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Unfortunately, we came back to sweltering heat in the UK – a picture mirrored in North America, where a large heat "bubble” has been drifting across the continent, and in Europe, where temperatures have exceeded 40°C (104°F) in some places over the past week.

It’s a reminder of just how quickly summer extremes are changing as the climate warms. This month we report on a new study from the Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, that suggests summer temperatures above 45°C (113°F) are now possible in the country’s current climate – a temperature unthinkable even a decade ago.

It’s not just humans that suffer in heat extremes. This month we’ve also looked at the silent ecological crisis unfolding in Europe, where forests are rapidly shifting from being a net sink for carbon emissions to being a net source as a result of drought, heatwaves and pest invasions driven by rising temperatures.

With Earth’s climate changing so rapidly, it’s looking increasingly foolish to rely on nature-based solutions, like tree planting, to solve our emissions problem. Other areas are also facing hurdles to progress, from carbon removal to nuclear fusion – read on to find out more.

Hot weather during UK summers is likely here to stay

HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

In the 1960s, the chance of the UK experiencing a day with temperatures over 40°C was less than 0.2 per cent per year. Under 2023 climate conditions, those odds have risen to 4.2 per cent per year, according to the UK Met Office – a 2000 per cent increase in probability over just 60 years. Read more.

For the first time, scientists have successfully cryopreserved sea star larvae and reactivated them – an important milestone that could help re-establish a critically endangered keystone species. Read more. 

Every year, the Quadrature Climate Foundation funnels hundreds of millions of dollars to some of the world’s most influential campaign groups and scientific institutions. We speak to the organisation’s chief science officer Greg de Temmerman, a former nuclear physicist, about the foundation’s strategy to save the planet. Read more.

For decades, Europe’s forests – which cover around 40 per cent of the continent’s land area – have been relied on as a source of timber and as a sink for carbon emissions. But that picture is rapidly changing as extreme weather pushes forests to the limits of their endurance. Read more. Read more.

You might steer clear of jellyfish in the ocean, but they aren’t all bad. As well as venom they can also harbour anti-inflammatory and immunologically important biochemicals that could make them valuable as animal feed, fertilisers and even superfoods for human consumption. Get up close to these mesmerising creatures in this photo story.

Injecting aerosols into the atmosphere could help cool the climate, but it could also disrupt monsoon rains and further damage the ozone layer. Using reusable rockets to fire aerosols into the top of the stratosphere – rather than at lower altitudes – could help to avoid some of these negative impacts. Read more.

Nuclear fusion has the potential to deliver nearly limitless power – but before it can even get started, the world must build a massive supply of enriched lithium fuel from scratch. Read more.

As much as Fido likes a paddle in hot weather, perhaps you should avoid letting your furry friend romp in waterways. New research suggests dogs treated with spot-on flea and tick solutions can release harmful chemicals into water even 28 days after treatment. Read more.

Rising sea levels, industrial pollution and coral reef bleaching are threatening coastal communities. What if these groups simply moved underwater? Read about the Sea Nomads doing just that, as imagined by Rowan Hooper.

Carbon dioxide removal isn’t scaling up anywhere near fast enough to keep global temperatures below 1.5°C of warming. The slow pace of progress is causing alarm inside the industry, my colleague James Dinneen reports. Read more.

Simon Prades

The idea that there have been five mass extinctions on Earth, each killing at least 75 per cent of organisms, goes back more than 40 years. It is based on a massive analysis of marine fossils, but researchers have long assumed that these events were just as catastrophic for land-based life. The past decade has seen that belief questioned. Surprising new evidence from plants, insects and four-limbed animals indicates that something different was happening beyond the oceans. The controversial conclusion, that there was never a mass extinction on land, puts the current biodiversity crisis in a new light. Read more.

That’s all from The Earth Edition this month. Remember, this is just a small selection of all the wonderful environment, earth science and nature stories we publish each month. Do head over to our website to enjoy the full collection.

We’re keen to hear your thoughts about The Earth Edition – feel free to email ideas or comments to me using the contact details below. If you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them.

Madeleine Cuff

Environment reporter, New Scientist
Email me at Madeleine.Cuff@newscientist.com
Follow me @MadeleineCuff or @tinymaddie.bsky.social

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