Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Forest Service chief faces scrutiny over logging ties as Trump plans to scrap protections

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:00:03 +0000

Rollback of ‘roadless rule’ expected to benefit companies US Forest Service chief, Tom Schultz, previously lobbied for

Donald Trump this month announced plans to rescind a landmark rule that has protected old-growth forests in the US for 25 years. If finalized, the rollback is expected to benefit the companies that Tom Schultz, chief of the US Forest Service, represented in his previous roles as a timber industry lobbyist and executive, according to research by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen.

Nepal’s glacial collapse foreshadowed a future of climate disaster | Michael Mann

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:00:05 +0000

The deluge capped a summer of extreme climate events, from deadly heatwaves to wildfires. We must take action now

For millennia, the high peaks of the Himalayas were held together by an invisible, frozen cement – permafrost and glacial ice that bound ancient rock into seemingly unshakable fortresses. But as the planet continues to warm, this alpine glue is liquefying.

Could this humble sea sponge clean up the world’s ports?

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:00:48 +0000

The chicken liver sponge has sailed through a test of its ability to filter pollutants in a harbour in Spain’s Costa Brava

In the polluted waters of Marina Palamós on Spain’s Costa Brava, Manuel Maldonado, a sponge biologist, noticed something unusual last month: red starfish had started settling in the area.

‘The mountains are changing’: What the floods tell us about the future of India’s Himalayas

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:30:46 +0000

As families await news of missing loved ones, the disaster is a stark reminder of how the climate crisis is creating a fast-growing threat. Plus, the town considered India’s ‘Jurassic Park’

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Cities sweltering and the smell of the middle ages: has the climate crisis killed Instagram’s Euro summer? | Brigid Delaney

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:03:17 +0000

Who dreams of having a Euro summer now when staying in an ancient, uncooled building in the Old Town is like trying to sleep in a wood-fired pizza oven?

This week the Euro summer comes to an end – and so does a certain type of posting on Instagram.

Dry weather sewage discharges soar as water companies face scrutiny

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:45 +0000

Exclusive: 7,280 suspected illegal spills in rivers and sea recorded in first five months of 2026

The number of suspected illegal discharges of raw sewage into rivers and seas by water companies during dry weather increased significantly during the first five months of 2026.

The Nepal and Tibet flood is a warning: melting snow and ice will bring more disasters around the world | Bill McGuire

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:45 +0000

In Alaska, the Himalayas, the Andes, Greenland, and perhaps also the Alps, deadly chain reactions are just waiting to be triggered

Clicks, grunts and squeals: the wonders of whale communication – podcast

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 04:00:43 +0000

Ever since the earliest known recording of whale song was made in 1949, researchers have been captivated by the wails, rumbles, clicks, grunts and squeals of their communication. As technology improves, scientists are decoding the intricate patterns that make different species’ vocalisations distinctive. Madeleine Finlay hears from Emma Bryce, a journalist who has spent months investigating human efforts to understand whale song.

Kākāpō rising: 90 chicks swell population of the world’s heaviest parrot

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 02:57:21 +0000

Critically endangered New Zealand bird enjoys record breeding season triggered by mass fruiting of native tree, pushing its numbers to 325

The population of the world’s heaviest parrot, the kākāpō, has surpassed 300 birds for the first time in 75 years, after a record breeding season triggered by the mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree.

Rising microplastics in soil a threat to UK food security, MPs and campaigners say

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 23:01:38 +0000

Report calls for legally binding targets to cut microplastic pollution as soil ‘is a complex living ecosystem’

The accumulation of microplastics in soil presents an emerging threat to the UK’s food security, according to scientists, MPs and campaigners who have called for legally binding targets to cut microplastic pollution.