Breaking Waves: Ocean News

UK slashes climate aid programmes for developing countries

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:37:46 +0000

Exclusive: Schemes worth hundreds of millions of pounds to protect biodiversity and oceans likely to be substantially reduced

UK programmes to protect nature and the climate in developing countries are suffering swingeing budget cuts despite ministers’ promises, the Guardian has learned.

The cuts belie the government’s claims to be fulfilling international obligations on climate finance and are veiled behind a system that experts have criticised as opaque.

Scotland becomes first UK country to legalise water cremations

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:24:46 +0000

Hydrolysis uses alkaline and water to break down body in a few hours and is part of demand for more sustainable funerals

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to legalise hydrolysis, an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation or burial, reflecting increasing demand for more sustainable funeral arrangements.

Also known as water cremation or aquamation, the process is already available in many parts of the world, and regulations approved by the Scottish parliament on Monday mark the most significant change to funeral law since cremation was introduced in 1902.

Australian wildlife in ‘harm’s way’, with volunteers left to ‘pick up the pieces’ amid climate crisis, fires and floods

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:00:13 +0000

Ken Henry leads push for federal government to do more to protect animals as biodiversity declines

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‘I love midges because I know what their hearts look like’: is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out?

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:00:04 +0000

Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be discovered

Shark culls brought in after fatal attack causes division and anger in New Caledonia

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:20:27 +0000

Authorities say capture of bull and tiger sharks necessary to protect lives as environmentalists launch urgent legal challenge

Some beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation.

Concerns for ‘declining’ fur seal spotted at Cooks River in inner Sydney

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 02:56:47 +0000

Long-nosed fur seal seen on banks of waterway in city’s inner west similar to those occasionally found outside Sydney Opera House

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Disbelief as crocodile captured in Newcastle creek thousands of kilometres from natural habitat

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 01:30:33 +0000

The juvenile freshwater crocodile was first spotted by a group of teenagers in Ironbark Creek in the Australian city on Saturday

An Australian freshwater crocodile has been captured in a city creek thousands of kilometres south of its normal range, after sightings shocked onlookers at a suburban park.

The crocodile was first spotted in Ironbark Creek in Newcastle – about 100km north of Sydney – around midday on Saturday, by a group of teenagers.

Datacentre developers face calls to disclose effect on UK’s net emissions

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 16:00:44 +0000

Campaign groups write to technology secretary amid concerns that sites could double overall electricity demand

Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand.

Thousands of pollution incidents in England downgraded without site visit, data suggests

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 07:00:34 +0000

Exclusive: Whistleblower figures show large rise in ‘serious’ to ‘minor’ downgrades based on water company evidence

Environment Agency (EA) staff have downgraded thousands of serious pollution incidents by water companies in England without visiting to investigate, data unearthed by freedom of information (FoI) requests suggests.

A scorching summer has left Australian wildlife on the brink, but it doesn’t have to be this way | Euan Ritchie and Jess Harwood

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 19:00:21 +0000

Unsettling predictions are now our catastrophic reality, but a brighter future is still within reach if our political leaders change course

Soaring, scorching, record temperatures, yet again. Distressing, protracted droughts. Raging fires and devastating floods. Australia’s summer is drawing to a close, and a reprieve from climate whiplash can’t come soon enough.