An unprecedented global mobilisation of renewable energy, forest protection and other measures is needed to steer the world off the current path towards a catastrophic temperature rise of 3.1˚C, a report…Continue reading‘Crunch time for real’: UN says time for climate delays has run out
Author: Shane White
Azerbaijan, the host of the COP29 global climate summit, will see a large expansion of fossil gas production in the next decade, a new report has revealed. Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and…Continue readingCOP29 host Azerbaijan set for major fossil gas expansion
The World Weather Attribution (WWA) network said on Wednesday that human-driven climate change, caused by the use of fossil fuels, had made seasonal downpours across the Niger and Lake Chad basins…Continue readingGlobal warming worsening deadly flooding in Africa
Some of Australia’s biggest carbon polluters have a couple of reasons to celebrate this week. WA’s Labor government passed environmental protection laws that were described by one of its own MPs…Continue readingHave Western Australia’s new environmental protection laws left the state’s EPA a toothless tiger?
Northvolt has been plagued by problems from incompetent management and poor safety standards to over-reliance on Chinese machinery, according to current and former workers at the cash-strapped Swedish battery maker. Ten…Continue readingHow Europe’s battery champion descended into crisis
Google has ordered six to seven small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) from Kairos Power, becoming the first tech company to commission new nuclear power plants to provide low-carbon electricity for its…Continue readingGoogle orders small modular nuclear reactors for its data centres
Most people in the Netherlands are convinced that their consumption patterns affect the environment. Many of them are looking for ways to reduce their footprint. Businesses, some with good intentions, tap…Continue readingCar sharing and second-hand phones not as green as they seem
Five Pacific nations on Thursday plotted how to prosecute a pivotal UN court case that aims to hold climate-polluting countries to account and safeguard their islands’ survival. The International Court of…Continue readingClimate-hit Pacific Islands plot landmark UN court case
All over Europe alarm bells are ringing over the state of winter snow sports and fears for the future. In France, the ski resorts of Alpe du Grand Serre and Grand…Continue readingFears for future of ski tourism as resorts adapt to thawing snow season
At least eight people died after heavy rains in Brazil, authorities said Saturday, as storms swept parts of the country following a severe drought that fueled a record wave of wildfires.…Continue readingEight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
A few weeks on from the flooding of 19 September, when the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna was struck by its third devastating storm in less than 18 months, the…Continue reading‘It’s shameful and I won’t pay it’: flood-hit Italians rage against insurance call
Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have all declared a state of national disaster in the past months as the drought has destroyed crops and livestock. Angola and Mozambique are also…Continue readingWorst drought in century devastates Southern Africa with millions at risk
Only about one-third of Europe’s surface water is in good health or better, a report has found, despite an EU target first set for 2015 to bring all bodies of water…Continue readingOnly one-third of Europe’s surface water qualifies as good or better
More than half the world’s food production will be at risk of failure within the next 25 years as a rapidly accelerating water crisis grips the planet, unless urgent action is…Continue readingGlobal water crisis leaves half of world food production at risk in next 25 years
The overwhelming majority of young Americans worry about the climate crisis, and more than half say their concerns about the environment will affect where they decide to live and whether to…Continue readingOverwhelming majority of young Americans worry about climate crisis
The world’s energy watchdog has signalled a new energy era in which countries have access to more oil, gas and coal than needed to fuel their economic growth, leading to lower…Continue readingFossil fuels could become cheaper and more abundant, says IEA
Foreign aid for fossil fuel projects quadrupled in a single year, a report has found, rising from $1.2bn in 2021 to $5.4bn in 2022. The report found the top five funders…Continue readingForeign aid for fossil fuel projects quadrupled in a single year
A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from forest fires have surged by 60% globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal…Continue readingGlobal CO₂ emissions from forest fires have increased by 60% since 2001
The boreal forests here in the Sami homeland take so long to grow that even small, stunted trees are often hundreds of years old. It is part of the Taiga –…Continue readingWhat happens to the world if forests stop absorbing carbon? Ask Finland
More than 80% of countries have failed to submit plans to meet a UN agreement to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, new analysis has found. Nearly two years ago, the…Continue readingAbout 80% of countries fail to submit plans to preserve nature ahead of global summit
It begins each day at nightfall. As the light disappears, billions of zooplankton, crustaceans and other marine organisms rise to the ocean surface to feed on microscopic algae, returning to the…Continue readingTrees and land absorbed almost no CO₂ last year. Is nature’s carbon sink failing?
One of the largest types of carbon offset projects the Australian government is using to meet climate change targets and reduce carbon in the atmosphere is failing to do so, new…Continue reading‘Widespread noncompliance and poor performance’ in world’s largest nature-based carbon removal projects
Warm water fueled amazingly rapid intensification that took Milton from a minimal hurricane to a massive Category 5 in less than 10 hours. It weakened, but quickly bounced back, and when…Continue readingHere’s what has made Hurricane Milton so fierce and unusual
The Amazon rainforest could be reaching an irreversible tipping point beyond which it will decline until “we’re just left with scrub,” conservationists have warned. WWF’s biennial Living Planet report said the…Continue readingAmazon rainforest near tipping point partly driven by UK consumers, WWF says
Global wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 73% in 50 years, a new scientific assessment has found, as humans continue to push ecosystems to the brink of collapse. Latin…Continue readingCollapsing wildlife populations near ‘points of no return’, report warns
On staple crops, England’s wheat haul is estimated to be 10m tonnes, or 21%, down on 2023, according to analysis of the latest government data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence…Continue readingHarvest in England the second worst on record because of wet weather
We are seeing unprecedented rapidly intensifying tropical storms such as Hurricane Helene in the eastern United States and Super Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam. Unprecedented fires in Canada have destroyed towns. Unprecedented…Continue readingUnprecedented peril: Disaster lies ahead as we track towards 2.7°C of warming this century, researchers warn
Some kind of overshoot of 1.5˚C is increasingly being seen as inevitable by scientists and policymakers. This new study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, cautions against “overconfidence” in such a…Continue readingStudy warns of ‘irreversible’ climate impacts from overshooting 1.5˚C
An international coalition led by Oregon State University scientists concludes in its annual report published in BioScience that the Earth’s worsening vital signs indicate a “critical and unpredictable new phase of…Continue readingClimate report warns of escalating crisis, urges immediate action as UN summit nears
Many of Earth’s “vital signs” have hit record extremes, indicating that “the future of humanity hangs in the balance”, a group of the world’s most senior climate experts have said. More…Continue readingEarth’s ‘vital signs’ show humanity’s future in balance
A large French Alpine ski resort has announced it is to close, citing a lack of funds to become a year-round destination, as low- and medium-altitude mountain areas around Europe struggle…Continue readingLarge French Alpine ski resort to close in face of shrinking snow season
The remnants of Hurricane Kirk swept into western Europe Wednesday, tearing up trees in Portugal and Spain before dumping heavy rains on France that left at least one dead. A storm…Continue readingOne dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, fueled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, a new analysis has shown how the Gulf’s heat that worsened last month’s Hurricane Helene was 200…Continue readingGlobal heating makes hurricanes like Helene twice as likely
The destruction of global forests increased in 2023, and is higher than when 140 countries promised three years ago to halt deforestation by the end of the decade. The rising demolition…Continue readingDeforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction
A critically endangered orchid has received a late reprieve after a local environmental group threatened legal action against the Victorian government, prompting officials to cancel a planned burn of its habitat.…Continue readingFewer than 10 of these orchids remain in the wild. Victoria was about to burn them into extinction.
Forest campaigners have accused the federal government of hypocrisy for hosting a global nature-positive summit in Sydney while logging resumed in public forest 400km away in mid-north New South Wales. The…Continue readingEnvironment summit taking place in Sydney while greater glider habitat is logged is ‘bullshit’, advocates say
Scientists have challenged Tanya Plibersek’s claim that Australia is protecting more than half of its oceans and has “blitzed” a 30% target, arguing industrial longline fishing will still be allowed in…Continue readingScientists contest environment minister’s claim of ‘blitzing’ Australia’s ocean reserve expansion goal
Studies have found that, across the world, extreme rainfall has become more common and intense due to climate change; there is a high degree of confidence that such is the case…Continue readingHurricane Helene’s reach was shocking, another example of how climate change ‘is here and now,’ scientists say
Rivers dried up at the highest rate in three decades in 2023, putting global water supply at risk, data has shown. Over the past five years, there have been lower-than-average river…Continue readingClimate warning as world’s rivers dry up at fastest rate for 30 years
A report from the Environment Agency and Cefas shows Atlantic salmon stocks in England and Wales have dropped to their lowest level since records began in 1997. Once common across the…Continue readingSalmon numbers in England and Wales last year were lowest on record
Plant cover across the Antarctic peninsula has soared more than tenfold over the last few decades, as the climate crisis heats up the icy continent. Analysis of satellite data found there…Continue readingAntarctica is ‘greening’ at dramatic rate as climate heats
According to a report by Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL), the amount of land in England that can be said to be effectively protected for nature has fallen to just 2.93%,…Continue readingNature in England at risk as amount of land ‘effectively protected’ falls to 2.93%
Wildfires are burning through the carbon budget that humans have allocated themselves to limit global heating, a study shows. The authors said this accelerating trend was approaching – and may have…Continue readingWildfires are burning through humanity’s carbon budget
Rationing of goods such as meat and fuel can both effectively and fairly reduce consumption with high climate impact. Almost 40% of the public say they could accept such measures. These…Continue readingStudy finds about 40% of public supports rationing measures to fight climate change
A year ago, Carlos Nobre, one of Brazil’s top climate scientists, was a rare voice of optimism about the future of the planet. The 73-year-old, one of the top experts on…Continue readingFires taking Amazon closer to ‘point of no return’: Expert
With as much as 80% of Brazil under a blanket of smoke from historic wild fires, face masks last used during the coronavirus pandemic are coming out again. South America’s biggest…Continue readingBrazilians choke as fire smoke blankets 80% of country
Hurricane Helene’s death toll has surpassed 150 as searchers use helicopters to get past washed-out bridges and hike through wilderness to reach isolated homes. Crews were still trudging through knee-deep muck…Continue readingMore than 150 dead after Hurricane Helene dumps over 40tn gallons of rain
Funded by StB Capital Partners based in Brisbane, Australia, the factory sets the stage for the Philippines to become a key player in clean energy storage in Southeast Asia. “I cannot…Continue readingPBBM launches PH’s first advanced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries factory in Tarlac
The sentences were handed down just as Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina. As homes were smashed, trucks swept down roads that had turned into rivers and residents were killed, in the…Continue readingAs the waters rise, a two-year sentence for throwing soup. That’s the farcical reality of British justice.
Water flows in mainland Australia’s most important river system, the Murray-Darling Basin, have been declining for the past 50 years. The trend has largely been blamed on water extraction, but our…Continue readingNew study reveals why the mighty Darling River is drying up—and it’s not just because we’re taking too much water
In July 2024, global temperatures reached unprecedented levels, breaking historical records with an average of 17.16°C. This extreme heat has led soil water to evaporate, leaving the vegetation and biodiversity more…Continue readingGlobal drought threatens food supplies and energy production
Hurricane Helene caused deadly and destructive flooding when it swept through the Southeast on Sept. 26–29, 2024. Across a broad swath of western North Carolina, where the worst flooding occurred, the…Continue readingWhy are so many historically rare storms hitting the Carolinas?
A team of Earth scientists from the Center for Marine Environmental Studies, the University of Tokyo, The Australian National University, Matsuyama University, Kyoto University, and Shimane University, has found, via a…Continue readingNew assessment suggests Anthropocene started in the 1950s
Two people have died in a rugged mountainous area in central Greece while trying to help firefighters tackle a forest fire that has forced several villages to be evacuated, authorities have…Continue readingRaging wildfires in central Greece leave two people dead
On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued ExxonMobil, claiming the oil and petrochemical giant had engaged “in a decades-long campaign of deception” about the effectiveness of recycling. The lawsuit seeks…Continue readingIs plastic recycling beyond fixing? Here’s why California thinks so.
Residents of Nepal’s flood-hit capital returned to their mud-caked homes on Sunday to survey the wreckage of devastating floods that have killed at least 104 people across the Himalayan republic. Deadly…Continue reading104 dead in Nepal floods after relentless monsoon rains
Climate change is dramatically reshaping life in Pacific Island nations, leaving them ever more vulnerable to storm surges, saltwater contamination, ruined crops, and relentless coastal erosion. “Every day it’s a constant…Continue readingStay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate’s grim choice
River Madeira’s waters have fallen to their lowest level since the 1960s and the skies overhead have filled with smoke from wildfires that are raging across Brazil. Vast, desert-like expanses of…Continue readingBrazil’s ‘Paradise’ on fire: ‘The forest is burning. Animals are burning. Everything’s burning’
Two young climate activists shocked the world in October 2022 when they flung cans of tomato soup over the renowned painting “Sunflowers” by Vincent van Gogh. Now, Phoebe Plummer, 23, and…Continue readingClimate activists throw soup on two Van Goghs, just hours after others are sentenced to jail
The timeline, published Thursday in the journal Science, is the most rigorous reconstruction of Earth’s past temperatures ever produced, the authors say. It shows the intimate link between carbon dioxide and…Continue readingScientists have captured Earth’s climate over the last 485 million years. Here’s the surprising place we stand now.
The shipping containers were a familiar sight to the villagers of northern Mozambique’s remote and troubled Afungi peninsula: a dozen steel boxes lined up end-to-end with a guarded gate in the…Continue reading“ALL MUST BE BEHEADED”
Northvolt is to be served with an investigation notice regarding suspicion of gross manslaughter in the coming weeks by Swedish prosecutors over the death of one of the battery manufacturer’s workers in an explosion…Continue readingNorthvolt to be served ‘suspicion of gross manslaughter’ notice over worker death
Norway inaugurated Thursday the gateway to a massive undersea vault for carbon dioxide, a crucial step before opening what its operator calls the first commercial service offering CO2 transport and storage.…Continue readingWorld’s first CO₂ storage service soon ready in Norway
Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will “inexorably” accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists. The researchers warn the…Continue reading‘Doomsday’ glacier set to melt faster and swell seas as world heats up
Colombian authorities said Sunday they were fighting forest fires across seven departments, as a scorching drought fanned blazes across Latin America. From Ecuador to Brazil, many Latin American nations are gripped…Continue readingColombia battles fires as drought fuels Latin American flames
More than 16 million people in the US were under heat alerts on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, mostly clustered in the southern tips of Nevada, Arizona and California.…Continue readingGrim new death records amid brutal heat plaguing south-west US
Millions of people in my country, Malawi, face unprecedented existential crises driven by climate breakdown. The frequency of extreme weather events and the massive impact they have on communities have left…Continue readingPeople must understand: we in Malawi are paying for the climate crisis with our lives
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, approved three coalmine expansions on Tuesday. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said the three projects, all in New South Wales, would generate more than 1.3bn tonnes…Continue readingTanya Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions
Flooding caused travel disruption, closed schools and submerged homes in central and southern England on Monday after more than a month’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours in some areas.…Continue readingFlooding causes chaos after month’s rain falls in a day in parts of England
The Czech Republic sat at the centre of a storm that has killed two dozen people across central Europe and prompted the EU to promise €10bn in aid to flood-stricken countries.…Continue reading‘We’re getting rid of everything’: floods destroy homes and lives in Czech Republic
The report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) details nine factors that are crucial for regulating the planet’s ability to sustain life. In six of these areas, the…Continue readingWorld’s oceans near critical acidification level
Microplastics are widespread, accumulating in the remotest parts of our planet. There is evidence of their toxic effects at every level of biological organization, from tiny insects at the bottom of…Continue readingScientists reviewed 7,000 studies on microplastics. Their alarming conclusion puts humanity on notice.
Northvolt’s sub-Arctic battery factory in northern Sweden was meant to symbolise Europe’s green fightback against China and the US. Instead, the start-up is in danger of turning into an emblem of…Continue readingEurope’s great battery hope Northvolt fights for survival
Since taking office in 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has spent about half a trillion dollars to address persistent flooding from extreme weather in the Philippines. But despite the significant spending,…Continue readingBattered by typhoons: Why aren’t Philippine flood control projects working?
Brazil is burning. From the Amazon rainforest to the Pantanal wetlands, flames have consumed millions of hectares of forest and farmland in recent weeks. Nearly two-thirds of Latin America’s biggest country…Continue readingWhat we know about the fire ‘pandemic’ plaguing Brazil
The Western Australian government has lifted a ban preventing onshore gas producers from exporting any of their gas. The current WA premier, Roger Cook, said the state needed “a secure supply…Continue readingWestern Australia’s decision to lift gas export ban will drive up emissions, conservationists say
Two people are missing and about 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after devastating floods and landslides hit the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, prompting accusations that Giorgia Meloni’s…Continue readingTwo missing and 1,000 evacuated as Storm Boris devastates northern Italy
More than 3,600 chemicals used in food packaging or preparation have been detected in human bodies, some of which are hazardous to health, while little is known about others, a study…Continue readingMore than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
A national “butterfly emergency” has been declared by Butterfly Conservation after the lowest Big Butterfly Count since records began. An average of just seven butterflies per 15-minute count were recorded by…Continue reading‘Butterfly emergency’ declared as UK summer count hits record low
More than five times the average rainfall for the whole of September has fallen in five days on swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, triggering devastating…Continue readingFloods in Poland and wildfires in Portugal show reality of climate breakdown, says EU
More than $650bn (£494bn) a year in public subsidies goes to fossil fuel companies, intensive agriculture and other harmful industries in the developing world, new data has shown. The subsidies entrench…Continue readingMore than £494bn subsidies a year in developing world harmful to climate
Fossil fuel companies pumped at least $5.6bn (£4.2bn) of sponsorship money into motorsports, football, golf and even snow sports in an effort to “buy social licence to operate”, according to a…Continue readingFossil fuel companies sponsor $5.6bn in global ‘sportswashing’ deals
The world is spending at least $2.6tn (£2tn) a year on subsidies that drive global heating and destroy nature, according to new analysis. Governments continue to provide billions of dollars in…Continue readingGlobal spending on subsidies that harm environment rises to $2.6tn
BP has put bp Wind Energy, its onshore wind business in the US, estimated to be worth $2bn, up for sale as it trims its renewables business and sells off underperforming…Continue readingBP puts $2bn US onshore wind business up for sale
South America is experiencing its worst forest fire season in nearly two decades, with millions of acres burning across several countries. The blazes come amid the region’s worst drought on record,…Continue readingNo one should be surprised that South America is burning
A landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days, a scientific investigation has found. The seismic event…Continue readingEntire Earth vibrated for nine days after climate-triggered mega-tsunami
Across Yemen in recent weeks, nearly 100 people have died in floods. And more than 560,000 people across the country have been affected since late July. Yemen’s central highlands, Red Sea…Continue reading‘Staggering’ destruction in Yemen after deadly flash flooding
Parts of Central and West Africa have seen heavy flooding over an unusually intense rainy season, unleashing a humanitarian crisis in which hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.…Continue readingFloods hit millions in West and Central Africa
A new international coalition is disrupting airports to make one demand: the adoption of a treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030. Under the banner Oil Kills, small groups of activists…Continue readingOil Kills: Inside the International Uprising Disrupting the Aviation Industry