Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Gardeners beware: slugs returning after dry weather to threaten strawberries

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:01:38 +0000

Wetter weather expected to bring surge of slugs out of hiding, just as strawberries experience bumper early crop

Entomologists in England are expecting a surge in slugs coming out of hiding to munch the nation’s strawberry plants after weeks of sun followed by wetter weather has caused a bumper crop.

The Royal Horticultural Society is bracing for a surge in inquiries from its 625,000 members, who write in with their garden gripes. Workers at the RHS have also noticed a spate of slugs in the charity’s gardens, including Wisley in Surrey.

It has the highest levels of toxic Pfas in drinking water in Scotland. But how did this remote island become awash with forever chemicals?

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:00:42 +0000

Scientists believe they may now have found the cause of Fair Isle’s pollution – and warn that it should be ringing alarm bells in other coastal areas

When the wind picks up on Fair Isle, Britain’s most remote inhabited island, puffs of seafoam start to drift across fields like tumbleweed. The pale yellow blobs are ubiquitous enough to hold their own place in the island’s mythology: known as the butter churned by a local troll, Lukki Minni.

Prepare for imminent return of El Niño, UN warns

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:00:40 +0000

UN agency predicts phenomenon that supercharges weather extremes has 80% chance of forming before September

The world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the supercharged weather extremes it brings, the UN has warned.

The powerful natural weather pattern, which raises global temperatures and worsens some rainfall, has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

UK’s growing green economy worth more than £100bn a year, research finds

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 23:01:31 +0000

Net zero industry accounts for more than a million jobs and benefits whole country, according to CBI Economics

More than a million jobs, higher wages, nearly half a trillion pounds in investment in the pipeline – the UK’s green economy is powering ahead, according to research by the country’s leading business organisation.

Nature boys and girls – here’s your chance to get published in the Guardian

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:35:23 +0000

Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their summer encounters with nature

Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14.

The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a nesting bird, a beetle on the move, a field full of flowers.

‘Hold your nerve and trust nature’: birds, bats and butterflies rebound at Somerset rewilding farm

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:55:44 +0000

Letting nature take over at a former dairy farm has resulted in a surge of species in just three years

Three years of rewilding on a former dairy farm in east Somerset have led to the number of recorded bird species soaring from 67 to 94, butterfly species rising from 11 to 24 and small mammals growing in number.

Heal Somerset, the first site acquired by the charity Heal Rewilding, has produced a state of nature report mirroring a national survey by environmental charities that has tracked the decline in nature.

Big gains for little terns: how Lindisfarne reserve is helping a rare bird survive tourism

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:00:13 +0000

Seasonal wardens and netted fences are helping protect the rare ground-nesting birds that arrive each spring on the UK’s shores

On Ross Sands in Northumberland, a little tern has caught sight of a group of people and is sprinting across the beach. “It wants us to follow it,” says Andrew Craggs, senior manager at Lindisfarne national nature reserve. “It’s a diversionary thing – it’s got a scrape and it wants to take us away because it thinks we’re predators.”

Why Sweden’s wolverine conservation success story is unraveling

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:55:53 +0000

A world-famous conservation program that helped save Sweden’s endangered wolverines is now struggling as funding stagnates and local trust erodes. Researchers say the decline offers a cautionary lesson: protecting wildlife requires long-term commitment, not just early success.

Wildfires devastating richer areas but fewer hectares burned globally – study

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:00:09 +0000

‘Megafires’ in California, Canada, South Korea and Europe in 2025, but changes to farming slowed spread in parts of Africa

“Devastating” wildfires ripped across the wealthier parts of the world in 2025, a study has found, even as globally, the area ravaged by flames fell.

The Guardian view on the Aberdeen South byelection: the politics of energy take centre stage | Editorial

admin — Sun, 31 May 2026 16:30:52 +0000

While Westminster’s attention is focused on Andy Burnham and Makerfield, another pivotal byelection is taking place in Scotland’s north-east