A historic May heat wave pushed Greenland’s ice melt to 17 times its average rate and sent Iceland’s temperatures soaring to record-breaking highs, raising urgent alarms about Arctic climate vulnerability.
Temperatures across Iceland were more than 13°C above the 1991–2020 May average, with 84% of the country’s weather stations registering record-breaking highs.
The World Weather Attribution (WWA) reported that the hottest day in eastern Greenland was 3.9°C warmer than preindustrial levels, and such extreme temperatures would have occurred only once in a century without human-driven climate change. However, due to global warming, such events are now 40 times more likely and about 3°C hotter.
The impacts were severe: Iceland experienced road damage from bituminous bleeding, while Greenland’s breaking sea ice threatened traditional activities such as hunting and fishing. On May 15, temperatures in Iceland surpassed 26°C — extremely rare — with a record 26.6°C measured in Egilsstaðir.
WWA warns that these Arctic regions, built for cold climates, are increasingly at risk. As global temperatures rise toward a projected 2.6°C increase, such extreme weather events could become more common and intense. Iceland has begun updating its climate adaptation plans, while Greenland is also starting to treat heat as a public health issue.
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Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and locals said their lives had barely been disrupted.
Russia struck Ukraine overnight in one of the biggest attacks of the conflict, killing at least 19 people, Kyiv's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Around 70 missiles were fired at Ukraine during the attack, as well as drones, the Ministry said.
The Saudi-led coalition says it has carried out a series of military operations against Houthi targets in Yemen after attacks on two Saudi airports left three people dead and dozens injured.
A large Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region has killed two people, damaged homes and sparked a major fire at a key fuel facility, according to Russian officials and military bloggers.
Azerbaijan and the five Central Asian states have signed two key documents at the 8th Consultative Meeting of Heads of State in Turkmenbashi, formalising a broader framework for regional cooperation in transport, trade, energy, digitalisation and security.
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Greenland and Antarctica have shed a combined 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, according to the most comprehensive satellite study of the planet's ice sheets to date, with researchers warning the pace of loss has accelerated sharply in recent decades.
The European Union will continue allowing large-scale plastic waste exports to Türkiye despite concerns over recycling rates, environmental damage and the risk of illegal waste trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature’s most striking nesting events. But conservation officials warn that climate change is making it increasingly difficult for their eggs to hatch.
August 2026 tied as the hottest month ever recorded globally, pushing average temperatures above the critical 1.5°C threshold as extreme weather swept across several regions, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
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