Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves/www.nationaltrust.org.uk/www.oserianwildlife.com en Stores are selling Halloween stuff in August. Time has lost all meaning | Dave Schilling https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/stores-are-selling-halloween-stuff-august-time-has-lost-all-meaning-dave-schilling <p>Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I’ll take solace in my pumpkin spice</p> <p>Happy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o’-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner!</p> <p>Just kidding, no, it’s not.</p> <p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/23/halloween-capitalism-climate-change">Continue reading...</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:00:33 +0000 admin 104329 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Pine-cone grenades and planet-baking carbon: the French fires 170 years in the making – a visual guide https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/pine-cone-grenades-and-planet-baking-carbon-french-fires-170-years-making-visual-guide <p>An 1857 decree to drain swamps and plant a monoculture, detritus from the trees and global heating combined to produce the conditions for the Gironde inferno</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/pine-cone-grenades-and-planet-baking-carbon-french-fires-170-years-making-visual-guide" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:00:32 +0000 admin 104330 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Against the wind: despite Trump’s attacks, unions are fighting for good US clean energy jobs https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/against-wind-despite-trump-s-attacks-unions-are-fighting-good-us-clean-energy-jobs <p>Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, a growing labor movement has addressed the climate crisis and economic inequality</p> <p>Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean.</p> <p>“I had no views other than the darkness at work,” he said. “Then I went polar opposite.”</p> <p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/23/wind-energy-unions-trump">Continue reading...</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 10:00:30 +0000 admin 104328 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air? https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/london-s-low-emission-zone-working-so-why-are-cities-around-world-so-cautious-about-cl <p>Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against them</p> <p>Ten years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people’s health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. “My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/london-s-low-emission-zone-working-so-why-are-cities-around-world-so-cautious-about-cl" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 07:00:26 +0000 admin 104327 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Onshore windfarm applications hit 10-year high in England https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/onshore-windfarm-applications-hit-10-year-high-england <p>Surge in proposals follows Labour’s lifting of de facto ban, with about 45 plans submitted in the year to March</p> <p>Plans for new onshore windfarms in England have reached their highest annual level in a decade, after the government overturned the Conservatives’ de facto ban in 2015.</p> <p>About 45 applications for new onshore windfarms were submitted in the year to March,according to a Guardian analysis of government data.</p> <p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/23/onshore-windfarm-applications-10-year-high-england">Continue reading...</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 06:00:24 +0000 admin 104326 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Fur seal’s death marks first Australian mainland mammal fatality from spreading H5 bird flu strain https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/fur-seal-s-death-marks-first-australian-mainland-mammal-fatality-spreading-h5-bird-flu <p>Seal found dead at Beachport in South Australia presages ‘significant losses’, minister warns</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/aug/23/australia-news-live-anthony-albanese-sydney-swans-police-investigation-alan-jones-antisemitism-inquiry-icac-nsw-liberals-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</a></p> </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/fur-seal-s-death-marks-first-australian-mainland-mammal-fatality-spreading-h5-bird-flu" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:42:49 +0000 admin 104324 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Heathrow expansion ‘is threat to England’s largest surviving medieval barn’ https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/heathrow-expansion-threat-england-s-largest-surviving-medieval-barn <p>Exclusive: campaigners warn 600-year-old New Barn at Harmondsworth could be ‘shaken to pieces’ by vibrations</p> <p>Six hundred years after it was built, England’s largest surviving medieval timber-framed barn could now be “shaken to pieces” by aircraft vibrations, campaigners warn.</p> <p>The public has until 1 September to submit objections to the Heathrow airport expansion, which could threaten the survival of the New Barn at Harmondsworth, considered a remarkable example of medieval architecture.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/heathrow-expansion-threat-england-s-largest-surviving-medieval-barn" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:17 +0000 admin 104325 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘It’s pretty much a guarantee you’ll get stung’: jellyfish keep swimmers off Delaware beaches https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/it-s-pretty-much-guarantee-you-ll-get-stung-jellyfish-keep-swimmers-delaware-beaches <p>Beach patrols report hundreds of stings a day as warmer waters and drought create favorable conditions for jellyfish</p> <p>An unusually high number of jellyfish are crowding Delaware’s beaches this summer amid climate change and other environmental factors – keeping some beachgoers out of the ocean and stinging lifeguards as well as bathers.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/it-s-pretty-much-guarantee-you-ll-get-stung-jellyfish-keep-swimmers-delaware-beaches" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sat, 22 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000 admin 104322 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Why am I called The Black Farmer? Because there are so few of us in Britain. I’d like that to change | Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/why-am-i-called-black-farmer-because-there-are-so-few-us-britain-i-d-change-wilfred-em <p>Running a farm is tough – TV’s Clarkson’s Farm shows that – but I know many minorities would love the chance. And we would all benefit </p> <p>Who’d be a farmer? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jun/03/clarksons-farm-review-amazon-prime-video">Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon</a> is great entertainment but it also gives some indication of the stresses and challenges behind the farm gate. Would anyone who lacked the significant alternative income that Clarkson is lucky to have want that? Well, actually, yes.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/why-am-i-called-black-farmer-because-there-are-so-few-us-britain-i-d-change-wilfred-em" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:00:57 +0000 admin 104321 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Battery fires at recycling centres are costing UK £1bn a year, figures show https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/battery-fires-recycling-centres-are-costing-uk-1bn-year-figures-show <p>Experts say fires caused by wrongly discarded lithium batteries, such as those in vapes, are putting lives at risk</p> <p>Fires at recycling centres caused by wrongly discarded lithium batteries such as those found in vapes are occurring at the rate of more than 10 a week, according to new figures.</p> <p>Experts say the sheer volume of battery fires now occurring at waste facilities has reached a crisis that is putting lives at risk, costing £1bn a year and frustrating fire chiefs.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/battery-fires-recycling-centres-are-costing-uk-1bn-year-figures-show" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sat, 22 Aug 2026 06:00:57 +0000 admin 104320 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org