Research shows steep increases over past 30 years, after summer of strandings across Europe
The number of marine mammals stranded in Scotland has risen dramatically in the past 30 years, a study has found.
From 1992 to 2022, 5,147 cetaceans died on Scottish shores, and a new paper shows steep increases in the rate of strandings of up to 800% in some species, continuing exponentially every year.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/20/2025 - 04:00
The Guardian’s former north of England editor returned to Morecambe after 25 years to discover the place where she grew up has even fewer amenities for young people – and the feeling of being ‘left behind’ is stronger than ever
Photographs by Polly Braden
If you had asked me as a teenager whether I saw my future in Morecambe, I’d have laughed you out of our faded seaside town. I’d been plotting my escape since I was 14. The sea was grey, the sand was treacherous and the wind was always messing up my hair. I was totally unmoved by the view across the bay of the Lake District fells.
It felt like half of the world was cut off. You could go left or right on the prom but never straight ahead, unless you wanted to end up stuck in mud waving frantically for the coastguard. A whole compass point was out of reach.
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08/20/2025 - 03:00
Natural climate variation is most likely reason as global heating due to fossil fuel burning has continued
The melting of sea ice in the Arctic has slowed dramatically in the past 20 years, scientists have reported, with no statistically significant decline in its extent since 2005.
The finding is surprising, the researchers say, given that carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning have continued to rise and trap ever more heat over that time.
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08/19/2025 - 23:00
The scourges of picnics have arrived early and in greater numbers amid ideal conditions for colonies to thrive
If dodging swooping gulls trying to steal your chips wasn’t already enough, you might be spending your bank holiday trying to keep wasps away from your ice cream too.
Britain is in the middle of a wasp boom. Not only have they arrived earlier than expected, but there are more of them than in recent summers. Experts say 2025 is an excellent year for them.
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08/19/2025 - 23:00
With the number of very hot days rising as well as average temperatures, more and more animals are vulnerable. But while some species can adapt, others are seeing huge population declines
The residents of Tecolutilla, Mexico, knew the heatwave was bad when they heard the thuds. One by one, the town’s howler monkeys, overcome with dehydration and exhaustion, were falling from the trees like apples, their limp bodies smacking the ground as temperatures sizzled past 43C (110F) in spring last year.
Those that survived were given ice and intravenous drips by rescuers. At least 83 of the primates were found dead in the state of Tabasco, though local veterinarians estimated hundreds throughout the region probably perished.
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08/19/2025 - 18:57
Optimism may be hard to come by but the evidence shows some progress on emissions is not just possible – it’s happening before our eyes
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There is something of a reality check under way on the response to the climate crisis. It’s no secret that countries and corporations are far from living up to the goals set by international leaders at the landmark 2015 Paris agreement.
Unless there is a significant course correction, the ramifications will be far-reaching and often destructive. The second coming of Donald Trump and growing global instability has made a top-down injection of urgency at the pace needed harder to imagine. Optimism is harder to come by.
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08/19/2025 - 11:38
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans
Brazil has issued an urgent call for all countries to come forward with strengthened national plans on the climate, in a last-ditch attempt to meet a key September deadline.
Only 28 countries have so far submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases – including China and the EU – still to produce their plans.
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08/19/2025 - 10:00
Scientist warns long suspension poses potential risks to some wetland areas and native species of fish and birds
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Environmental flows in the Murray-Darling necessary to keep wetlands and fish healthy have come to an abrupt halt due to a legal stoush between the commonwealth and the New South Wales government.
The commonwealth environmental water holder, Simon Banks, announced on Monday that he would no longer be releasing water into the river system because “as a model licence holder” he was no longer confident he was complying with NSW law.
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08/19/2025 - 08:33
PM says wildfires are proof climate emergency is getting worse, and that sustained non-partisan effort is needed
The wildfires that have devoured 382,000 hectares of land in Spain and killed four people underscore the need to “readjust and recalibrate” the country’s preparation and response capacities as part of a non-partisan effort to tackle the impacts of the climate emergency, the prime minister has warned.
Speaking during a visit to the south-western region of Extremadura on Tuesday, Pedro Sánchez said that while the record-breaking 16-day heatwave that had fanned the flames was over, “difficult hours” lay ahead as firefighters continued to battle huge blazes across parts of the country.
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08/19/2025 - 07:56
Deaths from short-term exposure to fine particulates spewed by forest fires underestimated by 93%
Choking smoke spewed by wildfires is far more dangerous than previously thought, a new study has found, with death tolls from short-term exposure to fine particulates underestimated by 93%.
Researchers found that 535 people in Europe died on average each year between 2004 and 2022 as a result of breathing in the tiny toxic particles known as PM2.5 that are released when wildfires rage.
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