Exclusive: Party says UK housing stock is ‘woefully unprepared’ for extreme heat and government must set new rules for builders
All new UK homes should be built with air conditioning to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, according to the Liberal Democrats.
The party says that British homes are dangerously unsuited to rising temperatures, meaning passive cooling measures such as planting more trees in residential areas are necessary.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/26/2026 - 11:00
Exclusive: Foreign secretary to take up World Bank seat and play active role in shaping changes to global lender
Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is to indicate he will put the climate crisis and overseas development at the heart of UK international relations by taking up the country’s seat on the board at the World Bank.
The position, which is usually delegated to a junior minister, means Miliband will play an active role in shaping the changes to the World Bank that developing countries have called for, and ensuring the climate remains a core focus for overseas aid.
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07/26/2026 - 08:18
Giant sequoias are built to withstand ordinary fires, but recent extreme wildfires killed thousands of trees that had survived for centuries or even millennia. A new analysis of about 26,400 sequoias found that trees in areas treated with prescribed burns were nearly four times more likely to survive. Researchers estimate the controlled fires prevented about 1,900 deaths and could have saved thousands more if used across every grove.
07/26/2026 - 07:56
Efforts to contain wildfire that has consumed an area four times the size of Paris impeded by windy conditions
Authorities in France are battling to contain a huge wildfire near Bordeaux in the south-west as prime minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain warned his country – where blazes near Madrid are coming under control – was suffering the effects of the climate emergency.
Efforts to extinguish the blaze in the Gironde region – which has consumed an area four times the size of Paris and caused nearly 220,000 people to be evacuated – were hampered by windy conditions on Saturday night.
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07/26/2026 - 02:15
A notorious snake invasion that devastated Guam’s native birds may have succeeded because the reptiles carried hidden genetic advantages. Using advanced long-read DNA sequencing, researchers uncovered more than 19,000 large genetic differences in brown tree snakes, many concentrated in genes tied to immunity and smell. This overlooked diversity may have helped a population founded by only a few snakes survive inbreeding, adapt to a new environment, and multiply to extraordinary densities.
07/26/2026 - 00:00
Allowing use of two neonicotinoids to combat crop-ruining disease will kill bees and reduce harvests, union says
Beekeepers and environmentalists in France have reacted furiously after parliament approved a bill reauthorising two banned pesticides scientists say can poison bees.
“There are no words to describe the frustration,” said Carolyn Bouguet, a beekeeper in Essonne, greater Paris. “Bee populations have already been badly compromised by climate change, new parasites and loss of habitat. And now this.”
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07/25/2026 - 13:34
Temperatures of 95-105F (35-40C) are expected, spanning Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest
About 70 million people in the US are set to face excessive heat advisories as dangerously hot temperatures scorch much of the country’s southern and central states.
The third major “heat dome” event to hit the US in the past month is gathering strength over the weekend, spanning a vast swathe of the country, from the Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest.
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07/25/2026 - 11:00
Exclusive: Blunder at Rosebank, UK’s biggest undeveloped oilfield, comes as government considers granting licence
Production at Britain’s biggest undeveloped oil and gasfield could be delayed for months after equipment from a rig was accidentally dropped in the North Sea, the Guardian can reveal.
Andy Burnham’s new government is under pressure from the fossil fuel industry to allow oil to be retrieved from the Rosebank site despite opposition from climate campaigners and some Labour MPs.
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07/25/2026 - 09:11
Footage shows the extent of the devastation caused by wildfires in Cenicientos, in the Madrid region of Spain, on Friday. Members of Spain's military emergency unit sought to contain the blazes in the Madrid region and in Cuevas de Cañart in the country's north-east. In France, dozens of firefighters battled flames threatening homes around the towns of Saumos and Sainte-Hélène in the south-west as a wildfire swept the nearby forest. The virulence of the wildfires, fuelled by high temperatures and the long-term effects of the climate crisis, caught fire crews and authorities off-guard in both countries
France and Spain race to control wildfires as more than 250,000 evacuated – live
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07/25/2026 - 02:24
Meanwhile, in the UK, a blaze in the Cairngorms national park has been described as ‘very serious’ by Scotland’s first minister
Tell us: have you been affected by wildfires in Europe?
The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has requested the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft earlier than originally planned to help tackle the major wildfires in Gironde, according to Le Monde.
The French newspaper reported the aircraft’s use was not originally expected until the end of the month due to the technical preparations and tests required beforehand.
While the fires raging across forests in France are a dramatic reminder of three successive heatwaves in as many months, the state of the country’s rivers provides another, no less worrying insight into the impact of extreme heat supercharged by the climate crisis.
The Loire, France’s longest river, is at a historical low, with the flow of some branches, including through the city of Orléans, reduced to a trickle between sandbanks. Two weeks ago, 16% of French rivers were reported to have dried up. A quarter of small streams were stagnant or had disappeared altogether, according to the national low water observatory. There has been little rain since.
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