Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef not crucial to UK trade deal, US suggests

admin — Tue, 13 May 2025 11:48:20 +0000

US agriculture secretary says country is moving away from both methods of production, illegal in UK and EU

Chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef may not be essential for a US-UK trade deal, Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary has indicated.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference in London, Brooke Rollins said the market was moving away from the two controversial methods of production, which are illegal in the UK and the EU.

Council leader accepted Spurs tickets days before felling of ancient oak

admin — Tue, 13 May 2025 11:03:14 +0000

Enfield’s Ergin Erbil under pressure to recuse himself from decisions over football club’s property plans

The leader of Enfield council is under pressure to recuse himself from decisions over the property plans of Tottenham Hotspur, after accepting match tickets days before the felling of an ancient oak by a company financially linked to the football club.

Starch-based bioplastic may be as toxic as petroleum-based plastic, study finds

admin — Tue, 13 May 2025 11:00:38 +0000

Bioplastics, heralded for supposedly breaking down more quickly, can cause similar health problems to other plastics

Starch-based bioplastic that is said to be biodegradable and sustainable is potentially as toxic as petroleum-based plastic, and can cause similar health problems, new peer-reviewed research finds.

Bioplastics have been heralded as the future of plastic because it breaks down quicker than petroleum-based plastic, and is often made from plant-based material such as corn starch, rice starch or sugar.

I’m obsessed with protecting seals: ‘The flying ring toy was deeply embedded in her neck’

admin — Tue, 13 May 2025 06:00:34 +0000

It broke my heart to see a seal so injured by a £1 plastic toy. Now I campaign to ban them – and it has changed my life

There was an incident seven years ago that changed my life. I saw an adult grey seal with a plastic pink flying ring toy so deeply embedded in her neck that she was practically dead. It was stopping her from feeding because it was digging into her and she couldn’t extend her neck – the wounds were horrific.

It broke my heart. From that moment on, I became obsessed with seals and protecting them from the dangers of plastic flying rings.

Brontë country to become protected national nature reserve

admin — Tue, 13 May 2025 05:00:31 +0000

The 1,274-hectare Bradford Pennine Gateway links eight nature sites and includes landscape that inspired sisters

The sweeping landscapes of the Pennines inspired the Brontë sisters, and now those lands are being protected as one of England’s biggest nature reserves.

A huge new national nature reserve, to be called the Bradford Pennine Gateway, is being announced by the government on Tuesday. It will give Bradford, one of Britain’s largest and most nature-deprived cities, easier and more protected access to green space

Tory energy spokesman claims UN climate experts are ‘biased’

admin — Tue, 13 May 2025 04:00:30 +0000

Exclusive: Andrew Bowie says Kemi Badenoch could pull UK out of Paris climate agreement

The Conservative party’s energy spokesperson has attacked leading climate scientists as biased and claimed Kemi Badenoch could take the UK out of the Paris climate agreement.

Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow secretary for energy, told the Guardian that the target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – passed into law by Theresa May – was “arbitrary” and “not based on science”.

Stained, warped and terroir rich: the global and shockingly sustainable lives of wine barrels

admin — Mon, 12 May 2025 18:00:17 +0000

Wood barrels circle the world and can be used for more than a century. They tell a story, but they’re imperiled by tariffs

No one at Tucson’s Hamilton Distillers knows exactly what wood the cognac barrels holding whiskey are made of.

Invasive salmon, clams and seaweed are next threats to biodiversity in Britain

admin — Mon, 12 May 2025 17:36:49 +0000

Pink salmon, Purple Asian clams, marine invertebrates that form spaghetti-like colonies and a nematode worm that causes extensive deaths of trees are among the new entries in experts' watchlist of invasive non-native species that could threaten Great Britain in the next 10 years. The latest version of the watchlist again includes known problem species such as the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, raccoon and twoleaf watermilfoil.

‘A horror movie’: sharks and octopuses among 200 species killed by toxic algae off South Australia

admin — Mon, 12 May 2025 15:00:16 +0000

Karenia mikimotoi algae can suffocate fish, cause haemorrhaging and act as a neurotoxin, one expert says

To the new environment minister, Murray Watt: it’s time to get reforms right | Lyndon Schneiders

admin — Mon, 12 May 2025 15:00:14 +0000

Long-term reform is not going to be easy, but we have wasted 15 years and everyone has lost, especially the natural world