Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Lawsuit also filed over administration’s cuts to health and human services that destroy life-saving programs A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general sued on Monday in an attempt to block Donald Trump’s move to suspend leasing and permitting of new wind projects, saying it threatens to cripple the wind industry and a key source of clean energy. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia argued, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston, that the decision by the Republican president’s administration to indefinitely pause all federal wind-energy approvals was unlawful and must be blocked. Continue reading...

Endemic to China's Yangtze River, the Yangtze finless porpoise is known for its intelligence and charismatic appearance; it looks like it has a perpetual smile on its face. To track how this critically endangered porpoise's habitat range has changed over time, a team of biodiversity and conservation experts compiled 724 ancient Chinese poems referencing the porpoise from historic collections across China. Their results show that the porpoise's range has decreased by at least 65% over the past 1,400 years, with the majority of this decline occurring in the past century.

After a landslide election win, there will never be a better chance to shake off old policy impasses and deliver a more ambitious plan for the environment Australian federal election news LIVE – latest results and updates Want to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter here Analysis of the election result has barely begun, but this much is clear: the country has backed a rapid acceleration towards renewable energy. Labor didn’t say much about the climate crisis during the campaign, announcing only one new policy. But Anthony Albanese and his climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, emerged with their ambitious goal of the country getting 82% of electricity from solar, wind and hydro by 2030 not just intact, but emphatically endorsed. Labor’s position has been relentlessly attacked by the Coalition, rightwing organisations backed by fossil fuel interests and one of the country’s biggest news media companies. Australians rejected this comprehensively. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will impact how they predict and respond to disasters, warns professor Samantha Montano The Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost lives in the US, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned. Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. Continue reading...