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NHS faces more challenging winter than normal, health secretary warns
Yvette Cooper has announced £140m investment in England's urgent care system, after summer heatwaves piled pressure on the NHS.
NHS faces more challenging winter than normal, health secretary warns
Yvette Cooper has announced £140m investment in England's urgent care system, after summer heatwaves piled pressure on the NHS.
Situation Report No.11: Earthquakes in Venezuela 2026 (M7.2 and M7.5)
Nearly three months after the 24 June 2026 earthquakes in Venezuela, the response has moved into early recovery while sustaining essential emergency operations. Efforts now center on maintaining continuity of care across mental health, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and neonatal care, NCDs, and rehabilitation, alongside restoring affected facilities, supporting transitional camps, and strengthening Health Cluster coordination as Emergency Medical Teams and international partners withdraw. Health system recovery is advancing, with 16 ASICs and 356 health facilities assessed (61% operational) and rehabilitation progressing under CERF, CFE and US funding, while fluctuating electricity, medication refrigeration and emergency-generator gaps continue to challenge the safe continuity of essential health services. Public health surveillance and prevention remain active, with 47,145 cumulative vaccine doses administered and 556 health professionals trained, while intensified surveillance in La Guaira and Miranda and mounting environmental risks from tropical rains and heatwaves continue to require sustained vector-control and water/sanitation action. Contraception remains the most consistent unmet need across assessed shelters, particularly among adolescents and young women, while mental health needs continue to rise across the transitional camps amid limited supplies and specialized personnel. PAHO/WHO continues to support the response with critically needed medical supplies and medicines, having shipped 46.6 metric tons to Venezuela to date, benefiting 72 actors and reaching 117,714 people with treatment through PAHO and partner donations, while sustained technical and logistical support to the Ministry of Popular Power for Health (MPPS) has strengthened the national supply chain and ensured the continuity of health services through the coordination, reception, and mobilization of international donations of essential medical products.
‘Summer of truth’: will political leaders act as climate chaos comes knocking?
Amid record-shattering heatwaves and popular demand for climate action, why are politicians often timid or in denial?
Retail sales bounce back across Great Britain
Latest data to defy economic gloom shows 0.5% rise boosted by purchases of sports items, aircon units and fans amid heatwaves
How the body adapts to extreme heat
As heatwaves become more frequent and severe, scientists are studying whether heat acclimation can help protect vulnerable populations.
Wasps are disappearing this summer, and scientists are worried
Britain’s wasps have become mysteriously scarce this summer, and scientists suspect an unusual combination of temperature swings, heatwaves, and food shortages may be responsible. Even the wasps that remain appear unusually small, potentially offering a glimpse of how extreme heat could reshape insect populations.
If Your Windshield Seems Cleaner Than It Used to Be Scientists Say That Could Be a Very Bad Sign (For Insects)
Insects are under threat partly because of man-made climate change, heatwaves and intensive farming.
The trail of clues that our planet might be heating faster than we realised
A curious online row over this summer's heatwaves points to a wider - and worrying - shift in climate science.
The trail of clues that our planet might be heating faster than we realised
A curious online row over this summer's heatwaves points to a wider - and worrying - shift in climate science.
Wildfires, heatwaves threaten global air quality and health, UN warns
Wildfires and heatwaves are threatening global efforts to improve air quality and protect human health, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Monday. The UN agency warned that increasingly severe…
Ocean heatwaves linked with poorer health among children in coastal communities
Marine heatwaves — periods of abnormally warm ocean temperatures — may have negative health effects on children who live in coastal communities in low- or middle-income countries, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sony's Reon wearable air conditioner saved my sanity through multiple heatwaves
Sony's Reon Pocket Pro Plus looks like an alien is attached to your spine, but it works.
3 Ways Scientists Can Help Hold Major Polluters Accountable Under the Trump Administration
The impacts of climate change have been on full display this Danger Season, from record-breaking heatwaves to devastating wildfires, making evident the urgent need for accountability for the harms caused by supercharged extreme events and long-term changes. These harms have been inescapable across the western US, particularly when it comes to water. As fossil-fueled climate […]
Four key ways our warming planet is affecting our health
Heatwaves and extreme weather conditions are damaging our health in several ways, including mosquito-borne disease, drug-resistant bacteria and smoke from wildfires.
Why certain meds can make heatwaves harder to handle
Some of the most prescribed medications, including those used to treat depression, ADHD and high blood pressure, can increase the risk of dehydration and other heat-related conditions.
Europe's heatwaves expose insurance gap as business losses mount
For more than a century, cafes in the Italian city of Padua have welcomed customers for an early evening drink, or aperitivo, encouraging them to sit outside and socialise before dinner.
Science Confirms that Heatwaves Don't Just Make You Feel Slower, They Actually Age You
New research suggests that heatwaves could speed up biological aging. Here's why.
‘We’re seeing lots of people who feel dizzy’: how heatwaves are taking a toll on people’s health and the NHS
Doctors and nurses describe rise in fall injuries and other heat-related problems on top of stifling working conditions
US Stand Up for Science movement expands to Europe
A grassroots movement by scientists in the US pushing back against threats to academic freedom is setting up a Swiss outpost to take the movement global. Stand Up for Science started in February 2025 to protest against politically-motivated grant cancellations by the Trump administration. Since then, it has organised numerous rallies by scientists and turned into a broader campaigning organisation, supporting “pro-science” political candidates and attempting to impeach Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the health and human services secretary the group accuses of advancing “quack” science. Now, Stand Up for Science is establishing a Swiss office to take some of its campaigning beyond the US, and its leader is urging European academics to organise similar pro-science groups in case they face similar threats in Europe. There will likely be “spillover” to Europe from what the Trump administration is attempting in the US, said Colette Delawalla, chief executive of Stand Up for Science, who last month returned from a tour of Europe. “Are we going to see a Trump-style scientific [. . .] take over in the same way?” she asked.Delawalla, who is doing a PhD in clinical psychology, said she was driven to help found the organisation after the Trump administration started cancelling health research grants in politically taboo topics, such as transgender people, diversity and HIV, in early 2025. Since then, the administration has introduced several other measures that infringe academic and institutional autonomy.It threatened to cut Harvard University’s federal funding unless the university accepted a “critical mass” of new faculty and students to create “viewpoint diversity.” And this year, it proposed explosive new rules that would allow political appointees at research funders to screen grants to make sure they “advance the president's policy priorities.”US scientists have been at times stunned by the volume of announcements, and the country’s researchers were relatively unprepared. “We sit in front of the fire hose every day,” said Delawalla. For this reason, European scientists need to prepare now for similar assaults. “If you've got a little bit of extra time to start thinking through, and making those preparations and building community and solidarity,” then European researchers will “start five steps ahead of where we were.” She plans to return to Paris in September to share experiences with concerned French academics. Is Le Pen the same?During her European tour, Delawalla said that French academics were beginning to worry about a National Rally (RN) victory in presidential elections next year. She said there were “chilling similarities” between Trump and Marine Le Pen, the RN’s likely candidate. However, so far, the RN hasn’t proposed anything nearly as radical as the Trump administration has carried out. Its current manifesto is all but silent on university and research policy. Le Pen’s 2022 manifesto bemoaned a lack of French R&D spending, including in fundamental research, and promised to modernise labs and strip away grant bureaucracy. The party’s 2024 European election manifesto explicitly supported the Erasmus+ student exchange programme, scientific exchange and joint European technology projects. However, a Le Pen victory next year could see France drastically cut its contribution to the EU, which would hit the budget for science and innovation. Meanwhile, more restrictive immigration policies could hit university recruitment of faculty and students. Climate science denial?As heatwaves and wildfires have ravaged France, the RN has sought to distance itself from previous comments casting doubt on climate science.In the UK, the radical-right party Reform UK, now second in the polls, denied climate research in a draft of its 2024 election manifesto, but its leader, Nigel Farage, then appeared to quietly U-turn and said he was “not arguing the science.” By contrast, Trump has repeatedly and explicitly denied climate change science, in 2025 calling it “the greatest con job.” Like the RN, Reform UK has been light on research and university policy. However, it did say in its 2024 manifesto that universities should suffer “heavy financial penalties” for allowing “political bias or cancel culture” on campus, building on laws brought in by a previous Conservative government. Ahead of September state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, the poll-leading Alternative for Germany has proposed abolishing gender studies and postcolonial studies, and promised money for “critical” climate research and studies of Islam. Starts with rhetoricEven if European radical right parties aren’t currently planning the draconian policy measures of the Trump administration, Delawalla said that academics should not be complacent, and fight even small funding restrictions or anti-science talk from the start. “It starts off with sowing distrust about institutions,” she said. “It starts off with these small things, and then all of a sudden it's there.” There are other, more established science and university advocacy groups in the US aside from Stand Up for Science. But the group stands out because of Delawalla’s refusal to attempt to appear politically bipartisan or conciliatory. “I firmly believe that the US is experiencing fascism,” she said. “We’re not trying to win over the super Maga people,” she said, “and we never have been.” The lesson of the US is that even if universities or other institutions capitulate to government demands, this doesn’t save them from cuts and restrictions. “It doesn’t matter what people do,” she said. Global “pseudoscience”Another aim of Stand Up for Science’s push into Europe is to better coordinate a campaign to protect people in poorer countries from what the group describes as “pseudoscientific exploitation,” trials outside the US used to build a case against things like vaccines. Earlier this year, the group sent an investigator to Guinea-Bissau to investigate a controversial, Danish-run Hepatitis B vaccine project funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The study would have withheld a proven vaccine from newborns, Stand Up for Science argued in a briefing it presented to Congress, risking their health. Significantly, the research group based in Guinea-Bissau, known as Bandim, focuses on the “non-specific effects” of vaccines: impacts on health beyond preventing the target disease. Related articlesEuropean researchers sound the alarm that Trump rule changes will hit cooperationData corner: which fields of health science is the US curbing? The US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to know The suspicion is that the study was funded as part of an attempt to shop around for results that could help build a case against vaccines in the US, said Delawalla. “This is just code for vaccines cause autism,” she said.Bandim has put out a rebuttal of Stand Up for Science’s criticisms, arguing its work has uncovered a number of vaccine side effects, both positive and negative, which need to be taken into account in public health. However, Congressional Democrats took up the Stand Up for Science cause, and in February, Guinea-Bissau said it had permanently halted the study. WatchdogBut for Delawalla, this is not the end of the fight. Kennedy has made a number of health claims that scientists think lack evidence, such as the idea that seed oils cause inflammation, for example. Delawalla worries that more studies could be launched in poorer countries to fish around for evidence to support this agenda. Stand Up for Science is talking to African science organisations to create a kind of “watchdog” to scrutinise any further trials. “Outsourcing the investigation to some of the most vulnerable children in the world who are desperate [. . .] is fundamentally wrong,” she said.
NHS must plan for heatwaves like it does for winter, health secretary says
The warning comes after the NHS sees a surge in patients and problems with equipment in high temperatures.
Expert analyses public health impact of wildfires and heatwaves
With wildfires and a heatwave currently raging through Europe, Dr Kim van Daalen, Environmental Epidemiologist in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and Research Associate at Homerton College, gives her analysis of the impacts on public health.
Marine Heatwaves Are Hiding Far More Heat Than Scientists Realized
The first study of its kind shows that ecosystems experience far more cumulative heat than standard measurements reveal. A marine heatwave may have an official beginning and end, but the warm water affecting an ecosystem often does not. Like a pot that continues absorbing heat over time, coastal waters can remain unusually warm for weeks
Oxford researcher says mental health can be worse in heatwaves
Dr Emma Lawrance says hospital admissions linked to mental health symptoms rise by about 10%.
Sony Reon Pocket Pro Plus Air Conditioner Arrives In U.S. To Beat Summer Heatwaves
As another heat dome is predicted in the U.S., Sony’s wearable air conditioner has just arrived. Here’s all you need to know.
Sony Reon Pocket Pro Plus Air Conditioner Arrives In U.S. To Beat Summer Heatwaves
As another heat dome is predicted in the U.S., Sony’s wearable air conditioner has just arrived. Here’s all you need to know.
French business confidence improves in July despite Middle East conflict, heatwaves
French business confidence rose to a four-month high in July despite a new flare-up in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and record heatwaves at home, a monthly survey showed on Thursday.
Explainer: The serious health risks posed by wildfire smoke
Massive wildfires are raging around the world during unprecedented heatwaves, blanketing millions of people under pungent haze caused by smoke carrying noxious gases and particulate matter that pose serious health risks.
Green MP Hannah Spencer aims to pass law on maximum workplace temperatures
Byelection winner says heatwaves are causing ‘absolute chaos’ and workers need protection from unsafe conditions
Older adults face greater risk of mental health hospitalizations during extreme heatwaves
As the US recovers from its 4 July heatwave, a new study in Nature Health warns of an impending uptick in people attending hospitals for mental health and behavioral disorders, according to the first multi-country study of heatwave-related mental health hospitalization, led by Monash University in Australia.
UK weather latest: Temperatures above 30C expected again as heatwave continues
Amber and yellow heat health alerts are in place across England, as the UK experiences what could be one of the longest heatwaves since 1976.
Statement - Europe lost 200 000 people to heat in 4 years yet nearly all of them were preventable
Good morning. The impacts of climate change are a clear and present danger, and its most immediate and lethal manifestation is extreme heat. Heatwaves are no longer freak weather anomalies. They are now a recurring crisis inflicting suffering, claiming lives and fracturing our health systems and infrastructure.
Scientists develop 'smart paint' that reflects 97% of sunlight and could reduce AC use during heatwaves
As heatwaves become more frequent and intense around the world, scientists are exploring new ways to keep buildings cool without increasing energy consumption. Researchers at the University of Sydney, working with startup Dewpoint Innovations, have developed a nano-engineered coating that reflects up to 97% of sunlight and stays significantly cooler than conventional surfaces.
Sony Launches Reon Pocket Pro Plus Wearable Air Conditioner In Time For Summer Heatwaves
Sony’s latest “thermo device” is designed to keep you cool during intense summer heat. Here’s all you need to know.
Sony Launches Reon Pocket Pro Plus Wearable Air Conditioner In Time For Summer Heatwaves
Sony’s latest “thermo device” is designed to keep you cool during intense summer heat. Here’s all you need to know.
As El Niño Approaches, Scientists Predict Fierce Heatwaves, Wildfires and Floods
Emerging Pacific Ocean heat, combined with ongoing human-caused global warming, is a grim recipe for deadly climate extremes. Heat alone already kills more than 500,000 annually.
Record European Heatwaves Shrink Glaciers And Diminish Snow Cover In 2025
Around 95% of Europe experienced above-average temperatures in 2025, with record heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic region. This caused rapid loss
Drug use in England spikes during heatwaves and big sports events, research finds
Project that tested traces of illicit drugs in wastewater also found higher use during Eurovision song contest
Revealed: 10 new insights in climate science
Each year, the world’s leading climate scientists evaluate the most critical evidence on how our planet is changing. Their assessments draw heavily on data from Earth-observing satellites – and the latest report delivers a stark warning: the planet’s energy balance is drifting further out of alignment, ocean warming is now accelerating, and the land’s capacity to absorb carbon is declining, along with other troubling trends.