Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal blooms
The prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.
Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86F) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F).
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/14/2025 - 00:00
08/13/2025 - 23:00
We need everyday solutions like ‘cool banks’ and shaded areas, as well as serious policies on emissions. The government must step up
Growing up in Madrid, intense summer heat was nothing unusual. I quickly learned always to cross the street in search of shade, and never to be caught out in the sun at 3pm. But as a child in the early 1980s, I never felt dizzy after spending more than a few minutes outdoors, nor did I struggle to study or sleep at home because of the heat. Back then, air conditioning was a rarity, something only Americans had. But we were fine: the stuttering fan in my mother’s Ford Fiesta was enough to keep us comfortable on holiday escapes from the capital.
What is happening in Spain now goes far beyond discomfort. More than 1,500 deaths have already been linked to heatwaves this summer alone. Public-sector workers are collapsing from heatstroke on our city streets. Entire communities in the Madrid suburbs have been devastated by wildfires. On Monday, 198 weather stations recorded temperatures of 40C or higher. Following a record-breaking July, the first 20 days of August will probably be the warmest on record. Alongside housing, the climate crisis is Spain’s most visible and most persistent problem: every summer reminds us of this. You can’t ignore it, or escape it; so why are Spain’s politicians still so reluctant to tackle the climate emergency?
María Ramírez is a journalist and the deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outlet in Spain
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08/13/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 14 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00144-3
COVID-19 anthropause affects coral reef ecosystems through biophysical changes
08/13/2025 - 19:50
Companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin may be able to forgo reviews required under National Environmental Policy Act
Donald Trump is looking to relax environmental rules for commercial spaceship companies. In an executive order titled “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry” that he signed on Wednesday, he said it’s imperative to national security that the private rocket-ship industry increase launches “substantially” by 2030.
That would mean, according to the executive order, that those companies may be able to forgo the environmental reviews that are required under the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa). Private space companies are required to obtain launch permits from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). And, as part of that process, companies are subject to review under Nepa.
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08/13/2025 - 07:12
Environment minister says blazes, in which two people have died, are proof of country’s vulnerability to global heating
The heatwave-fuelled wildfires that have killed two people in Spain over recent days, devouring thousands of hectares of land and forcing thousands of people from their homes, are a “clear warning” of the impact of the climate emergency, the country’s environment minister has said.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, as firefighters in Spain, Greece and other Mediterranean countries continued to battle dozens of blazes, Sara Aagesen said the 14 wildfires still burning across seven Spanish regions were further proof of the country’s particular vulnerability to global heating.
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08/13/2025 - 02:16
Murray Watt and Sussan Ley survey devastation in Adelaide as scientists call for urgent funding for affected species
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Scientists have called for urgent funding for recovery measures for species affected by a catastrophic algal bloom off South Australia as images emerged of a dead dolphin that washed up on a beach in Adelaide.
The call comes in response to an Albanese government announcement that it would fast-track an expert assessment of the impact of the crisis on marine life, similar to a step taken after the black summer bushfire crisis.
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08/12/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 13 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00137-2
Controlled electrochemical nutrient delivery to enhance marine primary productivity
08/06/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 07 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00150-5
Divergent patterns of global tuna fishing fleet dynamics among different continents
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023
Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program.
World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html.
Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs.
World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world.
World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org.
media contact
Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory | director@thew2o.net +12077011069
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