Some Salisbury, Maryland, residents say the contaminated water from Perdue Farms’s local plant has sickened them
Wastewater from an industrial soya bean farm and processor has poisoned a Maryland town’s drinking water with Pfas, several lawsuits allege, raising questions about residents’ health and “forever chemical” pollution from industrial agricultural operations nationwide.
Perdue Farms acknowledged that its 300-acre Salisbury, Maryland, operation is polluting local waters, but the chemicals’ sources have not been confirmed. It appears the Pfas is in part also coming from some combination of sludge used as fertilizer and pesticides, attorneys for plaintiffs say.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/11/2025 - 07:00
08/11/2025 - 06:46
Danish company blames Donald Trump for derailing its business model after market value drops by a third
Europe’s largest wind power company has blamed Donald Trump for derailing its business model, after it unveiled a $9bn (£6.7bn) fundraising and its market value plunged by almost a third.
The share price for Denmark’s Ørsted tumbled to an all-time low after it told investors on Monday that the “extraordinary situation” facing the industry meant it would need to tap shareholders to cover the costs of its plans.
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08/11/2025 - 06:16
Scientists warn of ‘molotov cocktail’ of climatic conditions fuelling vast wildfires across Mediterranean
Deadly heat of up to 42C is searing southern Europe, as scientists warn of a “molotov cocktail” of climatic conditions that is fuelling vast wildfires across the Mediterranean.
Météo-France placed more than half the country under heatwave warnings on Monday morning, with 12 out of 96 administrative units on the mainland under the highest red alert, while Spain’s Aemet warned of “extreme danger” in Zaragoza and the Basque Country as it issued yellow and orange warnings for almost all the rest of the country.
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08/11/2025 - 06:07
White House denies suggestions resort in Vietnam presents conflict of interest amid row over compensation rates
Villagers whose farms in Vietnam will be bulldozed to make way for a $1.5bn golf resort backed by the Trump family have reportedly been offered rice provisions and cash compensation of as little as $12 for a square metre of land by state authorities.
Thousands of villagers will be offered compensation based on land size and location, according to a report by Reuters. The agency spoke to elderly farmers who said they feared they would struggle to find a stable livelihood.
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08/10/2025 - 15:22
Judge in Hawaii rules that commercial fishing is illegal in federally protected area in the central Pacific Ocean
A federal judge in Hawaii has ruled that commercial fishing is illegal in the Pacific Islands Heritage marine national monument, a federally protected area in the central Pacific Ocean.
The decision from judge Micah WJ Smith overturns an April letter released by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) – also known as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) Fisheries – that allowed fishing in parts of the monument that Barack Obama had protected during his presidency. The letter came about a week after Donald Trump’s presidential proclamation to reverse fishing regulations across the national monument, a world heritage site that includes archeological treasures, marine mammals, seabirds and coral reefs.
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08/10/2025 - 13:00
Exclusive: Homes are heating up as summers get hotter but least well-off are shouldering greatest risk, study finds
Why UK housing is dangerously unprepared for impact of climate crisis
From shutters to reflective paint: how to prevent UK homes overheating
Lower-income householders, minority ethnic people and those with young children are more likely to live in homes at risk from dangerous overheating, research has found.
The UK has baked in multiple heatwaves this summer, with many people sweltering in dangerously hot homes that were not designed to withstand extreme temperatures. June was the hottest on record and in general this summer England was an average of 1.58C above average temperatures.
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08/10/2025 - 13:00
Reducing urban heat islands, greening local areas and using heat pumps for air conditioning can also play a role
Low-income and minority ethnic people in England most at risk from dangerously hot homes
Why UK housing is dangerously unprepared for impact of climate crisis
Extremely hot days in summer are becoming more normal across the globe, but in the UK and other typically mild countries, our homes are not prepared. A third of UK homes are susceptible to overheating, and research shows that renters, people with young children and those from ethnic minorities are at particular risk of living in dangerously hot homes in England.
So what can be done to cool down homes?
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08/10/2025 - 12:25
Voluntary climate commitments were supposed to be a step towards progress. A change in political climate has revealed their weaknesses
Earlier this month, as Nordic countries were hit with an unprecedented heatwave and wildfires in the US began spurting “fire clouds”, Barclays pulled out of the net zero banking alliance. The story may have seemed less alarming than extreme weather, but it has existential implications, as the finance sector quietly surrenders its former climate commitments.
The initiative forms part of the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a voluntary network of banks that Mark Carney, formerly the UN’s special envoy on climate action and now Canada’s prime minister, launched in 2021. At the time, the alliance, which encourages banks and asset managers to work towards the goals of the Paris agreement, seemed like an optimistic step in the right direction. Mr Carney described it as a “breakthrough”.
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08/10/2025 - 07:56
French officials says heatwave in southern Europe complicates efforts to contain biggest wildfire since 1949
Tourist trails have been closed on Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy as firefighters tackle a huge blaze on the volcano’s slopes, while officials warned of another “challenging day” for those working to contain France’s biggest wildfire since 1949.
The wildfire on Mount Vesuvius, close to Naples, broke out a few days ago and by Saturday afternoon had stretched to about 3km (1.9 miles) wide, destroying hundreds of hectares of woodland and killing wild animals. Thick smoke could be seen from Pompeii and Naples.
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08/10/2025 - 07:00
Scientists say lightning bugs are having a revival this year – but they’re concerned about the insects’ long-term viability
Max Vogel, a 29-year-old public defense attorney, was picnicking with friends in early August at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, when he noticed flashes of light appear in the air around him.
They were fireflies, bioluminescent insects that the Washington DC native had not seen while living in Oregon, where there are few, if any. For many Americans who live where fireflies do, their flashing lights at dusk are a tangible rite of summer – though one that may now be under threat.
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