Breaking Waves: Ocean News

07/09/2025 - 05:00
With less congestion, less carbon pollution, less accidents, could it be a model for other US cities? Six months in, environmentalists say yes It has faced threats and lawsuits and even had its death proclaimed by Donald Trump as he startlingly depicted himself as a king in a social media post. But New York City’s congestion charge scheme for cars has now survived its first six months, producing perhaps the fastest ever environmental improvement from any policy in US history. New York vaulted into a global group of cities – such as London, Singapore and Stockholm – that charge cars for entering their traffic-clogged metropolitan hearts but also ushered in a measure that was unknown to Americans and initially unpopular with commuters, and was confronted by a new Trump administration determined to tear it down. Continue reading...
07/09/2025 - 00:00
Mass lobby in Westminster is kicked off with giant image on cliffs of Dover stating ‘89% of people want climate action’ More than 5,000 people from across the UK arrived in Westminster on Wednesday to meet their MPs and demand urgent climate action to protect their communities. The mass lobby is one of the largest to date. The constituents, including parents and pensioners, doctors, teachers, farmers and youth campaigners, have arranged to lobby at least 500 MPs, about 80% of the total. Continue reading...
07/08/2025 - 23:00
Heat caused 2,300 deaths across 12 cities, of which 1,500 were down to climate crisis, scientists say Planet-heating pollution tripled the death toll from the “quietly devastating” heatwave that seared Europe at the end of June, early analysis covering a dozen cities has found, as experts warned of a worsening health crisis that is being overlooked. Scientists estimate that high heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across Europe between 23 June and 2 July. They attributed 1,500 of the deaths to climate breakdown, which has heated the planet and made the worst extremes even hotter. Continue reading...
07/08/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00139-0 Human-wildlife coexistence through the lens of fishermen’s knowledge and lived experience
07/08/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00145-2 The rapidly expanding offshore wind energy industry presents an unprecedented opportunity to collect valuable data on protected marine species, particularly the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), through required Protected Species Observer (PSO) programs. PSO data, gathered during industry activities by trained biologists in often remote and challenging offshore environments, can fill critical knowledge gaps regarding species distribution, occurrence, and interactions with development, informing conservation and management strategies. While challenges remain regarding data accessibility, standardization, and integration, ongoing initiatives by agencies like the US National Marine Fisheries Service and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management coupled with existing data-sharing efforts and open-source platforms, offer pathways to maximize the value of PSO data. Realizing this potential requires collaborative partnerships between industry, agencies, researchers, and other stakeholders to establish centralized, publicly accessible databases with standardized protocols and adequate funding for data management. Successfully leveraging PSO data will significantly enhance our understanding of marine species and contribute to their conservation in the face of increasing offshore development.
07/08/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00135-4 Unequal competition: the fate of domestic fisheries facing distant water fishing in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean
07/08/2025 - 11:56
At least 27 people died at Camp Mystic, but survivors credit coast guard swimmer and young staff with saving lives A US coast guard rescue swimmer on his first rescue mission as well as teenage counselors who helped shepherd cold and wet young campers to safety have been credited with saving dozens of lives at a flood-ravaged Christian summer camp on the banks of Texas’s Guadalupe River. Their stories of heroism and fortitude – including the counselors’ writing young campers’ names on their arms and legs with Sharpies so that authorities could identify them if necessary – are among the first to emerge recounting the grim reality of the torrent of water that surged Friday through the all-girls Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors are known to have died. Continue reading...
07/08/2025 - 10:50
Fire has brought many of the city’s services to a halt, with all flights cancelled at Marseille airport A fast-moving wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second-largest city, Marseille, has destroyed homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate, as a heatwave and dangerous fire conditions grip the Mediterranean. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the fire around Marseille could be contained overnight if the gale-force winds fanning the flames weaken, as expected. So far, 400 people had been evacuated, around a dozen houses destroyed and 63 others damaged, he said. He added about 100 people had also suffered light injuries, including from emergency services. Continue reading...
07/08/2025 - 10:30
UK ministers should update the public on the outlook for bills as the price of overhauling the system is adding up The government’s decision on zonal pricing for electricity – the issue that divides the energy industry like no other – is due any day. Whichever way ministers jump, it would be a good moment to update consumers on the outlook for their bills in the “sprint” to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030. Does the government still think cleaner energy means cheaper energy? If so, when and how? It deserves an answer for two reasons. First, because the costs of turning down gas-fired generation in favour of renewables are clearer than a year ago – and current trends, sadly, are not encouraging. Second, because promising consumers “up to £300” off their bills by 2030 via clean energy, as Keir Starmer and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, have done, risks handing a political gift to anti-net zero opponents if the savings do not materialise. Continue reading...
07/08/2025 - 08:40
Military Road on island’s south is threatened by erosion, with some parts now less than 5 metres from steep cliffs It is considered one of the most scenic routes in the UK, an 11-mile stretch of road that skirts the coastal cliffs and enjoys sweeping views of the Channel. The problem is that Military Road on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight is getting just a little too close to those plunging cliffs for comfort. Continue reading...