Breaking Waves: Ocean News

This week all eyes will be on Teahupo’o as it hosts the world’s best surfers. Many islanders welcome the new infrastructure brought by the 2024 Paris Games, but are concerned that any benefits will be undone by longer-term damage Photographs by Atea Lee Chip Sao Peva Levy, often called the “godfather” of Teahupo’o, has witnessed his home town change from remote fishing village to surfing mecca in a matter of decades. Levy was a child of the ocean. He grew up swimming and fishing and was one of the first to bodysurf the “secret” wave beyond the reef, a dangerously thrilling, near-perfect barrel known only to local people. Levy couldn’t have known that the wave would one day attract the world’s leading surfers and, eventually, the Olympic Games. “When someone says ‘Teahupo’o’ these days, the first thing that everyone thinks of is the wave, because it has become such a mythical spot,” says Levy, in his handbuilt house overlooking the lagoon. Continue reading...

Scheme will use taxpayer money to develop parts of seabed owned by the royal family Keir Starmer will promise to build enough offshore wind over the next five years to power 20m homes, by using taxpayer money to develop parts of the seabed owned by the royal family. The prime minister will announce details of the government’s energy generation company, known as Great British Energy, during a visit to the north-west designed to highlight the government’s promises on green energy. Continue reading...

Change equivalent to removing 200,000 cars for a year, with capital’s air quality improving at faster rate than rest of England Levels of harmful air pollutants have dropped significantly since the ultra-low emission zone was enlarged to cover Greater London last year, according to a report from city hall. Analysis covering the first six months since the Ulez expansion found that total emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from cars across London were 13% lower than projected had the scheme remained confined to inner London, while NOx from vans was 7% lower. Continue reading...

Father says Grace Rohloff, 20, lost footing about three-quarters into 400ft cables descent and slid down mountain A father-daughter hike that began with an Arizona college student checking off a bucket list item ended tragically when she was killed after falling down Yosemite’s Half Dome earlier this month. Grace Rohloff, a 20-year-old hiker, and her father, Jonathan Rohloff, were descending the cables at Yosemite’s summit when she slipped and fell on 13 July, as reported by SFGate. The 14- to 16-mile round-trip hike to Half Dome is known for its difficulty and requires hikers to obtain permits in advance. Continue reading...