Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Discounts confirmed near more than 40 locations across Great Britain amid biggest upgrade to electricity grid since 1960s Households living near new power pylons will have £250 a year taken off their energy bills as the UK government prepares to push ahead with more than 40 grid upgrade projects across the country. The government has promised hundreds of thousands of homes living within 500 metres of new grid infrastructure a saving of up to £2,500 on their energy bills over 10 years in return for “hosting vital infrastructure” which will help the UK transition away from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

The response to this summer’s record heat and drought should be led by ministers – not left to the emergency services The wildfire that began on protected heathland in the New Forest in Hampshire on Sunday was reported to be under control on Tuesday. But with temperatures forecast to reach 36C or higher in parts of England on Thursday, the risk of further outbreaks remains high. Firefighters responded to 185 wildfires in the first 10 days of August. In coastal Suffolk, conservationists and locals are counting the cost of the blaze that devastated Dunwich Heath. Its vegetation and rare bird populations are expected to take decades to recover. Although the immediate cause of many wildfires is litter, the risks are elevated by heat and drought, and repeated warnings from climate scientists do not necessarily lessen the shock and distress caused. As people and governments across Europe assess this summer’s damage, experts including the UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, hope that the fires will focus minds on the urgent necessity of cutting emissions – as well as investing in emergency planning. Europe is currently heating up faster than any other continent, due in part to proximity to the melting Arctic. Continue reading...

Key tourist route closed and residents rallying round as battle against wildfire expected to go on for several days The battle to contain a large wildfire spreading across the New Forest will go on for several days, experts have said, as wind changes and a desiccated landscape fuel the flames. Smoke billowed above the deserted A31 road, the main tourist route into the New Forest national park where tens of thousands of families are on holiday, late on Tuesday while a helicopter flew above the blaze. Firefighters at the scene said they were trying to contain several hotspots across the more than 100 hectares (247 acres) of dried heathland as winds swirled over the area. Continue reading...

Reporters Jillian Ambrose and Damian Carrington discussed their story on oil firms’ profits amid the war in Iran and the climate crisis and answered your related questions PCMcGarry asks: Given the facts that we live on a collection of islands and that tides are predictable, what serious efforts have been made to harness sea power and with what success? Damian: The UK is actually home to the world’s most powerful tidal stream turbine, operated by Orbital Marine Power, off Orkney and, the company says now moving into commercial deployment. But the device produces 2MW of power, the same as a small wind turbine. So there is a huge scale up needed to make a difference, and putting electric equipment in moving salty water is tough. There are big tidal plants in France, South Korea and China, but a large tidal lagoon project for Swansea a decade ago was cancelled by ministers in 2018 who said it was too expensive compared with alternatives such as offshore wind farms and nuclear power. The climate crisis is causing winter rainfall in the UK to increase, as the Met Office states: “The winter half-year (October to March) for the most recent decade, 2016–2025, has been 3% wetter than 1991–2020, and 13% wetter than 1961–1990.” Continue reading...