Breaking Waves: Ocean News

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

The fight against AI data centers is important – but it’s just a starting point | Bruce Schneier and Nathan E Sanders

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:00:54 +0000

AI companies want to capture the value created by entire industries. That concentration of wealth and power is society’s greatest risk

Species’ ingenious survival strategies no match for human destruction, red list reveals

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:20:09 +0000

Newly endangered animals include desert frogs and snails in extreme ocean depths, both threatened by mining

Life has colonised every corner of the planet by evolving ingenious survival strategies but these are increasingly being overwhelmed by destructive human activities, this year’s red list of endangered species has revealed.

Pets can suffer heatstroke even when resting, UK vets warn

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:00:02 +0000

Most cases used to be seen after exertion or being left in cars, but extreme heat has widened risk

Extreme temperatures are causing heatstroke in pets even when they are restricted to homes and gardens, vets have warned, as parts of the UK enter the third heatwave of the year.

Neil the one-tonne elephant seal causing traffic jams in rural Tasmania has returned to sea – for now

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:19:37 +0000

Premier Jeremy Rockliff says the ‘traffic cones and street signs of Tasmania can breathe a small sigh of relief’

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Venomous snakes escape breeding farms in southern China during flooding

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 08:08:20 +0000

Local media in Hengzhou report king ratsnakes and cobras among hundreds in flood waters caused by typhoon Maysak

Hundreds of snakes, including cobras, have escaped from flooded breeding farms in southern China as severe storms continue to batter parts of the country.

Trees keep absorbing carbon long after they stop growing

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 06:28:44 +0000

Oak trees keep absorbing carbon dioxide long after their annual growth has ended, revealing that photosynthesis and wood production are not as closely linked as scientists once believed. The finding could reshape forecasts of how much carbon forests will be able to store in a warmer future.