Global Pulse

分类： environment

  • Malaysian farmers, environmental groups call for rejection of GMO rice trial

    Malaysian farmers, environmental groups call for rejection of GMO rice trial

    In Kuala Lumpur, a broad coalition of 61 Malaysian farmers’ groups, consumer associations, and environmental advocacy organizations is calling on the country’s National Biosafety Board to turn down an application for a confined field trial of genetically modified (GM) rice, citing widespread risks to public food safety, ecological integrity, and smallholder farmer livelihoods.

    The application under review comes from Zen Cropscience, which seeks approval to test a modified version of Malaysia’s widely planted MR219 rice variety in the northern state of Perak. The edited crop is engineered with two key traits: tolerance to the widely used herbicide glyphosate, and built-in resistance to bacterial and fungal crop diseases.

    Coalition members confirmed they submitted a formal formal objection to the proposal during a public consultation period that closed last week, reviving arguments they first raised against a nearly identical GM rice trial application submitted for Perlis state in 2019 that was ultimately withdrawn before approval. The group’s core concern centers on the risk of genetic contamination of conventional and wild native rice populations. Unlike the biosafety board’s claim that the risk of cross-pollination is low, coalition members warn that even confined trials carry the possibility of genetic material spreading via wind, insect activity, or human error, and current Malaysian biosafety legislation lacks adequate legal safeguards and compensation frameworks for conventional farmers who would face financial losses if their non-GM crops become accidentally contaminated.

    Beyond contamination risks, opponents highlight multiple interconnected hazards tied to the crop’s glyphosate tolerance. Farmers argue the trait will incentivize increased glyphosate application, speeding the evolution of herbicide-resistant “super weeds” that require ever-larger doses or more toxic chemical inputs to control. They also warn that glyphosate residues can persist in harvested grain and enter the national food supply. The genetic modification for fungal disease resistance raises additional food safety alarms, the coalition notes, with potential to alter the rice’s nutritional profile or raise levels of allergens and naturally occurring toxins.

    Abdul Rashid Yob, who leads a national farmers association representing 200,000 members across Malaysia, pointed to past industry experience with the herbicide-tolerant Clearfield rice variety as a warning of what could come. While initial yields improved after Clearfield rice was introduced, weeds quickly developed resistance to the herbicide, forcing farmers to spend more on increasing chemical doses that drove up production costs and eroded long-term soil fertility. “GM rice will be much worse. It is not the answer,” Yob said.

    Malaysia currently meets only half of its domestic rice consumption through local production, relying on imports to cover the remaining demand, according to official national data. Despite the country’s need to boost food security, coalition members argue there is no justification for GM rice trials, noting that proven non-GM alternatives already exist for weed and disease management, including Japanese robotic weed removal technology that can clear fields efficiently without chemical over-reliance. “There is no need for such a trial. We don’t want GM crops,” said Mageswari Sangaralingam, a representative of the Consumers Association of Penang. Opponents stress that even though the current application is only for a confined trial, not full commercial cultivation, GMO material cannot be fully contained or recalled once it enters the environment, making any trial an unacceptable risk.

    The National Biosafety Board has stated that the proposed trial would be conducted in an insect-proof, enclosed net house located on industrial land separated from active agricultural areas, and has acknowledged that long-term toxicological data for the GM rice variant has not yet been finalized. To date, no timeline has been announced for when the board will issue its final decision on the application.

    The debate around glyphosate, the herbicide tied to the proposed GM rice, remains divided among global health and regulatory bodies. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer research wing of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” drawing on limited evidence of cancer links in human populations and sufficient evidence from animal studies. Other leading regulatory agencies have reached opposing conclusions: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ruled glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” and the European Food Safety Authority concluded in a 2023 assessment that it found no critical public or environmental health risks from glyphosate use.

  • Wildfire at Indonesia’s Mount Bromo mostly contained as smoke forces school closures

    Wildfire at Indonesia’s Mount Bromo mostly contained as smoke forces school closures

    As Indonesia confronts its annual dry season wildfire crisis, authorities announced Wednesday that firefighting teams have mostly contained a large blaze that tore through one of Java’s most visited protected natural landmarks, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Though several lingering hot spots continue to challenge crews, the progress comes as a much-needed reprieve for the iconic tourist destination, which has been closed to visitors since the fire ignited last week.

    As of Tuesday, the fire had burned through nearly 900 hectares (2,224 acres) of park land, destroying vast swathes of dry grassland, native vegetation, and protected edelweiss flower populations, according to Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha, head of the East Java-based national park. The world-famous volcanic terrain of Mount Bromo, a top draw for domestic and international tourists that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, falls within the burned perimeter. The entire conservation zone remains closed while crews work to stop any further spread of the blaze.

    Four active hot spots still persist across the park, located in the Watangan, Argowulan, Dingklik-Pakis, and Bincil-Mungal regions. Nugraha explained that combined ground teams and aerial firefighting units are working around the clock to prevent these hot spots from flaring back into full blazes. “We are not only trying to put out the visible fire, but also ensuring it is completely extinguished and does not reemerge later,” he said.

    The Bromo blaze is just one small part of a far larger national wildfire emergency gripping Indonesia this dry season. As of Monday, Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) confirmed that nearly 48,900 hectares (121,000 acres) of vulnerable peatland has already burned across six fire-prone provinces, with the largest concentration of destruction recorded in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.

    In Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, the widespread fires have already upended daily life: officials suspended all in-person classes after local air quality plummeted to unsafe levels, and health authorities have documented a sharp spike in reported respiratory illnesses across the province.

    In response to the growing crisis, the Indonesian government has ramped up national firefighting efforts across the high-risk islands of Sumatra and Borneo, deploying more than 35 aircraft to support ground operations, including water-bombing helicopters and surveillance patrol planes. BNPB chief Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, emphasized the critical role of aerial support, particularly for peatland fires. “Aerial operations are supporting ground operations which are especially critical in peatland areas,” he explained. “Because peat fires can continue smoldering underground long after surface flames disappear and can reignite if not fully extinguished.”

    Suharyanto added that peatland fires produce uniquely dangerous outcomes: the dense smoke they generate creates toxic, widespread haze that cripples regional air quality, elevates public health risks for local communities, and often drifts across international borders to impact neighboring countries. BNPB data confirms that satellite imagery has detected thick smoke haze drifting from West Kalimantan into neighboring Malaysia multiple times this month.

    This annual cycle of forest and peatland fires is a long-running environmental and diplomatic challenge for Indonesia. Authorities confirm that most blazes are deliberately ignited illegally by commercial plantation operators or small-scale traditional farmers clearing land for new planting. These unchecked burns periodically blanket huge swathes of Southeast Asia in hazardous haze, repeatedly straining Indonesia’s diplomatic relations with neighboring countries.

  • Extreme heat is reshaping Italy’s sparkling wine industry with early harvests and nighttime picking

    Extreme heat is reshaping Italy’s sparkling wine industry with early harvests and nighttime picking

    CORTE FRANCA, Italy — Long before the first rays of sun creep over the rolling hills of Italy’s iconic Franciacorta wine region, teams of harvest workers spread across sunbaked vineyards, clipping plump grape clusters destined for one of the country’s most celebrated sparkling wines. This year’s harvest began a full 10 days earlier than most producers projected, and a full month earlier than average harvest times recorded just three decades ago — a dramatic shift that industry leaders and climate experts attribute to the record-breaking scorching temperatures that have reshaped traditional agricultural calendars across Europe.

    The accelerating ripening of wine grapes, driven by rising global temperatures, has dramatically narrowed the narrow window of time winemakers have to harvest at peak quality. For producers of premium sparkling wine like Franciacorta, where a delay of just two or three days can mean the difference between a world-class vintage and a batch unsuitable for production, the pressure to adapt has never been more urgent.

    “These are delicate, frantic moments, and everything has to work perfectly,” explained Arturo Ziliani, CEO of Berlucchi, the region’s oldest and largest Franciacorta producer. Ziliani’s father Franco made history in 1961 as the first winemaker in the hilly Franciacorta region to produce sparkling wine using the classic secondary fermentation method developed by France’s Champagne producers. “We did not expect such an early harvest or such an acceleration in ripening,” Ziliani added.

    Weeks of sustained high temperatures between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius (99 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit), paired with rainfall well below the region’s seasonal average, pushed this year’s harvest start to the earliest date on record — 10 days earlier than 2023’s already early harvest. Experts note that multiple climate-linked factors have combined to force the early timeline: a unusually mild winter allowed grape vines to bud weeks earlier than the historical norm, while severe hailstorms earlier in the growing season damaged portions of the overall yield, reducing the load on remaining vines and speeding their maturation.

    Even as late as the end of July, Berlucchi had planned to begin harvesting on August 10. But when sugar levels in Pinot Nero grapes, used for the winery’s sparkling blends and rosé, spiked far faster than projected, it was clear the fruit was already ripe. Within 48 hours, the winery mustered its harvest team, prepped its presses and launched the harvest.

    Extreme midday heat has forced additional changes to work schedules: regional Italian labor regulations mandate a pause in outdoor work between 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to prevent heat-related illness, and temperatures have remained dangerously high even after the midday break. To get grapes to the cooling presses before they overheat and lose critical acidity, Berlucchi launched its harvest at 4 a.m., with workers picking clusters under the bright glow of mobile floodlights.

    “The grapes are perfectly healthy,” said Ferdinando Dell’aquila, Berlucchi’s technical director and head oenologist. “We just have to work as quickly as possible, harvest them and preserve their acidity.”

    Franciacorta is far from the only Italian wine region facing this unprecedented shift. Winemakers in Sicily began harvesting still wine grapes in late July, while small sections of Tuscany and nearly all of Italy’s other sparkling wine regions have also reported early harvest starts.

    The stakes are particularly high for producers of Champagne-style sparkling wines like Franciacorta, which require an extremely precise balance of high fixed acidity, low pH and low sugar levels — a very different profile than that required for still red or white wines. “Early-ripening varieties such as Chardonnay require great care, because a delay of just a couple of days can leave you with grapes unsuitable for sparkling wine. Sugar rises too quickly and acidity falls too quickly,” noted Attilio Scienza, professor emeritus of viticulture at the University of Milan.

    After harvest, high ambient temperatures mean grapes must be rapidly cooled before they can be gently pressed in stainless steel equipment to extract the high-quality free-run juice that forms the base of premium sparkling wine. This critical step cannot be rushed, so Berlucchi now runs up to 24 presses a day, often operating deep into the night, to process the unexpectedly early harvest.

    Today, Berlucchi produces roughly 4 million bottles of Franciacorta annually, accounting for 20% of the Franciacorta consortium’s total annual output of 20 million bottles. Roughly 90% of the winery’s product is sold within Italy, with the remaining 10% exported to key markets including Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Japan.

    Industry leaders note that this early harvest trend is not unique to Italy. “Climate change and the African weather systems settling over Europe are bringing extraordinary temperatures and forcing early picking, not only in Italy, but also in France and Germany,” said Paolo Castelletti, secretary general of the Italian Wine Union trade organization.

    As earlier harvests become the new normal across Italian wine country, producers are being forced to rewrite centuries-old harvest calendars. Winemakers say they will need to start monitoring vine conditions much earlier in the growing season to catch the optimal harvest window before it passes.

    Despite the upheaval, Castelletti expressed confidence that producers can adapt to the new climate reality: “A good oenologist can manage situations like this. I can say with confidence that wine quality is not compromised. It simply requires a different organization of work than in past years.”

  • Australia to roll out bird flu vaccines for most vulnerable native birds

    Australia to roll out bird flu vaccines for most vulnerable native birds

    Australia has become the final continent to confirm cases of the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza strain, and national authorities are now moving forward with an urgent vaccination program to protect the country’s most vulnerable native bird populations from the deadly pathogen. The first doses of the vaccine are set to be administered in the coming days and weeks, with captive birds and at-risk wild native species marked as the top priorities for protection.

    In an official announcement Tuesday, the federal government confirmed it has secured AU$2 million ($1.4 million, £1 million) worth of H5N1 vaccines, totaling approximately 1,500 vials. State and territorial governments will oversee local distribution and implementation of the vaccination program, which was developed under a coordinated national framework.
    Australia recorded its first confirmed case of H5N1 back in June, ending the continent’s status as the last remaining region of the world untouched by the strain. In the months since that initial detection, more than 230 separate cases have been confirmed across the country. Last week, the outbreak reached a grim new milestone when the first recorded mass mortality event occurred: roughly 50 greater crested terns died from the virus on an island off the coast of South Australia.
    Agriculture Minister Julie Collins explained that while the vaccination effort cannot halt the ongoing spread of the virus as the outbreak intensifies across wild bird populations, it will focus resources on the priority species that face the greatest risk of severe population decline or extinction from the disease. “While little can be done to stop the spread among wild birds and across the country, we can take action to protect the species most at risk,” Collins said.
    The minister also emphasized that the overall risk of H5N1 transmission to humans remains low, and to date, there is no evidence that the virus has spread to commercial poultry operations or disrupted Australia’s agriculture sector.
    Collins warned the public to prepare for further spread of the virus in the coming months, noting “Australians should expect to see more spread and larger numbers, particularly of dead birds and mass mortalities around the country from the H5 bird flu.”
    Environment Minister Murray Watt characterized the ongoing outbreak as a “serious event” and confirmed that each vaccinated bird will require two doses of the vaccine to build full immunity. Earlier this month, the federal government published a comprehensive risk assessment for over 2,000 of Australia’s unique native bird and mammal species, ranking each based on their vulnerability and susceptibility to the virus. The assessment found that a small number of iconic native species face potential extinction if hard hit by the outbreak, while hundreds more could see severe, long-term reductions in their wild populations.

  • Young girl finds whale stranded on Australian beach

    Young girl finds whale stranded on Australian beach

    A routine coastal outing for a young girl took an unexpected turn on a sun-baked Queensland beach earlier this week, when she stumbled across a massive humpback whale trapped in shallow, exposed surf after a receding high tide.

    The unidentified juvenile explorer, who was walking the shoreline with her family just north of Brisbane, first spotted the 12-meter marine mammal half-buried in wet sand around mid-morning, local wildlife authorities confirmed. She immediately alerted her parents, who contacted the Queensland Department of Environment and Science’s marine response team to report the stranding.

    By the time trained rescue volunteers could mobilize and reach the remote beach, the natural tide cycle had already begun to turn. As water levels rose steadily across the shoreline, the healthy adult whale was able to leverage the increased depth to wriggle free of the sand bar that had trapped it, making its own way back out to the open Coral Sea without further assistance.

    Marine biologists from the department noted that humpback whale strandings on Australia’s eastern coast are relatively common during the species’ annual migration, when the mammals travel north from Antarctic feeding grounds to warmer breeding waters off Queensland. Most stranded whales that remain healthy are able to free themselves when the next high tide arrives, as occurred in this incident.

    Officials have praised the young girl for her quick action in reporting the stranding, noting that even though the whale did not end up requiring human intervention, early notification allows rescue teams to stand by in case the animal requires help. “Community vigilance is one of our most valuable tools when it comes to protecting these incredible migratory animals,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.

    Wildlife officials are reminding beachgoers to maintain a safe distance from any stranded marine life, as large whales can become stressed and dangerous when approached by humans, and to contact emergency response teams immediately to report sightings.

  • Jackie, the famous California bald eagle, dies after weeks of intensive care

    Jackie, the famous California bald eagle, dies after weeks of intensive care

    Jackie, the beloved bald eagle that won the hearts of hundreds of thousands of wildlife fans across the globe, has passed away on Monday following multiple weeks of intensive veterinary care at California’s Ojai Raptor Center, a leading wildlife rehabilitation nonprofit.

    The iconic raptor was brought to the center after sustaining injuries from a violent attack by other eagles. Clinicians soon discovered pre-existing underlying health conditions that had already triggered progressive anaemia and unhealthy weight loss, complicating her recovery process. In an official statement released after Jackie’s passing, representatives from the Ojai Raptor Center confirmed that even with round-the-clock, coordinated care from their in-house veterinary team and outside consulting specialists, the raptor’s health continued to decline steadily over the final days of her life.

    Jackie rose to international fame through the wildly popular Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam, a live streaming project operated by the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley. Located in the scenic Big Bear Valley region of Southern California, the stream has built a massive, loyal global subscriber base that tuned in daily to watch Jackie and her long-time mate Shadow go about their lives. First hatching in the spring of 2012, Jackie established her nest in the valley and became a staple of the stream after she paired with Shadow in 2018.

    Members of the rehabilitation team shared that they are devastated by the loss of the iconic bird, noting that caring for Jackie had been an extraordinary honor for everyone involved. “We know this news will be deeply felt by the many thousands of people around the world who have followed her journey, hoped alongside us, prayed for her, and supported the people caring for her,” the statement read.

    The rehabilitation center is currently working in close partnership with federal and state wildlife agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, to conduct a full post-mortem review. A more detailed public statement, including full information on all treatment protocols and diagnostic test results, is planned for release in the coming days. Per current protocol, Jackie’s remains have already been transferred to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for official examination.

  • ‘That fire came so fast’: Wildfire rages in British Columbia

    ‘That fire came so fast’: Wildfire rages in British Columbia

    A rapid-spreading wildfire has carved a path of destruction across British Columbia, leaving officials scrambling to assess the full scope of residential damage even as the blaze continues to burn unchecked. Eyewitness accounts highlight the terrifying speed of the inferno, with one resident describing the disaster by saying, “That fire came so fast.” As of Monday, emergency management teams have not yet finalized a full count of homes destroyed or damaged by the uncontrolled wildfire, which has upended communities across the region and stretched local response resources thin. Provincial wildfire services have deployed additional crews and aerial support to contain the blaze, but challenging terrain and dry, windy conditions have hampered containment efforts, leaving the fire still listed as out of control. Authorities have urged residents in evacuation zones to follow emergency orders immediately, as shifting fire behavior can lead to sudden changes in risk levels across affected areas.

  • ‘Total incinerated destruction’: Canada wildfire evacuees wonder if they still have homes

    ‘Total incinerated destruction’: Canada wildfire evacuees wonder if they still have homes

    On a Friday in early August, a new wildfire sparked to life in British Columbia’s beloved Okanagan region, a scenic stretch of Western Canada famous for its crystal blue lake and award-winning wine estates. Named the Bald Range Fire, what began as a small ignition exploded across parched landscape over the following weekend, expanding rapidly to cover 136 square kilometers (53 square miles) in mere hours and triggering urgent evacuation orders for thousands of local residents.

    For long-term locals like Earl Kurz, who has called the lakeside town of Peachland home for 30 years, wildfire scares have become an all-too-familiar part of life over the past decade. But the Bald Range Fire marks the first time he has been forced to abandon his property—and the aftermath he witnessed after the blaze passed has been gut-wrenching. “It’s total incinerated destruction,” Kurz described of the charred landscape. “The hot spots are just barren areas of nothing except 12 inches of ash.”

    As of Monday, the inferno remains completely out of control, and provincial officials are still working to count the full number of homes destroyed by the flames. More than 12,000 residents across the region remain under mandatory evacuation orders, and local police confirmed Sunday that one 80-year-old woman died while attempting to flee the rapidly advancing fire.

    The Okanagan region has been grappling with severe, long-term drought for years, a crisis that has left vegetation tinder-dry and primed for combustion. Data from the Okanagan Basin Water Board shows that as of July, Okanagan Lake’s water levels dropped to their lowest point since 1992, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread at breakneck speed.

    The Bald Range Fire is far from an isolated incident: as of Monday, more than 100 active wildfires are burning across British Columbia, 70 of which ignited just in the last seven days. In response to the escalating crisis, provincial premier David Eby declared a provincial state of emergency over the weekend, urging all residents in at-risk areas to follow evacuation orders immediately and warning that the blazes continue to advance “incredibly quickly”.

    Keegan Radomski, an 18-year-old resident of Summerland— a lakeside town just south of Peachland— is one of thousands of displaced residents, having fled her family home in the middle of Friday evening’s dinner. The property, built by Radomski’s grandmother in 1996, was one the family had held for three decades, and like many long-term Okanagan locals, they had weathered multiple wildfire scares in the past. But nothing prepared them for how fast the Bald Range Fire would move. After spotting distant smoke over dinner, less than four hours passed before Radomski watched a hill on her family’s property catch fire. She barely escaped with only her mother’s ashes before the fire crossed onto the property line, and she still has no confirmation on whether the family home has survived, or when she will be able to return to assess the damage. “We’ve had a lot of close calls before, but it’s never been like this,” Radomski said. “You always think it’s not going to be you, and then it’s you.”

    The Bald Range Fire follows closely on the heels of the nearby Bradley Creek Fire, another major Okanagan blaze that is estimated to have destroyed more than 200 homes. After days of “tireless work” by firefighting crews, officials announced that the Bradley Creek Fire is now contained. But the crisis stretching across Western North America is far from over. Just south of British Columbia, the U.S. state of Washington is also facing extreme drought-fueled fires that have forced more than 65,000 people to evacuate their homes. Across the Atlantic, Southern Europe is grappling with its own devastating summer fire season, fueled by record-breaking heat and prolonged drought. France is currently facing its worst wildfire season in 20 years, while regional officials in Madrid, Spain describe the current blazes as the most destructive the region has ever seen.

    While wildfires are a natural part of the ecological cycle in Canada’s extensive boreal forests, climate experts agree that human-caused climate change has dramatically amplified the risk: rising temperatures and prolonged dry conditions have made wildfires across Canada more frequent and far more intense over the past decade. In 2023, Canada recorded its most destructive wildfire season in recorded history, measured by total area burned. This summer’s outbreak in British Columbia is the latest example of the growing threat climate change poses to communities across the globe.

  • Europe braces for another summer heatwave

    Europe braces for another summer heatwave

    As human-caused climate change continues to drive accelerated warming across the European continent, much of the region is gearing up to face yet another extreme heatwave, following a summer already marked by record-low river levels, devastating historic wildfires and thousands of heat-related deaths.

    Extreme heat warnings were already in effect for parts of Britain and France on Monday, with forecasters projecting peak temperatures will climb into the mid-30s Celsius in many affected areas. Unusually high temperatures are also on track to hit a broad swathe of central European nations unaccustomed to sustained extreme heat, including Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, in the coming days. According to Europe’s regional weather alert system MeteoAlarm, sweltering conditions have already settled across most of Italy and coastal Croatia as of Monday.

    The United Kingdom’s Met Office issued alerts over the weekend warning that the country’s fifth distinct heatwave of the summer would spread northward across most of the nation. Unlike many warmer climates, the UK’s built infrastructure is designed for the country’s historic temperate, cool conditions, leaving it particularly vulnerable to sustained heat. “Yet another spell of extremely hot weather is set to spread north across much of the UK with temperatures reaching the mid-30s Celsius in places,” the agency announced on social media platform X on Sunday.

    Already, half of England and the entirety of Wales are officially classified as being in drought, triggering hosepipe bans that impact roughly 23 million people. Additional English regions are expected to be added to the drought classification later on Monday, with no meaningful rainfall forecast for impacted areas through the coming week.

    In France, national weather service Meteo-France warned Monday that temperatures would climb as high as 35 degrees Celsius in the country’s southeast, before spreading across nearly the entire country between Wednesday and Friday. The agency also cautioned that under ongoing climate change, “future summers will generally be hotter than those experienced to date.” Both France and the UK have already recorded thousands of excess deaths during earlier heatwaves this summer.

    The combination of prolonged heat and parched conditions has already created tinder-dry fuel across much of southern Europe, spurring a series of large wildfires. On Monday, Greece reported its second major wildfire of the season near the capital Athens, and dispatched hundreds of firefighters and pieces of equipment to contain the blaze. A separate wildfire that broke out 10 days ago northwest of Athens has already burned more than 10,000 hectares of pine forest to ash. France and Spain have already faced unprecedented, historic wildfire seasons this summer, driven by record-breaking drought conditions across the Iberian Peninsula and western Europe.

    Beyond wildfire risk, the ongoing heat and drought have pushed river levels across the continent to historic lows, disrupting critical transportation and energy infrastructure. German industry groups warned Monday that water levels on the Rhine River, which cuts through the industrial heartland of Europe’s largest economy, could drop low enough to halt commercial shipping entirely. While cargo vessels have continued moving goods along the river so far, they have been forced to operate with sharply reduced loads, driving up transportation costs for key industrial materials.

    In Poland, officials confirmed Monday that water levels on the Vistula, the country’s longest river, matched the all-time record low recorded in the capital of Warsaw – a record that was first set just three days prior on Friday. In central and eastern Europe, extremely low levels on the Danube River have forced nuclear power plants in both Hungary and Romania to suspend operations since late July, as the facilities rely on Danube water for cooling reactor systems.

    An AFP analysis of data from national weather agencies and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that nearly 120 million Europeans currently reside in regions where July 2022 marked the hottest July ever recorded, with the most extreme record warming concentrated in southern Britain, western France, and northern and eastern Spain. A separate analysis published last month by AFP found that at least 12,000 excess deaths occurred across nine European nations during a single major June heatwave, a toll that is expected to rise as additional mortality data is finalized.

    Even amid the widespread heat emergency, a rare astronomical event is drawing attention across the continent: a partial total solar eclipse will cross parts of Europe on Wednesday, and skygazers are still planning to view the event despite the extreme heat. The European Space Agency’s observatory in Teruel, Spain, is hosting a full day of public events leading up to the eclipse, which will begin at 1733 GMT and reach totality at 1823 GMT local time. Temperatures in Teruel already climbed above 30 degrees Celsius on Monday, and the eclipse’s path will cross regions that were devastated by major Spanish wildfires just last month.

  • World’s oceans hit record-high July temperatures

    World’s oceans hit record-high July temperatures

    New data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has confirmed that July 2026 brought the hottest ocean temperatures ever recorded globally, a climate milestone amplified by the developing El Niño pattern in the tropical Pacific that scientists warn will strengthen in the coming months.

    Across ocean waters between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south — excluding polar regions — the average sea surface temperature hit 20.96°C last month, breaking the previous all-time high of 20.89°C set just three years prior in 2023. Globally, July 2026 ranked as the joint second-warmest July ever documented, with average temperatures sitting 1.47°C above pre-industrial baselines. The record ocean warmth extended to European waters, with unprecedented highs measured along the Atlantic coast and western Mediterranean, triggering widespread severe marine heatwaves across the region.

    El Niño, a naturally occurring Pacific weather pattern that warms surface waters, is interacting with human-caused global warming to amplify these temperature spikes, researchers explain. Oceans act as Earth’s critical climate buffer, absorbing more than 90% of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions and producing half of the planet’s oxygen supply. But as waters warm, their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide drops, leaving more heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere and creating a dangerous feedback loop that accelerates climate change. Warmer oceans also disrupt marine ecosystems, forcing species to migrate in search of cooler habitats and upending entire ocean food chains.

    The same warming trends that pushed ocean temperatures to new highs have triggered an unprecedented sequence of extreme weather across Western Europe. The region recorded its hottest combined June and July on record in 2026, with an average temperature of 21.62°C — 2.79°C above the long-term average. This marked the third consecutive month of exceptional heat for the area, with persistent high-pressure systems trapping heat over the continent and parched soils eliminating natural evaporative cooling effects. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, noted that this extreme event is a clear illustration of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought creating a self-reinforcing cycle that worsens conditions over time.

    The prolonged hot, dry spell has stripped the region of moisture, leaving soil moisture levels across much of Western Europe far lower than those recorded during the severe 2022 European drought. Major waterways including the Seine, Rhine, and Danube have seen far lower-than-average flows, with some stretches hitting historic lows. These low water levels have put massive pressure on public water supplies, agricultural irrigation, fragile aquatic ecosystems, commercial river navigation, and hydropower generation across the continent.

    Dry conditions have also created prime fuel for extreme wildfire activity, with large blazes raging across Western Europe through July 2026. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service director Laurence Rouil noted that this summer’s burned area, smoke output, and fire intensity have been exceptional, noting that climate change is expanding the conditions that spawn large, high-intensity wildfires in southern Europe while extending the wildfire season further north than ever before. Larger wildfires inject smoke higher into the atmosphere, allowing it to travel thousands of kilometers, meaning even countries with low historical wildfire risk face growing exposure to hazardous smoke pollution.

    In the United Kingdom, the extreme dry conditions have pushed water systems to breaking point. The UK Met Office confirmed that England and Wales saw their driest July in 190 years of record-keeping, with large swathes of England and all of Wales already officially designated as being in drought. The Environment Agency has warned that additional areas of England could be added to drought declarations if dry conditions continue through August. The UK’s Met Office has emphasized that weather once classified as extreme is now becoming the “new normal”, with its latest climate assessment finding that the average hottest annual temperature in southern England is now 4.5°C warmer than it was between 1961 and 1990. “We are right now living in a time of historic and unprecedented change,” said Mike Kendon, a Met Office climate information scientist. “Evidence shows the climate of the 20th century has now gone.”

    Scientists stress that the current extreme conditions are being driven by long-term anthropogenic warming, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, with El Niño acting as a temporary additional push that pushes global temperatures even higher. Today, the global average temperature is already roughly 1.4°C higher than pre-industrial levels at the end of the 19th century, matching the threshold scientists have long warned carries severe, irreversible risks to natural and human systems.