Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Fixing Australia’s broken environment laws hold key to productivity, ex-treasury head says

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

Rewrite of environmental protection act could help meet climate and housing targets, Ken Henry to tell 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%.

Torres Strait community leaders in ‘deepest pain imaginable’ as federal court dismisses landmark climate case

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 05:02:49 +0000

Class action led by two community leaders argued government had legal duty of care to prevent or deal with damage linked to global heating

Reform-run councils once known for green policies expected to scrap climate pledges

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 05:00:48 +0000

Former Durham county council climate lead calls motion to rescind climate emergency declaration ‘reprehensible’

Two councils that have been recognised for their work to cut emissions but are now under the control of Reform UK are expected to scrap climate pledges this week.

Durham county council’s deputy leader, the former GB News presenter Darren Grimes, has proposed a motion to rescind a 2019 declaration of a climate emergency, in what it is believed would be a UK first.

Could giving this pod of dolphins the same legal rights as humans help keep them safe?

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 02:00:44 +0000

With a bottlenose population threatened by fishing gear, boats and pollution, campaigners on South Korea’s Jeju island are lobbying to extend legal status to the vulnerable cetaceans

It is a beautiful sunny day on the island of Jeju in South Korea and as the boat cuts through the water all seems calm and clear. Then they start to appear – one telltale fin and then another. Soon, a pod of eight or nine dolphins can be seen moving through the sea, seemingly following the path of the boat.