Breaking Waves: Ocean News https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-waves/index.php en Buyers of new EVs under £37,000 can get discount under UK scheme https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/buyers-new-evs-under-37000-can-get-discount-under-uk-scheme <p>Grant offering up to 10% off may benefit some cheaper Chinese models but leave Tesla fans paying full price</p> <p>Buyers of new electric cars priced at less than £37,000 will be able to get a discount of up to 10% under a new UK government scheme, a move that may benefit some cheaper Chinese models but leave Tesla fans still having to pay the full price.</p> <p>The Department for Transport has reintroduced a grant, which had been scrapped in June 2022, to encourage more drivers to switch from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/buyers-new-evs-under-37000-can-get-discount-under-uk-scheme" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 21:30:38 +0000 admin 100634 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Trump officials address ‘chemtrails’ conspiracy theories while spreading misinformation, experts say https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/trump-officials-address-chemtrails-conspiracy-theories-while-spreading-misinformation- <p>EPA’s move comes as it slashes climate research funding and cuts weather forecasting and scientific agencies’ staff</p> <p>Trump officials’ recent attempt to dispel concerns about “chemtrails” has perplexed and angered some experts who say the administration has itself promoted the conspiracy theory while also spreading climate misinformation.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/trump-officials-address-chemtrails-conspiracy-theories-while-spreading-misinformation-" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:07:49 +0000 admin 100631 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org UK’s clean electricity growing too slowly to meet climate targets, report says https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/uk-s-clean-electricity-growing-too-slowly-meet-climate-targets-report-says <p>UK’s energy system operator forecasts emissions a third over target by 2035, in second official warning in a month</p> <p>Britain is expected to fall short of the progress needed to meet its climate targets over the next decade because it is not growing its supply of clean electricity quickly enough, according to the government’s energy system operator.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/uk-s-clean-electricity-growing-too-slowly-meet-climate-targets-report-says" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:56:16 +0000 admin 100632 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Ed Miliband says Tories are ‘anti-science’ for abandoning net zero consensus https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/ed-miliband-says-tories-are-anti-science-abandoning-net-zero-consensus <p>Energy and net zero secretary lays out stark picture of how climate crisis and nature depletion is affecting UK</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/14/ed-miliband-annual-statement-environment-climate-crisis">Climate activists will welcome Ed Miliband’s words but tough choices lie ahead</a></p> </li> </ul> <p>Ed Miliband has accused the Conservatives of being “anti-science” by abandoning a political consensus on net zero as he gave MPs a stark outline of how the climate crisis and nature depletion are already affecting the UK.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/ed-miliband-says-tories-are-anti-science-abandoning-net-zero-consensus" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:42:10 +0000 admin 100633 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org More of England expected to enter drought status after hottest June on record https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/more-england-expected-enter-drought-status-after-hottest-june-record <p>Up to five areas could enter drought status and more hosepipe bans expected after three heatwaves and lack of rain </p> <p>As many as five areas of England are expected to go into drought this summer after the hottest June since records began in 1884.</p> <p>Three heatwaves, which tend to increase water consumption, combined with a lack of rain means that large swathes of England are heading towards drought status and the damage to the environment that entails.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/more-england-expected-enter-drought-status-after-hottest-june-record" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 15:05:55 +0000 admin 100630 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org About 1,500 tarantulas found hidden in cake boxes at German airport https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/about-1500-tarantulas-found-hidden-cake-boxes-german-airport <p>Customs officials at Cologne Bonn airport tipped off by ‘noticeable smell’ that did not resemble confectionary</p> <p>Arachnophobes beware: customs officials have released photos from a seizure of roughly 1,500 young tarantulas found inside plastic containers that were hidden in chocolate sponge cake boxes shipped to an airport in western Germany.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/about-1500-tarantulas-found-hidden-cake-boxes-german-airport" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 15:05:14 +0000 admin 100629 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Trump promised to lower energy costs – his tax bill will raise them for people in red states the most https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/trump-promised-lower-energy-costs-his-tax-bill-will-raise-them-people-red-states-most <p>Household energy bills in some Republican-leaning states could rise by more than $600 every year, analysis of the so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ finds</p> <p>The cost of electricity is poised to surge across the US in the wake of Republican legislation that takes an axe to cheap renewable energy, with people in states who voted for Donald Trump last year to be hardest hit by the increase in bills.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/trump-promised-lower-energy-costs-his-tax-bill-will-raise-them-people-red-states-most" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 14:00:11 +0000 admin 100628 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Woman who withheld council tax in climate protest faces losing home https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/woman-who-withheld-council-tax-climate-protest-faces-losing-home <p>Jane McCarthy, who has terminal cancer, withheld payments for three years in protest at Buckinghamshire council’s fossil fuel investments</p> <p>A woman who withheld council tax payments for three years in protest at her local authority’s continued investment in fossil fuels fears losing her home.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/woman-who-withheld-council-tax-climate-protest-faces-losing-home" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 11:49:20 +0000 admin 100626 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org Thames Water announces hosepipe ban as dry weather depletes reservoirs https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/thames-water-announces-hosepipe-ban-dry-weather-depletes-reservoirs <p>Restrictions to come into effect in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire from 22 July</p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/thames-water">Thames Water</a> has announced a hosepipe ban as a record dry spring and summer has severely reduced water supplies.</p> <p>Households in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire will be banned from using hosepipes to wash cars or water gardens from Tuesday 22 July.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/thames-water-announces-hosepipe-ban-dry-weather-depletes-reservoirs" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 11:40:33 +0000 admin 100627 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org A deadly 1987 flood foreshadowed the Texas disaster. Survivors ask, ‘why didn’t we learn?’ https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/deadly-1987-flood-foreshadowed-texas-disaster-survivors-ask-why-didn-t-we-learn <p>The Fourth of July tragedy was described as something no one could have seen coming. But in ‘flash flood alley’, an eerily similar event 40 years ago holds important lessons</p> <p>The rain was pouring down in Texas in the early morning hours of 17 July 1987. James Moore, a reporter for a local NBC news station, was stationed in Austin when his editors called and told him to grab his camera operator and head to Kerrville, a Hill Country town about 100 miles (160km) away. They had heard reports of flash flooding on the Guadalupe River.</p> <p><a href="https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/breaking-wave/deadly-1987-flood-foreshadowed-texas-disaster-survivors-ask-why-didn-t-we-learn" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 11:00:07 +0000 admin 100624 at https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org