Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Channel 4’s Dirty Business is a clarion call to nationalise the water industry

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 21:00:51 +0000

As the drama shows, private firms no longer able to pollute the coast of England of Wales just switched to rivers instead

There is a moment in Channel 4’s drama Dirty Business when Julie Maughan holds the body of her dead child and lets out an anguished cry. It is as brutal as it is compelling.

Sam Altman defends AI’s energy toll by saying it also takes a lot to ‘train a human’

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:38:32 +0000

OpenAI CEO also downplayed concerns about how much water datacenters require at AI summit in India

The OpenAI boss, Sam Altman, has tried to ease concerns about how much power is used by artificial intelligence models by comparing it to the amount of energy required by human development.

US supreme court takes up fossil fuel firms’ climate accountability case

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:04:25 +0000

Judgment in city of Boulder’s lawsuit against Suncor Energy USA and ExxonMobil could affect wave of climate litigation

The US supreme court has decided to hear arguments in a climate accountability lawsuit, marking the first time the high court has weighed in on such a case. The decision could potentially hinder the wave of climate litigation the US has seen in recent years.

“It’s not a good sign,” said Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Yorkshire Water fined over £700,000 for repeated sewage releases

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:03:08 +0000

Company admits three pollution events that killed fish and insects in Pools Brook country park near Chesterfield

A water company has been fined more than £700,000 for repeatedly releasing sewage into a stream.

Yorkshire Water was issued with the penalty after pleading guilty to three offences of sewage pollution in Pools Brook country park near Chesterfield.

‘Tinderbox’ UK may be one shock away from food riots, experts say

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:29:15 +0000

Weakened food security could tip into unrest after a cyber-attack, extreme weather or conflict, analysis finds

One shock could spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK, according to dozens of the country’s top food experts, because chronic issues have left the food system a “tinderbox”.

The group first identified a series of issues that are making access to food vulnerable in the UK, including the climate crisis, low incomes, poor farming policy and fragile just-in-time supply chains. These have left the UK dangerously exposed, the researchers said.

How an annual ‘wedding flight’ of 1,000 virgin queens is ensuring the revival of Europe’s dark bee

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 05:00:57 +0000

The Belgian ceremony attracts beekeepers from the Netherlands, France and Germany keen to boost dark bee numbers and stop the spread of the hybrid honeybee

Every summer, 1,000 virgin queens descend on the Belgian town of Chimay. During the “wedding flight”, a male attaches to the female. His endophallus (penis equivalent) is torn off and he falls to the ground and dies. Mission accomplished.

Trump approves federal emergency declaration for Potomac River sewage spill

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 17:51:58 +0000

Millions of gallons of raw sewage have been pouring into the water through a ruptured pipe since last month

Donald Trump approved a federal emergency declaration Saturday related to a sewer main break north of Washington DC that threatens to put a stink on the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations in the US capital this summer.

US farmers are rejecting multimillion-dollar datacenter bids for their land: ‘I’m not for sale’

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 14:00:09 +0000

Families are navigating the tough choice between unimaginable riches and the identity that comes with land

When two men knocked on Ida Huddleston’s door last May, they carried a contract worth more than $33m in exchange for the Kentucky farm that had fed her family for centuries.

According to Huddleston, the men’s client, an unnamed “Fortune 100 company”, sought her 650 acres (260 hectares) in Mason county for an unspecified industrial development. Finding out any more would require signing a non-disclosure agreement.

‘Reimagining matter’: Nobel laureate invents machine that harvests water from dry air

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 12:00:11 +0000

Omar Yaghi’s invention uses ambient thermal energy and can generate up to 1,000 litres of clean water every day

A Nobel laureate’s environmentally friendly invention that provides clean water if central supplies are knocked out by a hurricane or drought could be a life saver for vulnerable islands, its founder says.

The invention, by the chemist Prof Omar Yaghi, uses a type of science called reticular chemistry to create molecularly engineered materials, which can extract moisture from the air and harvest water even in arid and desert conditions.

Chelsea flower show seeks new charity sponsors after mystery donors end support

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 07:00:05 +0000

Exclusive: Project Giving Back, set up in 2022 to help charities exhibit show gardens, says this year will be its last

Chelsea flower show is looking for new charity sponsors after the mystery philanthropic couple who have spent more than £23m on show gardens end their support.

Project Giving Back was set up by two anonymous donors in 2022, and since then it has paid for 63 gardens at the most prestigious horticultural event in the world, held each summer at the Royal Hospital gardens in south-west London.