Stand still, make eye contact: Denmark tells tourists how to behave in a wolf encounter

Government urges visitors not to approach or feed wolves as it manages safety amid growing population

Danish authorities have advised tourists to stand still, make eye contact and put up “maximum resistance” in the event of attack if they encounter a wolf while on holiday.

After a 200-year absence, wolves started returning to Denmark in 2012. There are now estimated to be 49 wolves on the Danish peninsula of Jutland.

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We received no alert, say leaders of First Nations communities razed by Canadian wildfires

Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat

Fast-moving wildfires have burned two First Nations communities in Canada to the ground, as members said they were left to self-evacuate without government help or emergency alerts.

Thirteen communities in Ontario province have been ordered to evacuate because of wildfires, most of them First Nations. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told reporters on Monday that close to 2,000 people had been evacuated so far to cities including Toronto and Niagara Falls.

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Australian ski resorts smash July climate records with temperatures 12C above average

Resorts in New South Wales and Victoria face a warm and dry start to the season with only sporadic falls of natural snow in many alpine areas

Alpine ski resorts in New South Wales and Victoria saw climate records shattered at the weekend with maximum temperatures up to 12C above average.

Ski areas of Mount Hotham and Falls Creek set July records for their hottest daytime and night-time temperatures and Thredbo also set a new hottest July day, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

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Five family members found dead after flash flood in Utah canyon, police say

Victims were Provo’s fire captain, his wife and their three sons, who were hiking in Bicknell amid heavy rains

Five family members who had set out for a day of hiking were killed after a flash flood swept through canyons of southern Utah on Friday, law enforcement officials said.

The victims were a captain in the Provo fire department, his wife and their sons, according to fire officials. A daughter who was not on the trip survived.

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Molten salt and human sweat: the weird batteries that could store renewable energy

From Nevada to Manchester, developers are trialling innovative solutions to clean energy’s biggest challenge

In the deserts of the United Arab Emirates a sprawling clean energy project, stretching across an area roughly the size of 12,600 football fields, will play host to a breakthrough allowing solar energy to power the equivalent of half a million homes through the night.

The Gulf state has been steadily combining 5.2GW of solar power capacity with 19GWh of battery storage to create the largest battery scheme in the world.

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Flash flood warnings strike north-east US amid wildfire smoke from Canada

Poor air quality from wildfires continues to plague New York City as several neighborhoods hit by thunderstorms

Saturday is delivering a double dose of dangerous weather across the north-eastern US, with smoky skies from Canadian wildfires giving way to severe thunderstorms that have already triggered a flash flood warning as torrential rain pounds parts of the region.

After a brief break on Friday, smoke from the wildfires moved back into New York City and surrounding communities on Saturday, sending air quality back into unhealthy levels.

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More Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds US midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east

109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.

The pungent smoke blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air-quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.

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‘We are waiting with bated breath’: Super El Niño forecast could make 2027 hottest year on record, BoM says

Most Australian capital cities have at least 80% chance of unusually warm and dry spring as climatologists watch developing system with increasing alarm

The El Niño climate phenomenon linked to record global temperatures and now locked in place in the Pacific Ocean could develop into the strongest on record, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.

Climatologists are watching the strengthening El Niño with increasing alarm, saying the forecasts from climate models in the coming months are “mind blowing” and “astounding”.

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How global heating supercharged floods in West Africa, displacing thousands

Adaptation to frightening new normal and reducing emissions further and faster is critical, scientists warn

Dozens of people drowned, hundreds had to be rescued and thousands were displaced when floods struck the coasts of west Africa last month.

Now scientists have concluded that the rains that caused the floods were supercharged by climate breakdown. Global heating, they say, turned what should have been a routine weather event into a climate catastrophe.

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Wildfires in Ontario make Toronto air quality worst in world

Environment Canada has issued health warnings after sky over city turns yellow

Smoke from more than 100 active wildfires in northern Ontario have made Toronto’s air quality the current worst in the world and caused yellow, smoky air in cities across the north-east US.

Environment Canada issued health warnings on Wednesday after the sky over country’s largest city turned a sickly yellow and was ranked the worst in the world according to IQAir, the Swiss technology company that racks global air quality.

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Greater gliders not as great at gliding as thought – but still look like magic carpets, experts say

While new study challenges assumptions about how far they travel, witnessing them in action still takes your breath away, scientists say

They may look like a fluffy flying carpet, but greater gliders are not as great at gliding as previously thought, Australian researchers have discovered.

The first study to measure the aerial ability of Australia’s largest gliding marsupial has found they soar across an average distance of 19 metres – far shorter than the 100 metres suggested in an 85-year-old study.

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Sadiq Khan backs calls for maximum workplace temperature in UK

Mayor of London backs calls from unions to update health and safety rules in light of more frequent heatwaves

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is backing calls for a maximum workplace temperature as pressure grows on the government to protect workers from the impact of repeated heatwaves across the UK.

The extreme heat has left people struggling to cope as temperatures in some workplaces climb above 40C, causing thousands of schools to close and hospital and transport systems to break down.

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US trial could reveal who paid hackers to target Exxon climate critics: ‘on the edge of our seats’

Oil giant has denied involvement, but climate activists are closely watching court case against Israeli private investigator for answers

A group of American climate activists are closely watching a US court case that could reveal who hired hackers to target their inboxes a decade ago.

In 2015, a set of explosive media reports revealed that ExxonMobil’s own scientists determined as early as 1982 that the extraction and burning of fossil fuels caused the climate crisis – but Exxon went on to fund climate denial campaigns anyway. The reports prompted attorneys general to investigate the company.

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Shipwrecks of Shackleton and Scott recreated in 3D digital form after deep sea expedition

Canadian scientists visit remains of polar exploration vessels in ‘golden era for shipwreck investigating’

Moments after devouring the final glimmers of light, the seafloor offered nothing but darkness and silt. Then the bow appeared.

More than 1,000ft (305 metres) below the surface of the Labrador Sea, off the coast of Canada, the skeleton of the final ship used by the famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton appeared in its silty grave.

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Seven Britons among 12 foreign nationals killed in Spain’s deadly wildfires

Fire broke out last Thursday in the southeastern province of Almería, which is home to many foreign residents

Seven Britons are among 12 foreign nationals killed in wildfires in southern Spain, authorities said.

Officials said 12 of the 13 victims were foreign nationals after completing postmortem examinations after the fires that swept through Andalusia.

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Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds

GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate power

Claims by the Coalition and One Nation that abandoning a net zero climate target would bring down power prices are contradicted in a new CSIRO report on the costs of generating electricity.

Generation costs will probably rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s policy on net zero, according to the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, but prices should then stabilise at levels below recent price spikes.

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British couple killed in Spanish wildfires as authorities race to identify victims

Appeal for DNA to help identify bodies as local government leader says ‘we are in a state of climate chaos’

A British couple have been named as two victims of the wildfires in Spain that have killed 13 people, as authorities race to use DNA to identify those who did not manage to escape the blaze.

Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar, the village that bore the brunt of the wildfires on Thursday, are believed not to have survived.

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Dolphin deaths in South Australia spike after algal bloom decimates food sources

The March 2025 marine disaster may be linked to a high number of dolphin deaths in the region, scientists say

The number of dead dolphins washing up on South Australian beaches spiked in 2025, according to long-term data that reveals mortalities during the state’s devastating algal bloom were the highest in 12 years.

Last year, at least 70 carcasses of common and bottlenose dolphins were found across South Australia, with a further 20 reported in 2026, including the recent death of a popular Port River dolphin known as Zoom.

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Fire bomber planes battle Fontainebleau forest blaze near Paris

Wildfire quickly burnt more than 800 hectares, with villages evacuated, highway partly closed and high-speed rail disrupted

French officials rushed two firefighting planes to the Paris region on Sunday after a “very virulent” fire of “exceptional scale” erupted in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest about 60km (40 miles) south-east of the capital.

The fire began late afternoon in the one-time royal hunting preserve that today is dotted with quiet villages. It raced across 800 hectares (2,000 acres) and was still spreading early on Monday, officials said, causing the partial closure of the A6 highway, the country’s main north-south artery, and disrupting traffic during a busy, heatwave-stricken summer travel weekend.

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UK couple found burned and semi-conscious in Almería amid Spanish wildfires

Pair airlifted to hospital in two-hour rescue operation after Guardia Civil searched area for survivors

A British couple have been found badly burned and semi-conscious in a Spanish ravine amid deadly wildfires that have swept through the country’s Almería province, according to local media reports.

The couple were on holiday in the region and were thought to be out hiking when they were caught up in the wildfire, which has so far killed 13 people and burned more than 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres). At least 23 people are missing.

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