From an energy-efficient bungalow in the South Downs to an historic chapel in Northumberland
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/11/2026 - 00:00
The country is one of just three that still permits commercial whaling, while its government has faced mounting pressure to ban the practice
Iceland will submit a bill in February 2027 which could permanently ban whaling in its waters, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries to permit commercial whaling.
Whaling in Iceland has been put under intense scrutiny since a government-commissioned report was published in 2023 that found harpooned whales took two hours to die. The report led to a temporary suspension of the hunt that year.
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09/10/2026 - 09:00
We’d like to hear from people about the impact of extreme heat this summer – and if you’ve had your power cut
It’s been a record summer of heat in the US with rolling heat domes and July being the hottest month ever recorded in the country, surpassing temperatures stretching back over 132 years of reliable measurements, to 1895. July’s temperatures surpassed previous high marks set in July 1936, in the teeth of dust bowl conditions, and in July 2012.
We want to hear from people across the US on how they have coped with the heat – and what it has meant for utility bills. Has the heat affected you or your family physically? Have you had to change your daily routines?
Have your bills soared with the cost of keeping your home cool?
And we especially want to hear from people who have had their electricity cut off during the extreme heat or have had trouble keeping up with utility payments.
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09/10/2026 - 09:00
The island chain has tended to avoid the worst effects, but Hurricanes Lowell and Lala left a trail of damage this year
Hurricane Lowell surged near the Hawaiian Islands this week, leaving a trail of downed trees and power lines, crumbled roads, sunken boats and destroyed piers on the island of Kauai.
Residents were left to grapple not only with the damage, but the rising risks to the tropical archipelago as sea surface temperatures climb.
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09/10/2026 - 09:00
Hot weather means sweeter grapes, but outlook gloomier for beermakers, as drought diminishes barley harvest
English sparkling winemakers expect their earliest grape harvest and a “vintage year” after a scorching summer quickly ripened grapes.
However, beer sellers have warned of a potential shortage after record-breaking temperatures and a drought hitting much of England has caused poor yields of barley.
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09/10/2026 - 07:50
Chemours, DuPont and Corteva reach settlement after lawsuits accuse companies of polluting drinking water
Chemours, DuPont and Corteva on Thursday reached a $455m settlement with North Carolina and 11 local entities over Pfas contamination claims tied to Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant and other historical discharges.
Lawsuits accusing major chemical companies of polluting US drinking water with toxic Pfas chemicals – a group of pollutants referred to as “forever chemicals” – have led to settlements worth billions of dollars, including one struck by the three companies in New Jersey last year.
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09/10/2026 - 06:37
Record demand for A&E units, ambulance services and NHS 111 shows extreme heat having unprecedented impact on health, experts say
The NHS came under its most intense strain ever as a result of the summer’s five heatwaves, amid warnings that extreme heat is having an unprecedented impact on human health.
A&E units, ambulance services and the NHS 111 telephone advice line all experienced record demand for their services in England in June, July and August as Britain experienced record temperatures.
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09/10/2026 - 06:14
Environment Agency says talks under way about increasing prices for industrial users to try to reduce poor water management
Ministers are exploring making water more expensive for some users, in the face of severe supply shortages.
Despite the UK being a famously wet country, the precarious nature of the water supply has been made particularly acute this summer, with almost three-quarters of England and all of Wales in drought and 27 million people facing restrictions on their water use.
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09/10/2026 - 06:00
As public air monitors disappear, federal rollbacks and state laws are making it harder than ever to know what’s in the air
As the US’s network for monitoring air pollution deteriorates, a Floodlight investigation has found that the chemical industry is going state-to-state to restrict one of the few options citizens have left for holding polluters accountable: low-cost air sensors.
Over the past two years, the non-profit investigative newsroom determined, lawmakers in Louisiana, Kentucky and Ohio have passed strikingly similar laws barring regulators from acting on air-quality data that communities collect themselves – unless it comes from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved equipment that typically costs tens of thousands of dollars. Similar legislation has repeatedly been introduced in West Virginia.
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09/10/2026 - 03:00
Emissions of planet-heating methane and CO2 from natural sources are worsening the climate crisis, paper says
Rising global temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels are transforming the world’s forests, wetlands and tundra to the point they are releasing emissions that could further worsen global heating by as much as 30%, a new study has found.
As the world heats up, permafrost in the high latitudes is thawing, fiercer wildfires are burning in drying forests and wetlands and lakes are warming. All of these changes are themselves causing the release of planet-heating methane and carbon dioxide locked in trees and soils, therefore worsening the climate crisis, the paper states.
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