Breaking Waves: Ocean News

UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 07:00:08 +0000

Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zero

One vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower.

The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers.

Scientists believe birds’ skulls hold clues to inner lives of long-extinct dinosaurs

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 06:00:06 +0000

Early birds were like ‘T rex reincarnated’, says scientist who believes avian skulls offer insight into dinosaurs’ behaviour

T rex is often depicted as more brawn than brains, but now scientists are hoping to probe just what was going on inside its head, drawing on findings from another kind of dinosaur: birds.

Scientists have previously found some species of bird not only make and use tools, but are able to plan ahead and show basic forms of empathy – with laboratory tests suggesting emus can recognise other birds might have different experiences to themselves.

What counts as the woods? Judge axes Nova Scotia’s ban that defied ‘commonsense definitions’

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:00:47 +0000

The court sided with a Canadian hiker who deliberately challenged the order imposed to curb spread of wildfires

As wildfires raged across Nova Scotia last summer, the Canadian province made a simple plea to residents: stay away from the woods.

ICE planning facility for children and families on Pfas-contaminated site

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:00:45 +0000

High concentration of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in groundwater at former military facility in Louisiana

Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning a detention facility for children and their families on one the nation’s most Pfas-contaminated sites, which also serves as a hub for the president’s deportation program.

California’s wildlife bridge became a target for the right. Now it’s eyeing the finish line

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:00:44 +0000

Unhindered by critics who called the $114m project ‘a bridge to nowhere’, a gigantic throughway allowing animals to cross a busy freeway is close to completion

Atop a gigantic wildlife bridge in California this week, butterflies filled the air. A red-tailed hawk sailed above as a slight breeze ruffled the 6,000 native plants, including poppies and purple sage. You’d never guess that below the quiet expanse of rocks and plants, a 10-lane freeway ferries 400,000 cars each day.

Criminalisation of climate protesters in UK is counterproductive, research finds

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 09:00:41 +0000

Study of 1,300 campaigners finds arrests, fines and jail terms increase determination of activists to take direct action

The criminalisation of direct action climate protests in the UK is counterproductive and increases the determination of activists to undertake disruptive demonstrations, according to a study of 1,300 campaigners.

‘Cries of delight’ as Sumatran orangutan filmed using canopy bridge to cross road for first time

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 05:00:40 +0000

After a two-year wait, video of a young male crossing above a road gives hope that critically endangered species can survive habitat fragmentation

The critically endangered Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a canopy bridge to cross a road.

In 2024, conservationists in the Pakpak Bharat district of North Sumatra in Indonesia built the bridge high over the Lagan-Pagindar road, which provides an essential route for local people but which became a barrier for animals.

Officials hugely underestimated impact of AI datacentres on UK carbon emissions

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:57:17 +0000

Revised figures increase fears about energy-intensive datacentres worsening climate emergency

The UK government vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from AI by a factor of more than 100.

According to new data quietly published this week, energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) – about as much as generated by 2.7 million people – over the next 10 years.

‘The damage is done’: global oil crisis has changed fossil fuel industry for ever, IEA chief says

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:00:20 +0000

Exclusive: International Energy Agency’s Fatih Birol, the world’s leading energy economist, also says UK should largely forgo North Sea expansion

The oil crisis triggered by the Iran war has changed the fossil fuel industry for ever, turning countries away from fossil fuels to secure energy supplies, the world’s leading energy economist said.

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), also said that, despite pressure, the UK should forgo much of its potential North Sea expansion.

Scientists warn about golden oyster mushrooms sold in Florida markets

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:41:23 +0000

The golden oyster mushroom may be a culinary hit, but it’s becoming an ecological problem. Scientists warn it’s spreading quickly through U.S. forests, where it outcompetes native fungi and reduces biodiversity. In just a decade, it has appeared in more than 25 states, largely due to human cultivation and transport. Its silent expansion is now raising concerns about long-term impacts on forest ecosystems.