World's oceans absorbed record heat last year
| | LONDON, UK, 30 September 2026 (Guardian) - A record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat was sunk into the world’s seas last year, leaving ocean waters hotter, higher and less hospitable, a report has found. The explosive addition of thermal energy, which was almost 40 times greater than all the energy humanity used that year, comes amid far-reaching changes to the deep water bodies fundamental to life on Earth. Sea levels have risen by about 3.8mm per year since 1999, and at a faster rate of 4.2mm per year between 2012 and 2025, according to the 10th edition of the Copernicus ocean state report. It found the global ocean has become 17% more acidic in the last 40 years. |
Rising sea temperatures putting pressure Zanzibar's seaweed farmers
| | DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, 30 September 2026 (IPS) - Fatuma Makame learned to farm seaweed in the shallow water where her parents worked. These days, she grows it farther from shore. In the shallows, warmer water has left the crop more vulnerable to poor growth and disease. Conditions can be better farther out, but working there requires a boat, equipment, and the skills to handle deeper water. Makame joined Mwani Zanzibar Mamas - a cooperative union that obtained a boat and farming gear. She has since reported larger, more reliable harvests. |
Pacific calls for a strong, implementable global plastics treaty
| | SUVA, Fiji, 30 September 2026 (PINA) - Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) are calling for continued progress towards an ambitious, effective and implementable international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, as Heads of Delegation meet in Bangkok this week for the second informal in-person meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC). |
Japan's Shikoku Pilgrimage route
| | WASHINGTON, US, 29 September 2026 (SM) - I had just arrived at Konsen-ji, the third temple on Japan’s Shikoku Pilgrimage route, when a young Japanese girl presented me with two origami cranes. These tiny gifts, I would later learn, symbolized wishes for a safe and smooth journey along the 750-mile circuit connecting 88 Buddhist temples, as well as other sacred sites, on Shikoku, the smallest and least populated of Japan’s four main islands. |
Review urged of Channel Islands' relationship
| | LONDON, UK, 29 September 2026 (BBC) - People in Guernsey, Alderney and Sark are being urged to have their say on the future of the islands after a review found some long-standing arrangements may no longer meet modern needs. |
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CBD |
 | | COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia |
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UNFCCC |
| | COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan |
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ISLAND DYNAMICS |
| | DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland |
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JICAS |
| | Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands |
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UNITED NATIONS |
| | UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France |
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UPEI |
| | 3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI |
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ARCTIC COUNCIL |
| | UArctic Congress 26-29 May 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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SICRI |
| | Island Studies International Conference 25-28 June, 2026, Tacloban City, Leyte Islands, Philippines |
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WORLD ISLANDS FAIR |
| | The world’s first international event themed around islands 5 Sept-4 Nov, 2026, Yeosu, South Korea |
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SPREP |
| | 11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, 7–11 September 2026, Noumea, New Caledonia |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 14th Anatomy of Islands symposium 15-17 Oct, 2026, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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SOCIETY OF ISLAND BIOLOGY |
| | 5th Island Biology conference 2-6 November, 2026, Atami City, Japan |
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IWRA |
| | 2nd Islands Water Congress 27-29 Jan, 2027, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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ISISA |
| | 21st Islands of the Word Conference 6-10 June, 2027, Willemstad, Curacao |
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