Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Guterres warns of ‘powerful forces’ undermining ‘global cooperation’

admin — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 07:00:19 +0000

In historic speech to mark UN’s 80th anniversary, secretary general makes impassioned plea for multilateralism and international law amid drastic US funding cuts

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, will warn on Saturday of the peril posed by “powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation” in an address to mark the 80th anniversary of the UN’s first major meeting.

UK urged to ratify high seas treaty to avoid being shut out of Ocean Cop summit

admin — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 06:00:23 +0000

As international treaty comes into force, bill to make it law in Britain is moving at ‘glacial pace’ through parliament

The UK risks being shut out of a historic oceans summit because parliament has failed to ratify the UN’s high seas treaty, environmental charities and campaigners have warned.

The high seas treaty, formally known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, comes into force on Saturday, after two decades of talks.

Rare twins born in DRC raise cautious hope for endangered mountain gorillas

admin — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 06:00:19 +0000

Virunga park ranger says babies are well cared for by mother Mafuko but high infant mortality makes first weeks critical

It was noon by the time Jacques Katutu first saw the newborn mountain gorillas. Cradled in the arms of their mother, Mafuko, the tiny twins clung to her body for warmth in the forest clearing in Virunga national park, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

‘Garden of Eden’: the Spanish farm growing citrus you’ve never heard of

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:14:19 +0000

Todolí foundation produces varieties from Buddha’s hands to sudachi and hopes to help citrus survive climate change

It was on a trip with a friend to the east coast of Spain that the chef Matthew Slotover came across the “Garden of Eden”, an organic farm growing citrus varieties he had never heard of. The Todolí Citrus Foundation is a nonprofit venture and the largest private collection of citrus in the world with more than 500 varieties, and its owners think the rare fruit could hold the genetic secrets to growing citrus groves that can deal with climate change.

As Adelaide rolls out the welcome mat to cycling world for Tour Down Under, I feel ashamed | Maeve Plouffe

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:01:04 +0000

Australia’s WorldTour race on my local roads fills me with pride, but as the years go on it feels like hosting international friends in a house that is visibly on fire

Sweat rolls off my brow as my legs roll powerless beneath me. Eyes fixed on my glowing bike computer screen, watching as my heart rate climbs faster than the power that can be produced by my legs. 150, 160, 170bpm. How long has that been? I wipe the bead of sweat obscuring the timer. Only five minutes.

Are our bodies full of microplastics or not? There’s a way to resolve this debate, and scientists must hurry | Debora MacKenzie

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:00:56 +0000

This week’s furore is microplastics researchers’ ozone moment. If they fail, the powerful plastics lobby will step into the breach

Debora MacKenzie is a science journalist and author of Stopping the Next Pandemic: How Covid-19 Can Help Us Save Humanity

Extreme rainfall inundates South Africa and Mozambique

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:16:29 +0000

Flood warning raised to highest level with roads washed away and rain forcing evacuation of Kruger national park

Large areas of north-eastern South Africa and neighbouring Mozambique have been inundated for several days with exceptionally heavy rainfall. Some locations in South Africa recorded hundreds of millimetres of rain over the weekend, such as Graskop in Mpumalanga, where 113mm fell in 24 hours, and Phalaborwa, which recorded about 85mm of rainfall. Rain has continued to fall across the region since the weekend.

Water restored to most Kent and Sussex homes after six days’ disruption

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:10:11 +0000

Up to 30,000 customers of South East Water had no supply or low pressure at height of incident

Water has been restored to most homes across Kent and Sussex after almost a week of disruption.

South East Water (SEW) said the outage, which began on Saturday, was the result of Storm Goretti causing burst pipes and power cuts.

Sydney awaits ‘soggiest weekend of summer’ as Victorian authorities defend flash flood warnings

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:50:43 +0000

Floods predicted for NSW south coast after severe storms dumped 180mm in six hours on Victoria’s Lorne and Wye River, washing cars into the sea on the Great Ocean Road

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Week in wildlife: monkey spa day, a frisky kākāpō and a camouflaged owl

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:00:04 +0000

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world