Breaking Waves: Ocean News

August is on track to be hottest on record, with temperatures hitting at least 110F (43C) nearly every day More than 400 people are suspected to have died from extreme heat in Maricopa county, Arizona, so far this summer, according to official figures, as the brutal current heatwave enters its 12th day. August is on track to be the hottest on record, with temperatures hitting at least 110F (43C) every day apart from one so far. As of 11 August, at least three daily records had been broken including an all-time monthly high of 118F (48C), as well as several night-time record temperatures, according to Isaac Smith, meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Phoenix. Continue reading...

Environment minister says blazes are proof of country’s vulnerability to global heating as fires burn across Europe Europe live – latest updates The heatwave-fuelled wildfires that have killed two people in Spain over recent days, devouring thousands of hectares of land and forcing thousands of people from their homes, are a “clear warning” of the impact of the climate emergency, the country’s environment minister has said. Speaking on Wednesday morning, as firefighters in Spain, Greece and other Mediterranean countries continued to battle dozens of blazes, Sara Aagesen said the 14 wildfires still burning across seven Spanish regions were further proof of the country’s particular vulnerability to global heating. Continue reading...

Murray Watt and Sussan Ley survey devastation in Adelaide as scientists call for urgent funding for affected species Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Scientists have called for urgent funding for recovery measures for species affected by a catastrophic algal bloom off South Australia as images emerged of a dead dolphin that washed up on a beach in Adelaide. The call comes in response to an Albanese government announcement that it would fast-track an expert assessment of the impact of the crisis on marine life, similar to a step taken after the black summer bushfire crisis. Continue reading...

Chair Tony Juniper celebrates successes but says ‘collective endeavour’ needed to halt country’s decline in nature England needs a massive “collective endeavour” to halt the country’s nature decline, its top conservation official says, after multimillion-pound investments in nature helped dormice, voles, willow tits and other species thrive. Targeted conservation projects led by Natural England as part of its £13m species recovery programme’s capital grants scheme, have supported the recovery of 150 species, according to findings published on Wednesday. Continue reading...