Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Exclusive: Almost 300,000 hours of raw effluent poured into waterways, figures show, up from 196,000 in 2023 A record 50% more raw sewage was discharged into rivers in England by Thames Water last year compared with the previous 12 months, data seen by the Guardian reveals. Thames, the largest of the privatised water companies, which is teetering on the verge of collapse with debts of £19bn, was responsible for almost 300,000 hours of raw sewage pouring into waterways in 2024 from its ageing sewage works, according to the data. This compares with 196,414 hours of raw effluent dumped in 2023. The Amersham balancing tanks in Buckinghamshire, which are supposed to safely store excess sewage after heavy rain, discharged 4,842 hours of raw sewage in 2024. Amersham was the scene of the longest unbroken individual discharge, when the equivalent of 154 days of raw sewage spilled into the River Misbourne, a chalk stream, last year. Marlborough sewage treatment works dumped raw sewage for 2,786 hours. At the Chesham sewage treatment works there were 2,681 hours of sewage discharges. Continue reading...

Before billionaires dreamed of setting up communities on Mars, the ocean was seen as the next frontier in human habitation. Reviving this dream is Deep, a project backed by an anonymous millionaire to the tune of more than £100m that aims to establish a ‘permanent human presence’ under the sea from 2027. Guardian Seascape editor Lisa Bachelor visited the project just outside Chepstow on the Welsh border, and tells Madeleine Finlay what scientists hope to learn about the ocean by spending extended periods living underwater Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Liberals Against Nuclear say the policy would increase bureaucracy and impose ‘massive taxpayer-backed risk’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A group of Liberal supporters has launched an advertising campaign against the party’s plan to build taxpayer-funded nuclear power plants, arguing it “betrays Liberal values”, divides the party and “hands government back to Labor”. The new advocacy group Liberals Against Nuclear says it rejects the Coalition’s policy as it would require the government to borrow tens of billions of dollars, swell the bureaucracy and impose “massive taxpayer-backed risk”. Continue reading...

Break in cross-party consensus on issue to be announced on Tuesday Kemi Badenoch is dropping her party’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2050, as she launches the Conservatives’ widest policy review in a generation. The Tory leader will give a speech on Tuesday in which she will argue that hitting Britain’s legally binding climate target is “impossible”, abandoning one of the most significant policies enacted by her recent predecessor Theresa May. Continue reading...