Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves/index.php en The Guardian view on SUVs: London’s mayor is right to push back on supersize cars | Editorial https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/guardian-view-suvs-london-s-mayor-right-push-back-supersize-cars-editorial <p>Huge vehicles are popular with drivers, but their wider impacts on road safety and the environment must be tackled</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/guardian-view-suvs-london-s-mayor-right-push-back-supersize-cars-editorial" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:40:07 +0000 admin 102833 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Trump’s war is bringing economic calamity to the UK – and another shock to our politics | Gaby Hinsliff https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/trump-s-war-bringing-economic-calamity-uk-and-another-shock-our-politics-gaby-hinsliff <p>Hard choices lie ahead for Downing Street if higher fuel prices spark resentment and trigger a renewed cost of living crisis</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/trump-s-war-bringing-economic-calamity-uk-and-another-shock-our-politics-gaby-hinsliff" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:08:19 +0000 admin 102832 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Realtime pollution alerts needed on Windermere, campaigners say after boy nearly dies https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/realtime-pollution-alerts-needed-windermere-campaigners-say-after-boy-nearly-dies <p>Exclusive: Claire Earley’s son Rex spent six weeks in hospital after contracting E coli from contaminated lake</p> <p>Realtime pollution alerts are needed across Windermere urgently, campaigners have said, as the mother of a seven-year-old boy who kayaked on the lake described how he nearly died after contracting a dangerous strain of <em>E coli</em> from contaminated water.</p> <p>Claire Earley’s son Rex spent six weeks in hospital, and underwent two emergency operations, after a family kayaking trip on Windermere last August.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/realtime-pollution-alerts-needed-windermere-campaigners-say-after-boy-nearly-dies" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:00:23 +0000 admin 102831 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Replacing 1m petrol cars with EVs could cut Australia’s reliance on foreign fuel by 1bn litres a year https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/replacing-1m-petrol-cars-evs-could-cut-australia-s-reliance-foreign-fuel-1bn-litres-ye <p>Electric vehicles reduce exposure to global oil price shocks and shift energy consumption to electricity largely produced domestically, expert says</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/mar/17/bowen-rba-interest-rates-decision-cost-of-living-inflation-fuel-price-shortages-petrol-jim-chalmers-economy-war-iran-anthony-albanese-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</a></p> </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/replacing-1m-petrol-cars-evs-could-cut-australia-s-reliance-foreign-fuel-1bn-litres-ye" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 14:00:22 +0000 admin 102830 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Oldest-known whale song recording provides new insight into ocean sounds https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/oldest-known-whale-song-recording-provides-new-insight-ocean-sounds <p>Recording of humpback whale from 1949 could also provide new understanding of how the huge animals communicate</p> <p>A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it is the oldest such recording known.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/oldest-known-whale-song-recording-provides-new-insight-ocean-sounds" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:05:24 +0000 admin 102829 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Africa particularly vulnerable as Iran conflict disrupts supply chains, say experts https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/africa-particularly-vulnerable-iran-conflict-disrupts-supply-chains-say-experts <p>Food production in many African countries depends heavily on fertiliser imported from the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz</p> <p>Countries in Africa, where farmers depend heavily on imported fertiliser and a large share of household income goes on food, are particularly vulnerable to supply chain disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East, experts have said.</p> <p>The conflict has drastically disrupted trade through the strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane not just for oil and gas but also for fertiliser, which is produced in vast quantities in the Gulf.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/africa-particularly-vulnerable-iran-conflict-disrupts-supply-chains-say-experts" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:03:00 +0000 admin 102827 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘We cannot replace USAID, but we can do big things’: conservation plots a future without American money https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/we-cannot-replace-usaid-we-can-do-big-things-conservation-plots-future-without-america <p>The Trump administration’s cuts to biodiversity funding have imperiled species, habitats and the people who defend both. Now the world is seeking a new way forward</p> <p>On 22 January 2024, at the inauguration of the current Liberian president, Joseph Boakai, the US-based Liberian poet Patricia Jabbeh Wesley paid tribute to the west African nation’s tropical forests – one of the places where, she said, “our fathers came / centuries ago, and planted our umbilical cords / deep in the soil”.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/we-cannot-replace-usaid-we-can-do-big-things-conservation-plots-future-without-america" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:00:18 +0000 admin 102828 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Mining made this US tribal area a toxic wasteland. This Indigenous nation brought it back to life https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/mining-made-us-tribal-area-toxic-wasteland-indigenous-nation-brought-it-back-life <p>The Quapaw Nation is the only US Native community to carry out a cleanup of one of the country’s worst sites of environmental contamination</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/mining-made-us-tribal-area-toxic-wasteland-indigenous-nation-brought-it-back-life" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:00:28 +0000 admin 102826 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org I love vultures, mosquitoes and, yes, even wasps. This is why you should too | Jo Wimpenny https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/i-love-vultures-mosquitoes-and-yes-even-wasps-why-you-should-too-jo-wimpenny <p>No species is a ‘villain’ – and even humans’ least favourite creatures are part of a web that makes all life possible</p> <p>A wasp has just flown into your kitchen. Do you: a) scream and run away; b) roll up a magazine and try to bash it; or c) open a window and usher it outside? Now imagine it’s a bee – do you respond in the same way?</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/i-love-vultures-mosquitoes-and-yes-even-wasps-why-you-should-too-jo-wimpenny" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:00:25 +0000 admin 102825 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says it can https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/can-scientists-really-resurrect-dodo-inside-company-says-it-can <p>Colossal Biosciences’ CEO says its work follows a ‘moral obligation’ while critics say it’s ‘tech bro’ hype that could undermine conservation</p> <p>Can and should we resurrect animal species that have been extinct for thousands of years? Such weighty, existential questions were once the preserve of science fiction but are now being played out within an unassuming brick building in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/dallas">Dallas</a> business park.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/can-scientists-really-resurrect-dodo-inside-company-says-it-can" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sun, 15 Mar 2026 10:00:23 +0000 admin 102824 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org