Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘Hidden datacentre tax’ costing Irish households millions, report says

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:01:49 +0000

Datacentres used 22% of country’s electricity last year, pushing up household bills, study suggests

Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report.

Blair’s fossil fuel ideas ‘bizarre’ in face of energy and climate crises, experts say

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 12:41:02 +0000

Energy specialists say abandoning net zero and increasing oil and gas drilling would cause more instability for Britons

UK politics live – latest updates

Abandoning net zero and drilling for more oil and gas in the North Sea would be a massive setback for the UK and would not help the economy, leading experts have said in response to claims by the former prime minister Tony Blair.

Ministers in talks over shelving carbon tax on fertiliser to curb UK food inflation

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 12:39:47 +0000

Exclusive: Package of measures discussed with farmers, including pause on duty due to come into effect next year

Ministers are in discussions about suspending a carbon tax on fertilisers, due to come into effect early next year, in an effort to curb food inflation.

The move would be part of a package of measures, including the suspension of import tariffs on a range of foods including bread, biscuits and bananas.

The race for oil: will Jamaica be the next country to drill and what does that mean for its green pledges?

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 12:00:20 +0000

With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producer

Jamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.

Britain ‘sleepwalking into a food crisis’ without urgent action, experts say

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:56 +0000

Industry figures warn of national security risk and call for ministers to address impact of extreme weather, inflation and Iran war

Britain is “sleepwalking into a food crisis” caused by extreme weather, inflation and the impacts of the Iran war – and the government is failing to take the threat seriously, food experts have said.

Cigarette butts for free food? How one group is asking people to rethink litter

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:55 +0000

The WasteBar food truck hopes the eye-catching deal will change people’s attitude to waste in the Netherlands

Using cigarette butts to buy buttery Dutch pancakes? That is the deal one food truck is offering at festivals in the Netherlands as a way to get people thinking about litter.

Cigarette butts are the most common form of plastic waste in the world, with more than 4.5tn butts produced every year. In the Netherlands the estimated figure is in the hundreds of millions.

What is killing Sumatra’s elephants? The battle to save one of our rarest animals

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:55 +0000

Investigators are still searching for what caused the recent deaths of a mother and her calf, but conservationists say the animal’s shrinking habitat may be the first place to look

The two elephants were found dead in the Indonesian province of Bengkulu, in an area of “production forest” in southern Sumatra. The mother and her calf were lying side by side with their tusks still intact.

To reverse the ‘greenlash’, Europe’s Green parties should embrace Polanski’s boldness | Tarik Abou-Chadi

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 04:00:56 +0000

Be more strident and ambitious, take on economic inequality, and progressive voters will reward you as they have the UK’s Greens

Tarik Abou-Chadi is a professor of European politics at the University of Oxford

World almost certain to endure record hot year by 2030, UN warns

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 04:00:55 +0000

Global temperature record could be broken as soon as 2027, with El Niño expected later this year

A record-breaking hot year is almost certain by 2030 as the climate crisis intensifies, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization has warned.

With an El Niño event expected later this year, the global temperature record could fall as soon as 2027.

‘Utterly appalling’: anger over swimmers in Hampstead Heath wildlife ponds

admin — Wed, 27 May 2026 15:36:58 +0000

Nature groups urge people to avoid unauthorised areas to protect birds during nesting season

Nature groups have pleaded with swimmers to give wildlife a wide berth after dozens of people swam in a nature pond on Hampstead Heath among nests of baby birds.

Swans and their 12-day-old cygnets were disturbed by hordes of splashing revellers in the north London park on Monday as London reached record 35C temperatures. In one video, a swan was seen poking an unhatched egg with its beak after it fell into the water during the chaos.