Breaking Waves: Ocean News

New Water Commission must create an environmental enforcer that is feared

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 21:00:51 +0000

The division of responsibilities between Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate hasn’t worked

New regulator may ban English water companies from making a profit

New commission may ban English water companies from making a profit

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 21:00:51 +0000

Defra body, created to overhaul system amid public fury, may force firms to be run for public good rather than shareholder returns

New water regulator must create environmental enforcer that is feared | Nils Pratley

Water companies in England could be banned from making a profit under plans for a complete overhaul of the system.

More hen harriers killed in UK during 2023 than in any other year, RSPB says

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 19:00:48 +0000

Report also finds at least 1,344 individual birds of prey were persecuted in the UK between 2009 and 2023

More hen harriers were killed in 2023 than in any other year on record, a report has found.

North Carolina farms face depleted, toxic soil after historic Helene flooding

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:00:44 +0000

In the mountainous area near Asheville, affected growers must now replenish water-logged and often tainted land

Miliband faces crunch decision on speed of greenhouse gas cuts

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 13:00:40 +0000

Energy secretary prepares new pledge for big UK carbon cuts in next decade amid potential cabinet division

Ed Miliband is facing his first key test on Labour’s ambitions for global climate leadership, with a crucial decision looming on how far and how fast to cut the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The energy secretary is preparing a new international pledge for the UK to cut carbon sharply in the next decade, but could face opposition within the cabinet.

UK export of millions of endangered eels to Russia attacked as ‘bonkers’

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 12:00:39 +0000

Critics say eels could be smuggled eastwards towards Asia but exporter says they are for ‘restocking’ project

Millions of critically endangered eels have been exported from the Severn estuary to Russia this year and conservationists fear export quotas will be increased next year.

A Colombian warlord became the Amazon rainforest’s most unlikely protector. Now he is cutting it down

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 11:00:39 +0000

Deforestation fell by a third when the guerrilla leader Ivan Mordisco violently enforced a logging ban, but now he has changed tack and is threatening Cop16 biodiversity talks

In the Amazon states of southern Colombia, uniform patches of cattle pasture suddenly give way to trees so numerous and densely packed that the blots of emerald, lime green and white overlap as vines, leaves and tree trunks merge into one.

More than 1m farmed salmon die at supplier to leading UK retailers

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 04:00:54 +0000

Mowi Scotland, which supplies Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, blames a rise in sea temperatures for the deaths, while campaigners say expanding farms will make things worse

More than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK’s largest supplier.

Cockatoo rescued after ‘living on brioche’ for four weeks inside Sydney supermarket

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 01:42:47 +0000

NSW environment minister hopes ‘Mickey will be flying free by tomorrow’ after successful capture by wildlife services

What do new draft guidelines for ‘forever chemicals’ mean for Australia’s drinking water?

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 01:09:57 +0000

Efforts to reduce levels of PFAS chemicals in our drinking water are important – but most water supplies are already below the new limits

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has today released draft guidelines for acceptable levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water. PFAS chemicals are also known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily and can persist in the environment, including drinking water supplies.