Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Wyoming tightens wastewater rules after Meta datacenter contractor flushed contaminated water

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:08:00 +0000

Meta said it was working with officials to be a ‘good neighbor’ and drinking water supplies were not affected

Officials in Wyoming said a contractor for Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company, Meta, flushed bacteria-contaminated water into public sewers during construction of a controversial new AI datacenter.

Unions in Europe press for new worker protections to counter heat stress

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:52 +0000

Climate crisis prompts calls for workplace temperature limits and rights to heat breaks and adjusted working hours

As Europe’s sweltering summer continues, trades unions are mounting a push for new laws to counter deadly heat stress that is linked to an estimated 230 workplace deaths a year.

Severn Trent spared Ofwat fine after ‘serious’ waterwaste and sewage failures

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:44:08 +0000

Regulator found ‘unacceptable’ breaches in water company’s handling of drainage and sewage network

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The water company Severn Trent has been spared a fine by the industry regulator despite “serious and unacceptable breaches” in its handling of wastewater and sewage.

UK waters hit with extreme heatwave as global sea temperatures reach record levels

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:30:07 +0000

Experts warn that some marine species are at risk of ‘mass mortality events’ in ever-warming oceans

UK waters are being hit with an “extreme” marine heatwave, the Met Office has said, as scientists warn that high ocean temperatures globally could result in “mass-mortality events” for some species.

European countries top ‘scorecard’ on climate progress while US slips to 27th

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:00:27 +0000

Estonia, Luxembourg and UK are the top three in biennial Yale University index in tackling pollution and other issues

Much of the world has made encouraging strides in reducing toxic problems such as water and air pollution that have long plagued communities. But there is still a widespread lack of progress among countries in dealing with the climate crisis, according to the latest edition of an influential environmental scorecard.

The rise of blue-space therapy: how the sea is helping people deal with trauma, anxiety and addiction

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:00:25 +0000

‘Sea cures’ are not new but the idea that exposure to oceans, rivers and lakes can be medicine for the brain is gaining traction

Watching the waves break across the vast, roaring ocean in front of him, Dave Phillips felt out of options standing on the cliff’s edge in Cornwall several years ago. The former British army corporal had lost a number of loved ones in quick succession, and the compounding effects of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his military tours had become all-consuming.

The great carbon capture con: behold the wasted billions Burnham could claw back | George Monbiot

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 08:10:12 +0000

There are far better ways to tackle climate breakdown, but successive governments have chosen to listen to the fossil fuel companies instead

The new prime minister will be looking for money? Well, here’s £21.7bn lying on the ground. The government could cancel its deranged, disastrous carbon capture and storage (CCS) programme at no cost to public welfare: in fact, it would greatly reduce the harm we will suffer.

Health risk fears for storks in Europe over ‘junk food’ from landfill

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:30:23 +0000

Rubbish dumps can expose birds to contaminants, raising questions over whether landfill foraging helps or harms

Storks are gaining weight from a diet of literal junk, according to research that suggests the previously disappearing birds face potential health risks as a result of increasingly eating from rubbish dumps.

Britons to buy 8m mini fans this year – but almost half will end up in landfill

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 06:00:22 +0000

Shoppers urged to seek quality products or alternatives as data shows demand surpassing last year’s total

Britons are expected to buy nearly 8m mini fans this year as they are “surging on to the market” in the hot weather – but almost half of those are expected to be low-quality products that end up in landfill within a year.

Catnip lotion as effective as Deet at repelling mosquitoes, study finds

admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:17:19 +0000

Researchers testing a cheap, homegrown oil in Uganda found what cats knew all along – it worked as well as the artificial chemical used globally

A homegrown catnip lotion has proven “just as effective as Deet” as a mosquito repellant in trials carried out in Uganda.

Catnip, or Nepeta cataria, is a common herb from the mint family. The chemical in the plant that causes feline euphoria – nepetalactone – also has insect-repelling properties but this has not previously been commercialised.