Environmentalists call bid to skirt UN treaty ‘reckless’ amid fears that mining will cause irreversible loss of biodiversity
A Canadian deep-sea mining firm has revealed it has been negotiating with the Trump administration to bypass a UN treaty and potentially gain authorisation from the US to mine in international waters.
The revelation has stunned environmentalists, who condemned the move as “reckless” and a “slap in the face for multilateralism”.
Continue reading...Lithuanian rower’s two-day wait to be rescued off Queensland comes to an end
A Lithuanian rower has been rescued off the Queensland coast after he was caught in a tropical cyclone’s 130km/h winds and monster waves.
Aurimas Mockus ran into trouble about 740km east of Mackay while attempting a 12,000km Pacific Ocean crossing from San Diego to Brisbane in his solo rowing boat.
Continue reading...More than 40% of individual corals monitored around One Tree Island reef bleached by heat stress and damaged by flesh-eating disease
More than 40% of individual corals monitored around a Great Barrier Reef island were killed last year in the most widespread coral bleaching outbreak to hit the reef system, a study has found.
Scientists tracked 462 colonies of corals at One Tree Island in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef after heat stress began to turn the corals white in early 2024. Researchers said they encountered “catastrophic” scenes at the reef.
Continue reading...Noaa says last year was the warmest since records began in 1850 and Nasa concurs: ‘The long-term trends are very clear’
It was the hottest year ever recorded for the world’s lands and oceans in 2024, US government scientists have confirmed, providing yet another measure of how the climate crisis is pushing humanity into temperatures we have previously never experienced.
Last year was the hottest in global temperature records stretching back to 1850, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa_ announced, with the worldwide average 1.46C (2.6F) warmer than the era prior to humans burning huge volumes of planet-heating fossil fuels.
Continue reading...Video removed as Life Saving Victoria carries out 145 rescues – ‘We don’t remember when we’ve been that busy’
Victoria’s tourism agency has removed a social media post that described an unpatrolled ocean beach on the Mornington Peninsula as a “pristine swimming spot” amid almost 150 rescues on the state’s beaches on Saturday.
Number 16 beach, on the Bass Strait side of Rye, is described on the Visit Victoria website as “recommended for experienced surfers only” as it is not patrolled by lifesavers. It has a reputation among local residents as dangerous.
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Continue reading...Phenomenon known as ‘sea sparkles’ or ‘red tide’ is caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae
Masses of glittering algae have returned to Tasmania’s coastline in a spectacular bloom of bioluminescence that experts say is the largest seen in years.
The phenomenon, known as “sea sparkles” or “red tide”, was caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae that experts say was beautiful to look at, but considered bad news for the environment.
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Continue reading...Environmentalists say marine park waste regulations need updating to limit grey water and exhaust chemicals as passenger cruise numbers rise
Environmentalists and tourism operators on the Great Barrier Reef say authorities must enforce stricter pollution standards on cruise liners visiting the world heritage area amid growth in passenger cruise numbers and concern that ships are dumping toxins into the water.
The Whitsunday Conservation Council says the definition of “waste” used to prevent marine discharge on the reef – which dates back to the 1970s – does not restrict discharge from sulphur “scrubbers” that have become commonplace in the shipping industry.
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Continue reading...Newfoundland Memorial Univeristy team find white masses are likely material used to clean pipes in oil industry
When the chemist Chris Kozak finally got his hands on a sample of the mysterious blobs that recently washed up on the shores of Newfoundland’s beaches, Project Unknown Glob officially began.
At his disposal, Kozak and a team of graduate students had the “gorgeous” new science building and “world-class facilities” of Newfoundland’s Memorial University to run a battery of tests on the white, doughy blob.
Continue reading...A report by BoM and CSIRO checks ‘vital signs of Australia’s climate’ – and shows temperature trends will only worsen
“It is a wicked problem,” says Dr Karl Braganza at the Bureau of Meteorology, after running through Australia’s latest State of the Climate report.
The effects of rising heat on land and in the oceans, coupled with rising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, are changing Australia’s climate rapidly and “flowing through to how our society, economy and other things operate”.
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Continue reading...Australia must insist on full removal when ExxonMobil decommissions offshore project, Wilderness Society says
An international law expert has warned that abandoning oil and gas infrastructure in Bass Strait would breach Australia’s obligations under international law, if ExxonMobil pursues this plan in decommissioning its Gippsland offshore project.
Prof Donald Rothwell, who specialises in international law at the Australian National University, said Bass Strait was used for international navigation and had special status under the UN convention on the law of the sea and related International Maritime Organisation guidelines.
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Continue reading...Pledge signed by experts from nine countries reflects concerns that offsets generated from forest-related projects may not have cut emissions
Carbon offsets used by corporations around the world to lower their reportable greenhouse gas emissions are “ineffectual” and “hindering the energy transition”, according to more than 60 leading climate change scientists.
A pledge signed by scientists from nine countries, including the UK, the US and Australia, said the “only path that can prevent further escalation of climate impacts” was “real zero” and not “net zero”.
Continue reading...Shelly beach, Bronte, Coogee and Malabar among those rated ‘poor’ as swimmers urged to check water quality online
More than a quarter of New South Wales’ favourite swimming spots have been polluted by faecal matter over the past year including Sydney’s Coogee, Bronte and Malabar beaches.
With the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a wet summer, the government has urged swimmers to check its online water quality monitor for updates after its annual state of the beaches report found 28% of the 218 tracked sites experienced pollution.
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Continue reading...Residents and marine scientists unable to identify pale masses, as myriad theories are blown out of the water
They are slimy on the outside, firm and spongy on the inside and surprisingly combustible. And in recent months, they have been washing up on the shores of Newfoundland.
The depths of the Atlantic have long held mysteries, but the riddle of the mysterious white “blobs” spotted on the beaches of the eastern Canadian province has baffled both residents and marine scientists.
Continue reading...Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and Ireland
Only a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.
A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger than Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...António Guterres calls for a ‘massive’ increase in finance and support for the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels
Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late”, the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering.
Continue reading...Stings needing medical attention surge by 41% as rising sea temperatures due to the climate crisis boost reproduction
Costa Brava resorts in Spain’s north-east are struggling to cope with an influx of jellyfish as rising sea temperatures facilitate reproduction and drive species farther north.
Between May and August almost 7,500 people on the Catalan coast sought medical attention for jellyfish stings – a 41% increase on last year. The stings are painful and can have unpleasant consequences for anyone with compromised immunity.
Continue reading...National Park Service says collapse is seventh in Rodanthe in four years and warns of dangerous debris on beach
The home on a beach of North Carolina’s Outer Banks leaned against the surf before the pilings below it sagged, then gave way, toppling the entire structure into the sea.
A beachgoer posted video of the collapse on Instagram on 16 August. “A Rodanthe NC house was consumed by the ocean right in front of me!” the caption read.
Continue reading...Group finds elusive deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times since 1901
A group of people kayaking and snorkeling off the San Diego coast made an unusual discovery when they came across an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times in over a century.
The 12ft-long silvery fish was found floating dead in the water last weekend. The group, along with marine experts, helped bring the creature ashore for study.
Continue reading...Hailing the success of carrier bag laws, the Marine Conservation Society urges nations to push forward with plans for other single-use items
The number of plastic bags washed up on UK beaches has fallen by 80% over a decade, since a mandatory fee was imposed on shoppers who opt to pick up single-use carrier bags at the checkout.
According to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual litter survey, volunteers found an average of one plastic bag every 100 metres of coastline surveyed last year, compared to an average of five carrier bags every 100 metres in 2014.
Continue reading...Kai McKenzie, 23, expresses gratitude for outpouring of support in first public comments after attack by ‘biggest shark I’ve ever seen’
An Australian surfer whose leg was bitten off by a shark has promised he’ll be “back in that water in no time” as he recovers from surgery.
Kai McKenzie, 23, was surfing off North Shore beach on the mid-north coast of New South Wales on Tuesday morning when a suspected three-metre great white shark bit him.
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