Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Study also finds high humidity means people in hundreds of cities are enduring their worst ever heat stress The heatwave scorching western Europe is the most severe and widespread ever and is only possible due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning, scientists have said. Almost half of Europe’s 850 largest cities are also enduring their worst ever heat stress, a combination of temperature and humidity, they found. Muggier conditions mean sweating is less effective at cooling the body, making heatwaves even more dangerous. Continue reading...

Our schools are a dated mix of single glazing, dodgy pipes and atriums like Kew hothouses. They urgently need retrofitting for a changing climate This week’s soaring summer temperatures have put a spotlight on our schools and their ability to cope, with one in Hertfordshire telling me that it recorded temperatures of more than 40C. So why are our schools struggling? Modern schools often have too much glass, and not enough shading or ventilation to keep out the sun’s heat. During the 1950s, the focus on public health (after the creation of the NHS in 1948) meant that schools were designed to bring in more natural light. Windows often have built-in restrictors that stop them being opened too far, or at all, because of student safety concerns. Some schools have glass atriums, which were a common feature of those constructed during the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme in the early 2000s, but which now give the effect of walking into a Kew hothouse. Harry Paticas is an architect and the founder of Retrofit Action for Tomorrow Continue reading...

The case, Monsanto v Durnell, specifically dealt with claims that the company failed to warn users of product risks US politics live – latest updates The US supreme court has found in favor of the former Monsanto company in a ruling that is expected to block thousands of lawsuits filed by people alleging the key ingredient in the weed killer Roundup causes cancer. The decision was made in a 7-2 vote, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh offering the majority opinion and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing the dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Continue reading...

Burnham is coming under pressure from some to ditch net zero targets but this could be highly damaging on many levels UK politics live – latest updates Britain’s net zero economy is booming. The sector is worth £100bn a year to the UK, has outpaced other sectors, and supports higher-paying jobs than the average. For a union leader to suggest that the man who has overseen this impressive record – the energy secretary, Ed Miliband – would be a “noose around the neck” of job creation, as Unite’s Sharon Graham has done, might seem extraordinary. Continue reading...