Erin went from a tropical storm to a category 5 in about 24 hours, underscoring the danger of hurricane season amid a diminished Fema and National Weather Service
This season’s first hurricane – and the first of the Trump administration’s new era of meteorological austerity – has been making its closest pass to the US this week.
On Friday morning, weaker than days earlier, it was still a large storm, heading north-east, and affecting the US east coast with threats of coastal flooding.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/22/2025 - 10:11
08/22/2025 - 09:00
Analysis of legal hunting in Montana and Idaho shows that eliminating one wolf protected just 7% of a single cow
Legalized wolf hunting in the western US has had only a minimal impact on preventing livestock loss, a new study led by the University of Michigan suggests.
The research, published in Science Advances, compared data from Montana and Idaho, two states where public wolf hunts have been permitted, with Oregon and Washington, where hunting remains illegal.
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08/22/2025 - 07:00
Experts call change likely to pose problems for Americans with limited internet access ‘troubling to say the least’
Current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) officials are concerned over a new agency rule requiring disaster victims to have an email address in order to apply for federal aid.
The policy change, first reported by Wired and confirmed by a Fema official to the Guardian, was “troubling to say the least”, said Jeremy Edwards, former spokesperson for Fema and the White House under Joe Biden’s presidency.
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08/22/2025 - 04:12
More than 300 dead after downpours in mountainous regions and several killed in Indian city of Mumbai
Heavy monsoon rains have continued to pummel the Indian subcontinent over the past week, bringing devastating flooding and landslides and leaving hundreds of people dead in what has already been one of the deadliest monsoon seasons in recent years.
Moist air surging inland from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea was driven into Pakistan and north-west India late last week by strong southwesterly monsoon winds. Combined with developing areas of low pressure, this triggered a succession of torrential downpours.
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08/22/2025 - 01:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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08/22/2025 - 00:00
Corridors of nectar-rich plants encourage pollination and brighten up city streets at the same time
Take a closer look at the colourful plants dotted along an initially unassuming Bristol alleyway and you’ll see them teeming with insects. Bumblebees, hoverflies and ladybirds throng around a mixture of catmint, yarrow, geraniums and anemones. “It’s buzzing with pollinators now,” Flora Beverley says.
Just over a year ago, the alley we are walking down was a dreary, litter-strewn dumping ground. Now, thanks to the pollinator pathways project, it is filled with nectar-rich plants and bee hotels. Colourful murals line the walls. A neighbour and her son passing by stop to tell Beverley they watered the plants yesterday. The local people who helped to transform the pathways continue to maintain them too.
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08/21/2025 - 23:22
Almost 200 endangered southern right wales have been spotted off state’s coastline this year, amid concerns about impact of algal bloom
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Scientists say a bumper season for southern right whales in South Australia is a “sign of hope” for the state amid the ongoing effects of a devastating algal bloom.
Flinders University marine biologist and chief scientist of the Australian right whale research program, Dr Claire Charlton, said research teams were pleased to record early sightings of almost 200 whales off the state’s coastline, after lower numbers in recent years. It comes amid concerns about the harmful algal bloom which has caused the deaths of some marine life off the SA coast.
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08/21/2025 - 19:51
Central Coast council says residents should not touch the balls and avoid beaches where they wash ashore
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Debris balls have again washed up along the New South Wales coast as officials warn residents not to touch the mysterious spherical globules and to avoid beaches where they appear.
Central Coast council said on Thursday the debris balls – which are grey and about 10mm to 40mm in size – had been found on beaches including at The Entrance, the Grant McBride baths, Blue Bay, Toowoon Bay, North Shelly, Shelly and Blue Lagoon.
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08/21/2025 - 13:00
Researchers ‘shocked’ to discover some species settling down for sleep 50 minutes later than rural counterparts
Urban birds stay up significantly later than their rural counterparts, according to research that highlights the impact of light pollution on wildlife.
The study, based on recordings submitted by bird enthusiasts to a popular species identification and mapping website, showed that light pollution caused birds to sing for an average of 50 minutes longer each day, with some species waking up an hour earlier and settling down for the evening an hour later.
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08/21/2025 - 10:00
Eucalyptus regnans – which regularly reach 60 to 80m tall – lose about 9% of their trees for every degree of warming, research finds
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Victoria’s mountain ash forests are thinning rapidly as the globe heats up, and could lose a quarter of their “giant” trees that grow up to 80m tall in the coming decades, research has found.
Forests of Eucalyptus regnans – one of the tallest tree species in the world – lose about 9% of their trees for every degree of warming, according to a University of Melbourne-led study published in Nature Communications.
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