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.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/16/2026 - 05:00
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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09/15/2026 - 16:06
Connecticut plaintiffs say ‘forever chemicals’ in turnout gear increase risk of cancer by absorption and inhalation
A federal judge on Tuesday said more than 20 defendants including 3M, DuPont and Honeywell must face claims by Connecticut firefighters who said their protective gear was contaminated by toxic “forever chemicals” that increased their risk of cancer.
Lawyers for 13 firefighter union organizations and 12 individual firefighters said “turnout gear” that shields against extreme heat and flames leached the chemicals through absorption into skin, ingestion and inhalation. They have called the proposed class action the first to exclusively target firefighter gear containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or Pfas.
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09/14/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 15 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00244-8
The ocean we want in the decade of ocean science:a four-country pilot survey
09/11/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 12 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00246-6
Aligning Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures and Open Science for FAIR and sustainable ocean knowledge systems
09/10/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 11 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00239-5
Using a trait-based framework to characterize farmed seaweeds and guide selection of new candidates
09/08/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00243-9
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is the first global treaty to restrict the use of harmful fishing subsidies. The agreement is a critical step towards reigning in the destructive subsidies that have fueled the rapid depletion of global fish stocks. However, these important new rules are being undermined by the significant number of countries—including some of the world’s biggest fishing nations—that have refused to ratify the treaty.
