Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Thames Water data reveals raw sewage discharges in rivers rose 50% in 2024

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 06:00:02 +0000

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.

Once named world’s ugliest animal, blobfish wins New Zealand’s fish of the year

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 05:22:13 +0000

Made up of blobby tissue and living deep in the ocean, the distinctive species beat the longfin eel and pygmy pipehorse in the annual contest

It was once crowned the “world’s ugliest animal” and now the disgruntled-looking gelatinous blobfish has a new gong to its name: New Zealand’s fish of the year.

A mysterious millionaire and the quest to live under the sea – podcast

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 05:00:03 +0000

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

Chinese EV maker BYD says new fast-charging system could be as quick as filling up a tank

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 03:51:17 +0000

BYD reveals new platform with charging speeds of 1,000 kW, which would be twice as fast as Tesla’s superchargers

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD has unveiled a new charging system that it said could make it possible for EVs to charge as quickly as it takes to refill with petrol and announced for the first time that it would build a charging network across China.

Liberal supporters launch election ad campaign against Peter Dutton’s plan to build nuclear power plants

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:34:11 +0000

Liberals Against Nuclear say the policy would increase bureaucracy and impose ‘massive taxpayer-backed risk’

Mysterious sea foam on South Australian beaches reportedly leaves more than 100 surfers ill

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:15:21 +0000

Leafy seadragons, fish, and octopuses among creatures to have washed up dead on both Waitpinga beach and Parsons beach

Conservative party to ditch commitment to net zero in UK by 2050

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 22:30:50 +0000

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.

‘It’s a history lesson’: fossil fish up to 16m years old found perfectly preserved in central NSW

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 19:00:46 +0000

Fossils retain microscopic structural features including stomach contents and provide first detailed evidence in Australia for fish called Osmeriformes

Cop30 in talks to hire PR firm that worked for lobby seeking weaker Amazon protections

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:00:43 +0000

Revealed: Edelman worked for Brazilian trade group accused of pushing for environmental rollbacks in Amazon

Edelman, the world’s largest public relations agency, is in talks to work with the Cop30 team organising the UN climate summit in the Amazon later this year despite its prior connections to a major trade group accused of lobbying to roll back measures to protect the area from deforestation, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.

Storrington in West Sussex named UK’s first European stork village

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:19:13 +0000

Village joins continental network alongside nearby Knepp estate, as birds previously extinct in Britain flourish

The Saxons knew the West Sussex village of Storrington as Estorchestone, the “abode of the storks”.

But the graceful white birds disappeared from its skies more than 600 years ago, when they became extinct in Britain.