Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘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.

‘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.

Sheep are destroying precious British habitats – and we taxpayers are footing the bill | Chris Packham

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:30:30 +0000

Large parts of Dartmoor have been denuded of wildlife, harmed by farming and a mess of government schemes that are costly in every way

Britain’s uplands are dying. What should be some of the very best places for nature are the absolute worst. Across vast tracts of some of our most beautiful landscapes, life is rapidly ebbing away. Where once there was purple heather, bilberry and buzzing insect life, there are now over-grazed, sheep-infested ecological disaster zones. For a nation of nature lovers, it’s a disgrace.

Trump administration dashes hopes of anti-pollution plan for JD Vance’s home town

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:00:31 +0000

The $1.6bn Biden-era plan for a gas-powered blast furnace at a steel mill in Middletown, Ohio, is indefinitely on hold

A Biden-era plan to implement a gas-powered blast furnace at a steel mill in Ohio, which would have eliminated tons of greenhouse gases from the local environment year over year and created more than a thousand jobs, has been put on hold indefinitely by the Trump administration.

Republicans complain to Canada over wildfire smoke despite supporting planet-heating bill

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:00:30 +0000

Lawmakers send letter railing against ‘suffocating’ smoke days after voting for Trump plan likely to boost pollution

A group of Republican lawmakers has complained that smoke from Canadian wildfires is ruining summer for Americans, just days after voting for a major bill that will cause more of the planet-heating pollution that is worsening wildfires.

UK air pollution falling but danger levels still breached too often, say scientists

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 09:00:53 +0000

NO2 and PM2.5 levels down significantly since 2015 but climate crisis may be driving rise in harmful surface ozone

The UK’s air pollution has dropped since 2015, scientists have found, but they have warned that dangerous levels are still reached too often.

Researchers found that nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is mainly produced by traffic, fell by 35% on average at monitoring sites. Fine particles called PM2.5, which are small enough to get deep into lungs and are caused by burning wood and driving cars with internal combustion engines, dropped by 30%.