Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves/karl.mathiesen.freelance%40guardian.co.uk%3Fpage%3D6 en Millions of dollars in funding but still no plan: can Quebec save its caribou from extinction? https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/millions-dollars-funding-still-no-plan-can-quebec-save-its-caribou-extinction <p>The Canadian government has committed C$25m to try to rescue the caribou in the province – but there is no agreement on how best to save the keystone species</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/millions-dollars-funding-still-no-plan-can-quebec-save-its-caribou-extinction" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 21 Sep 2026 11:00:23 +0000 admin 104618 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘Incredibly encouraging’: healing the scars of traditional anchors in Dorset’s seagrass meadows https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/incredibly-encouraging-healing-scars-traditional-anchors-dorset-s-seagrass-meadows <p>Eco-moorings help to restore seagrass in just five years, boosting sealife such as seahorses, eels and crabs</p> <p>One of the UK’s most precious underwater habitats – Dorset’s seagrass meadows – is recovering thanks to “eco moorings” designed to prevent the seabed being ripped up, a study has revealed.</p> <p>Scars caused by traditional anchors in some areas of seagrass in Studland Bay have almost entirely vanished, which is boosting the number of seahorses that thrive in the submerged meadows.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/incredibly-encouraging-healing-scars-traditional-anchors-dorset-s-seagrass-meadows" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 21 Sep 2026 11:00:23 +0000 admin 104617 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Tree vaccines and gene-edited butterflies among biotechnology projects funded by UK ‘invention agency’ https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/tree-vaccines-and-gene-edited-butterflies-among-biotechnology-projects-funded-uk-inven <p>Exclusive: The tax-funded brainchild of Dominic Cummings hopes to find ways to speed up wild species’ evolution</p> <p>Vaccines for ash trees, skin treatments for newts and gene-edited swallowtail butterflies are among 14 tax-funded projects from the UK’s “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/03/uk-invention-agency-aria-pledges-70-million-public-money-us-tech-venture-capital-dominic-cummings">invention agency</a>” aiming to accelerate nature’s ability to adapt to the climate crisis.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/tree-vaccines-and-gene-edited-butterflies-among-biotechnology-projects-funded-uk-inven" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 21 Sep 2026 10:00:21 +0000 admin 104616 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Babies ‘will face almost twice as much’ extreme fire weather in Europe than great-grandparents https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/babies-will-face-almost-twice-much-extreme-fire-weather-europe-great-grandparents <p>Children born after 2025 will experience three more years of brutally fire-conducive weather as global heating intensifies</p> <p>European babies will face almost twice as much extreme fire weather as their great-grandparents if climate action does not ramp up quickly, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae93de">study</a> has found.</p> <p>Global heating under current policies will expose a child born in Europe in 2025 to three more years of brutally fire-conducive weather over their lifetime than someone born in 1950, the researchers found.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/babies-will-face-almost-twice-much-extreme-fire-weather-europe-great-grandparents" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 21 Sep 2026 09:00:19 +0000 admin 104615 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org UK urged to strengthen financial muscle of national wealth fund to aid economy https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/uk-urged-strengthen-financial-muscle-national-wealth-fund-aid-economy <p>Unions, thinktanks and others say overhaul could provide investment Britain needs</p> <p>Unions, thinktanks, environmental groups and charities have come together to call on ministers to boost the financial firepower of the national wealth fund to empower it to invest more in Britain and rebalance the country’s economy.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/uk-urged-strengthen-financial-muscle-national-wealth-fund-aid-economy" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 21 Sep 2026 04:00:35 +0000 admin 104614 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org More than 800,000 bees stolen across far north Queensland in ‘sophisticated’ operation https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/more-800000-bees-stolen-across-far-north-queensland-sophisticated-operation <p>Apiarists will lose not just the insects but the value of pollination contracts, which can be worth thousands of dollars</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/sep/21/anthony-albanese-new-york-jim-chalmers-intergenerational-report-coalition-one-nation-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</a></p> </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/more-800000-bees-stolen-across-far-north-queensland-sophisticated-operation" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:29 +0000 admin 104613 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Bear-y good neighbors: humans and animals are learning to live together in an expanding LA https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bear-y-good-neighbors-humans-and-animals-are-learning-live-together-expanding-la <p>People are increasingly crossing paths with the wild animals as homes ring the outskirts of forests, sparking a new era of coexistence</p> <p>Every year, as summer draws to a close and fall begins, California’s bears get hungry.</p> <p>Black bears have long roamed the state, hunting for acorns, ants and pine nuts by the bucketload to pack on calories before hibernation. But increasingly, for every berry and root, there’s an even greater temptation: our trash and the detritus of human existence.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/bear-y-good-neighbors-humans-and-animals-are-learning-live-together-expanding-la" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 20 Sep 2026 14:00:17 +0000 admin 104612 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org US environment agency let Bayer pick regulations for destructive weedkiller, documents show https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/us-environment-agency-let-bayer-pick-regulations-destructive-weedkiller-documents-show <p>Environmental Protection Agency asked firm to choose rules it wanted for dicamba, then put the choices in a proposed federal rule</p> <p>The EPA allowed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/pesticides">pesticide</a> giant Bayer to <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/environmental_health/pdfs/EPA-5-12-25-presentation-to-Bayer-on-mitigation-options.pdf">pick</a> from a menu of regulation options for the controversial and destructive weedkiller dicamba, newly released internal agency documents show.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/us-environment-agency-let-bayer-pick-regulations-destructive-weedkiller-documents-show" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 20 Sep 2026 12:00:14 +0000 admin 104611 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘Do you have to be dead?’: US coalminers plead for benefits as black-lung disease cases surge https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/do-you-have-be-dead-us-coalminers-plead-benefits-black-lung-disease-cases-surge <p>Trump says he digs coal – but pneumoconiosis cases are at a 50-year high, and sick miners are mired in benefit delays</p> <p>For 38 years, Josh Armes worked as a coal miner in West Virginia and Virginia.</p> <p>After retirement, Armes, 74, of Grundy, Virginia, was diagnosed with black lung disease, <a href="https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/black-lung">medically known</a> as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), caused by breathing in coal dust over long periods, which irreversibly damages the lungs.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/do-you-have-be-dead-us-coalminers-plead-benefits-black-lung-disease-cases-surge" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 20 Sep 2026 11:00:16 +0000 admin 104609 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘It’s transformed the village’: the volunteers greening up Britain’s train stations https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/it-s-transformed-village-volunteers-greening-britain-s-train-stations <p>Exclusive: Five gardening teams shortlisted for Royal Horticultural Society’s new Railway Stations in Bloom award</p> <p>Every year since 1964, towns across the UK have bloomed with hanging baskets and brightly coloured flowerbeds planted by residents.</p> <p>They wield their trowels in aid of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom competition, a coveted accolade for the 1,600 communities that enter each year.</p> <p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/sep/20/transformed-volunteers-greening-up-britain-train-stations-rhs-bloom">Continue reading...</a></p> Sun, 20 Sep 2026 11:00:13 +0000 admin 104610 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org