Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/03/2026 - 11:56
NatureScot refuses licence for hunt on Hebridean island of Sula Sgeir in which up to 2,000 gannet chicks are killed
A controversial Scottish seabird hunt will not go ahead for the first time in 400 years, in what campaigners have called a “victory for common sense”.
In the annual guga hunt, up to 2,000 gannet chicks are killed over a 10-day period on the uninhabited Hebridean island of Sula Sgeir, 40 miles north of Lewis and Harris.
Continue reading...
08/03/2026 - 09:40
Hungary and Romania face energy crisis as record-low river levels force atomic power plants to reduce output
Europe live – latest updates
Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to help redirect vital cooling water from the drought-hit Danube to the country’s last working nuclear reactor, while neighbouring Hungary said it may be able to eke out two more days of power from its only atomic plant.
Hungary and Romania have been forced to shut down nuclear reactors cooled by the Danube for the first time, as record-low water levels deepen fears of an energy crisis across the region.
Continue reading...
08/03/2026 - 09:00
A new book, Homes for Our Time, by Philip Jodidio, showcases the quiet revolution in green residential architecture
Continue reading...
08/03/2026 - 04:13
Environment minister says Australia has ‘long and difficult journey’ and says more mass mortality events likely
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Aerial surveillance has detected mass bird deaths in a second Australian state in another suspected escalation of the spread of deadly H5 bird flu.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, said on Monday Australia had begun “a long and difficult journey” as CSIRO analysis confirmed Australia’s first mass mortality event at Baudin Rocks off South Australia’s coast.
Continue reading...
08/03/2026 - 01:24
What a vibrant marketplace of ideas
Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints
Continue reading...
08/02/2026 - 18:33
Wildfires in and around Spokane have stretched ability of federal and local agencies to fight blazes
Wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area while destroying at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures, authorities said on Sunday.
The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second largest city, burned about 8.2 sq miles (about 21 sq km), but they were among dozens across the western US that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. A total of about 390 sq miles have burned across the state, and some of the fires, including those in the Spokane area, have not been contained.
Continue reading...
08/02/2026 - 11:30
Water is a vital shared resource, and privatisation has made a just transition harder
Compared with rising heat-related deaths, and devastating wildfires in the Cairngorms and Suffolk, the announcement that the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is considering moving its hydrangea collection from Surrey to Greater Manchester and North Yorkshire might seem unimportant. But it points to geographical differences in exposure to global heating that have arguably never been more evident than this summer, with last month the driest on record. Seven areas of south and east England are officially in drought, along with the whole of Wales.
A drought is less easily measured than a heatwave, which is declared by the Met Office when the maximum temperature exceeds a set threshold on three consecutive days. But the fact that drought is harder to quantify does not make it less damaging. Water shortages are exposing specific vulnerabilities and inequalities, as well as the UK’s lack of preparedness for climate change overall.
Continue reading...
08/02/2026 - 10:54
Farmers battle to salvage what they can of their crops as heatwave set to continue
Britain could face shortages of certain foods after punishing drought in parts of England, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned as a heatwave was forecast to continue into next week.
The UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued heat health alerts for eight regions of England, with temperatures set to rise above 30C in parts of the country. UKHSA said rising temperatures may increase health risks, particularly for vulnerable groups.
Continue reading...
08/02/2026 - 08:52
Fire department says two-person crew of one aircraft killed in incident during gale-force winds to west of capital
Two firefighting helicopters have collided west of Athens, killing the two-person crew of one of the aircraft, as efforts to control a massive wildfire barrelling towards the outskirts of the Greek capital intensified.
Footage showed one of the helicopters losing control in the face of gale-force winds that have pushed flames towards settlements on Athens’ western fringes.
Continue reading...
