The area of Europe affected by wildfires could triple as a result of climate change, new research suggests. Back-to-back heatwaves and an early drought have created tinderbox conditions in western Europe since early July, leading to severe wildfires across France, Greece, Spain and Belgium in particular. More than 20 people have been killed, including 14 in the Almeria wildfire […]
A team at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has developed a new type of stainless steel that could overcome a major limitation of conventional stainless steel and potentially lower the cost of producing green hydrogen. Led by Professor Mingxin Huang of HKU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the researchers created stainless steel for hydrogen (SS-H2), […]
The slated green energy plans could light, heat and cool all the homes in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver combined. Canadian officials have announced plans for “the largest clean energy investment in North American history.” A total of CAN$70 billion (€43.6 billion) is earmarked to massively enhance wind and hydropower generation in the eastern part of the country. […]
How Portugal’s University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro works out the age of hundreds of ancient olive trees. A tree was recently discovered in Germany which may be the oldest known in the country, at around 1,100 years old. But in Portugal there are hundreds of trees estimated to be at least 2,000 years old, particularly olive […]
No rain, no hops – no hops, no beer. Climate change, heat and dry farmland are hitting Bavaria’s key crop. Could solar panels save it? A wave of farm closures is washing over Germany’s lush hop-growing regions as climate change, falling prices and declining demand for beer leave desolation in their wake. As of 2026, there are […]
Human activities produce 100 times the carbon dioxide of the planet’s volcanic eruptions, according to NASA. Europe’s most active volcano has been putting on a fiery show, and experts predict that this is just the beginning. Tourists have flocked en masse to see molten lava spewing out of Mount Etna, a stratovolcano located on the […]
A surge in solar power has helped meet heightened power demand from Europe’s blistering heatwaves, according to a new analysis. Solar has been doing the “heavy lifting” to help Europe meet its energy needs amid a string of blistering heatwaves. A new analysis from energy think-tank Ember found that solar output in European countries rose […]
As Europe braces for yet another heatwave this week, many of the continent’s major rivers are already running at exceptionally low levels, raising concerns that flows could slow even further before the end of the summer. Analysis by The National of data from the Copernicus European Flood Awareness System shows that river flows across much of Europe have remained well below […]
Tiny aerosol particles may be able to strengthen tropical convective clouds, but scientists have debated the idea for decades. Aerosols influence the formation and growth of cloud droplets, which can affect condensation and the release of latent heat. One proposed process, called condensational aerosol convective invigoration, depends on clouds developing very high water vapor supersaturation. […]
Wildfires occur across Europe each summer, but the fires that swept through Spain and France in July 2026 ranked among the most destructive either country had experienced in decades. Some of the worst outbreaks developed in southwestern France’s Gironde Department and in Spain’s Ávila and Madrid provinces during the middle of the month. The fires […]
