Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Sharp drop in ‘forever chemicals’ in seabird eggs hailed as win for regulation

admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:54 +0000

Levels of Pfas in northern gannet eggs in Canada fell up to 74% over 55-year period of study

Levels of some of the most dangerous Pfas compounds have dramatically fallen in Canadian seabird eggs, which the authors of a new peer-reviewed study say illustrates how regulations are effective.

Advocates decry Trump’s plan to open 24m acres of federal lands to cattle grazing

admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:54 +0000

Opponents say administration’s plan prioritizes big agriculture at expense of wildlife and protected species

Norway puts UN project funding on hold raising fears for plastics treaty talks

admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 11:20:08 +0000

Move by largest donor to environment programme poses further uncertainty for already troubled negotiations

The largest donor to the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has paused funding to the body before its revised budget on 12 May, triggering concern among member states and NGOs.

Britain and Ireland’s wildflowers – in pictures

admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 07:00:48 +0000

The Eden Project’s National Wildflower Centre is opening entries for its Wildflower Photographer of the Year 2026 competition on 29 May. The contest showcases images of some of Britain and Ireland’s 1,600 wildflower species, and a selection of photos from last year’s competition will be on display at Eden Dock, Canary Wharf, London, during CWG’s Nature Week, from 13 July

A deadly bacterium is creeping up the US east coast. How worried should we be?

admin — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:30:25 +0000

Warming ocean waters are priming beaches and raw shellfish for Vibrio even as scientists are trying to stay one step ahead

Bailey Magers and Sunil Kumar cut strange figures on Pensacola Beach. Bags of disinfectant solution surrounded them on the white sand; their gloved hands juggled test tubes while layers of rubber and plastic shielded their skin from the elements. As the two organized their seawater samples on the popular Florida shoreline last August, an older woman wearing a swimsuit walked over to ask what they were doing.

‘Amazon of America’: film paints vision of a post-coup Brazil giving up rainforest

admin — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:25 +0000

Vitória Régia imagines rightwing Bolsonaro plot succeeded with US help – and highlights threats facing Indigenous peoples

The year is 2025 and far-right coup plotters have annihilated Brazil’s democracy, assassinating the president, closing the national congress and surrendering the Amazon rainforest and its untold riches to the United States.

Newborns to silverbacks: counting mountain gorillas in Uganda – in pictures

admin — Sun, 10 May 2026 06:00:18 +0000

National Geographic photographer and WWF ambassador Jasper Doest joined conservation teams during the latest mountain gorilla census in Bwindi Impenetrable national park, taking pictures of the apes and the people essential to their survival

Sean Duffy faces backlash for new family reality show: ‘unfocused and out of touch’

admin — Sat, 09 May 2026 20:25:24 +0000

US transportation secretary announces The Great American Road Trip amid transportation crises and rising fuel prices

Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, hauled his family into a van for a wholesome, seven-month trek across the nation, which was filmed for an upcoming reality TV program, he told Fox News on Friday.

The revelation drew immediate blowback as “tone-deaf”, from critics who pointed toward various crises that have recently hammered the country’s transportation sector.

Google developers significantly misstate carbon emissions of proposed UK datacentres

admin — Sat, 09 May 2026 16:00:01 +0000

Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar error

Developers working for Google have significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres will contribute to the UK’s total emissions in planning documents reviewed by the Guardian.

‘Closing the chapter’ on Fema: Trump panel seeks to weaken disaster response amid climate crisis

admin — Sat, 09 May 2026 12:00:57 +0000

Council’s plan will leave Federal Emergency Management Agency ill-equipped to respond to extreme weather events, experts say

Sweeping changes may be in store at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the nation’s frontline emergency response coordinator, that experts warned could further erode US capacity to handle disasters as the risks of extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis continue to rise.