Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves en Inside the Chornobyl exclusion zone – in pictures https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/inside-chornobyl-exclusion-zone-pictures <p>A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/feb/14/russian-drone-explodes-on-chornobyl-nuclear-plant-protective-shell-video">Russian drone attack</a> has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/07/russian-drone-strike-caused-tens-of-millions-worth-of-damage-to-chornobyl">inflicted tens of millions of pounds of damage</a> to the site of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, according to experts. The photographer Julia Kochetova has gained access to the area</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/inside-chornobyl-exclusion-zone-pictures" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 13:46:23 +0000 admin 99878 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org US renewable energy has tripled in a decade – but Trump cuts almost $8bn in projects https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/us-renewable-energy-has-tripled-decade-trump-cuts-almost-8bn-projects <p>Political uncertainty under Trump has dampened the market, even as red states see a boom in renewable energy</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/us-renewable-energy-has-tripled-decade-trump-cuts-almost-8bn-projects" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 13:00:46 +0000 admin 99875 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘A cemetery of trees’: vast green expanses turned to dust as loggers plunder South America’s Gran Chaco https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/cemetery-trees-vast-green-expanses-turned-dust-loggers-plunder-south-america-s-gran-ch <p>Jaguars, giant armadillos and ocelots among species threatened by shrinking habitat in one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world</p> <p>In the Gran Chaco forest, vast green expanses – home to jaguars, giant armadillos and howler monkeys – have turned to fields of dust. The forest once brimmed with life, says Bashe Nuhem, a member of the Indigenous Qom community, but then came a road, and soon after that logging companies. “It was an invasion. Loggers came without any consultation and families moved away. Those that stayed were left with only a cemetery of trees,” she says.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/cemetery-trees-vast-green-expanses-turned-dust-loggers-plunder-south-america-s-gran-ch" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 13:00:45 +0000 admin 99877 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Reform’s green energy assault in Lincolnshire ‘puts 12,200 jobs at risk’ https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/reform-s-green-energy-assault-lincolnshire-puts-12200-jobs-risk <p>Party intends to block projects despite net zero industries contributing nearly £1bn to local economy, analysis shows</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/may/07/business-reform-conservatives-labour-trade-deal-keir-starmer-kemi-badenoch-pmqs-uk-politics-live">UK politics live – latest updates</a></li> </ul> <p>Reform UK’s plans to obstruct green energy projects in Lincolnshire put at risk almost £1bn in local investment and more than 12,000 jobs, analysis suggests.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/reform-s-green-energy-assault-lincolnshire-puts-12200-jobs-risk" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 13:00:28 +0000 admin 99876 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Real-world geoengineering experiments revealed by UK agency https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/real-world-geoengineering-experiments-revealed-uk-agency <p>Trials will test ways to block sunlight and slow climate crisis that threatens to trigger catastrophic tipping points</p> <p>Real-world geoengineering experiments spanning the globe from the Arctic to the Great Barrier Reef are being funded by the UK government. They will test sun-reflecting particles in the stratosphere, brightening reflective clouds using sprays of seawater and pumping water on to sea ice to thicken it.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/real-world-geoengineering-experiments-revealed-uk-agency" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 10:42:58 +0000 admin 99870 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘It’s like putting a whale in a blender’: the rise of deadly ship collisions in Chile https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/it-s-putting-whale-blender-rise-deadly-ship-collisions-chile <p>On average, five fatal whale strikes occur in the country’s waters each year, the highest in the world – and just a fraction of the total number killed, say researchers</p> <ul> <li>Photographs by Francis Pérez</li> </ul> <p>The memory of a blue whale gliding past his small boat haunts Patricio Ortiz. A deep wound disfigured the cetacean’s giant body – a big chunk had been ripped from its dorsal fin. Cargo ships are the only adversary capable of inflicting such harm on a blue whale, he says.</p> <p>“Nothing can be done when they’re up against those floating monsters.”</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/it-s-putting-whale-blender-rise-deadly-ship-collisions-chile" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 10:00:11 +0000 admin 99871 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org New reports tell us cattle and sheep farming can be sustainable – don’t believe them, it’s all bull | George Monbiot https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/new-reports-tell-us-cattle-and-sheep-farming-can-be-sustainable-don-t-believe-them-it- <p>Feeding the world sustainably is an incredibly complex challenge, yet some people are trying to sell us a bucolic fairytale</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/new-reports-tell-us-cattle-and-sheep-farming-can-be-sustainable-don-t-believe-them-it-" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 09:53:06 +0000 admin 99872 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Two-thirds of global heating caused by richest 10%, study suggests https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/two-thirds-global-heating-caused-richest-10-study-suggests <p>Paper in Nature Climate Change journal reveals major role wealthy emitters play in driving climate extremes</p> <p>The world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two-thirds of global heating since 1990, driving droughts and heatwaves in the poorest parts of the world, according to a study.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/two-thirds-global-heating-caused-richest-10-study-suggests" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 09:00:10 +0000 admin 99869 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Danish firm shelves huge UK windfarm project over rising costs https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/danish-firm-shelves-huge-uk-windfarm-project-over-rising-costs <p>Ørsted cancels fourth stage of Hornsea project off Yorkshire coast, which was set to include enough turbines to power 1m homes</p> <p>The world’s biggest wind power developer has cancelled plans for one of the UK’s largest offshore windfarms in a significant blow to the government’s green energy targets.</p> <p>The Danish wind power company Ørsted said the Hornsea 4 project no longer made economic sense because of soaring costs in the industry’s global supply chain, after it won a government contract two years ago.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/danish-firm-shelves-huge-uk-windfarm-project-over-rising-costs" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 08:11:10 +0000 admin 99874 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org More than 40% of electricity used in Australia’s main power grid at start of year was renewable https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/more-40-electricity-used-australia-s-main-power-grid-start-year-was-renewable <p>Data suggests pollution from energy is falling again after previously stalling, but experts say faster growth needed to achieve Labor goal of 82% renewable electricity by 2030</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/more-40-electricity-used-australia-s-main-power-grid-start-year-was-renewable" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Wed, 07 May 2025 05:53:30 +0000 admin 99866 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org