Palau plans to allow more fishing in its marine sanctuary, as countries across the region seek to balance conservation with economic needs
Dotted across the north-west of the Pacific Ocean, the limestone islands of Palau rise like forested domes. Beneath the waves, reefs pulse with activity – fish dart through coral gardens, turtles drift nearby, while sharks with black-tipped fins shadow a passing tourist boat.
Nearly a decade ago, the country took a bold step to safeguard this vibrant seascape, declaring 80% of its waters a no-fishing sanctuary.
Ngerukewid, also known as the ‘Seventy Islands’, is a group of dozens of small, raised coral islands nestled within Palau’s lagoon.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/11/2024 - 07:00
12/11/2024 - 07:00
Move to ban TCE and perc, commonly used in everyday products, will make it hard for Trump to undo rules
The US Environmental Protection Agency has banned perc and TCE, toxic chemicals that are widely used in everyday products but strongly linked to cancer and other serious health problems.
The move comes after the first Donald Trump administration killed the process to limit the chemicals’ uses, but the bans make it difficult for the second Trump administration to undo the rules.
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12/11/2024 - 04:00
Harnessing wind, hydro and maybe geothermal power, the tiny Canary Island of El Hierro is blazing a trail for sustainable energy – and the secret is all in the mix
Words and photographs by Ofelia de Pablo and Javier Zurita
A vertiginous outcrop with more than 500 volcanoes, El Hierro, the most westerly of the Canary Islands, is less than 12 miles (20km) wide but features elevation differences of more than 1,500 metres. Swept by strong Atlantic winds and pockmarked with volcanic craters, it has spent the past decade harnessing its natural features to create clean electricity – with the goal of being the first island to reach self-sufficiency in energy.
Now, the island is reaching new milestones. Energy generated by wind and water has enabled its 11,000 inhabitants to be completely self-sufficient in electricity for 10,000 hours since its renewables project was established.
Wind turbines not only produce most of the energy needed for islanders’ daily use, but also El Hierro’s three desalination plants, which supply water to the island
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12/11/2024 - 03:05
Research done with the help of citizen science shows male humpback completed almost twice the typical migration distance
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A humpback whale has journeyed more than 13,000km from South America to Africa, which researchers say is the longest distance ever recorded for an individual whale.
New research published in Royal Society Open Science recorded sightings of a male humpback whale, initially spotted near the coast of Colombia and recorded nearly a decade later near Zanzibar, Africa.
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12/11/2024 - 03:00
The disease killed 600,000 people amid 263m cases globally in 2023, says WHO, calling for nations to address funding shortfall
Malaria killed almost 600,000 people in 2023, as cases rose for the fifth consecutive year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Biological threats such as rising resistance to drugs and insecticides, and climate and humanitarian disasters continue to hamper control efforts, world health leaders warned.
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12/11/2024 - 02:00
From rural buses to solar panels, our Green agenda has been transformative. Yet, vested interests and big polluters helped to poison the well of public thinking
Eamon Ryan was Irish Green party leader from 2011 to 2024
Ireland’s Green party went into government in 2020 determined to bring Ireland from laggard to leader on the climate crisis. Public opinion was with us, and we won more than 7% of the national vote. This mandate allowed us to negotiate a coalition agreement with Ireland’s two large centrist parties that was recognised by European Green colleagues as one of the greenest deals they had seen.
Over the past four and a half years we worked flat out to implement that programme. I think most independent experts would say the impact has been transformational. Last year Ireland’s emissions fell 6.8%, despite having one of Europe’s fastest growing economies and record population growth. The Greens switched spending in favour of public transport, cycling and walking. We rolled out a new rural bus service every week, while cutting young people’s fares by 60%. Passenger numbers took off immediately and we are only at the start of the transformation. A pipeline of big new projects is coming through our planning system, ready to go.
Eamon Ryan served as the minister for the environment and transport in Ireland’s outgoing coalition government and was Green party leader from 2011 to 2024
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12/11/2024 - 01:01
Thinktank founder says recent attempts to build new towns are ‘depressing, unsustainable and stupid’
Labour should build 12 new towns in England that are not car-dependent or built on flood plains, a former government adviser has said in a report.
A detailed plan for a dozen new towns, proposed by thinktanks Britain Remade and Create Streets, would mean 550,000 well-designed and appropriately located homes. The new homes would boost the economy by £13-28bn annually by improving access to high-paying jobs in well-connected cities, according to the report.
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12/11/2024 - 01:00
Pesticide Action Network analysis of government testing data finds chemicals linked to cancer and harmful to bees
Imported food has been found to have residues of 48 pesticides that have not been approved for use by British farmers, including chemicals linked to cancer and imidacloprid, which is harmful to bees, analysis shows.
Pesticide Action Network (PAN) went through UK government testing data, comparing the results for pesticide tests on imported and domestically produced food. They found there were residues of 46 cancer-linked pesticides in imported produce, compared with 19 in food of UK origin.. Importers include the EU, Peru, Thailand, Turkey and the US.
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12/11/2024 - 01:00
Research shows UK police arrest environmental and climate protesters at three times the average global rate
British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average rate, research has found, revealing the country as a world leader in the legal crackdown on climate activism.
Only Australia arrested climate and environmental protesters at a higher rate than UK police. One in five Australian eco-protests led to arrests, compared with about 17% in the UK. The global average rate is 6.7%.
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12/05/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 05 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00080-8
More robust offshore wind energy planning through model ensembling
