Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Scientists left this farm field alone. Thousands of orchids appeared

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 15:01:34 +0000

An abandoned farm field became a flourishing wildflower meadow within little more than a decade, with plant diversity doubling and thousands of orchids appearing naturally. The discovery suggests that simply giving nature time to recover could be a powerful and inexpensive tool for restoring biodiversity.

The end of Latrobe Valley coal – in pictures

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 15:00:36 +0000

Once the economic lifeblood of the region, Latrobe Valley’s coal industry is in terminal decline. Jesse Thompson’s photographic project aims to document this period of rapid change and examine the legacy that is being left behind

Australia’s marine parks protect ‘places no one goes’ rather than fragile coastal zones, scientists say

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 15:00:36 +0000

Hundreds of experts write to environment minister calling for stronger protections for ‘unique and distinct’ marine ecosystems

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The Australian government has been accused of leaving coastal waters largely unprotected by establishing the bulk of highly protected marine parks in remote areas.

Stores are selling Halloween stuff in August. Time has lost all meaning | Dave Schilling

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:00:33 +0000

Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I’ll take solace in my pumpkin spice

Happy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o’-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner!

Just kidding, no, it’s not.

Pine-cone grenades and planet-baking carbon: the French fires 170 years in the making – a visual guide

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:00:32 +0000

An 1857 decree to drain swamps and plant a monoculture, detritus from the trees and global heating combined to produce the conditions for the Gironde inferno

Against the wind: despite Trump’s attacks, unions are fighting for good US clean energy jobs

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 10:00:30 +0000

Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, a growing labor movement has addressed the climate crisis and economic inequality

Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean.

“I had no views other than the darkness at work,” he said. “Then I went polar opposite.”

London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air?

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 07:00:26 +0000

Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against them

Ten years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people’s health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. “My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately.

Onshore windfarm applications hit 10-year high in England

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 06:00:24 +0000

Surge in proposals follows Labour’s lifting of de facto ban, with about 45 plans submitted in the year to March

Plans for new onshore windfarms in England have reached their highest annual level in a decade, after the government overturned the Conservatives’ de facto ban in 2015.

About 45 applications for new onshore windfarms were submitted in the year to March,according to a Guardian analysis of government data.

Fur seal’s death marks first Australian mainland mammal fatality from spreading H5 bird flu strain

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:42:49 +0000

Seal found dead at Beachport in South Australia presages ‘significant losses’, minister warns

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Heathrow expansion ‘is threat to England’s largest surviving medieval barn’

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:17 +0000

Exclusive: campaigners warn 600-year-old New Barn at Harmondsworth could be ‘shaken to pieces’ by vibrations

Six hundred years after it was built, England’s largest surviving medieval timber-framed barn could now be “shaken to pieces” by aircraft vibrations, campaigners warn.

The public has until 1 September to submit objections to the Heathrow airport expansion, which could threaten the survival of the New Barn at Harmondsworth, considered a remarkable example of medieval architecture.