Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Park to protect 12,000 koalas to go ahead via contentious carbon credit deal by Albanese government

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:43:24 +0000

Minns government waited on federal approval of carbon credit scheme before proceeding with long-awaited great koala national park

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Red warning for south-east England after record June heat; 55 people have drowned in France – Europe heatwave live

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:14:20 +0000

First time red warnings issued in UK for three consecutive days; Paris to ban drinking alcohol in public as hospitals reach ‘saturation point’

European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say

Rain stopped play? Biggest worry now in British sport is extreme heat | Emma John

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:00:13 +0000

Climate crisis is on show every day when sportspeople do their thing and the rest of us sweat on the sofa

Nothing sharpens the distinction between professional athletes and the rest of us like a week of truly hot weather. While we’re apologetically crying off long-in-the-diary engagements – so sorry, just can’t face it in this weather – elite sportspeople are blinking the rivulets of sweat out of their eyes while squinting under a hot and heavy helmet, then doing 22-yard sprints with a couple of kilos of padding strapped to their legs.

‘Slough is like an experiment’: Europe’s largest datacentre hub leaves town sweltering

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:00:12 +0000

Emerging research suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in the immediate vicinity by as much as 9C

The community living next to the largest datacentre park in Europe say the scorching summer heat has grown unbearable.

On days like Wednesday, said Nabeel Nawaz, the store manager of a Chaiiwala franchise in the centre of Slough, the heat is like something “pinching your body and burning your skin”.

Week in wildlife: paddling deer, a spring-loaded penguin and a rare sand cat

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:00:11 +0000

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

A little bird told her: scientist wins $100,000 prize for decoding birdsong

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:53:54 +0000

Julie Elie worked out how zebra finches announce who they are, what they are doing and use individual signatures

A scientist who decoded the dictionary that a bird uses to communicate has won a $100,000 prize for making progress towards a world in which humans can talk to the animals – without being met with a blank response.

Dr Julie Elie at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize for two-way interspecies communication after working out the 11 core calls in the zebra finch vocabulary and their meanings.

Migrating swifts loyally return every year to nests in buildings, study finds

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:00:10 +0000

Conservationists emphasise importance of protecting nesting sites used by ‘strongly faithful’ red-listed species

Migratory swifts loyally return every year to their nests in buildings, according to a study, underlining the importance of providing the endangered birds with hollow nesting bricks if traditional nest sites are lost to renovations.

Too hot for work: why extreme heat is a threat to Europe’s productivity

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:00:08 +0000

High temperatures make some workplaces dangerous, with economists warning disruption will dent growth

Monique Mosley is used to sweltering conditions at the food factory in Yorkshire where she works, but June’s record-breaking heatwave has made conditions unbearable. “We make hot filled food products and it’s common that we see temperatures in the high 30s,” she said. “Thanks to our union, our employer is offering extra breaks, but not every workplace is the same.”

European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:00:09 +0000

Study also finds high humidity means people in hundreds of cities are enduring their worst ever heat stress

The heatwave scorching western Europe is the most severe and widespread ever and is only possible due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning, scientists have said.

Almost half of Europe’s 850 largest cities are also enduring their worst ever heat stress, a combination of temperature and humidity, they found. Muggier conditions mean sweating is less effective at cooling the body, making heatwaves even more dangerous.

‘Kind of miracle solution’: How Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:00:08 +0000

City plans to triple system of underground pipes that distribute chilled river water, reducing need for individual cooling units

As heatwaves intensify across Europe, most cities are reaching for a familiar fix of more air conditioning. But in 1990s Paris, planning began for a different kind of solution: one of the world’s largest district cooling networks.