Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Calls for change to rules after stretch of Thames fails to gain bathing water status

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 08:00:13 +0000

Campaigners in Henley say insufficient number of bathers to qualify for status is result of poor water quality

Bathing water rules in England should be improved to help drive a clean-up of pollution at a spot on the River Thames in Henley, campaigners say.

In a letter to the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, businesses, river users, community groups and civic leaders said poor water quality had been damaging the town and had put public health at risk.

Channel Seven’s Spotlight digging for dirt on clean energy ignores fundamental facts and basic journalistic standards | Temperature Check

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 06:42:03 +0000

Program portrayed efforts to wean Australia off fossil fuels as morally bankrupt, trashing rainforests and enslaving Australia to China

Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:00:09 +0000

Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024

Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather.

At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-related impacts over the last two decades, researchers found.

Miliband’s ‘break the link’ plan is not a magic formula for lowering energy bills

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:45:45 +0000

The government’s plan to de-link gas and electricity prices will have a modest effect – more promising are plans on EVs and heat pumps

Why are UK electricity prices linked to gas – and what does it mean for bills?

Wildlife and humans thriving in Unesco-protected sites

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:00:48 +0000

While wildlife populations crash globally, research finds designated areas enable recovery of threatened species

Wildlife and humans are thriving within sites recognised by Unesco, research has found, allowing for the recovery of threatened species and habitats around the world.

While wildlife populations have crashed globally by nearly three-quarters since 1970, those within Unesco-protected areas have remained largely stable.

Sam Neill says New Zealand goldmine supporters have threatened him with violence

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:25:40 +0000

Actor, who has publicly objected to plans to fast-track project near his farm, says he has received personal abuse

The actor Sam Neill says he has received threats of violence from supporters of a controversial goldmine that could be opened several kilometres away from his farm in New Zealand’s Central Otago district, after he publicly objected to the government’s plans to fast-track the mine.

Experts call for restrictions on pet flea treatments that harm UK songbirds

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:00:20 +0000

Chemicals known to affect brains of common garden birds, and to kill unborn chicks, found in most feather samples

Conservationists have called for restrictions on pet flea treatments after research found songbird feathers widely contaminated with substances that can damage the birds’ brains and kill unborn chicks.

Almost every feather sample tested from five common species of UK garden birds contained either permethrin, imidacloprid or fipronil – all insecticides that are banned for agricultural use but still common in pet tick and flea treatments.

‘They come right past the house’: learning to live with rhinos as numbers soar in Nepal

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:00:19 +0000

The country is seeing an increase in human-wildlife conflict as the number of megafauna, including rhinos and tigers, grows. But there are efforts to tackle the problem around Chitwan national park through education and training

The tourists lining the steep embankment buzzed with excitement, phones out, snapping away in the twilight as a wild Indian rhinoceros grazed below the Nepali village of Sauraha. Climbing to the main street, the rhino ambled down the middle of the road.

Cattle breed whose ancestors lived with Celts added to priority at-risk list

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 06:00:18 +0000

UK’s Rare Breeds Survival Trust says calf numbers of white park cattle last year were less than two-thirds of 2022 level

An ancient breed of cattle whose ancestors are thought to have accompanied the Celts as they were pushed to Britain’s fringes by the Romans has been designated as urgently at risk by a UK conservation charity.

Publishing its 2026 watchlist on Tuesday, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust moved white park cattle to its “priority” category as new calf numbers sank last year to less than two-thirds of their 2022 level.

Labour’s great green energy plan could be a legacy as vital as the NHS | Polly Toynbee

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:00:16 +0000

Ed Miliband has a rare chance to do for the climate what Nye Bevan did for health: create something future generations will be proud of