Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Treasury threatens Defra with £4bn bill if Thames Water nationalised

admin — Sat, 03 May 2025 15:00:41 +0000

Exclusive: Treasury threat an example of ‘scare tactics’ to help force through private sector deal, sources suggest

Whitehall officials have been at loggerheads over the fate of Thames Water since the Treasury told the environment department that it would have to meet the cost of a multibillion pound temporary nationalisation.

Britain’s biggest water company recently came within days of running out of money. Thames is in a desperate race to find a buyer willing to inject cash, with the US private equity firm KKR in pole position.

Mexico factory that imports US toxic waste to relocate after Guardian report

admin — Sat, 03 May 2025 15:00:41 +0000

Zinc Nacional will move ‘most polluting’ operations after joint investigation found heavy-metals pollution in area

A grizzly bear comeback in California? An old dream gets new legs

admin — Sat, 03 May 2025 15:00:40 +0000

A feasibility report using historical maps and ecological data is raising excitement: ‘It would be a slow process’

On the eve of the gold rush, California was teeming with grizzly bears – as many as 10,000 of them. They were so popular that the Bear Flag Republic – a short-lived attempt by a group of US settlers to break away from Mexico in 1846 – used the animals as their mascot; an image that still adorns California’s flag.

Scientific societies to do climate assessment after Trump administration dismissed authors

admin — Sat, 03 May 2025 14:00:39 +0000

Two groups join forces for peer-reviewed research after key contributors on Congress-mandated report dismissed

Two major US scientific societies have announced they will join forces to produce peer-reviewed research on the climate crisis’s impact days after Donald Trump’s administration dismissed contributors to a key Congress-mandated report on climate crisis preparedness.

Management approach matters: meeting seagrass recovery and carbon mitigation goals

admin — Sat, 03 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 03 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00111-y

Management approach matters: meeting seagrass recovery and carbon mitigation goals

Puerto Rico drops climate lawsuit after DoJ sues states to block threats to big oil

admin — Fri, 02 May 2025 20:43:56 +0000

Territory’s voluntary move comes as Trump administration makes good on pledge to end lawsuits against oil and gas

Puerto Rico has voluntarily dismissed its 2024 climate lawsuit against big oil, a Friday legal filing shows, just two days after the US justice department sued two states over planned litigation against oil companies for their role in the climate crisis.

Trump officials gut 25 centers that monitor flooding and drought in the US

admin — Fri, 02 May 2025 13:00:09 +0000

White House orders closure of USGS water science centers, which shares data with weather service for flood warnings

The Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don’t run out of water.

Revealed: Forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels soar in Trump’s first 100 days

admin — Fri, 02 May 2025 11:00:07 +0000

Tariff chaos hampers Trump’s pledge to ‘drill, baby, drill’, but analysis still shows surge in planet-heating emissions

‘Irreplaceable habitat’: planning bill raises fears for England’s chalk streams

admin — Fri, 02 May 2025 11:00:05 +0000

Environmentalists worry that the post-Brexit legislation will allow the destruction of rare and fragile ecosystems

Walk along the gin-clear River Itchen in Hampshire and you might see otters, salmon, kingfishers and clouds of mayflies, all supported by the unique ecosystem of the chalk stream.

Labour’s planning bill threatens protected habitats, says environment watchdog

admin — Fri, 02 May 2025 10:15:32 +0000

Nature organisations say legislation would remove safeguards for nature and put protected sites at risk

Keir Starmer’s planning bill has been criticised by the environment watchdog, which has warned that the draft of the legislation would remove safeguards for nature and put protected sites at risk.

Currently, laws that protect habitats and nature are derived from EU legislation. Since the UK left the bloc, it has been able to weaken these laws that protect specific species and habitats.