or nearly 70 fahrenheit, in august — that's far above the average for this time of year and researchers say it could have serious consequences for the global environment. our climate editor justin rowlatt reports. i'v e i've been taking measurements of ocean temperatures here in plymouth for more than a century and for the last 50 or so years, they've shown a slow but steady increase, up about one third of the degree a decade. have we got a reading for today yet, do you know? i heard them say something around 18 or 19. wow! it's about four degrees higher than it should be. one of the most dramatic heatwaves ever recorded in uk seas hasjust subsided, part of a global trend of warming waters. 20.96 c, the highest global average sea temperature ever recorded. the world's warming waters are a dangerous trend, say experts. waters are a dangerous trend, say experts-— say experts. people's perspective _ say experts. people's perspective is - say experts. people's perspective is the - say experts. people's - perspective is the ocean, it is so big and so vast that it can buffer anything that humanity can throw at it and the reality is that's not the case. everything has its niche within the ocean and it's incredibly easy to break that niche and influence it and upset it. take plankton- _ influence it and upset it. take plankton. these _ influence it and upset it. take plankton. these tiny - influence it and upset it. take plankton. these tiny plants i influence it and upset it. take plankton. these tiny plants and animals are crucial to life on the planet. now the basis of the planet. now the basis of the entire marine food chain and produce half the oxygen in our atmosphere, so every other breath you take, and they are sensitive to heat. many species have been migrating north as the world's oceans warm. personally, i'm really concerned. heat waves that we are experiencing on land and the marine heatwaves that we are seeing happening in unusual locations where we have not expect them. locations where we have not expeet them-— locations where we have not exect them. �* , .,, expect them. but there is hope. scientists are _ expect them. but there is hope. scientists are learning _ expect them. but there is hope. scientists are learning more - scientists are learning more about how the ocean ecosystem's function every day. have the renewable technologies that can tackle climate change by reducing our use of fossil fuels. wejust reducing our use of fossil fuels. we just need to make the change quickly. earlier, my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke with katey lesneski, research and monitoring co—ordinator for the florida keys national marine sanctuary for the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. katey, thanks so much forjoining us. can you put into contextjust how unusual it is for the ocean to have reached 20.96 degrees celsius? that's 69.7 degrees fahrenheit. hi, sumi. thank you so much for having me on the programme today to share some information about what's going on in our world's oceans. so, right now, we are seeing record—breaking temperatures when looking at the overall average temperature of the atlantic ocean, and that can be extended to oceans worldwide and that can have cascading effects on all marine ecosystems. so, why are we seeing this trend? so, we are seeing this trend for a number of reasons — still collecting a lot of data about what's going on — but right now, we are in what is called a marine heatwave, and these events occur naturally. however, we are currently in an era of climate change when rampant carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is contributing to an even higher magnitude of temperature that we're seeing in this marine heatwave. ok, and you mentioned the atlantic — i mean, where exactly is this heatwave occurring? so, this heatwave has been predominantly — a lot of the recent media has been focused on the north atlantic, which includes the caribbean and the tropical western atlantic, where i'm based. but these temperature trends are showing an elevated temperature in many parts of the ocean where this data is collected. how worried are you? this is something, of course, that you work on every day. i am quite worried, especially for the coral reefs that are here in florida that i work and basically live on every day, as well as the coastal communities that really rely on reefs all throughout the rest of the caribbean and even the rest of the world. a couple of degrees difference in sea temperature might not feel like much to us but corals, which are the organisms that make up coral reefs, are very sensitive to even a couple degrees temperature change. so, as we've seen very high temperatures for a prolonged period of time here and in other locations, we are seeing those effects on corals that can affect their health. so, we've been talking about marine life and the impact on them. what about the impact on the atmosphere, the climate? so, with increased levels of carbon dioxide that have been well documented for decades now, we're seeing a warmer atmosphere, and that actually directly translates to a warmer ocean because the ocean absorbs up to 90% of the atmosphere's heat. so, what can be done about this marine heatwave? right now, we are trying to collect as much data as possible — that's everyone from meteorologists to oceanographers to marine biologists like myself — to really try and understand the impact of this event on organisms and on the physical state of the ocean. for myself, i am a coral reef restoration specialist, so we are working on actually restoring reefs in this event and how the reefs faired during this event will give us information as to how we can improve our methods going forward in the face of continued climate change. and katey, last question — you said it might not feel like a big difference to us, this temperature change in the ocean. what's your message to americans and people around the world really of why they need to pay attention to this? so, this is important because coastal communities all around the world, and even near coastal communities, depend on the ocean and healthy marine ecosystems, whether that's as a food source or a source of tourism revenue from people coming to see beautiful reefs all around the world, and recent other marine ecosystems, healthy, intact ecosystems, are really important for coastal protection, reducing coastal erosion, reducing flooding during storms and hurricanes. so, the healthier these ecosystems are, the better off we are, even economically. katey, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. earlier, my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to carl nasman about the warming temperatures of the planet's oceans. great to see you. why are oceans are so important for the global climate?— global climate? yeah, it really is hard to _ global climate? yeah, it really is hard to overstate _ global climate? yeah, it really is hard to overstate the - is hard to overstate the importance of oceans for our planet. the united nations calls them our greatest ally in the fight against climate change, and that really is because oceans are our most effective climate sink. that means they soak up a lot of that excess co2 emissions, carbon emissions that we produce when we burn fossil fuels. in fact, about 90% of the excess heat that humans produce go to our oceans. the problem becomes when the waters in the oceans heat up. they are not as good at doing theirjob. we see this feedback loop of warmer oceans contributing to those warmer temperatures on land and we saw the link there with those extreme heat waves over the past weeks and months that many of the world has been suffering through, and the other thing to mention here is of course hurricanes. all motions are directly linked to more frequent storms and stronger hurricanes and of course, scientists are now bracing for the start of the atlantic hurricane season. what are scientists _ atlantic hurricane season. what are scientists saying _ atlantic hurricane season. what are scientists saying about - are scientists saying about what is behind this marine heatwaves?— heatwaves? yeah, it's interesting _ heatwaves? yeah, it's interesting because i heatwaves? yeah, it's. interesting because they heatwaves? yeah, it's- interesting because they don't have an exact answer right now. there are a lot of factors at play. one of them is a theory about dust and sand from the sahara desert. so normally, strong winds will bring fine particles of dust and sand from africa across the atlantic ocean and those serve is almost tiny reflectors, pouncing somewhat and heat back into the atmosphere and calling down the atlantic ocean. those winds have not been blowing as much this year and that could be part of the reason. the other concern here is of course el nino which is a warming trend of the pacific ocean that normally increases the temperature temporarily in all of the world's oceans is just getting started this year, so the worry is many of these record temperatures we've seen in our oceans could actually fall, we could see new records coming on later this year as el nino starts to get going. just cuickl , nino starts to get going. just quickly. what _ nino starts to get going. just quickly, what does all of this mean for marine life? this has of course _ mean for marine life? this has of course very _ mean for marine life? this has of course very difficult - of course very difficult extreme effects on marine life, specifically coral reefs. we've seen that around the state of florida with the record there, scientists calling this the most extreme bleaching events that have ever seen in the state. these extreme temperatures and how long they are lasting is very difficult on coral and about 25% of the life within the oceans rely on coral reefs so that's just one way these hot ocean temperatures are affecting marine wildlife and it has a knock—on effect, of course, for all life on earth. knock-on effect, of course, for all life on earth.— all life on earth. carl nasman, ureat to all life on earth. carl nasman, great to speak to _ all life on earth. carl nasman, great to speak to you. - countries from the west african regional body ecowas say they have now agreed on a plan for possible military intervention in niger if the military leaders who seized power there do not restore the country's president. the organisation earlier set a deadline of sunday to reinstate deposed president mohamed bazoum. a delegation from the bloc visited niger thursday but failed to meet coup leaders or mr bazoum. our correspondent catherine byaruhanga has more. the regional bloc of west african countries known as ecowas had sent a high—level delegation to niger to try to speak to the new military regime. as part of this delegation was a former military leader of nigeria, as well as an influential cleric. but what sources are saying is that the delegation was only in the capital niamey forjust a few hours. and they didn't get to meet the new general in charge, general abdourahamane tchiani, or his deposed predecessor, president mohamed bazoum. now, why this is important is because ecowas had given the military leaders in niger a deadline of this sunday to step down. otherwise, they could potentially use military force. as this delegation was in niger, military chiefs from west africa were meeting in nigeria's capital abuja to draw up plans for a possible military intervention in niger. now, any kind of military action would have severe consequences, not only for the people of niger who would suffer security and humanitarian crisis, but also for its neighbours. and so, in the past few days, we have seen politicians in west africa rowing back from this threat to use force. for example, nigeria's president bola tinubu, who is the chairman of ecowas, said he wanted to see an amicable resolution of this crisis. now, a lot of people — even though the international community really wants to see the army step down in nigeria —— in niger and for a civilian government to be reinstated, that's going to be incredibly difficult because the military has really dug in there and says it won't leave power. there have also been sanctions against the military in niger. aid has been cut. and the reality of that is that it's actually going to be nigeriens, millions of people already living in one of the world's poorest countries, who are going to face the brunt of any economic actions. video has emerged purporting to show a sea drone driving into the side of a russian naval vessel in the black sea. the bbc has not yet verified this video, but the footage appears to show a drone hitting the side of the large ship. the video was released by the ukrainian security services, but russia's defence ministry says it repelled an attack, not admitting to any damage. here's our correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse. unlike these drone attacks we've seen deep inside russia, around moscow, for example, kyiv seems more willing to admit to being behind these strikes using sea drones on the black sea, or sea of azov. and sources at the security service have told us that they successfully damaged a major landing ship at the port of novorossiysk, which is on the russian coast. it is a major terminal where 1.8 million tonnes of oil make their way out from there every day. and it's also an important naval base for moscow. the security service sources have shared with us footage of the apparent moment of impact with an onboard camera. there's unverified footage of the vessel subsequently listing to one side, suggesting that it has, indeed, been damaged. but in a fortnight where ukrainian ports have been pummelled by russian drones, it seems ukraine has been keen to respond. but it's interesting because president zelensky has previously warned of the war coming to russia. he has been keen to apply pressure in just about every way possible. but in the same breath, he suggested that peace talks could happen as soon as autumn. but you just need to look at russia's continued invasion and the pictures from today that suggests that neither side is exactly setting the conditions for talks to take place. staying in ukraine, and in the early days of the invasion, observers were surprised at how poorly the russian army's electronic warfare units performed. but nearly 18 months later they're causing significant problems for ukraine's counter—offensive, affecting even the most sophisticated weapons its troops have received from nato countries. the bbc�*s abdujalil abdurasulov has more details. their battles are invisible, but the dangers they face are real. this is a ukrainian electronic intelligence unit. theirjob is not to fight with guns, but to monitor emissions — signals used by drones, air defence systems, multiple rocket launchers and other weapons. we can't show their faces for security reasons. the team leader, with the call—sign alain, says that russian forces constantly hunt down units like his. their mission is part of a hidden confrontation called electronic warfare. but how does it work? almost every modern weapon uses radio waves, microwaves, infrared or other signals to send or receive data. and electronic warfare uses this vulnerability in order to disrupt enemy's communications, gather intelligence and identify targets. and for the first time since world war ii, we're witnessing a conflict where both sides are heavily relying on the electronic warfare systems as part of their military strategy. drones have become a key feature in this war, but this is what happens when they are jammed by electronic warfare systems. it's notjust drones that can be affected. most sophisticated arms ukraine has received from nato countries use a gps link for navigation. so when russia jams this signal, even high precision weapons, including himars rocket artillery, can miss their target. that is why both russia and ukraine keep their electronic warfare — or ew — capabilities in secret. this war represents new and very effective abilities of drones, radars, communications. and all of these system could be affected with ew means. if we destroy russian jammers, we improve capabilities of our troops in detection and the ability to have precise strikes. here, ukrainian special forces have spotted pole—21, a russian system that jams gps signals. ukrainian artillery put it out of action. but russia is on the hunt for ukrainian electronic warfare units too. alain's group comes under fire. he thinks that russian troops may have discovered their antenna and now are looking for their base. alain tells everyone to use single rounds in order to last till the morning. he decides to change their location because the position is compromised. the key in electronic warfare is being invisible to your enemy. abduljalil abdurasulov, bbc news, kyiv. the united states army has become the second branch of the us armed forces to be left without an official chief of staff, the consequence of an ongoing row over abortion between the pentagon and a conservative us senator. tommy tuberville, a republican from alabama, is opposed to the pentagon's policy of paying for time off and travel costs for service members who choose to have an abortion. mr tuberville is stalling the confirmation of hundreds of military appointments. he says he will keep doing so until the senate is given a vote on the abortion policy. as a result, in the past few hours, the term of the us army chief of staff — generaljames mcconville — expired without a senate—confirmed successor, leaving general randy george in charge as acting chief of staff. the first pill to treat post—partum depression has been approved for sale in the united states. the us food and drug administration has approved the drug, called zuranolone, after seeing the results of two double—blind, placebo—controlled trials. it says patients taking the drug saw a significantly greater improvement in their depression symptoms compared to those taking a placebo. post—partum depression affects an estimated 15% of women in the weeks or months after having a baby. the company said the drug will need to clear a 90—day scheduling process, before it can enter the market. earlier this week, a number ofjewish organisations in the us welcomed the death sentence imposed by a jury on a gunman who murdered worshippers at a synagogue in pennsylvania. 11 people died in the 2018 attack on the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh. it is thought to be the worst anti—semitic attack in us history. jewish groups said it showed that america was taking anti—semitism seriously. but what is the state of anti—semitism in the united states, five years on from the attack? to learn more, i spoke with pamela nadell, director of thejewish studies programme at american university, in washington, dc. pamela, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. how significant was this sentencing and the trial coming to a close? i think this was very significant because it brings some closure to the community that has wrestled with something that is so difficult for so long. i'm not sure, however, that the trial is brought to a close because i imagine there will be appeals. what do you think this means to the families and also the community where this shooting took place? i work very closely with some of the people who are involved with the project to rebuild the on the site where the tree of life synagogue shooting took place. and i know that the trial has been very difficult for many people on the one hand. on the other hand, for some people, it has brought a sense of closure. so i can't say that there's one single reaction within the community. but this has been a shadow that the community has been living under for a very long time, knowing that they would have to face this trial in their own city. i want to ask you about the larger picture here as well, because a report from the anti—defamation league found that anti—semitic incidents increased by 36% in 2022 to the highest level since 1979. why are we seeing this trend? the first thing i want to say about this trend is please note that is reported anti—semitic incidences. and i know for certain that there are many anti—semitic incidences that are never reported. what we are seeing is that as a nation, we are in a moment of crisis. you have to remember that on january sixth, one of the photographs that was really featured prominently in the news showed a man who was wearing a sweatshirt and in the front of it said camp auschwitz. as he was attacking the capital, what we didn't see on the news was that the back said �*staff�*. and of course, we live in a moment where social media enables people who share this form of hate. this is not the only form of hate that americans embrace, but they share the particular form of hate against the jewish people. they can reach each other and they can reach millions and millions of people through social media. so it has kind of an exponential platform that didn't exist before. if we talk about the political environment, amy spitalnick, the chief executive of the jewish council for public affairs, tweeted in june that the attack at the tree of life synagogue was, "part of a broader cycle of right wing extremism in which each attack inspires the next. and in the five years since tree of life, the white supremacist conspiracy theory behind it has been fully normalised in our politics and our society." do you agree that these types of conspiracy theories have been normalised ? i unfortunately, i do. i think amy spitalnick is extraordinary. remember that she was also one of the forces behind the civil trial of those at charlottesville. and that which was a trial where they where they were found guilty of under an old civil rights act, actually civil rights piece of legislation, conspiring to restrict the rights of the city of charlottesville and the people who live there. so underpins anti—semitism are conspiracy theories. and those conspiracy theories are really old. some of them go all the way back to mediaeval christianity. and so what we see here are we see updates of these ideas that the jews are conspiring to control the world. and so i absolutely agree with what she was saying. you've called the rise in anti—semitism, the canary in the coal mine for other types of hate. what do you mean by that? what i mean by that is that when that anti—semitism is often seen as a red flag, that when there's a major crisis going on under way, that that dues are the ones who get attacked. but that the reality is, is that the jews are really just one of many groups that are being attacked at that moment in time. so we say the canary in the coal mine. what we're what we're saying is that when society goes after the jews, that they're going to be going after so many others and that we better look over our shoulders and see what else is going on. and we are at that moment right now in the united states. i want to ask you about how americans view anti—semitism, because there was a university of maryland critical issues poll last month that asked americans about their impression of the level of anti—semitism in the us compared to five years ago, and there were 32% of people who said they didn't know. do you think americans understand how serious a threat anti—semitism is today? i think americans actually have absolutely no idea how serious a threat is, how serious anti—semitism is as a threat in the united states. and what you have to remember is that when americans think about anti—semitism, all they think about is the holocaust. that's what's taught in schools. more than 20 states require that. so anti—semitism looks like something that happens across the sea. and it happened a very long time ago, and it has absolutely no relationship whatsoever to the american experience. the reality is, is that anti—semitism has been on american soil since the very firstjews landed here in 165a. so final question for you. what message would you have then to americans? i think it's very important that americans pay very close attention to the plan that the white house issued in may, a strategy to counter anti—semitism that has all sorts of steps that could be taken, including educating our youth about the history of anti—semitism in the united states. so i think that that is the first step, a powerful first step, and one that we should be taking. pamela, really interesting conversation. thank you so much for your thoughts today. thank you. thank you for inviting me. you're watching bbc news. i'm helena humphrey. thanks for your company. more news coming for you at the top of the hour. hello there. weather across the uk has certainly been testing our patience of late. we are heading for the fourth consecutive weekend where an area of low pressure will dominate the weather story, bringing us some wet and windy weather. but every cloud has a silver lining. and next weekend, i can offer you something a little more promising, settled and summer—like. but at the moment, it's all about storm anthony, which is moving its way across northern ireland, bringing a heavy spell of rain during the early hours of saturday morning. and as that rain continues to drive its way steadily eastwards, the winds will strengthen as well. so we're widely likely to see 20 to a0 millimetres, maybe more for northern ireland for a time. and then the winds gusting 50 to 65 miles an hour along west—facing coasts of wales and south west england. very unusual, really, for this time of year. the rain drives its way quickly eastwards, and then into the afternoon, circulating around that low, we will see a rash of sharp, possibly thundery downpours. slowly improving into northern ireland and lighter winds and fewer showers likely for scotland. but the temperatures will be disappointing right across the country, a maximum of just 1a to 18 celsius by the middle part of the afternoon. the low pressure will gradually move away and the winds will die down. so as we push into sunday, it might be a pleasant start, with some early morning sunshine, particularly in eastern areas, lighter winds. and as we go through the day, we will see a scattering of showers developing out to the west, and some of these will gradually move further inland. but with a little more sunshine coming through, it will be a degree or so warmer. top temperatures of 20 degrees, 68 fahrenheit. not that much change monday into tuesday. showers or longer spells of rains likely, particularly on tuesday. another spell of wet weather to come. but we can offer you a glimpse of something more optimistic by the middle part of next week. an area of high pressure is likely to build, and we haven't seen this for quite some time. so from wednesday onwards, we are likely to see some drier, settled and more summer—like weather. there's still an uncertainty how long it's likely to last, but for next week, showers or longer spells of rain to begin with. but as the high pressure builds, certainly things will settle down and warm up for many. this is a bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour straight after this programme. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life. i have certainly seen how they have ruined the lives of others. i5 they have ruined the lives of others. , . , they have ruined the lives of others. , ., , p they have ruined the lives of others. , ., , '. ., others. is really difficult for me to sit — others. is really difficult for me to sit here _ others. is really difficult for me to sit here and - others. is really difficult for me to sit here and talk- others. is really difficult for i me to sit here and talk about this because the whole point of fighting these newspapers is because i was so keen to have my privacy. ifeel a because i was so keen to have my privacy. i feel a sense of duty to expose them as they have exposed us. prince harry and sir eltonjohn have launched legal action against the publishers of the daily mail. against the publishers of the daily mail-— daily mail. action is being taken against _ daily mail. action is being taken against the - daily mail. action is being taken against the sun - taken against the sun newspaper.— taken against the sun newspaper. taken against the sun newsuaer. a ., ., newspaper. action over the mirror grow) _ newspaper. action over the mirror group of _ newspaper. action over the mirror group of allegations | newspaper. action over the l mirror group of allegations of phone hacking.— phone hacking. who did you hack? it would _ phone hacking. who did you hack? it would be _ phone hacking. who did you hack? it would be prudent l phone hacking. who did you| hack? it would be prudent to sa who hack? it would be prudent to say who i _ hack? it would be prudent to 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