Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Trump officials reconsider greenhouse gas harm amid slew of climate rollbacks

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 20:55:22 +0000

Activists horrified as EPA reverses pollution laws and reviews landmark finding that greenhouse gases harm public health

Donald Trump’s administration is to reconsider the official finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to public health, a move that threatens to rip apart the foundation of the US’s climate laws, amid a stunning barrage of actions to weaken or repeal a host of pollution limits upon power plants, cars and waterways.

Plastic pollution leaves seabirds with brain damage similar to Alzheimer’s, study shows

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 18:00:48 +0000

Blood tests on migratory chicks fed plastics by their parents show neurodegeneration, as well as cell rupture and stomach lining decay

Ingesting plastic is leaving seabird chicks with brain damage “akin to Alzheimer’s disease”, according to a new study – adding to growing evidence of the devastating impact of plastic pollution on marine wildlife.

Want to preserve biodiversity? Go big

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 16:38:52 +0000

Large, undisturbed forests are better for harboring biodiversity than fragmented landscapes, according to recent research. Ecologists agree that habitat loss and the fragmentation of forests reduces biodiversity in the remaining fragments. But ecologists don't agree whether it's better to focus on preserving many smaller, fragmented tracts of land or larger, continuous landscapes. The study comes to a clear conclusion.

US energy industry’s climate retreat is putting profits over people, advocates say

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 16:00:47 +0000

Oil giants retreat on climate pledges, embrace Trump-era fossil fuel policies at CERAWeek in Texas

At a major oil and gas conference in Texas this week, companies publicly retreated from their flashy climate pledges of years past, redoubling their commitment to planet-warming fossil fuels.

Balance of power: Loch Ness hydro storage schemes fuel local anxiety

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:00:45 +0000

As energy firms race to meet challenges of storing power, critics worry about fluctuations in the depth of the loch

Brian Shaw stood at the edge of Loch Ness and pointed to a band of glistening pebbles and damp sand skirting the shore. It seemed as if the tide had gone out.

Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ agenda could keep the world hooked on oil and gas

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:00:41 +0000

The US president is making energy deals with Japan and Ukraine, and in Africa has even touted resurrecting coal

Donald Trump’s repeated mantra of “drill, baby, drill” demands that more oil and gas be extracted in the United States, but the president has set his sights on an even broader goal: keeping the world hooked on planet-heating fossil fuels for as long as possible.

The UK’s gamble on solar geoengineering is like using aspirin for cancer | Raymond Pierrehumbert and Michael Mann

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 09:00:12 +0000

Injecting pollutants into the atmosphere to reflect the sun would be extremely dangerous, but the UK is funding field trials

Changes to bathing water status test will deny rivers protection, say critics

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 07:00:10 +0000

Campaigners say introduction of feasibility test in England and Wales over bathing status is ‘snub to communities’

Rivers are unlikely to be granted the protections of bathing water status under the government’s changes to the system, campaigners have said.

River activists have reacted with fury as details of the reforms were revealed on Wednesday.

A bloke at the dog park said the government was controlling the cyclones. He is accidentally sort of correct | First Dog on the Moon

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 05:38:37 +0000

If you don’t believe the scientists, will you believe the insurance companies?

In the middle of cyclone preparation I found a baby bird – one tiny, wild life amid the wind and rain | Jessie Cole

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 02:44:32 +0000

My homeplace has experienced four natural disasters in eight years. But I’d never seen the like of this bird before, vibrantly green and startlingly beautiful

We were midway through our cyclone preparation when my mother broke her leg. She stepped into her bedroom to retrieve something, tripped and fell, and that was that. My mother is 74 and hardy, so this sudden break took us by surprise. Once I got her home, leg in brace, we’d lost significant time, and my household was down to one functional human: me.