Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves/index.php en A Louisiana state senator helped secure Meta’s largest datacenter. Then he sold the land beside it https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/louisiana-state-senator-helped-secure-meta-s-largest-datacenter-then-he-sold-land-besi <p>Jay Morris denies experts’ claims that he violated ethics rules over land deals near the site of Meta’s Hyperion datacenter</p> <p><em>This story is from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/floodlight">Floodlight</a>, a non-profit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action</em></p> <p>For more than two years, John “Jay” Morris, a Louisiana state senator, helped pave the way for Meta to build one of the world’s largest datacenters, called Hyperion, in Richland Parish.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/louisiana-state-senator-helped-secure-meta-s-largest-datacenter-then-he-sold-land-besi" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 25 May 2026 12:00:25 +0000 admin 103399 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Why Michigan is emerging as one of America’s worst-hit climate states https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/why-michigan-emerging-one-america-s-worst-hit-climate-states <p>The state saw 33 tornadoes last year and severe flooding as researchers say links to climate change are undeniable</p> <p>The tornado hit west Ann Arbor at 1.45am on 15 April, passing through Veterans Memorial park, where it knocked several mature oak trees and ripped up baseball field fences before setting its sights on a local ice rink.</p> <p>“It came up through the parking lot and, in that time, the pressure differential between the tornado and the air inside the rink collapsed the wall,” said Scott Spooner, a manager at Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/why-michigan-emerging-one-america-s-worst-hit-climate-states" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 25 May 2026 11:00:23 +0000 admin 103396 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org BHP has made big climate promises – that’s the easy part. Now it must do the real work of slashing emissions | Adam Morton https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bhp-has-made-big-climate-promises-s-easy-part-now-it-must-do-real-work-slashing-emissi <p>Given the scale of its contribution to global heating, the world’s biggest miner has a duty to invest heavily in solutions that could have a global impact</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/may/25/bhp-files-internal-memo-revealed">Revealed: the internal BHP memo that slammed the brakes on world’s biggest miner’s climate push</a></p> </li> <li> <p>Read more from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/the-bhp-files">the BHP files investigation here</a></p> </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bhp-has-made-big-climate-promises-s-easy-part-now-it-must-do-real-work-slashing-emissi" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 25 May 2026 10:30:24 +0000 admin 103397 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org BHP files: leaked memo shows miner backtracking on key climate projects in Australia – video https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bhp-files-leaked-memo-shows-miner-backtracking-key-climate-projects-australia-video <p>The world’s biggest miner has halted or delayed projects to cut vast amounts of emissions and has quietly war-gamed options to stall major climate investments in its Western Australian iron ore operations into the next two decades, according to documents leaked to the Guardian and ABC’s Four Corners. In a statement, BHP said its progress towards net zero emissions was dependent on technological shifts in trucks, trains and dozers, which were not yet ready to be deployed.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bhp-files-leaked-memo-shows-miner-backtracking-key-climate-projects-australia-video" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 25 May 2026 10:30:23 +0000 admin 103398 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Half of UK adults say they spend less than three hours a week outside in nature https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/half-uk-adults-say-they-spend-less-three-hours-week-outside-nature <p>Most people have joyful memories of playing outside as children – and now wildlife charities are urging people to ‘rewild their inner child’</p> <p>Climbing trees, squelching in mud, paddling in ponds or making dens in the woods – people’s memories of playing outside as children are often vivid and, a new poll has found, overwhelmingly positive, even those who remember falling in cowpats.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/half-uk-adults-say-they-spend-less-three-hours-week-outside-nature" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 25 May 2026 05:00:19 +0000 admin 103395 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Scotland’s ‘green datacentres’ policy ignores emissions impact of AI, analysis shows https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/scotland-s-green-datacentres-policy-ignores-emissions-impact-ai-analysis-shows <p>Definition of green facilities made in 2022, before release of ChatGPT, says Action to Protect Rural Scotland</p> <p>A Scottish government policy designed to encourage datacentres to build in Scotland could lead to a massive volume of carbon emissions being ignored, according to an analysis by a Scottish charity.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/scotland-s-green-datacentres-policy-ignores-emissions-impact-ai-analysis-shows" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 24 May 2026 23:01:09 +0000 admin 103394 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Overheated chemical tank in southern California ‘will fail’, EPA chief says https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/overheated-chemical-tank-southern-california-will-fail-epa-chief-says <p>Lee Zeldin says ‘low-volume release’ of flammable chemicals is most likely amid fears of explosion at Orange county facility near Disneyland</p> <p>Government officials in Orange county, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/california">California</a>, have warned that an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/23/california-state-of-emergency-chemical-disaster">overheated chemical tank</a> “will fail” and could result in a chemical explosion in the area, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator said on Sunday.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/overheated-chemical-tank-southern-california-will-fail-epa-chief-says" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 24 May 2026 19:36:14 +0000 admin 103393 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Hottest May day for nearly 80 years as parts of UK hit heatwave threshold https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/hottest-may-day-nearly-80-years-parts-uk-hit-heatwave-threshold <p>Highest temperatures of 2026 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as Kew Gardens in London reaches 32.3C </p> <p>England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded their highest temperatures of 2026 on Sunday, which was also the UK’s hottest May day for at least 79 years.</p> <p>Kew Gardens in west London recorded 32.3C (90.1F), Cardiff 27.4C and Armagh 23.4C.</p> <p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/24/uk-heatwave-expected-as-temperatures-near-record-highs-for-may">Continue reading...</a></p> Sun, 24 May 2026 14:44:04 +0000 admin 103392 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘Bringing the boys back home’: how mountain bongos Maue, Fitz, Kudu and Bon64 made their way back to Kenya https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bringing-boys-back-home-how-mountain-bongos-maue-fitz-kudu-and-bon64-made-their-way-ba <p>Staff at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy are overseeing the repatriation of ‘the shiest antelope’ from western zoos to their native east African country</p> <p>“We are bringing the boys home,” says Ngenoh Erick Kibet, a wildlife officer at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, as a cargo plane carrying four mountain bongo touches down on a wet runway at Jomo Kenyatta international airport.</p> <p>The operation is the culmination of two weeks spent in Czechia, a first flight for Kibet, and a decades-long collective effort to rescue a species on the edge of extinction.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bringing-boys-back-home-how-mountain-bongos-maue-fitz-kudu-and-bon64-made-their-way-ba" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 24 May 2026 09:00:52 +0000 admin 103391 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Treasury rejected ministers’ plan to cut VAT on public EV charging to 5% https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/treasury-rejected-ministers-plan-cut-vat-public-ev-charging-5 <p>Department for Transport is understood to back reducing levy, which critics have called a ‘pavement tax’</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/may/19/uk-wage-growth-unemployment-rate-markets-business-live-news">Business live – latest updates</a></p> </li> </ul> <p>Government officials considered cutting the VAT charged on electricity used at public EV chargers from 20% to 5% at the last budget, but the Treasury under chancellor Rachel Reeves rejected the proposal amid disagreement between departments.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/treasury-rejected-ministers-plan-cut-vat-public-ev-charging-5" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 24 May 2026 07:00:50 +0000 admin 103390 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org