Breaking Waves: Ocean News

07/10/2026 - 06:30
Critics accuse president of ‘fattening the wallets of his cronies’ as working Americans face higher energy rates The Trump administration has directly spent $2.7bn of taxpayer money on its crusade against wind power while pouring $1.125bn into boosting coal, which critics say is pushing up Americans’ bills. They say the moves are evidence that the president aims to serve fossil-fuel companies like those which donated record sums to his presidential campaign, rather than the working-class Americans to whom he pledged to lower energy bills and other costs. Continue reading...
07/10/2026 - 04:00
The desert rain frog, native to a narrow coastal strip of south-west Africa, has been classified as vulnerable on the IUCN red list, as its habitat is threatened by mining The desert rain frog is one of the most unusual amphibians on the planet. With a rotund body and stumpy legs that dig rather than jump, it has evolved to survive not in wetlands or rainforests, but in the unforgiving dunes of the southern African desert. This week the species was declared to be threatened with extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s red list, which classified it as vulnerable. Without conservation efforts, its population is expected to decline by 20% in the next decade, the IUCN warns. Continue reading...
07/10/2026 - 03:00
Conservationists fear more nests may have been destroyed during work on Jarrow houses by council-appointed contractor Swift chicks are feared to have been thrown into a skip during house renovations in South Tyneside, despite rules that should stop the destruction of nests. The Northern Swifts Group (NSG) was alerted to the destruction of at least one nest on Tuesday, in a street in Jarrow where houses were being renovated by South Tyneside council. Continue reading...
07/10/2026 - 02:00
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
07/10/2026 - 01:28
While I have no influence on the Guardian committee, I know who this year’s winner of the Invertebrate of the Year competition should be Nominate your Invertebrate of the Year now! You have until midnight on Monday 13 July to submit your response Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
07/10/2026 - 00:00
Western Europe has been scorched by its hottest June on record, scientists have said, as the UK enters its third heatwave of the year and wildfires ravage France and Spain Western Europe records hottest-ever June as heatwaves intensify Continue reading...
07/09/2026 - 19:40
Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country’s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them. Singapore-based company Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) AI datacentre on a 49-hectare site in Makarewa, just north of New Zealand’s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational by 2028. Continue reading...
07/09/2026 - 16:06
Models show overwhelming chance that this year’s El Niño to rank among largest going back to 1950 El Niño is strengthening and the risks of a historic event with the power to supercharge extreme weather around the world are rising, according to the latest analysis from the US National Weather Service. Models show there is now an 81% chance that a very strong El Niño “that would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950” will develop before the end of this year, forecasters said in an advisory released Thursday. There is almost near certainty – a 97% probability – that the conditions will persist through spring 2027. Continue reading...
07/09/2026 - 12:39
Britain expands heat alerts while estimates suggest June’s death toll could surpass 20,000 across continent The UK is sweltering through the peak of its third heatwave of the year as countries around Europe struggle to recover from an early onslaught of baking summer heat. Punishing temperatures pushed higher by fossil fuel pollution have broken records across the continent in recent weeks. Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record, scientists confirmed on Thursday, accompanied by high global ocean temperatures that could cause “mass-mortality events” for some species. Continue reading...
07/09/2026 - 10:54
State says companies hid environmental and health risks of Pfas for decades even as they began phasing them out Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email New ⁠York sued 3M, DuPont and other companies ⁠on Thursday ⁠for ​causing a public nuisance by selling “forever ⁠chemicals” that they knew were toxic for use ⁠in consumer products. The ​state’s attorney ‌general, ‌Letitia James, accused the companies ‌of hiding the chemicals’ environmental and health risks from consumers for decades, even as they ‌began phasing out some of the chemicals, ​which are known as Pfas. Continue reading...