Disruption to winds above Arctic threatens to alter weather patterns across parts of continent in coming weeks
The stratospheric polar vortex over the northern hemisphere is facing the prospect of an unusually early weakening. Forecast models suggest it could weaken significantly over the next 10 days, when it would typically be strengthening.
A major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event is possible. This could influence weather patterns in the following weeks, increasing the likelihood of persistent areas of high pressure across the mid-latitudes and colder conditions weeks later.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/02/2026 - 00:54
Google’s AI summary is punching a huge hole in their own profits – is this good?
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11/02/2026 - 00:00
A Guardian investigation has found that despite a recommendation to slow down, leading shipping companies continue to travel above advised speeds in a key habitat for cetaceans
Marine biologist Alice Barbarioli waits with her camera trained on the horizon. A few minutes earlier, the hydrophone beneath the Pelagos research vessel detected codas – the sequence of clicks sperm whales use to communicate.
The sperm whale reveals its head and dorsal fin as those onboard the vessel in the Pelagos sanctuary, a conservation area established to protect marine mammals in the north-western Mediterranean, rush to take photos and note the rhythm of its breathing. After a few minutes, the animal arches its back, and begins to head back into the depths of the sea. They wait to catch a glimpse of its tail.
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11/01/2026 - 19:01
UN-backed report finds even temporary rises above Paris agreement target could cause harm to glaciers and polar ice sheets
Earth’s icy regions face such dangerous melting that global heating should be brought back below 1C after an inevitable period of overshooting global temperature targets, a UN report has found.
Permanent and widespread losses of snow and ice expose a “persistent myth” that overshooting the 1.5C target of the Paris climate agreement – to 2C or 3C – could be manageable or even preferable to urgent cuts to emissions, the report found.
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11/01/2026 - 09:00
Officials in Boulder County, Colorado, say they have a safe plan to wipe out invasive weeds, but some locals are concerned
Soon, weed-killing chemicals will start falling from the sky over the Red Hill area of Boulder county, Colorado.
The wildland is known for its biodiversity, home to hundreds of important species and a concentration of rare environmental resources. It is a key habitat for beloved herds of elk and bighorn sheep, with farms and ranchland lying at its base.
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11/01/2026 - 09:00
Exclusive: Move to scrap legal requirement to set aside water for environment is ‘extreme even for the NT CLP government’, green group says
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The Northern Territory government has been accused of making a “blatant and shameless” attack on nature by planning to delete a legal requirement that water must be allocated to the environment.
In what has been described as the latest in a series of attacks on the environment by the NT’s Country Liberal party, the Finocchiaro government plans to change water rules that govern how much ground and surface water industry can take.
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Trump boosted half of US coal plants with taxpayer dollars and ‘free passes to pollute’, report says
10/31/2026 - 08:00
Environmental Defense Fund analysis shows administration handed out $950m and Clean Air Act exemptions
It’s a good time to be a coal plant in the US. The Trump administration has given support to almost half of the nation’s coal plants, helping them to continue operating despite economic and regulatory headwinds, according to a new analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund.
The analysis, which looked at the 184 operating coal plants that are connected to the grid, found that 90 received support from the Trump administration through “cash handouts, free passes to pollute, and requirements to stay online past their retirement dates”.
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10/31/2026 - 07:00
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylviania, a post-industrial site gets a second life
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10/31/2026 - 06:48
UK chancellor’s plans add to concerns government is moving away from pro-renewables agenda
John Healey has said he will veto new offshore wind projects if they will not lower bills, adding to concerns that the government is moving away from the pro-renewables agenda.
Announcing his plans, the chancellor said clean power is “how we break the grip of international gas prices on our bills”, but added the shift towards it “has to come at the right pace, in the right places, with the grid to carry it”.
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10/31/2026 - 03:48
Cop17, focused on protecting nature and restoring ecosystems, concludes on Saturday with critics saying system allows ‘one idiot’ to stall progress
Calls are growing for major reforms to UN biodiversity summits as countries fail to deliver on their promises to halt the destruction of the natural world, with governments likely on track to continue their record of never having met a target in the 34-year history of the convention.
Two weeks of negotiations at biodiversity Cop17 in Yerevan, Armenia, concluded on Saturday morning with countries vowing to redouble their efforts to meet this decade’s targets, which include commitments to protect 30% of the planet for nature, restore nearly a third of Earth’s degraded ecosystems and reform $500bn (£410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies.
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