Breaking Waves: Ocean News

US is ‘using Mexico as a garbage sink’ leading to ‘toxic crisis’, UN expert says

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:00:45 +0000

Marcos Orellana, a special rapporteur, found lax environmental standards and lack of oversight allowed pollution to accumulate

Mexico is facing a “toxic crisis” and has become a “garbage sink” for the US, exposing Mexican communities to dangerous pollution, a UN expert has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab, an investigative outlet, Marcos Orellana, an environmental specialist, said pollutants ranging from imported waste to dangerous pesticides are affecting people’s right to live healthy lives.

A new economic superpower could spark a global retreat from fossil fuels | Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:00:44 +0000

Eighty-five countries have sought a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels. A conference this month offers hope they could unite

This article is published as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now

California county records sixth person bitten by rattlesnake in under a month

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 21:24:02 +0000

Two fatalities reported in southern California so far, with warmer spring bringing reptiles out on trails earlier

A sixth person has been bitten by a rattlesnake in southern California’s Ventura county in just under a month, two-thirds of the number of people bitten in all of 2025.

Andrew Dowd, a Ventura county fire department spokesperson, said paramedics responded to a call on Sunday for a man who had been bitten by a rattlesnake. The victim said he had been bitten near California State University Channel Islands.

Hatchings of two California bald eagle chicks delight vast livestream audience

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:53:00 +0000

Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets emerged from eggs on Easter weekend in Big Bear Valley as watched by thousands online

Over Easter weekend, thousands of people tuned in to celebrate something spectacular unfolding 145 feet up a pine tree in southern California’s San Bernardino national forest – the hatchings of two bald eagle chicks.

Arizona hiker stung more than 100 times by bees left in critical condition

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:29:05 +0000

Man had to be airlifted out of mountain in north Phoenix by rescue teams and was transported to hospital

Using AI to speed up Australia’s environmental approvals risks ‘robodebt-style’ failures, scientists say

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:00:23 +0000

Conservationists say move could push species closer to extinction and clearer environmental rules are needed instead

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German mayors call for night-time ban on robot lawnmowers to protect hedgehogs

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:20:37 +0000

Leaders say automated mowers’ blades threaten nocturnal animals as studies highlight risks to wildlife

German mayors have called for a nationwide ban on night-time use of robot lawnmowers to protect hedgehogs and other small nocturnal animals from being killed or maimed in the dark.

Recent studies have highlighted the threat lawnmower blades pose to wildlife active between dusk and dawn, prompting growing calls for regulation. Hedgehogs also tend to curl into a ball when threatened rather than running away, making them harder for a robot mower’s sensors to detect.

‘A surrender to special interests’: alarm as Utah shields fossil-fuel companies

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:00:18 +0000

New legislation comes amid push from big oil, as critics warn polluters’ profits prioritized over Americans’ health

Utah has made it nearly impossible for residents to hold fossil fuel companies legally accountable for climate damages in a move one advocacy group described as putting “profits for the biggest polluters over communities”, with other states expected to follow suit.

‘I just legged it’: teenage shark bite victim recalls lucky escape while surfing in South Australia

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:22:15 +0000

Oliver Tokic-Bensley, 16, says he had been in the water mere minutes when a shark bit his foot

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A teenage surfer bitten by a shark at a South Australian beach has described how he “flicked it off” and “legged it back to shore”.

‘I escaped death a lot of times’: one man’s lifelong work protecting gorillas and communities in Congo

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:00:16 +0000

As a child, Dominique Bikaba, was displaced by a new national park in the DRC. Now he is helping to secure land for wildlife and Indigenous groups against the backdrop of ongoing fighting

Mist hangs low over the forested slopes of Kahuzi-Biega national park, where the canopy still shelters one of the last strongholds of the eastern lowland, or Grauer’s, gorilla. It is a landscape of immense biological wealth and equally immense political fragility. For 54-year-old Dominique Bikaba, it was once home.