on farm in West Midlands but risk to public remains very low, says UKHSA

A human case of highly pathogenic bird flu has been detected in England, authorities have said, as bird flu cases escalate across the country.

It is only the second symptomatic human case of H5N1 bird flu recorded in the UK, after the first was detected in 2022, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

First outbreak of rare bird flu strain reported at California poultry farm

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 16:44:52 +0000

Discovery of H5N9 came alongside detection of the more common H5N1 on the farm, leading to 119,000 birds’ deaths

The first outbreak of a rare bird flu in poultry has been detected on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.

Authorities said the discovery of H5N9 bird flu in poultry came alongside the detection of the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced county, California, and that almost 119,000 birds on the farm had been killed since early December.

Dangerous temperatures could kill 50% more Europeans by 2100, study finds

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 16:01:03 +0000

Net increase of 80,000 deaths a year projected in hottest scenario, with milder winters failing to redress balance

Dangerous temperatures could kill 50% more people in Europe by the end of the century, a study has found, with the lives lost to stronger heat projected to outnumber those saved from milder cold.

Guardian investigation fuels class action lawsuit against petro giant

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 16:00:50 +0000

Marathon Petroleum said a massive fire at its Louisiana refinery caused ‘no offsite impacts’. Reporting by the Guardian and Forensic Architecture raised doubts about this claim

Water companies in England ‘use greenwashing playbook to hide environmental harm’

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 16:00:49 +0000

Researchers say companies have prolonged injustice and exaggerated cost of solving infrastructure problems

Water companies are adopting disinformation tactics similar to those used by the fossil fuel and tobacco industries with the widespread use of greenwashing to downplay the environmental harm they cause, a study says.

Suburb-wide electrification trials to be rolled out across Australia in bid to fuel transition away from gas

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:00:55 +0000

Project providing subsidies to install solar batteries and electric appliances part of Labor deal with crossbenchers

Suburb-wide electrification trials are set to be rolled out across the country under an intervention designed to help spark the household transition from gas.

The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has formally directed the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) to consider funding more pilots like Electrify 2515, a community-led initiative to electrify 500 homes in one postcode in Wollongong, NSW.

Notorious US chemical plant polluting water with toxic PFAS, lawsuit claims

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:00:44 +0000

Complaint says Chemours factory dramatized in Hollywood movie Dark Waters continues to pollute West Virginia river

The chemical giant Chemours’s notorious West Virginia PFAS plant is regularly polluting nearby water with high levels of toxic “forever chemicals”, a new lawsuit alleges.

Sandeels vs the EU: how the puffin’s favourite food sparked first post-Brexit courtroom trade battle

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:00:43 +0000

This week the EU will argue the UK’s ban on catching the tiny fish, celebrated by conservationists, amounts to discrimination against Danish fishers

‘Very rare’ sighting of juvenile Antarctic minke whale off Sydney coast

admin — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 09:27:06 +0000

Scientists unsure what prompted juvenile whale to leave icy southern waters for warmer shallows, but ‘it may be a case of mis-navigation’