Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Running dry: drought-hit UK sporting venues and parched pitches – in pictures

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:45:56 +0000

With the UK experiencing the driest summer on record, we look at how the weather is affecting the pitches and courses across the country

‘They do look majestic’: tears and pride as first white storks set free in Cornwall

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 08:00:21 +0000

Twenty-one birds released on Bodmin Moor where it is hoped they will one day return to produce their own young

They took a little coaxing at first – after all, they had got used to a safe, comfortable aviary tucked away in woodland on the edge of Bodmin Moor. But after a few minutes, the birds stepped out into freedom and the bolder ones were soon soaring into the blue, the first white storks to be released into the wilds of Cornwall.

How can we talk about this extreme weather now that it’s a battleground in the culture wars? | Andy Beckett

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 07:00:21 +0000

Weather forecasts once gave Britons something safe to chat about. Not any more, and that’s a problem for the experts – indeed, for all of us

Bird flu is a huge disaster and it’s normal to find it distressing and sad. How can we deal with this grief? | First Dog on the Moon

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 06:14:56 +0000

Firstly you can just grieve – it’s not your fault because you used a plastic straw that one time

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Searches for UK homes with air conditioning more than double

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 05:00:20 +0000

Most owners would consider installing aircon as heatwaves lead buyers to focus on ability to stay cool, Rightmove says

Searches for homes for sale in the UK with air conditioning have more than doubled this summer as heatwaves push staying cool up the list of priorities for homebuyers, alongside nearness to good schools and transport links.

Week in wildlife: snake on a car, a careful spider mum and a lazy squirrel

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 05:00:18 +0000

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

‘Unprecedented’ rain kills four in Japan as thousands stranded at airport

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:14:17 +0000

Evacuation orders issued for 400,000 as torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture as flooding risks remain high despite rainfall easing

At least four people died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left nearly 7,000 stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport, and forced thousands to take refuge in government buildings.

Indonesia wildfires threaten orangutans rescued from animal traffickers

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:00:16 +0000

Blaze fuelled by hot, dry and windy conditions comes within metres of West Kalimantan rehabilitation centre

Orangutans rescued from wildlife traffickers face a new threat from the record number of fires that have broken out in Indonesia in recent weeks.

Flames have come within metres of an animal rehabilitation centre in West Kalimantan as hot, dry and windy conditions have been amplified by a powerful El Niño and the human-driven climate crisis.

Romania shuts its last nuclear reactor as drought-hit Danube river drops to record low

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 01:20:26 +0000

Cernavoda shutdown poses immediate problems for Moldova, which relies on Romanian power to cover its own electricity shortages

Romania has been forced to shut down the last working ⁠reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova.

New UN plastic treaty is going backwards, experts say

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:10:07 +0000

NGOs say agreement held back by tenuous human health commitments and lobbying from plastic industry

The latest version of the long overdue plastic treaty is even less ambitious than the previous one, according to experts.

A year after UN plastics treaty negotiations collapsed in Geneva in 2025, diplomats met informally in Nairobi between 30 June and 3 July, aiming to flesh out a new “no surprises” document.