A new exhibition, Jurassic Oceans, showcases the fearsome creatures that lurked below the surface – and offers a stark warning about the impact of warming waters on marine ecosystems today
Deep in the bowels of the Natural History Museum, Kate Whittington is standing in front of the skeleton of a 23ft plesiosaur, one of prehistoric Earth’s most fearsome marine reptiles, explaining how it would eat us for dinner, were it still around today.
“Its long neck allowed its head to get a head start on its body,” says the museum’s exhibition and interpretation manager. “So it could sneak up on prey and grab it [with its mouth] before its body and flippers created a disturbance in the water.”
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/21/2026 - 00:01
05/21/2026 - 00:01
Without urgent intervention England faces water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, peers tell government
Rainwater harvesting, the use of grey water in homes and an urgent campaign to reduce water usage across society are vital to prevent water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, the government has been told.
Without intervention, England will face severe water shortages in the coming decades, as climate change-induced weather patterns, population growth and the expansion of industries such as water-intensive datacentres put excessive demand on supplies and endanger life, according to a House of Lords report published on Thursday.
Changes to building regulations to require new homes to achieve a maximum water usage of 105 litres a person a day and accelerated grey water reuse.
Nature-based solutions such as restoring peat bogs and reconnecting rivers to their natural flood plains to enhance water retention.
An urgent awareness campaign for the whole of society to reduce water usage.
A full environmental and economic assessment of drought to weigh the cost of inaction against the value of resilience.
The rolling out of nature-based solutions more widely in urban and rural settings.
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05/21/2026 - 00:00
Flea treatment chemicals fipronil and imidacloprid also implicated in lower cognitive scores in children with autism
Toxic chemicals found in pet flea treatment are devastating wildlife in rivers, parks and special conservation areas and the government should take urgent action to limit their use, according to a study.
Chemicals that are banned for use as pesticides but still used in liquid flea treatments are causing potentially irreversible harm to aquatic life as well as decimating birds and pollinators, according to the study published on Thursday.
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05/20/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 21 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00198-x
Three challenges to marine carbon dioxide removal
05/20/2026 - 22:18
The US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia – some of the highest oil-producing nations and major greenhouse gas emitters – opposed the measure
The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said Wednesday’s general assembly vote, in which 28 countries abstained, underscored that governments are responsible for protecting citizens from the “escalating climate crisis”.
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05/20/2026 - 15:04
Suit says administration is impinging on rights to life and liberty by worsening planet-warming and toxic pollution
Eva v Goliath: the 20-year-old climate activist taking on Trump and the fossil fuel industry
Eighteen American youth are demanding that a court immediately halt the Trump administration’s repeal of the scientific finding underpinning virtually all US climate regulations.
The plaintiffs sued the Trump administration in February days after officials revoked the 2009 endangerment finding, which found that greenhouse gas pollution threatens public health and welfare. Filed in the Washington DC circuit court of appeals Venner v EPA alleges that the move infringes upon rights guaranteed by the US constitution, including to religious freedom, life and liberty.
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05/20/2026 - 13:43
Climate change is pushing starving grey whales to San Francisco Bay, where ship strikes led to 40% of 21 deaths
Ferries, cargo ships and tankers cut through choppy waters in the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday as a whale surfaced nearby, its spout barely visible against the white caps. Until now, whales could easily go unnoticed by mariners, but an AI-powered detection network launched this week is designed to track them day and night.
The system, called WhaleSpotter, scans the bay around the clock for whale blows and heat signatures up to 2 nautical miles away, alerting mariners to slow down or reroute when whales are nearby.
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05/20/2026 - 11:33
Environmental activists lock themselves to pesticide barrels in protest outside Syngenta headquarters
More than 40 people, including Greenpeace UK’s programme director, Amy Cameron, have been arrested after a protest outside pesticide company Syngenta’s Yorkshire headquarters.
A number of the activists locked themselves on to 15 blue pesticide barrels outside the headquarters, blocking the gates and leading to the temporary closure of the local A62. Activists had transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. The action took place on World Bee day.
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05/20/2026 - 10:00
Global study finds wrappers, bottles and lids on shorelines of 93% of countries analysed as UN talks to tackle issue in turmoil
Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world’s shorelines, a study has found.
Researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 surveys of coastal litter to produce the first global analysis of its kind. They found the data in 355 existing studies on the subject.
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05/20/2026 - 08:00
Young Americans are suing the president for violating rights with executive orders that fuel the climate crisis
Young Americans demand court halt Trump’s biggest rollbacks of pollution protections
Eva Lighthiser was at a dorm party on her Colorado college campus last month when she had to call it an early night.
“I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go to bed, I’m flying out to Portland tomorrow,’ and then of course follow-up questions get raised,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Well, it’s a lot to explain.’”
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