Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister 'to discuss solutions'. Footage showed police firing water cannon at protesters as thousands of people took to the streets of Tirana for a third day on Wednesday, some of them holding inflatable flamingos to symbolise the environmental damage they fear the project could cause, amid growing calls for it to be blocked. In January, Ivanka Trump made a surprise visit to Albania with a team of architects, touring the site earmarked for development by her husband’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. The resort is planned for an area that includes the uninhabited outcrop of Sazan, Albania’s largest island, as well as wetlands and coastal habitats within the surrounding marine national park Protests in Albania grow over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort Continue reading...

Our plan is radical – but by transforming how we live on a finite planet, nearly everyone gains ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival Imagine a future in which everyone enjoys high levels of wellbeing; where 90% of the world’s population doubles their income but works half the hours we work today. A world in which the bottom half of humanity sees its share of global wealth rise from just 2% today to 30%; a world where we consume enough, but nobody over-consumes. And imagine achieving this on a planet that can comfortably sustain human life without its climate breaking down. Against the bleak techno-authoritarian futures now being sold to us, a radical new vision for global progress in the 21st century feels urgently needed. The most credible vision is one in which the habitability of the planet is a precondition for human development and equality. Continue reading...

While many US city councils have passed moratoriums, Monterey Park is first where residents have voted on a ban Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Residents in Monterey Park, California, became the first in the US to vote on a permanent ban on datacenters on Tuesday, and early results indicate a resounding victory for the prohibition. While many cities and counties have already passed temporary or indefinite moratoriums via their local governments, Monterey Park would be the first to do so through a ballot initiative. Continue reading...

Ocean Observatories Initiative, $368m network that has provided crucial climate data, latest victim of Trump cuts The Trump administration plans to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system that has for more than a decade provided crucial data on ocean systems and climate change. In a notice, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it had “initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative” (OOI), a vast ocean observation network comprising more than 900 instruments that collect data on ocean health, including current patterns, climate variability and marine biodiversity. Continue reading...