Breaking Waves: Ocean News

‘Parkinson’s Valley’: the herbicide haunting a New York farm town

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:00:19 +0000

Paraquat is banned in over 70 countries. Some farmers and their families in Hebron believe the pesticide is causing Parkinson’s disease and are demanding that New York ban it

Gordon Chaplin gingerly stepped out of the car at the top of the steep hill behind his farmhouse, sporting a bandage on his hand from a fall the day before. He gripped his cane as he shuffled through the knee-high grass. He stopped every few feet to catch his breath, leaning on his caregiver for support.

Italy to place all 27 of its major cities on highest heat alert

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:01:02 +0000

Move comes as fourth heatwave of summer intensifies, edging temperatures in some areas close to 40C

Italy is to place all of its 27 major cities, from Trieste in the north to Palermo in the south, under the highest heat alert as the fourth heatwave to hit the country this summer intensifies.

A red alert means there is a higher chance of an emergency owing to the health risk posed by prolonged extreme temperatures to the entire population.

Peruvian cardinal hails $150m lead poisoning settlement for 1,300 people as a ‘historic milestone’

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 10:40:03 +0000

Cardinal Pedro Barreto received death threats and harassment during his almost 20-year campaign against a US mining company’s operations in the Andes

A Peruvian cardinal who received a barrage of death threats when he challenged the firm behind a toxic smelter has called a $150m (£111m) out-of-court settlement to more than 1,000 people who were allegedly poisoned by the plant as children “a historic milestone”.

‘What they’re doing qualifies as torture’: new details of ICE force-feeding revealed

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 10:00:17 +0000

Exclusive: cases of Afghan man, Ukrainian man and Saudi woman show repeated nasogastric tube insertions and lack of legal representation

One hunger striker in an immigration detention center was force-fed for almost six months.

One detained immigrant with mental health problems was about to be force-fed, until his attorney intervened and stopped the process.

Butterflies around the world are changing habitats – and experts say it’s ‘signalling a warning’

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:05:58 +0000

New research shows early-warning species is on the move, expanding or contracting geographic range and changing altitude

Butterflies, often considered a “sentinel of change”, are on the move across every continent they inhabit, shifting to survive as global heating reshapes their environment.

About one in 10 species have already expanded or contracted their geographic range, or shifted in altitude, according to a global study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Chris Bowen vows to override Queensland and NT to force renewables-powered AI datacentres

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:09:25 +0000

Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislation

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The ‘Cockroach Lord’ who names new species after Tolkien and Pokémon characters

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:00:14 +0000

Cristian Lucañas has discovered multiple species of cockroach in the Philippines, and believes there’s far more to the much-maligned insect than meets the eye

When Cristian Lucañas tells people about his job, their response is normally a mix of shock and confusion. “The majority would actually be questioning why,” says Lucañas, 32, who is the only entomologist specialising in cockroaches in the Philippines, where he is known as the “Cockroach Lord”.

El Niño could push 50m people into acute hunger before end of next year

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:00:13 +0000

UN forecasters warn of worsening conditions in 45 countries currently experiencing severe food insecurity

About 50 million people are likely to be pushed into acute hunger before the end of next year by the rapidly developing El Niño weather system, according to forecasting.

Reader Q&A: Our natural history writer Patrick Barkham is answering your questions on invertebrates – live

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 05:00:10 +0000

This week, we launched our third annual vote to honour nature’s unsung heroes. The Guardian’s natural history writer – and woodlouse fanboy – Patrick Barkham is now answering your questions

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Murderous heat, an endangered food supply, decimated landscapes: embrace the Mediterranean life | George Monbiot

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 05:00:10 +0000

As climate disaster stares us in the face, the radical right says ‘Embrace the Mediterranean life’. Embrace death, more like it

Can’t you leftists understand? Mass death is good for you. Reject the woke love of life! Welcome civilisational collapse! Watch it all burn, then dance in the ashes! This, roughly speaking, is how the dismissal of climate action is now being justified: the argument has shifted from science denial to outright nihilism.