Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Swift nest reportedly thrown in skip during house renovations in South Tyneside

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:00:15 +0000

Conservationists fear more nests may have been destroyed during work on Jarrow houses by council-appointed contractor

Swift chicks are feared to have been thrown into a skip during house renovations in South Tyneside, despite rules that should stop the destruction of nests.

The Northern Swifts Group (NSG) was alerted to the destruction of at least one nest on Tuesday, in a street in Jarrow where houses were being renovated by South Tyneside council.

Week in wildlife: a froggy lunch, a surf-loving penguin and an ambitious treehopper

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 07:00:14 +0000

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

We say thanks to all our selfless spineless pals | First Dog on the Moon

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 06:28:28 +0000

While I have no influence on the Guardian committee, I know who this year’s winner of the Invertebrate of the Year competition should be

Nominate your Invertebrate of the Year now! You have until midnight on Monday 13 July to submit your response
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Heatwave across western Europe – in pictures

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 05:00:11 +0000

Western Europe has been scorched by its hottest June on record, scientists have said, as the UK enters its third heatwave of the year and wildfires ravage France and Spain

Western Europe records hottest-ever June as heatwaves intensify

‘A lot of red flags’: plans for New Zealand’s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:40:26 +0000

Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country’s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution

People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them.

Historic El Niño able to supercharge extreme weather looks increasingly likely – researchers

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:06:22 +0000

Models show overwhelming chance that this year’s El Niño to rank among largest going back to 1950

El Niño is strengthening and the risks of a historic event with the power to supercharge extreme weather around the world are rising, according to the latest analysis from the US National Weather Service.

UK swelters in third heatwave of the year as western Europe counts cost of hottest-ever June

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:39:03 +0000

Britain expands heat alerts while estimates suggest June’s death toll could surpass 20,000 across continent

The UK is sweltering through the peak of its third heatwave of the year as countries around Europe struggle to recover from an early onslaught of baking summer heat.

New York sues 3M, DuPont and others over 'forever chemicals' in consumer goods

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:54:11 +0000

State says companies hid environmental and health risks of Pfas for decades even as they began phasing them out

This huge, hairy-legged Australian arachnid may be the fastest spider on the planet

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:00:55 +0000

A brown huntsman is the quickest of more than 250 species analysed by scientists in the UK and Germany

If arachnophobes were not frightened enough by the horrific ability of Australia’s huntsman spiders to drag dead mice up the sides of fridges, they now have another reason.

They might be the fastest spiders on the planet.

The brown huntsman timed as the fastest spider at a top speed of 3.59 m/s – video

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:00:55 +0000

Brown huntsman spiders were filmed to measure their speed. The 2021 research has been included in new analysis of the speeds of more than 250 spider species by scientists in the UK and Germany, which concludes the brown huntsman, Heteropoda jugulans, has a top speed of 3.59 m/s, making it the fastest of all spiders measured. The study includes research supervised by Dr Christofer Clemente, an evolutionary biomechanist at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland