Repeated heatwaves, driven by climate crisis, have raised need for guidance as workers struggle to cope
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, driven by the climate crisis, 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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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/15/2026 - 05:00
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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07/15/2026 - 03:00
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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07/15/2026 - 01:00
Vulnerable people more at risk as research finds only half of local authority plans require cooling strategies
England risks constructing a new generation of “death trap” buildings that can fatally overheat unless the government tightens standards and prioritises climate safeguards, planning experts have said.
Fears are growing about the plight of vulnerable people in heatwaves, with research this week suggesting that 2,700 people had died in the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales. Yet only about half of local plans being drawn up by councils and local authorities require new buildings to have a cooling or ventilation strategy to prevent overheating, according to findings from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA).
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07/14/2026 - 18:01
Annual State of the UK Climate analysis finds last four years in UK are in top five hottest on record
The UK’s climatic extremes are becoming increasingly normal, a report has found, with last year the hottest on record and further “unprecedented changes” likely to break the record again soon.
Data stretching back to 1884 shows the UK has never experienced a year as hot as 2025, according to the annual State of the UK Climate report, with temperatures pushed to dizzying heights by carbon pollution clogging the atmosphere.
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07/14/2026 - 17:38
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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07/14/2026 - 11:51
Around the world, climate-sceptic parties are exploiting floods and fires to make political capital. Without urgent changes, this deadly spiral will continue
Recent unprecedented heatwaves in the UK may have killed thousands of people. Children are suffering in overheating schools. NHS trusts are straining under record-breaking demand. This all comes after climate extremes have even affected national security, with three of Britain’s five worst harvests coming since 2020, impairing food security.
This is what life looks like in the “adaptation gap”.
Laurie Laybourn is executive director of the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative
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07/14/2026 - 09:23
Campaigners criticise C of E for failing to show moral leadership as one of country’s biggest landowners
The Church of England has voted against plans to restore 30% of its land for nature, with campaigners criticising its failure to show moral leadership.
The C of E owns about 42,500 hectares (105,000 acres) of land, making it one of England’s biggest landowners. Currently just 3.5% of its land is used for nature restoration.
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07/14/2026 - 09:01
GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate power
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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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07/14/2026 - 09:00
El Niño climate phenomenon heating waters off Mexico but incidents with humans remain a rarity
California is set to see one of its sharkiest summers in a decade, with large numbers of juvenile great whites already on a reverse vacation from the warm waters of Mexico to cooler pastures along the western United States.
The marine predator has become more common along the west coast in recent years, with stories of surfers seeing underwater behemoths closer to shore and scientists saying swimmers and ocean-lovers alike are probably already sharing their favorite beaches with great whites, whether they know it or not.
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