It is the invisible ingredient responsible for this year's bumper wheat harvest in Iraq, a country generally considered one of the most endangered by climate change and drought in the world. It has also helped increase the number of Tunisia's all-important date-palm oases, is keeping Yemen's agriculture going despite war and ensures that Libya's bustling coastal cities are supplied with water. Groundwater — fresh water stored underneath the earth and accessed mostly by wells — has always played a significant role in arid Middle East countries. Because it is underground, it is not as impacted by drought and heat , and it's the main source of fresh water for at least 10 Arab nations, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, or ESCWA, stated in a 2020 report. But as climate change impacts what little rainfall these countries get and extremely hot summers dry up more rivers and lakes, groundwater is becoming even more important. Unseen underground rivers "Awareness of groundwater is rising," said Annabelle Houdret, a senior researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, or IDOS, who's been looking into groundwater management in Morocco specifically. "In general, people have not thought about it as much as they should because they don't see it. If you see a river where levels falls dramatically, it immediately gets a reaction," she continued. "But [groundwater] is an abstract. By the time we become aware of what's happening with groundwater, it may well be too late." Making it even more complicated is the variable nature of groundwater, Mohammed Mahmoud, director of the climate and water program at Washington-based think tank, the Middle East Institute, told DW. There is growing pressure on groundwater in the region, Mahmoud says, but it's also a complicated resource. How to manage groundwater depends on what sort of ground or rocks it's stored in, how deep it's stored, how it flows and how it's connected to nearby surface water like rivers and lakes. It also depends on whether the groundwater comes from renewable sources. For instance, some groundwater in the Middle East has collected underground over thousands of years. This is called "fossil groundwater" and it's hard to replenish. Like oil in the ground, it's a single-use resource, experts say. "These groundwater resources are found at great depths and are hardly, or not at all, renewable," explained Ramon Brentführer, a project manager at the groundwater policy advisory of Germany's Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources. "But in recent decades, these aquifers have been increasingly tapped." On the other hand, some groundwater sources do renew regularly because of, for example, rain, Brentführer says. However, even when groundwater resources are renewable, anybody using it needs to be careful to maintain a balance: Don't take out more water than is coming in. Measuring groundwater is crucial but difficult Organizations like ESCWA warn that this balance may not be maintained in the Middle East. But it's also very hard to know how bad the imbalance is, or how to manage it. Part of the reason is that it's very hard to measure groundwater levels simply because of where it's located. Additionally, the degree to which any country in the region measures its water, whether above or below ground, varies widely. For example, in Yemen, which has been in the throes of a civil war for almost a decade now, it is extremely difficult to measure supplies. Other countries like Saudi Arabia appear to be well aware of groundwater levels. In 2018, Saudi Arabia halted its own expansionist agricultural program, started in the 1970s. It had relied on using groundwater to grow wheat. The end of the program indicates the Saudis realized they were depleting their own groundwater.  It is possible to measure groundwater from outer space, using satellites like NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE. These measure the world's water movements — things like melting ice caps and rising ocean levels — by measuring Earth's gravity. Whenever a mass shifts, it changes Earth's gravity just a little. When there's less groundwater, there's also less mass, and satellites report this information.  "However, GRACE does not provide data for local water management," Brentführer said. "This is where remote sensing reaches its limits." For that, one needs things like local observation wells, the water expert told DW. These have to be financed, built and regularly monitored by trained staff, which makes them a non-feasible option in some places. And, Brentführer added, not having the information is just one aspect of this: "In Jordan, for example, the groundwater situation is well known but there is a lack of enforcement to regulate water abstraction for agriculture. And the rich Gulf countries — like Saudi Arabia — know their water resources quite well, but are not transparent with their data." Many Middle Eastern countries already have regulations about water use, the IDOS' Houdret says. "But enforcement can be problematic," she added. Houdret tells of a local water authority employee in Morrocco who's sent out to check on illegal wells. He has one car, limited fuel and a huge amount of territory to cover, she explains, and he's regularly greeted by stone-throwing villagers who don't want him to inspect anything. When will groundwater run out? The question is, if nobody really knows how much groundwater there still is and at the same time its use is increasing, is there a possibility the Middle East could run out? Recent information captured by GRACE satellites appears to show the Middle East's groundwater has been significantly depleted over the past decade. The UN's ESCWA reports that many local groundwater aquifers are already being used up at a faster rate than they can be replenished. Despite such warnings though, the truth is that nobody really knows if, or when, the Middle East might run out of groundwater. "Groundwater involves a very complicated system that interacts with other natural systems," said Youssef Brouziyne, regional representative for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Water Management Institute, a research organization headquartered in Sri Lanka. Systems involved include nearby rivers or wetlands, associated ecosystems, rainfall and coastlines as well as pressures from salinity and pollution. 

Researchers from Germany, the United States and Peru have named a recently discovered species of snake after actor Harrison Ford. Ford famously played Indiana Jones, who himself had some perilous encounters with snakes. And on Tuesday the German Society for Herpetology and Herpetoculture (DGHT) announced the naming of Tachymenoides harrisonfordi to recognize the Hollywood actor's environmental advocacy. Ford's namesake snake measures 16 inches (40.6 centimeters) in length and is yellowish-brown with scattered black blotches, a black belly, and a vertical streak over its copper-colored eye. Ford says experience is 'humbling' "These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it's always the ones that terrify children," Ford said jokingly in a statement.  "I don't understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won't fear the night." The 81-year-old actor went on to thank researchers for the honor and note the significance of the discovery. "In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling. It's a reminder that there's still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere," he said. "On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life." The snake was discovered in May 2022 by a team of researchers from the United States, Germany and Peru. The only specimen, a male, was discovered sunbathing in a marsh in the Peruvian Andes located some 3,248 meters above sea level.

At first glance, the news published by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) is disturbing: On July 31, 2023, the average temperature of the global ocean surface was exactly 20.9648 degrees Celsius (69.73664 degrees Fahrenheit), above the previous record set in 2016. However, compared to 2016, this is only an extremely small increase of exactly 0.0188 degrees. Back then, the highest value was 20.95 degrees Celsius (if rounded up). So is the new temperature record actually just much ado about nothing? Unfortunately not because it fits in with the general trend this year — a trend that is consistently pointing upwards. World's oceans getting warmer and warmer  Since April, the global average daily surface temperature of the Earth's oceans (excluding the polar regions) has remained at record levels, which is simply far too warm for the time of year. For example, according to Copernicus analyses, daily average maritime temperatures had already reached 20.94 degrees Celsius on July 19. In addition, record surface water temperatures have persisted in the North Atlantic. In June, they averaged 0.91 degrees Celsius, the warmest of any Copernicus record for that period. And according to data from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), preliminary measurements show the sea surface in the North Atlantic actually reached an all-time high temperature of 24.9 degrees Celsius during the last week of July this year. NOAA scientist Xungang Yin told the AFP news agency that sea surface temperatures are expected to "continue to rise in August." Normally, the North Atlantic reaches its maximum temperature in early September, according to the NOAA. Highest category of heatwave in the North Atlantic  In June, the North Atlantic was already experiencing a maritime heatwave of the highest category, explained Samantha Burgess of C3S in an interview with DW. One can assume that this will lead to a further large-scale fish deaths. There was also a risk of more storms forming in the North Atlantic, she added. "The ocean has absorbed 90% of the excess heat from extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," Burgess told DW. "The ocean is the proverbial enormous sponge that soaks up this extra heat when it gets hotter than what we have seen in the past." This situation is extreme. "We've seen maritime heatwaves before, but this is very persistent and spread out over a large surface area" in the North Atlantic, Karina von Schuckmann of the Mercator Ocean International research center told AFP. Record temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea  Water temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea also broke records this year. For example, Spanish researchers reported at the end of July that the daily mean sea surface temperature was 28.71 degrees Celsius. The Mediterranean region, which experienced record heatwaves in July, has long been considered a climate change hotspot. "Temperatures in the ocean are an absolute master switch," said Thorsten Reusch, a biologist at the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research. The smallest changes could shake up the global climate system. "What we are seeing now is beyond any previously recorded water temperatures. That is definitely remarkable and alarming." The high ocean surface temperatures also coincide with the development of El Nino conditions, a period of warmer-than-average sea surface temperature values in the tropical Pacific. This naturally occurring climate pattern, which began on July 4 according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), results in a higher likelihood of extreme heat in many regions and in the ocean. A taste of what's to come In general, this year's July was accompanied by extremes and records. According to UN figures, it is most likely the hottest month since weather records began and probably has seen temperatures "unprecedented" for thousands of years.   In particular, parts of Europe, Asia and North America were hit by heatwaves and devastating wildfires. These extreme weather occurances were simply a taste of what is to come for the world's climate, warned the WMO and the EU's C3S observation program. "Man-made emissions are ultimately the main cause of this temperature rise," says Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S. Science has shown that weather extremes such as heatwaves are increasing in intensity and frequency as a result of global climate change. The Earth has already warmed by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the industrial age.  The Paris climate agreement aims to limit warming to well below two degrees, but preferably to 1.5 degrees. As it stands now, however, the Earth is heading for a dangerous warming of about four degrees.

Around 100 whales were spotted near the coast in Western Australia, making their way to the beach, where at least half later died. The phenomenon is believed to indicate either stress or illness within the pod. Nearly 100 pilot whales stranded themselves on a beach in Western Australia on Tuesday, with Australian officials announcing 51 had already died on Wednesday. The highly social long-finned mammals often maintain close relationships with their pods. The whales were spotted swimming near Cheynes beach east of Albany early on Tuesday. By the afternoon, beached whales covered a  stretch of the shoreline, despite earlier efforts to guide them back to sea. What do we know about the rescue efforts? Western Australia's state Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions set up an overnight camp to monitor the whales, in an attempt to save their lives. "We still have 46 whales still alive, and that will be our focus today — to get them back into the water and encourage them to head off into deeper water," Peter Hartley, a manager from the department, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "We are optimistic that we will save as many as we can." The rescue team includes veterinarians and marine fauna experts from Perth Zoo. Many have also volunteered to help, but officials said they were "overwhelmed" with the number of volunteers, urging the public instead to stay away from the beach. Why do whales strand themselves? The phenomenon of whales stranding themselves near Australia and New Zealand is not uncommon. Last October, some 500 pilot whales beached on New Zealand's remote Chatham Islands. It has also been reported elsewhere recently. Last week, 55 pilot whales washed up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a remote Scottish island. Some wildlife experts suggest the behavior could indicate stress or illness within the pods. Others think the whales go off track after feeding too close to shore. It is also thought the mammals may follow pod-mates who stray into danger.

Maritime rescuers were able to save one single pilot whale after dozens of the animals washed up on a beach in the Outer Hebrides. Researchers suspect the pod got in trouble over a female giving birth. A "mass stranding" event caused over 50 pilot whales to die on a remote Scottish island, marine rescuers said on Sunday. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity (BDMLR) said 55 of the animals washed up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Police alerted the BDMLR to the beached pilot whales on Sunday morning. The responders came to administer first aid and managed to refloat two animals, but one of them become restranded and died, and only one of the whales got away safely. "Unfortunately, none (apart from one that was refloated early on) survived the ordeal," the charity said in a later statement. Saving Scotland's pilot whales Despite their name, pilot whales belong to the same family as dolphins. They can grow up to six meters (20 feet) in length and weigh a metric ton. In their statement, BDMLR said it was "currently suspected that the whole pod stranded due to one female giving birth." According to the rescuers, pilot whales are "notorious for their strong social bonds, so often when one whale gets into difficulty and strands, the rest follow, leading to more of them stranding." The group was founded in 1988 and has 20 whale rescue pontoons at strategic locations across the UK to help stranded whales and dolphins. Between 2011 and 2015, it responded to a series of mass pilot whale strandings in Scotland, including one incident that involved a pod of more than 70 pilot whales.             View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by BDMLR (@bdmlr_uk)  

A bear that killed a jogger in the Alps in April has been given another stay of execution after an Italian court ruled against its euthanization Friday. The bear named JJ4, but is more commonly known as Gaia, was due to be put after it attacked and killed a 26-year-old man who was jogging public nature reserve in the Trentino–Alto Adige region of northern Italy in April. Regional president Maurizio Fugatti ordered the bear shot, but lower courts stopped Fugatti's decree after urgent petitions by animal rights activists.  On Friday, Rome's administrative court, known as the Council of State, handed Gaia another reprieve from execution.   Spared once again It's the third time Italian courts have offered the bear, known as JJ4, a reprieve. Authorities said it also attacked two other people in 2020, but not fatally. In June 2020, JJ4 attacked two hikers on Mount Peller, a father and son. The father was badly injured in the attack. Fugatti at the time also ordered the bear's killing, only to have the court also revoke his order.   'Disproportionate' cull order  On Friday the Council of State ruled that while the bear should be kept in captivity for public safety, the cull order was "disproportionate and incompatible" with legislation. But the reprieve is only until a further appeal is heard in December. Animal rights protection organization LAV welcomed Friday's court ruling  "There's no more reason to delay JJ4's transfer to a safe and authorized refuge in Romania," the group's Massimo Vitturi said. LAV, which has found a Romanian refuge and offered to pay for Gaia to be taken there. The Rome judges also saved another bear, MJ5, which has yet to be captured and was also facing a cull order after injuring a man in March.

Under pressure to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the European Union is pushing policies to clean up its economy. In an effort to slow the planet's heating, the European Union made a promise in 2019 to become the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Despite the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and the energy crisis associated with it, EU lawmakers are still pushing for policies to cut pollution. They have written some targets from the European Green Deal into law and are haggling over others. They have added green strings to coronavirus relief packages and ripped up rules blocking clean energy projects. "COVID didn't kill the Green Deal," said Pieter de Pous, a Berlin-based analyst at climate think tank E3G. "In fact, it made it stronger." If the European Union manages to clean up its economy, it could serve as a blueprint to polluters from the United States to China — and show countries across Africa and Asia that one of the world's richest emitters is serious about climate change. But how close is the European Union to reaching its targets? And how much further does it have to go? Together with media partners in the European Data Journalism Network, DW is tracking the bloc's progress in five key sectors. This article will be updated regularly as new data becomes available. Emissions: Cutting greenhouse gas pollution The European Union has cut annual greenhouse gas pollution by about 30% since 1990, mainly by burning less coal. It now wants to cut greenhouse gas pollution 57% from those levels by the end of the decade. "The honest truth is that the world is not on track to keep the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius," said European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, architect of the Green Deal in November 2022. "We need more ambition."  But the EU's latest target falls short of cuts needed to honor the promise of keeping global warming to 1.5 C (2.7°F) by the end of the century. Climate Action Tracker, a project from two environmental research organizations, found that emissions would have to fall at least a further five percentage points, by a total of over 62%. Current policies from member states look set to bring down emissions by just 36%-47%.  Power: More renewable energy The European Union gets 22% of its energy from renewable sources. Last year, it put forward a plan to hit 40% by the end of the decade. Then, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the European Commission said it wanted to increase that again, to 45%. The target implies a quick and strong push to electrify polluting activities and clean up the continent's electricity grid. The proposal has passed two rounds of legal bureaucracy but must still be agreed on by member states, which are lobbying to keep the target at 40%.  The European Union has scrambled for sources of energy to replace gas since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and shut pipelines. Countries such as Germany, the European Union's biggest economy, have restarted coal-fired power plants, signed decadelong deals with gas producers in Africa and the Middle East, and built terminals to receive shipments of liquefied natural gas from abroad. At the same time, Germany and other EU member states have promised to build more renewable sources of energy and make it easier for companies to do so. Though analysts expect a spike in pollution from burning more coal, they are more worried about the plans to build new fossil gas infrastructure, which could lock in pollution over decades. That could jeopardize the goal of using 45% green power by 2030. Power: Electricity from solar panels, wind turbines The industry expects the European Union to build the infrastructure for 220 GW of solar power and 92 GW of wind power in the next four years, aided by the falling price of renewable energy. This is more than the amount expected in some scenarios that keep global warming to 1.5 C, according to the London-based climate think tank Ember, which modeled pathways to reach the target. "To get out of this crisis, we need a massive influx of homegrown, reliable renewable energy," said Harriet Fox, a solar analyst at Ember. "If the EU is serious about deploying renewable energy, there's no reason why those industry targets can't be achieved." The outlook from the wind industry is less optimistic than solar because of the long time it takes to get permits approved and wind farms built. In November, EU member states agreed to shorten the timeframes for granting permits. This means they can skip some of the paperwork to assess a project's environmental impact, speeding up the time between planning and building.  Buildings: Heating homes without burning gas The European Union also intends to renovate more buildings and run them on 49% renewable energy by 2030. In a proposal, the European Commission has argued for putting solar panels on new public and commercial buildings from 2027 and on existing ones from 2028. It wants to do the same for new residential buildings from 2030. As well as building infrastructure to make clean energy, the European Union would have to electrify activities that run on fossil fuels such as burning gas to heat homes. One of the most effective ways to do so is swapping gas boilers for electric heat pumps. Modeling from the European Commission shows that the amount of heat generated by pumps running on renewable electricity would have to roughly triple by the end of the decade. A preliminary analysis from the Regulatory Assistance Project, a global nonprofit working to decarbonize buildings, found that the pace of installations would need to almost double. While high gas prices have sent demand for heat pumps soaring, a lack of trained installers has held back the shift. Transport: Driving cars without burning petrol The European Commission intends to cut the average CO2 emissions from new cars by 55% by 2030, before hitting zero by 2035. That would be one of the easiest fixes to clean up transport, the only sector where pollution has steadily risen. Greenhouse gas emissions were 15% higher in 2021 than in 1990. Some member states, including Germany and Italy, have pushed back on the target.  Experts say the target is achievable, if unambitious. Electric vehicle sales are picking up. The share of electrics among new cars sold in the European Union jumped from 11% in 2020 to 18% in 2021.  If more car journeys were shifted to trains, buses and walking, emissions from transport could fall even faster. Agriculture: Cleaning up farms The European Union has made little progress in cleaning up farms, which are responsible for about 10% of EU greenhouse gas emissions. These come in lots of shapes and from different sources — methane from cow burps, nitrous oxide from fertilizer and both from manure. Two-thirds of the European Union's agriculture emissions come from animals. The EU plans to bring in sustainable feed additives, which can cut methane from cows, and reduce the amount of soy grown on deforested land to feed livestock. According to the European Union, the shift cannot happen without a change in people's diets.