Flea treatment chemicals fipronil and imidacloprid also implicated in lower cognitive scores in children with autism
Toxic chemicals found in pet flea treatment are devastating wildlife in rivers, parks and special conservation areas and the government should take urgent action to limit their use, according to a study.
Chemicals that are banned for use as pesticides but still used in liquid flea treatments are causing potentially irreversible harm to aquatic life as well as decimating birds and pollinators, according to the study published on Thursday.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/21/2026 - 00:00
05/20/2026 - 22:18
The US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia – some of the highest oil-producing nations and major greenhouse gas emitters – opposed the measure
The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said Wednesday’s general assembly vote, in which 28 countries abstained, underscored that governments are responsible for protecting citizens from the “escalating climate crisis”.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 15:04
Suit says administration is impinging on rights to life and liberty by worsening planet-warming and toxic pollution
Eva v Goliath: the 20-year-old climate activist taking on Trump and the fossil fuel industry
Eighteen American youth are demanding that a court immediately halt the Trump administration’s repeal of the scientific finding underpinning virtually all US climate regulations.
The plaintiffs sued the Trump administration in February days after officials revoked the 2009 endangerment finding, which found that greenhouse gas pollution threatens public health and welfare. Filed in the Washington DC circuit court of appeals Venner v EPA alleges that the move infringes upon rights guaranteed by the US constitution, including to religious freedom, life and liberty.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 13:43
Climate change is pushing starving grey whales to San Francisco Bay, where ship strikes led to 40% of 21 deaths
Ferries, cargo ships and tankers cut through choppy waters in the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday as a whale surfaced nearby, its spout barely visible against the white caps. Until now, whales could easily go unnoticed by mariners, but an AI-powered detection network launched this week is designed to track them day and night.
The system, called WhaleSpotter, scans the bay around the clock for whale blows and heat signatures up to 2 nautical miles away, alerting mariners to slow down or reroute when whales are nearby.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 11:33
Environmental activists lock themselves to pesticide barrels in protest outside Syngenta headquarters
More than 40 people, including Greenpeace UK’s programme director, Amy Cameron, have been arrested after a protest outside pesticide company Syngenta’s Yorkshire headquarters.
A number of the activists locked themselves on to 15 blue pesticide barrels outside the headquarters, blocking the gates and leading to the temporary closure of the local A62. Activists had transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. The action took place on World Bee day.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 10:00
Global study finds wrappers, bottles and lids on shorelines of 93% of countries analysed as UN talks to tackle issue in turmoil
Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world’s shorelines, a study has found.
Researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 surveys of coastal litter to produce the first global analysis of its kind. They found the data in 355 existing studies on the subject.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 08:00
Young Americans are suing the president for violating rights with executive orders that fuel the climate crisis
Young Americans demand court halt Trump’s biggest rollbacks of pollution protections
Eva Lighthiser was at a dorm party on her Colorado college campus last month when she had to call it an early night.
“I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go to bed, I’m flying out to Portland tomorrow,’ and then of course follow-up questions get raised,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Well, it’s a lot to explain.’”
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 05:49
Ukrainians lament appalling toll of fighting on their country’s bird population
Russia sent kamikaze drones to attack the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in February. They hit buildings and killed several people. One unreported victim of the bombardment was a male long-eared owl, blinded in one eye and found with a badly broken wing. A passerby scooped up the stunned bird, put him in a box and took him to the city of Dnipro.
The owl – nicknamed Sunny – is now recovering in a cosy room belonging to Veronica Konkova. No longer able to fly or hunt, Sunny instead hops around.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 03:52
Sustainability promised to change the industry. With Shein reportedly acquiring Everlane, and Allbirds pivotting from eco sneakers to AI, it seems that promise was mostly marketing
It was always about the money, wasn’t it? For a while there, it seemed like the execs opining sustainability is not a trend, it’s the future actually meant it. But when yet another global brand drops its net zero goals or stops talking about DEI, you do wonder. Recent headlines include Stella McCartney adulterating her eco gloss with a sustainable capsule collection for H&M – don’t worry, she’s just “infiltrating from within” – and Lululemon being investigated for Pfas. The letdowns keep coming.
Now the internet is reeling from a report that Shein plans to acquire Everlane, the San Francisco-based sustainable basics brand built on “radical transparency”. Shein is the Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant epitomising murky supply chains and crazy-cheap landfill fashion. They release up to 10,000 styles a day, and have been making headlines of their own over secrecy and alleged links to forced Uyghur labour.
Continue reading...
05/20/2026 - 03:50
Chancellor’s planning shake-up in England and Wales would ‘reduce exposure from judicial review on all but human rights grounds’
Rachel Reeves is poised to fast-track clean energy projects in England and Wales with planning reforms to curb the use of judicial reviews against new infrastructure, the Treasury has said.
Under the chancellor’s proposals, parliament will be able to designate and approve the most important clean energy projects as of “critical national importance”, as part of a wider package seeking to boost the UK’s energy security and soften the economic fallout from the Iran war.
Continue reading...
