Breaking Waves: Ocean News

10/24/2026 - 06:24
Second named storm will hit northern parts of UK as thousands remain without power after Friday’s Storm Austen The UK is bracing for a second storm this weekend, as strong winds and heavy rain are expected to disrupt travel and cause further power cuts in the north. Storm Boelo, the second named storm of the season, is expected to bring heavy, frequent showers and winds potentially exceeding 80mph to northern parts of the UK. Continue reading...
10/24/2026 - 06:00
Critics decry Trump administration rule that lets hunters lure bears with human foods on federal lands in Alaska A new Trump administration rule allows hunters to bait bears on federal lands in Alaska with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods typically used to help kill the trophy animals at close range. Opponents say the practice will cause bears to be more aggressive around humans, and allege that the rule change is a political gift to largely rightwing trophy hunters. The rule replaces a 2024 Biden administration rule that banned the practice, and environmental groups criticized the move as “indefensible and inexcusable”. Continue reading...
10/24/2026 - 02:00
Tim and Geli Harris have spent more than a decade fighting to protect Catfield Fen, a rare wetland in the Norfolk Broads Polluters and regulators who fail to stop pollution must quake in their boots when they receive a letter from the lawyers for Tim and Geli Harris. The couple, who farm 460 acres in the Norfolk Broads, have now scored a hat-trick of landmark legal victories to save an internationally important wetland after they won again in the high court this month. Lady Justice Lieven found that Natural England failed in its statutory duty to protect Catfield Fen from pollution after nitrates and phosphates washed from arable fields into one of the finest examples of calcareous fen in western Europe, home to 2,500 species including rarities such as the fen orchid, crested buckler fern, breeding bittern and swallowtail butterflies. Continue reading...
10/23/2026 - 18:01
BBC series deliberately uses ‘more organic’ shots to assure viewers animals are not AI-generated, producers say The David Attenborough-narrated series Blue Planet III deliberately includes cloudier, less polished footage to counter AI fakery and assure viewers it is “authentic”, its producers have said. Nearly a decade after Blue Planet II shone a light on plastic pollution, and 25 years since the first Blue Planet aired, the hit BBC series is returning with more animal behaviour and cutting-edge technology, including the world’s first underwater CCTV camera – dubbed “stonefish” cam. Continue reading...
10/23/2026 - 08:51
Exclusive: Angela Eagle tells utility bosses next price review ‘must focus on value for money for customers’ Ministers will make an unprecedented intervention in water bills and how companies prioritise investment, directing bosses to bring down costs and stop leaks and sewage overflows. Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has told suppliers in England and Wales she plans to intervene in the next price review – conducted by the water regulator, Ofwat. Continue reading...
10/23/2026 - 07:00
Suit alleges EPA has for decades failed under the Clean Water Act to address surface-water atrazine pollution A new lawsuit asks a federal judge to order the Trump administration to address widespread pollution from the hormone-disrupting pesticide atrazine – which has regularly been found at levels that threaten wildlife and human health. The cancer-linked chemical is now contaminating nearly 25%, or about 860,000 miles, of all continental US rivers, according to a recent review of federal records. The waterways cover more than 20% of surface drinking water intakes across the country, and more than 675,000 private and commercial wells. Continue reading...
10/23/2026 - 07:00
At the midpoint of the last century the region had 1,450 glaciers and a new study reveals the extent of losses Continue reading...
10/23/2026 - 02:00
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
10/22/2026 - 23:01
People succumbed to heat at highest rates in Malta, Italy and Hungary, with health issues, loneliness and poverty exacerbating toll Heat killed a record 50,000 people in European cities this summer, new research suggests, with scientists blaming climate breakdown for two in every three of the deaths. Morgues and funeral homes filled with bodies from June to August as the heat added by planet-baking pollution cut short an extra 32,000 lives in urban areas, the researchers found. Hot days pushed vulnerable bodies into overdrive and warm nights prevented them from recovering. Continue reading...
10/22/2026 - 20:08
The high court found NSW is responsible for emissions from burning exported coal. What message does it send when the government can step in and bypass the law? Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here As someone who lost their home in the black summer bushfires, I was buoyed by the high court finding in favour of a small community group in the Hunter Valley earlier this month. Led by two retired science teachers, Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan, the Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group took on a massive coal corporation and won. As a fellow schoolteacher, I felt a particular sense of pride seeing these ordinary Australians act on their care for their community and future generations. Continue reading...