Drone footage from 17 September shows the Araguaia River drying up, as severe drought grips parts of Brazil. The country is preparing for potential El Niño impacts in late 2026-27, with the Tocantins-Araguaia basin already experiencing severe drought conditions
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/18/2026 - 09:00
Soil and water around military bases show elevated levels of Pfas pollution due to chemicals used in firefighting foam
Many US military veterans have much higher levels of Pfas “forever chemicals” in their blood than non-veterans, new peer-reviewed research finds, raising more questions about health risks the nation’s service members face after serving at polluted bases.
Ground water, surface water and soil around military bases show among the highest levels of Pfas pollution in the US because the chemicals are used in firefighting foam deployed during training and emergencies. While the problem has been clear for over a decade, the new Brown University-led study is the first to compare levels in veterans’ blood with those in civilians.
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09/18/2026 - 08:00
The public will, for the 12th year in a row, vote for the fattest of brown bears in Alaska’s Katmai national park
The bears have returned to the river and are packing on the pounds as another Fat Bear Week begins at Katmai national park.
The 12th annual Fat Bear Week, in which the public will vote for the fattest of Katmai’s brown bears as mothers, cubs and males gather along the salmon-run at Brooks river in Alaska begins on Monday.
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09/18/2026 - 07:00
Number of private jets has surged in recent years, but they do not pay commensurate portion of fees to FAA operations
A new report has put a spotlight on the rapid expansion of private jet travel in the US, revealing that owners are not paying their fair share of aviation tax despite the average owner’s wealth being $190m and private jets being up to 14 times more polluting than commercial flights.
The Institute for Policy Studies’ new report, High Flyers 2026, examines the growing use of private aircraft, the public infrastructure supporting them and the tax policies benefiting private jet owners.
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09/18/2026 - 06:00
Some experts worry factors affecting wheat exports could push global food prices even higher than they are now
Wheat prices are at their highest level in three years, which means farmer Merrill Nielsen should be getting more for his crops out of his 2,500-acre (1,010-hectare) Kansas farm.
Yet even as future prices for bread-type wheat are up 39%, Nielsen is unsure whether increased prices will raise his bottom line. The price of diesel fuel, which he needs to run his tractor, has hit record highs. Then there’s the erratic weather that made him lose his entire wheat crop in the spring, and drought has overtaken the southern Great Plains.
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09/18/2026 - 02:00
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
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09/18/2026 - 00:00
Efra committee calls for emergency legislation enabling government to take public control of the company
Andy Burnham is under further pressure to take control of ailing Thames Water from a cross-party group of MPs who are calling for ministers to break off talks with the US hedge funds who are effectively running the company.
Adding their voices to demands that the prime minister takes public control of the company, which has debts of £20bn and is being controlled by a group of 100 hedge funds and distressed-debt investors, the MPs said in a report that ministers should consider emergency legislation to take control of its financial affairs to stabilise the company.
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09/17/2026 - 16:28
Fish and Wildlife Service memo calls for change in what it means to ‘take’ an endangered species
More than 1,600 critically imperiled species protected under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) face losing further federal protections following a new reinterpretation of the 1973 law by the Donald Trump administration.
A September 14 memo distributed to Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) field offices by FWS director Brian Nesvik calls for a reinterpretation of what it means to “take” an endangered species. Under the ESA, “take” is defined as “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct”.
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09/17/2026 - 15:43
New species of wild feline was discovered in Bolivia’s Yungas forest that is smaller than the average domestic cat
A diminutive wild cat that inhabits Bolivia’s cloud forest has been identified as a previously unknown species, marking the first time a new living feline species has been formally named and described in more than a century.
The cat, called tilcayo by local communities, is part of a group called tiger cats found across much of South America. It was found in Bolivia’s lush Yungas forest, a mountainous region where forests are often covered by clouds and surrounded by high humidity, according to researchers. It measures about 18in (46cm) long and weighs about 3lb (1.4kg), making it smaller than the average domestic cat.
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09/17/2026 - 12:47
New research links last month’s disaster to fossil fuel pollution. Supporting disaster-hit countries must be at the centre of climate politics
Following a familiar pattern, coverage of the glacier collapse on the Nepal-Tibet border three weeks ago has subsided with the initial shock. But while the world’s attention has shifted, Nepal remains in the midst of an appalling tragedy. As well as at least 1,300 people who are known to have been killed, more than 5,000 are missing, some of them trapped in tunnels linked to the 13 hydropower plants that were damaged by the floods. On Wednesday four bodies were recovered from one of these tunnels, with searches ongoing. Families of the missing people are desperate for news.
Last week the country’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, said that it would ask the UN’s loss and damage fund for $20m (£15m) towards a total rebuilding cost of around $5bn (£3.75bn) – including the replacement of up to 20,000 homes. The first academic study linking the disaster to the climate crisis will now be added to that application. Scientists at Imperial College London, along with international collaborators on the World Weather Attribution project, found that a number of drivers of the glacier fall had been made worse by atmospheric heating. While not the sole cause, fossil fuel pollution was judged to have destabilised the geology of the mountain environment.
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