Breaking Waves: Ocean News

The best way to save giant sequoias may be more fire

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:18:59 +0000

Giant sequoias are built to withstand ordinary fires, but recent extreme wildfires killed thousands of trees that had survived for centuries or even millennia. A new analysis of about 26,400 sequoias found that trees in areas treated with prescribed burns were nearly four times more likely to survive. Researchers estimate the controlled fires prevented about 1,900 deaths and could have saved thousands more if used across every grove.

Firefighters in France battle to prevent huge blaze from approaching Bordeaux

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:56:30 +0000

Efforts to contain wildfire that has consumed an area of four times the size of Paris impeded by windy conditions

Europe wildfires live – latest updates

Authorities are battling to contain a huge wildfire near Bordeaux in south-west France that has consumed an area of land four times the size of Paris.

Hidden genetic diversity helped inbred brown tree snakes conquer guam

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 07:15:38 +0000

A notorious snake invasion that devastated Guam’s native birds may have succeeded because the reptiles carried hidden genetic advantages. Using advanced long-read DNA sequencing, researchers uncovered more than 19,000 large genetic differences in brown tree snakes, many concentrated in genes tied to immunity and smell. This overlooked diversity may have helped a population founded by only a few snakes survive inbreeding, adapt to a new environment, and multiply to extraordinary densities.

‘Scandalous, irrational and irresponsible’: French beekeepers’ fury at lifting of pesticides ban

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:00:03 +0000

Allowing use of two neonicotinoids to combat crop-ruining disease will kill bees and reduce harvests, union says

Beekeepers and environmentalists in France have reacted furiously after parliament approved a bill reauthorising two banned pesticides scientists say can poison bees.

“There are no words to describe the frustration,” said Carolyn Bouguet, a beekeeper in Essonne, greater Paris. “Bee populations have already been badly compromised by climate change, new parasites and loss of habitat. And now this.”

Scorching US heatwave to hit 70 million people with third ‘heat dome’ in month

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 18:34:53 +0000

Temperatures of 95-105F (35-40C) are expected, spanning Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest

About 70 million people in the US are set to face excessive heat advisories as dangerously hot temperatures scorch much of the country’s southern and central states.

The third major “heat dome” event to hit the US in the past month is gathering strength over the weekend, spanning a vast swathe of the country, from the Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest.

New North Sea oil drilling faces delay after gear accidentally dropped in sea

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:00:46 +0000

Exclusive: Blunder at Rosebank, UK’s biggest undeveloped oilfield, comes as government considers granting licence

Production at Britain’s biggest undeveloped oil and gasfield could be delayed for months after equipment from a rig was accidentally dropped in the North Sea, the Guardian can reveal.

Firefighters in Spain and France battle raging wildfires – video

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:11:56 +0000

Footage shows the extent of the devastation caused by wildfires in Cenicientos, in the Madrid region of Spain, on Friday. Members of Spain's military emergency unit sought to contain the blazes in the Madrid region and in Cuevas de Cañart in the country's north-east. In France, dozens of firefighters battled flames threatening homes around the towns of Saumos and Sainte-Hélène in the south-west as a wildfire swept the nearby forest.

France and Spain race to control wildfires as more than 250,000 evacuated – as it happened

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:24:59 +0000

Meanwhile, in the UK, a blaze in the Cairngorms national park has been described as ‘very serious’ by Scotland’s first minister

Tell us: have you been affected by wildfires in Europe?

The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has requested the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft earlier than originally planned to help tackle the major wildfires in Gironde, according to Le Monde.

Almost 75% of England’s riverbanks ‘off limits’ to public, figures show

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:00:37 +0000

Campaigners urge government to introduce right of access to water, particularly as heatwaves become more common

Almost three-quarters of riverbanks in England have no public access, according to data released by the Right to Roam campaign.

Across the country, the public cannot use riverbanks or gain access to the rivers themselves in most of the river catchments from the west of Cornwall up to the Tweed, which flows through northern England and Scotland.

Herbicide banned in 70 countries to be pulled from sale in Australia by chemical maker

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 04:59:49 +0000

Syngenta says it will stop selling paraquat in Australia after new regulations on chemical linked to Parkinson’s disease

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