Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks

admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 04:00:44 +0000

Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet

Being surrounded and yelled at about “misrepresenting reality” is not how serious United Nations-hosted negotiations are meant to proceed. But that is what happened to Prof Bethanie Carney Almroth during talks about a global treaty to slash plastic pollution in Ottawa, Canada. The employees of a large US chemicals company “formed a ring” around her, she says.

Substantial gains and little downside from farming of Totoaba macdonaldi

admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 23 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00143-4

Substantial gains and little downside from farming of Totoaba macdonaldi

Australian taxpayers on the hook to pay Chevron more than $500m to clean up oil wells

admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 01:00:27 +0000

Deal struck in 1980s refunds about half of what the US multinational fossil fuel company paid in royalties, documents show

Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

World on brink of climate breakthrough as fossil fuels ‘run out of road’, UN chief says

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:40:01 +0000

António Guterres says ‘sun is rising on a clean energy age’ as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuels

The world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road, the UN chief said on Tuesday, as he urged countries to funnel support into low-carbon energy.

‘Magical’: butterfly sightings across the UK this summer

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:49:38 +0000

Naturalists say it has been an “outstanding” summer for butterflies and other flying insects after last summer’s dramatic decline. Here are some of your sightings so far this year

Diving for the disappeared: the dangerous underwater hunt for Colombia’s missing

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:00:43 +0000

The dark waters of San Antonio estuary are thought to hide 190 bodies, killed over decades of conflict. The first state-backed search turned to local experts to try to find them

As scuba diver Pedro Albarracín scours the muddy seabed surrounding Skull Island, opposite the Colombian port city of Buenaventura, he invokes the protection of Yemayá, goddess of the seas, and Oshun, goddess of the rivers – deities of the Yoruba faith.

‘Disgraceful step backward’: USDA ends support for Black farmers, saying it ‘sufficiently’ handled discrimination

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 10:00:38 +0000

Agency will no longer use ‘socially disadvantaged’, which describes people subjected to discrimination, including Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian groups

This story was originally published by Capital B, a nonprofit newsroom that centers Black voices.

Lloyd Wright isn’t shocked that the US Department of Agriculture is reversing a 35-year-old policy meant to help Black farmers in favor of a race-neutral approach.

Clearing Gaza rubble could yield 90,000 tonnes of planet-heating emissions

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:00:50 +0000

Processing debris from Israel’s destruction of homes, schools and hospitals could take four decades

Millions of tonnes of rubble left by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza could generate more than 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – and take as long as four decades to remove and process, a study has found.

Iranians asked to limit water use as temperatures hit 50C and reservoirs are depleted

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 05:00:45 +0000

Public holiday announced in Tehran as government tries to grapple with deepening water crisis

Iranian authorities have asked people to limit water consumption amid severe heatwaves and a water crisis across the country.

Iran is experiencing its hottest week of the year, according to the national meteorological service, with temperatures exceeding 50C in some areas.

In Ukraine’s bombed out reservoir a huge forest has grown – is it a return to life or a toxic timebomb?

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 04:00:44 +0000

Two years after the Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed in Ukraine, nature has returned in abundance to the drained land in a ‘big natural experiment’ – but it could be lost as quickly as it appeared

At the southern tip of Europe’s largest river island, the ground falls away into a vast and unexpected vista. From a high, rocky ledge on Khortytsia Island, the view opens on to a sea of swaying young willows and mirrored lagoons. Some of the trees are already many metres tall, but this is a young forest. Just a few years ago, all of it was under water.