Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves/index.php en Marseille airport cancels all flights as wildfire encroaches on city https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/marseille-airport-cancels-all-flights-wildfire-encroaches-city <p>Authorities urge residents to stay indoors and say 720 firefighters battling blaze </p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://viewer.gutools.co.uk/world/live/2025/jul/08/us-defensive-military-aid-ukraine-eu-tariffs-macron-robert-fico-trial-europe-live">Europe live – latest updates</a></p> </li> </ul> <p>A fast-moving wildfire fanned by gale-force winds has forced Marseille airport to cancel all flights and was encroaching on France’s second-largest city, officials said, as firefighters around the Mediterranean battled blazes sparked by an intense heatwave.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/marseille-airport-cancels-all-flights-wildfire-encroaches-city" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:50:28 +0000 admin 100555 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Time for some straight talking on the cost of clean energy. It isn’t a free lunch | Nils Pratley https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/time-some-straight-talking-cost-clean-energy-it-isn-t-free-lunch-nils-pratley <p>UK ministers should update the public on the outlook for bills as the price of overhauling the system is adding up</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/time-some-straight-talking-cost-clean-energy-it-isn-t-free-lunch-nils-pratley" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:30:24 +0000 admin 100556 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘Serious risk to life’: scenic Isle of Wight road could fall into sea, councillor warns https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/serious-risk-life-scenic-isle-wight-road-could-fall-sea-councillor-warns <p>Military Road on island’s south is threatened by erosion, with some parts now less than 5 metres from steep cliffs</p> <p>It is considered one of the most scenic routes in the UK, an 11-mile stretch of road that skirts the coastal cliffs and enjoys sweeping views of the Channel.</p> <p>The problem is that <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/isle-of-wight/compton-bay-and-downs/compton-bay-and-downs-island-roads-engineering-scheme">Military Road on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight</a> is getting just a little too close to those plunging cliffs for comfort.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/serious-risk-life-scenic-isle-wight-road-could-fall-sea-councillor-warns" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:40:08 +0000 admin 100554 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘Like fly-tipping’: ministers ignoring pleas to cut sludge fertiliser use https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/fly-tipping-ministers-ignoring-pleas-cut-sludge-fertiliser-use <p>Exclusive: Defra warned three years ago of farmland contamination by water firms’ sewage-derived product</p> <p>Government ministers have ignored Environment Agency pleas to tighten rules on the use of sludge fertiliser for three years, despite the regulator having said that water company attitudes towards the substance are “akin to fly-tipping on to agricultural land”, it can be revealed.</p> <p>Sludge, sometimes referred to as biosolids, is a byproduct of the sewage treatment process that is sold by water companies to farmers as a low-cost fertiliser.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/fly-tipping-ministers-ignoring-pleas-cut-sludge-fertiliser-use" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:00:22 +0000 admin 100552 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘If you hear your town is scum all the time that sinks in’: the young people in Blackpool refusing to be written off https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/if-you-hear-your-town-scum-all-time-sinks-young-people-blackpool-refusing-be-written <p>The seaside resort has become a byword for coastal deprivation but its youth say there’s a world of creativity bubbling under the surface</p> <ul> <li> <p>Photographs by Polly Braden</p> </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/if-you-hear-your-town-scum-all-time-sinks-young-people-blackpool-refusing-be-written" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:00:21 +0000 admin 100553 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Inside RFK Jr’s conflicted attempt to rid America of junk food https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/inside-rfk-jr-s-conflicted-attempt-rid-america-junk-food <p>‘Maha’ promised to tackle ultra-processed foods – but is it hijacking the food movement instead?</p> <p>Over the space of the last year, Robert F Kennedy Jr. has made the term “ultra-processed foods” something of a household phrase.</p> <p>Once a term only used by nutritionists and food policy researchers to describe the most processed foods in the supply chain (think: chips and sodas, packaged bread, microwave dinners and even some yogurts), ultra-processing has become a calling card of the “Make America Healthy Again” (“Maha”) movement.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/inside-rfk-jr-s-conflicted-attempt-rid-america-junk-food" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:00:40 +0000 admin 100549 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Did National Weather Service cuts lead to the Texas flood disaster? We don’t know | Rebecca Solnit https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/did-national-weather-service-cuts-lead-texas-flood-disaster-we-don-t-know-rebecca-soln <p>We all need to be careful about how we get information and reach conclusions – especially now</p> <p>Why exactly so many people drowned in the terrible Independence Day floods that swept through Texas’s Hill Country will probably have multiple explanations that take a while to obtain. But it’s 2025, and people want answers immediately, and lots of people seized on stories blaming the National Weather Service (NWS).</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/did-national-weather-service-cuts-lead-texas-flood-disaster-we-don-t-know-rebecca-soln" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:00:38 +0000 admin 100550 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org ‘Could become a death spiral’: scientists discover what’s driving record die-offs of US honeybees https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/could-become-death-spiral-scientists-discover-what-s-driving-record-die-offs-us-honeyb <p>Experts scrambling to understand losses in hives across the country are finally identifying the culprits. And the damage to farmed bees is a sign of trouble for wild bees too</p> <p>Bret Adee is one of the largest beekeepers in the US, with 2 billion bees across 55,000 hives. The business has been in his family since the 1930s, and sends truckloads of bees across the country from South Dakota, pollinating crops such as almonds, onions, watermelons and cucumbers.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/could-become-death-spiral-scientists-discover-what-s-driving-record-die-offs-us-honeyb" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:00:37 +0000 admin 100551 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Deadly floods could be new normal as Trump guts federal agencies, experts warn https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/deadly-floods-could-be-new-normal-trump-guts-federal-agencies-experts-warn <p>Cuts and chaos instigated by Trump come as threat from extreme weather grows due to human-caused climate crisis</p> <p>The deadly Texas floods could signal a new norm in the US, as Donald Trump and his allies dismantle crucial federal agencies that help states prepare and respond to extreme weather and other hazards, experts warn.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/deadly-floods-could-be-new-normal-trump-guts-federal-agencies-experts-warn" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 09:00:32 +0000 admin 100548 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Yorkshire Water announces hosepipe ban after driest spring in 132 years https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/yorkshire-water-announces-hosepipe-ban-after-driest-spring-132-years <p>Restrictions to be brought in from Friday after region receives just 15cm of rainfall between February and June</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2025/jul/08/stock-markets-trump-tariff-letters-august-deadline-obr-uk-public-finances-marks-spencer-cyber-hack-business-live-news-updates">Business live – latest updates</a></p> </li> </ul> <p>Yorkshire Water has introduced hosepipe restrictions after the region recorded its driest spring in 132 years.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/yorkshire-water-announces-hosepipe-ban-after-driest-spring-132-years" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:11:08 +0000 admin 100547 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org