BoM and other agencies expect transition to the first El Niño since spring 2023 sometime during winter
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Australia should prepare for an imminent El Niño, with the Bureau of Meteorology and other agencies forecasting that the weather phenomenon is likely to develop in the coming months.
“The models are really aligning now,” Felicity Gamble, a senior BoM climatologist, said. “We are expecting a transition to El Niño sometime during winter.”
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
El Niño expected to develop in coming months, bringing hotter and drier weather to eastern Australia
06/02/2026 - 23:29
06/02/2026 - 18:01
Bank of England says updated imagery will celebrate native wildlife while bolstering anti-counterfeit features
Puffins, dolphins and bumblebees are among the wildlife that could feature on new banknotes in the UK as the Bank of England announces its shortlist.
There has been controversy over the decision, with figures including Nigel Farage criticising the Bank for, he claimed, wanting to replace Winston Churchill with a beaver. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said it was “a silly thing to do”, and Reform UK’s Farage called it “absolutely crackers”. In the end, no beaver appeared on the shortlist. Mammal options include bottlenose dolphins and red foxes.
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06/02/2026 - 17:35
Ocean Observatories Initiative, $368m network that has provided crucial climate data, latest victim of Trump cuts
The Trump administration plans to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system that has for more than a decade provided crucial data on ocean systems and climate change.
In a notice, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it had “initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative” (OOI), a vast ocean observation network comprising more than 900 instruments that collect data on ocean health, including current patterns, climate variability and marine biodiversity.
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06/02/2026 - 11:29
Utility company pleaded guilty to criminal offence of supplying water unfit for humans
‘My son is still suffering’: the ill effects of water contamination in ‘Brixham incident’
A utility company has been fined £1.85m for supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak made hundreds of people sick and forced thousands of households to boil their water.
South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to a cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, in the spring and summer of 2024.
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06/02/2026 - 10:00
Researchers observed unavailable female dolphins – those that were older, or with calves – did not show the same avoidant behaviour
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Female dolphins identify males by their unique calls and keep track of their past behaviour, choosing to avoid the most aggressive males during mating season, new research suggests.
Bottlenose dolphin society is complex, and male and female dolphins often know each other for decades, said Prof Stephanie King, an expert in animal behaviour at the University of Bristol.
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06/02/2026 - 10:00
Finocchiaro government grants approval for up to 12 wells in Beetaloo basin
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Santos could begin new drilling for gas in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin within weeks after the Finocchiaro government granted approval for up to 12 wells.
The decision, published late last month, has prompted calls from environment groups for the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to use his powers to “call in” the development for an assessment of its potential effects on water and threatened species under national nature laws.
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06/02/2026 - 10:00
‘Completely unnecessary’ hybrid cans are not easily recycled or accepted by container refund schemes, and are already banned in WA
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A single-use plastic and metal drinking vessel dubbed a “franken-can” has been given the dubious honour of the nation’s worst plastic packaging.
The plastic-metal hybrid can, which is not accepted by container refund schemes or easily recycled – has won the inaugural Unpackit award for Australia’s worst packaging.
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06/02/2026 - 09:22
State attorneys general argue $1bn deal to terminate major offshore wind lease off the coast of New York is unlawful
Six states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its decision to cancel a major offshore wind lease off the coast of New York.
In March, federal officials announced they would pay nearly $1bn in taxpayer dollars to French energy firm TotalEnergies in exchange for the company killing plans to erect two offshore windfarms off New York and North Carolina. TotalEnergies agreed to terminate the projects and pledged not to develop any new offshore wind projects in the United States, while investing hundreds of millions of dollars in oil and gas projects.
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06/02/2026 - 09:00
Investigation reveals regulator let firms off the hook on cleanup bonds despite backlog that will take decades to clear
When Christiaan van Woudenberg moved to Erie, Colorado, in 2007, he never imagined he would become an anti-fracking activist. He simply thought he was buying his dream home – a four-bedroom with a panoramic mountain view, 30 minutes north of downtown Denver.
Then, in 2014, the drilling started. Oil and gas rigs sprang up, some just 800ft (240m) from his bedroom window. The dream turned to nightmare: loud noises rumbled all night long, and the air stank like exhaust. Neighbors started getting headaches and nosebleeds, and Van Woudenberg developed new respiratory issues. He kept his windows shut and worried about his daughters going outside.
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06/02/2026 - 08:30
Novel forms of CO2 removal must expand at ‘highly ambitious rates’ if world is to limit global heating to 1.5C, says study
Humanity must suck carbon out of the atmosphere with new technologies even faster than the breakneck speed with which it has deployed solar panels if it is to limit global heating to 1.5C, a report has found.
Novel forms of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) must grow at “highly ambitious rates” to bridge the gap between what governments have pledged to clean up and what is needed to comply with the Paris climate agreement, according to researchers. They said the next five years were critical to establishing the technologies’ role in limiting climate damages.
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