Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Environment Agency insider alleges ‘cover-up’ over sewage sludge on farmland

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 10:13:44 +0000

Regulator and government accused of colluding with water industry to dump potentially toxic waste without oversight

Millions of tonnes of toxic sewage sludge spread on UK farmland every year
‘A Trojan horse’: how toxic sewage sludge became a threat to the future of British farming

Thousands meet their MPs to show huge demand for climate action

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 05:00:42 +0000

Mass lobby in Westminster is kicked off with giant image on cliffs of Dover stating ‘89% of people want climate action’

More than 5,000 people from across the UK arrived in Westminster on Wednesday to meet their MPs and demand urgent climate action to protect their communities.

The mass lobby is one of the largest to date. The constituents, including parents and pensioners, doctors, teachers, farmers and youth campaigners, have arranged to lobby at least 500 MPs, about 80% of the total.

Climate breakdown tripled death toll in Europe’s June heatwave, study finds

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 04:00:40 +0000

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.

Human-wildlife coexistence through the lens of fishermen’s knowledge and lived experience

admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00139-0

Human-wildlife coexistence through the lens of fishermen’s knowledge and lived experience

Teen counselors and rookie rescue swimmer save dozens in Texas camp flood

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:56:26 +0000

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.

Marseille fire forces hundreds to evacuate, destroys homes and grounds flights

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:50:28 +0000

Fire has brought many of the city’s services to a halt, with all flights cancelled at Marseille airport

A fast-moving wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second-largest city, Marseille, has destroyed homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate, as a heatwave and dangerous fire conditions grip the Mediterranean.

Time for some straight talking on the cost of clean energy. It isn’t a free lunch | Nils Pratley

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:30:24 +0000

UK ministers should update the public on the outlook for bills as the price of overhauling the system is adding up

‘Serious risk to life’: scenic Isle of Wight road could fall into sea, councillor warns

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:40:08 +0000

Military Road on island’s south is threatened by erosion, with some parts now less than 5 metres from steep cliffs

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.

The problem is that Military Road on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight is getting just a little too close to those plunging cliffs for comfort.

‘Like fly-tipping’: ministers ignoring pleas to cut sludge fertiliser use

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:00:22 +0000

Exclusive: Defra warned three years ago of farmland contamination by water firms’ sewage-derived product

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.

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.

‘If you hear your town is scum all the time that sinks in’: the young people in Blackpool refusing to be written off

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:00:21 +0000

The seaside resort has become a byword for coastal deprivation but its youth say there’s a world of creativity bubbling under the surface

Photographs by Polly Braden
Young people in the UK: share your experiences of living in a coastal town