Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Controversial California oil pipeline can continue to operate, judge rules

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:13:27 +0000

State sought to stop system off coast of Santa Barbara from resuming operations after Trump ordered its reopening

A controversial oil pipeline can continue to operate off the California coast after a judge gave it the green light this week, despite the opposition of state regulators and environmental groups.

Trump plan to allow drilling near US world heritage site sparks alarm

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:00:57 +0000

Administration’s plan to scrap drilling-free buffer zone around New Mexico site prompts scrutiny from Unesco

The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas extraction across the US is set to bring drilling near cherished natural and cultural sites, raising alarm among conservationists and prompting questions from the UN’s heritage body.

Lobsters and acidic seas: can shellfish help neutralise one of the greatest threats to the ocean?

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:00:52 +0000

Crustaceans are the subject of tests to see if alkalis added to seawater, so it absorbs more CO2, harm marine life. But Trump’s halt to funding threatens to scupper the research

For many in the US region of New England, the lobster roll is synonymous with summertime. Loaded into a toasted bun, chunks of the sweet meat are served hot and soaked in butter, or chilled and slathered in mayonnaise with celery and herbs.

PSG’s Ligue 1 home opener moved to Rennes after pitch damaged by heat

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:41:01 +0000

Sunday’s match against Rennes switched at short notice
Parc des Princes surface poses risk to ‘safety of players’

Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 opener against Rennes has been relocated at short notice, because of damage to their pitch by the extreme heat. Sunday’s match will now take place at Rennes’ Roazhon Park, the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionel) competitions committee announced on Wednesday.

How one American couple ditched their lawn and created a wildlife haven – and you could too

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:00:51 +0000

Novice gardeners James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz wanted to try something new when they moved out to the suburbs. Little did they know they were joining a nationwide movement

When James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz first decided to replace their lawn with native plants, they did not really know what they were doing. As former city-dwellers who had moved from Chicago out to the suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, they had never done much gardening together beyond growing some planters of herbs and flowers on their balcony.

Humans have learned to fear ‘bugs’, but we shouldn’t – life as we know it hinges on invertebrates | Chris Packham

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:00:50 +0000

At this point of the crisis in our relations with the natural world, we’ve got to protect these creatures – and we are running out of time

Read more from the Guardian’s invertebrate of the year 2026

Too many animals are regarded as “bugs”. And, if anything is a bug, it is a short step to it becoming a “pest”. Too many of us have a learned fear – it’s not innate – of anything with six legs or antennae.

Destructive and delicious: how an invasive deer in Hawaii is being turned into dinner

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 10:00:48 +0000

The overpopulation of axis deer has taken an environmental toll, but Maui Nui Venison sees it as a resource instead of a pest

In 1868, the government of Hong Kong gave eight axis deer to Hawaii’s King Kamehameha V. They were a beautiful gift, these creatures that hail from south Asia, with their honey-colored pelts marked by a smattering of white spots. But their incursion into Maui started much later, in the 1950s, when they were brought to the island for recreational hunters.

UK politics: Burnham says fly-tippers will be forced to pay for the clean-up when they dump waste illegally – as it happened

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:50:22 +0000

The prime minister plans to bring in the National Crime Agency to tackle the gangs behind dumps

Value being generated by student loans is “not what it should be”, Reform UK’s deputy leader said.

Asked by reporters about the funding of the scheme by stopping foreign students accessing loans, Richard Tice said:

Regarding the funding of this, cash is cash. Whether you think that it’s cash as a positive in a balance sheet or a bank account, or whether you’re borrowing it, it’s money. It’s cash.

More than 1,000 birds found dead in three mass mortality events amid ‘significant’ H5 escalation in Australia

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:16:49 +0000

South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas says there have still been no detections in poultry or livestock and no mass deaths involving mammals

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Monstera magic: Barbican hands out cuttings as ‘green lung of the city’ closes

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 05:00:44 +0000

Five hundred people turn up to adopt plants from conservatory that will reopen in 2030 after renovation project

Above the waxy monstera leaves and bright pink hibiscus flowers in the Barbican conservatory hangs a giant net to catch the panes of glass that are at risk of falling from the ceiling on the unwitting plant lovers below.