Breaking Waves: Ocean News

The faded resorts and coastal towns of Tendring in Essex offer few job opportunities but many of its 20-somethings are set on finding their way in an area with one of England’s oldest populations Share your experiences of living in a coastal town Photographs by Polly Braden The village where 22-year-old Millicent has lived all her whole life is often her most closely guarded secret – at least until first impressions have been established. “It’s almost like a superpower,” she says. “I wait until people are comfortable with me, and then I’ll do the big reveal.” It doesn’t matter where she goes, the story is always the same. “I’ll go to meet new friends and at some point I’ll tell them I’m from Jaywick,” says Millicent. “And it’s as if they go through the five stages of grief. They’ll say: ‘Oh, you’re not … oh, I’m so sorry’.” Kyle, Matt and Finn at Jaywick’s Martello Tower, now an arts site Continue reading...

Sea levels are rising in New England at some of the fastest rates in the world. On a quiet ribbon of saltmarsh in Rhode Island, septuagenarian Deirdre isn’t prepared to accept the loss of her beloved saltmarsh sparrow - the species is facing extinction before 2050 due to elevated high tides inundating nests and drowning fledgling birds. Leading a team of citizen scientists, Deirdre unravels the secret to finding delicate nests amid thick marsh grass, while they design and deploy a low-cost ‘ark’ to try to raise the sparrow nests to safety. Continue reading...

Climate research group says such ideas are diverting attention from cutting fossil fuel use Proposals to fight the impact of the climate crisis at the poles, from giant underwater curtains to scattering glass beads across the ice, have been dismissed by a group of scientists as an “unimaginably expensive” and “dangerous” distraction. Geoengineering, which includes blocking sunlight with airborne particles and thickening ice with pumped seawater, has become highly divisive among scientists. Its proponents argue that, with cuts in carbon emissions going far too slowly, exploring options for “emergency brakes” would be valuable. Continue reading...

The results of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count are in, and while the numbers are a vast improvement on 2024’s record lows, the charity has warned that urgent measures are still needed to reverse long-term decline Britain’s butterflies bounce back in annual count – but only to average levels Continue reading...