Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Ella Baron on the wildfires in France and Spain – cartoon

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:51:39 +0000

Every new UK home should have air conditioning, say Liberal Democrats

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:09:31 +0000

Exclusive: Party says housing stock ‘woefully unprepared’ for extreme heat and new rules for builders must be set

All new UK homes should be built with air conditioning to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, according to the Liberal Democrats.

The party says British homes are dangerously unsuited to rising temperatures, meaning passive cooling measures such as planting more trees in residential areas are necessary.

Ed Miliband indicates development and climate will be at heart of UK foreign policy

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:00:15 +0000

Exclusive: Foreign secretary to take up World Bank seat and play active role in shaping changes to global lender

Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is to indicate he will put the climate crisis and overseas development at the heart of UK international relations by taking up the country’s seat on the board at the World Bank.

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.

Pedro Sánchez says Spain is suffering effects of climate crisis as firefighters battle wildfires in France

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

Blazes near Madrid coming under control but efforts to contain huge fire near Bordeaux hampered by windy conditions

Authorities in France are battling to contain a huge wildfire near Bordeaux in the south-west as Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, warned Spain and the Iberian peninsula were suffering the effects of the climate emergency.

Efforts to extinguish the blaze in the Gironde region of France – which has consumed an area four times the size of Paris and caused nearly 220,000 people to be evacuated – were hampered by windy conditions on Saturday night.

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.