The behaviours we observed could represent grief, but they could also reflect maternal attachment, confusion or instinctive caregiving
It was a tragic sight.
One day last July, a newborn humpback whale calf lay motionless on the seafloor, just a kilometre off Australia’s Gold Coast. The encounter was captured through underwater video.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/16/2026 - 21:22
09/16/2026 - 18:01
Scientists say global heating was a destabilising factor in collapse of 200,000 sq metre glacier in August
Climate breakdown probably weakened the glacier that collapsed causing catastrophic floods and killing hundreds of people in Nepal and Tibet last month, the first scientific study of the disaster has found.
Researchers identified unusually warm conditions before the glacier’s collapse, which sent an avalanche of 110m cubic metres (3,885 cu ft) of snow and ice into the valley below. This triggered flash floods on an almost unprecedented scale, hitting communities downstream without warning.
Continue reading...
09/16/2026 - 07:00
Claims that dismantling pollution rules will lower energy bills and have little climate impact are far from convincing
In allowing US power plants to emit any amount of planet-heating pollution they wish to, the Trump administration made two striking claims – that this will cut Americans’ electricity bills and that the pollution itself doesn’t really matter anyway. Both claims struggle to stand up to even basic scrutiny.
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would erase any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants that are dangerously heating up our planet. This move, which follows a similar dismantling of pollution limits from cars ands trucks, is part of a broader push to eliminate the longstanding legal authority of this, or any future, US administration to deal with the climate crisis.
Continue reading...
09/16/2026 - 07:00
Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds
Microplastics act like a “Trojan horse” delivering pollutants, pesticides and bacteria through the soil, a five-year multinational research project has found.
The EU-funded project, which has so far resulted in 22 peer-reviewed studies, found microplastics in the soil of all 227 agricultural fields it tested across 11 European countries. The researchers said this poses a global threat, with healthy soils essential for life on Earth.
Continue reading...
09/16/2026 - 06:00
Global push will triple toxic e-waste annually in 25 years, filling enough shipping containers to circle globe six times
The ongoing campaign to build thousands of massive datacenters for AI will create a “tsunami” of discarded electronics, putting the world on a course to triple its annual generation of toxic e-waste in the next 25 years, a new report projects.
The electronic trash AI generates in the next 25 years could fill enough shipping containers to encircle the globe six times, it said. Yet, says the report by the non-profit environmental group Basel Action Network (BAN), there is no plan to deal with that waste – which typically contains toxins like lead, mercury, cadmium and forever chemicals, as well as valuable metals that are challenging to reclaim.
Continue reading...
09/16/2026 - 05:00
US grapples with federal firefighter shortage as crews say they’re spread thin and lack resources during unrelenting year of fire
Firefighters battling enormous wildfires in the United States say the federal government is failing them at a time when supercharged blazes have made their jobs exponentially more dangerous.
While the US continues to grapple with a critical shortage of federal firefighters – with especially large gaps in essential management positions – the Trump administration has increased pressure on firefighting forces to rapidly and aggressively contain the flames.
Continue reading...
09/16/2026 - 04:00
New owners apply for permission to extract oil in Horse Hill despite landmark ruling from supreme court in 2024
After years of trying to dig for oil in Surrey, the company behind the drilling project that was turned down in a landmark supreme court ruling has sold off the site for a fraction of the money it spent on it, and rebranded as a clean energy company.
Meanwhile, the new owners, who picked up the site for £1m, are applying, once again, for permission to dig.
Continue reading...
09/16/2026 - 00:00
Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin America
Nature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness.
Organised crime groups or professional killers were implicated in more than a third of the 124 killings of defenders in 2025 as narco-trafficking activities overlapped with intrusions into indigenous territories and environmental crime, such as illegal logging and wildcat gold mining.
Continue reading...
09/15/2026 - 23:00
Climate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions
Heathrow airport should be allowed to expand only if airlines pay for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the government’s climate advisers have said.
Building a third runway and new terminals, as some in government want to do, would breach the UK’s carbon budgets and make reaching net zero by 2050 impossible, on current policies, according to the Climate Change Committee.
Continue reading...
09/15/2026 - 16:30
Analysis of 29 studies highlights potentially heightened danger from small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide
Air pollution is associated with an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to research.
Environmental pollution is known to be associated with poorer mental health but its role in suicide risk is less well understood. Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast examined whether air, noise, light, and water pollution could influence the risk of death by suicide and suicidal behaviours.
Continue reading...
