Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Week in wildlife: a lucky osprey, a miraculous hare and a political fox

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 06:00:11 +0000

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

EPA puts 139 employees on leave after they sign a ‘declaration of dissent’

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:11:22 +0000

Letter from workers, which EPA claims is ‘unlawful’, says agency is no longer living up to its mission

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a “declaration of dissent” about its policies, accusing them of “unlawfully undermining” the Trump administration’s agenda.

Elon Musk’s xAI gets permit for methane gas generators

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 22:28:08 +0000

NAACP plans to sue over massive Memphis data center near Black residents, who have long dealt with pollution

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has been granted a permit to run methane gas generators at its massive data center in Memphis, Tennessee. The county health department approved the permit for the 15 machines late Wednesday, a move that has sparked outcry from the local community and environmental leaders, who say the generators pollute their neighborhoods.

Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, court rules

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 21:53:26 +0000

Costa Rica-based inter-American court of human rights says states have obligation to respond to climate change

There is a human right to a stable climate and states have a duty to protect it, a top court has ruled.

Announcing the publication of a crucial advisory opinion on climate change on Thursday, Nancy Hernández López, president of the inter-American court of human rights (IACHR), said climate change carries “extraordinary risks” that are felt particularly keenly by people who are already vulnerable.

Extreme heatwaves may cause global decline in dairy production, scientists warn

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 18:00:55 +0000

Israel-based study finds that by 2050 average daily milk production could be reduced by 4% as a result of worsening heat stress

Dairy production will be threatened by the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves, a study has found.

Drawing on records from more than 130,000 cows over a period of 12 years, the researchers report that extreme heat reduces dairy cows’ ability to produce milk by 10%.

Two tourists from UK and New Zealand killed by elephant, Zambian police say

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:12:19 +0000

Commissioner says two women were attacked by female elephant that was with a calf

Two female tourists from the UK and New Zealand have been killed by an elephant while on a walking safari in a national park in Zambia, police in the southern African country have said.

The Eastern Province police commissioner, Robertson Mweemba, said the victims, who he named as 68-year-old Easton Janet Taylor from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Jean Taylor from New Zealand, were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf.

English farms could be taken out of food production to boost nature, says minister

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:11:19 +0000

Plans announced by environment secretary mean many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming

Some farms in England could be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make more space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

When rainforests died, the planet caught fire: New clues from Earth’s greatest extinction

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:07:42 +0000

When Siberian volcanoes kicked off the Great Dying, the real climate villain turned out to be the rainforests themselves: once they collapsed, Earth’s biggest carbon sponge vanished, CO₂ rocketed, and a five-million-year heatwave followed. Fossils from China and clever climate models now link that botanical wipe-out to runaway warming, hinting that losing today’s tropical forests could lock us in a furnace we can’t easily cool.

Europe’s extreme pollen triggered symptoms in those not known to have allergies, data shows

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 11:50:39 +0000

More people reporting problems as climate crisis means plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season

Pollen levels were so extreme in parts of Europe during spring that even people not known to suffer allergies felt the effects of hay fever, data has shown.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) observed a seasonal rise in grass and olive pollen release and transport across southern Europe and “extreme levels” of birch pollen in north-eastern regions, it said on Thursday.

Scientists warn US will lose a generation of talent because of Trump cuts

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 11:00:50 +0000

Political interference and chaotic cuts to staff, programs and grants at the National Science Foundation are producing ‘devastating consequences’

A generation of scientific talent is at the brink of being lost to overseas competitors by the Trump administration’s dismantling of the National Science Foundation (NSF), with unprecedented political interference at the agency jeopardizing the future of US industries and economic growth, according to a Guardian investigation.