Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Dismay after Southampton airport gets permission to cut down cemetery trees

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 09:35:17 +0000

Campaigners attack council for backing plan to fell trees in burial site near runway to allow for increase in passengers

A Labour-led city council has been criticised for backing an airport’s scheme to cut down “majestic” trees in a historic, wildlife-rich cemetery close to a runway.

Environmental campaigners, people whose loved ones were laid to rest in the cemetery and opposition politicians have expressed dismay that the trees in South Stoneham Cemetery in Southampton are to be lost.

Kew Gardens’ tropical Palm House to shut for five years for net zero makeover

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:27:42 +0000

Huge glasshouse, home to world’s oldest potted plant, to get £50m refit as part of emissions-cutting drive at gardens

It has been the tropical jewel in one of the UK’s most famous gardens for more than 175 years, and now the Palm House in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is to get a green makeover.

The attraction, which houses Kew’s tropical rainforest, will close for five years to allow engineers and botanists to transform it into the first net zero glasshouse in the world.

Southern Water issues hosepipe ban for 1m people in Hampshire and Isle of Wight

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:58:13 +0000

Announcement takes number of people hit by restrictions across England to about 8.5 million

Southern Water has become the fourth English utility to issue a hosepipe ban, taking the number of people hit by such restrictions to about 8.5 million.

The latest ban, which comes into force for about 1 million residents across large swathes of Hampshire and all of the Isle of Wight from 9am on Monday, comes after Yorkshire, Thames and South East Water announced similar measures.

‘Inquisitive, relaxed’ humpback whale swimming in Sydney Harbour delays ferries and boats

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 05:31:57 +0000

Whale is having a ‘full harbour experience’, says an expert aboard a maritime boat shadowing the supersized mammal

Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

Hunter missing in Japan as spate of bear attacks triggers emergency to be declared in northern town

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 05:26:07 +0000

Search for missing man comes after series of attacks across Japan this month in which at least two people have died

Authorities in Japan are searching for a hunter who went missing on a mountain in Hokkaido near where a brown bear was recently spotted, amid a spate of deadly attacks by the animals that has triggered the declaration of a bear emergency in one town.

Death threats and falsehoods among online abuse reported by land and climate defenders

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 04:00:37 +0000

Survey across six continents uncovers accounts of abuse causing defenders to fear for their safety

Death threats, doxing and cyber-attacks are just some of the online threats recounted by land and climate defenders in a new report, amid concerns that harassment is having a chilling effect on environmental activism.

‘The place is bleached, a dead zone’: how the UK’s most beloved landscapes became biodiversity deserts

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 04:00:37 +0000

National parks, famous for their rich natural heritage, should be at the heart of efforts to protect habitats and wildlife. Instead, experts say they are declining – fast

Photographs by Abbie Trayler-Smith

‘Why the hell did we ever drop it?’: Labor should push for new carbon tax, ex-Treasury head says

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 15:00:22 +0000

Australia has no hope of curbing emissions without ‘world’s best carbon policy’, Ken Henry tells National Press Club

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Climate groups call for UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 14:00:21 +0000

Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’

What is a wealth tax and would it work in the UK?

A growing number of climate groups are campaigning for the introduction of a wealth tax to ensure the transition to a sustainable economy is not done “on the backs of the poor”.

Four areas of England now in drought as heat threatens wildlife and crops

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:34:29 +0000

Ministers call for hosepipe bans as East and West Midlands enter drought, joining Yorkshire and north-west

Four areas of England are now in drought as the East and West Midlands have joined Yorkshire and the north-west.

Continuing hot and dry weather was a hazard to crop production and wildlife, ministers said, as they urged water companies to put hosepipe bans in place to conserve water as levels deplete.