Breaking Waves: Ocean News

With less congestion, less carbon pollution, less accidents, could it be a model for other US cities? Six months in, environmentalists say yes It has faced threats and lawsuits and even had its death proclaimed by Donald Trump as he startlingly depicted himself as a king in a social media post. But New York City’s congestion charge scheme for cars has now survived its first six months, producing perhaps the fastest ever environmental improvement from any policy in US history. New York vaulted into a global group of cities – such as London, Singapore and Stockholm – that charge cars for entering their traffic-clogged metropolitan hearts but also ushered in a measure that was unknown to Americans and initially unpopular with commuters, and was confronted by a new Trump administration determined to tear it down. Continue reading...

Heat caused 2,300 deaths across 12 cities, of which 1,500 were down to climate crisis, scientists say Planet-heating pollution tripled the death toll from the “quietly devastating” heatwave that seared Europe at the end of June, early analysis covering a dozen cities has found, as experts warned of a worsening health crisis that is being overlooked. Scientists estimate that high heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across Europe between 23 June and 2 July. They attributed 1,500 of the deaths to climate breakdown, which has heated the planet and made the worst extremes even hotter. Continue reading...

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00145-2 The rapidly expanding offshore wind energy industry presents an unprecedented opportunity to collect valuable data on protected marine species, particularly the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), through required Protected Species Observer (PSO) programs. PSO data, gathered during industry activities by trained biologists in often remote and challenging offshore environments, can fill critical knowledge gaps regarding species distribution, occurrence, and interactions with development, informing conservation and management strategies. While challenges remain regarding data accessibility, standardization, and integration, ongoing initiatives by agencies like the US National Marine Fisheries Service and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management coupled with existing data-sharing efforts and open-source platforms, offer pathways to maximize the value of PSO data. Realizing this potential requires collaborative partnerships between industry, agencies, researchers, and other stakeholders to establish centralized, publicly accessible databases with standardized protocols and adequate funding for data management. Successfully leveraging PSO data will significantly enhance our understanding of marine species and contribute to their conservation in the face of increasing offshore development.

At least 27 people died at Camp Mystic, but survivors credit coast guard swimmer and young staff with saving lives A US coast guard rescue swimmer on his first rescue mission as well as teenage counselors who helped shepherd cold and wet young campers to safety have been credited with saving dozens of lives at a flood-ravaged Christian summer camp on the banks of Texas’s Guadalupe River. Their stories of heroism and fortitude – including the counselors’ writing young campers’ names on their arms and legs with Sharpies so that authorities could identify them if necessary – are among the first to emerge recounting the grim reality of the torrent of water that surged Friday through the all-girls Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors are known to have died. Continue reading...