Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Having a child makes you see cities differently. As Britain heats up, we need to look to countries where public spaces work for both children and adults There’s nothing like a boiling hot summer with an energetic small child to make you acutely aware of the need for outdoor space. We are lucky to have a garden, albeit an overgrown one that isn’t exactly child-friendly, so, like many parents, we mostly rely on public space in order for him to play and get the huge amount of exercise he needs. And, if you are able-bodied, there’s nothing like having a child to make you look at public spaces differently. Steps instead of ramps. A lack of benches on which to feed a baby, or give a toddler their snack. No shade. No access to toilets or changing tables. Nowhere to fill up a water bottle. No fences or gates dividing pedestrianised space from a busy road, or a deep body of water, or myriad other hazards. These are just some of the things that start to matter. Before your eyes, the urban environment becomes transformed and often inhospitable. Things such as locked playgrounds (I’m looking at you, Camden council – Falkland Place playground has been closed for literally months at this point) have the potential to ruin your morning. In a heatwave, broken splash pads and locked paddling pools (most recent personal disappointments include Brighton and Leamington Spa) feel like acts of particular cruelty. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist and author. Her Republic of Parenthood book will be published this summer Continue reading...

Increase influenced by datacentre growth, with estimated power required by 2026 equalling that of Japan’s Google’s carbon emissions have soared by 51% since 2019 as artificial intelligence hampers the tech company’s efforts to go green. While the corporation has invested in renewable energy and carbon removal technology, it has failed to curb its scope 3 emissions, which are those further down the supply chain, and are in large part influenced by a growth in datacentre capacity required to power artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

Risk analyst Tony Cox’s work has been backed by the chemical lobby, and some health experts are alarmed An industry-backed researcher who has forged a career sowing doubt about the dangers of pollutants is attempting to use artificial intelligence (AI) to amplify his perspective. Louis Anthony “Tony” Cox Jr, a Denver-based risk analyst and former Trump adviser who once reportedly claimed there is no proof that cleaning air saves lives, is developing an AI application to scan academic research for what he sees as the false conflation of correlation with causation. Continue reading...

Swimmable Cities summit in Rotterdam wants to change cleanliness of waterways and people’s relationship to them Swimming in urban waterways should be a right, activists have said, as an international alliance aims to persuade politicians to clean up rivers so they can be used safely by their citizens. At the world’s first Swimmable Cities summit in Rotterdam, more than 200 representatives from more than 20 countries gathered and plunged into the water. Continue reading...