Trees more than a century old are barely alive. Some of these giant jarrahs might survive, but some won’t. It’s a scene that’s being replicated in forests and coastal shrublands spanning…Continue readingWestern Australia’s eucalypt forests fade to brown as century-old giant jarrahs die in heat and drought
Author: Shane White
Climate campaigners have accused Scottish ministers of being “inept” and “short-termist” after they scrapped Scotland’s target to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. Màiri McAllan, the Scottish net zero secretary,…Continue reading‘Reprehensible retreat’: fury as Scottish ministers scrap carbon emissions pledge
The UK faces food shortages and price rises as extreme weather linked to climate breakdown causes low yields on farms locally and abroad. Record rainfall has meant farmers in many parts…Continue readingUK facing food shortages and price rises after extreme weather
The deadly protracted heatwave that filled hospitals and mortuaries in the Sahel region of Africa earlier this month would have been impossible without human-caused climate disruption, a new analysis has revealed.…Continue readingLethal heatwave in Sahel worsened by fossil fuel burning
By the middle of the century, global emissions from plastic production could triple, an analysis has found. The stunning new estimates from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, published on Wednesday, provide yet…Continue readingPlastic-production emissions could triple
BP has started production of oil from the new $6bn Azeri Central East (ACE) platform on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan part of the Caspian Sea. Azeri Central East…Continue readingBP starts oil production from $6bn ACE project in Caspian Sea
At least 65 people have died in storm-related incidents including lightning in Pakistan, officials said, with rain so far in April falling at nearly twice the historical average rate. “In April,…Continue readingLightning, downpours kill 65 in Pakistan, as April rain doubles historical average
Huge tailbacks snaked along six-lane expressways after up to 254 millimeters of rain—about two years’ worth—fell on the desert United Arab Emirates on Tuesday. The storms hit the UAE and Bahrain…Continue readingDubai reels from floods chaos after record rains
Black & Veatch and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) are set to start construction on the Cedar LNG project, a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada. To…Continue readingBlack & Veatch, SHI to move ahead with construction of Cedar LNG project
The Whiptail project, which will use a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, will entail an investment of around $12.7bn. It would include up to ten drill centres with 48…Continue readingExxonMobil decides to proceed with Whiptail development offshore Guyana
Global heating has pushed the world’s coral reefs to a fourth planet-wide mass bleaching event that is on track to be the most extensive on record, US government scientists have confirmed.…Continue readingGlobal heating pushes coral reefs towards worst planet-wide mass bleaching on record
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for some 2,300km (1,429 miles) off the country’s northeastern coast, is suffering its worst bleaching event on record. The extent of the bleaching was revealed…Continue readingAustralia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers worst bleaching on record
Peregrine falcon populations across North America are heavily contaminated with harmful flame retardants–including those that have been phased out for years—according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology.…Continue readingPeregrine falcons expose lasting harms of flame retardant use
A report by Global Energy Monitor found that coal power capacity grew by 2% last year, driven by an increase in new coal plants across China and a slowdown of plant…Continue readingWorld’s coal power capacity rises despite climate warnings
The levels of the crucial heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached historic highs last year, growing at near-record fast paces, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Carbon dioxide,…Continue readingHeat-trapping carbon dioxide and methane levels in the air last year spiked to record highs again
Thousands of schools in the Philippines have stopped in-person classes due to unbearable heat. In Indonesia, prolonged dry weather has caused rice prices to soar. In Thailand’s waters, temperatures are so…Continue readingSchools close and crops wither as ‘historic’ heatwave hits south-east Asia
The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures show. An…Continue readingGlobal rainforest loss continues at rate of 10 football pitches a minute
On 18 March, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station on the east Antarctic plateau documented a remarkable event. They recorded the largest jump in temperature ever measured at a meteorological…Continue reading‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe
Australia’s main carbon offsets method is a failure on a global scale and doing little if anything to help address the climate crisis. Research by 11 academics found the most popular…Continue readingAustralia’s carbon credits system a failure on global scale
Pointing to the still paltry share of renewable energy in global supply, the head of Saudi Aramco described the current energy transition strategy as a misguided failure. “In the real world,…Continue readingSaudi Aramco CEO calls energy transition strategy a failure
A searing heatwave that struck west Africa in February was made 4˚C hotter and 10x more likely by human-caused global heating, a study has found. The heat affected millions of people…Continue readingWest Africa heatwave was supercharged by climate crisis
Experts realised there was a problem: frogs, toads, salamanders and newts were disappearing in their thousands around the world and nobody understood why. A master’s student was looking into a string…Continue readingI discovered why seemingly healthy amphibians were being wiped out
The data supplied to the UNFCCC, and published on its website, are typically out of date, inconsistent, and incomplete. For most countries, “I would not put much value, if any, on…Continue readingNations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
Big Oil used an industry conference this week to argue against a rapid transition to green energy, as fossil fuel companies are emboldened by high demand and record profits despite rising…Continue readingOil executives talk down rapid shift to green energy as profits boom
In recent years, Antarctica has experienced a series of unprecedented heat waves. On 6 February 2020, temperatures of 18.3°C were recorded, the highest ever seen on the continent, beating the previous…Continue readingClimate change is speeding up in Antarctica
The annual State of the Climate report by the UN weather and climate agency confirmed preliminary data showing 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded. And last year capped…Continue readingPlanet ‘on the brink’, with new heat records likely in 2024: UN
Chief executive of Atkins Realis says more planning needed ahead of first global nuclear energy summit Atkins Realis produces the only type of reactor that does not require enriched uranium, of…Continue readingWestern countries ‘too optimistic’ on nuclear projects, warns engineering chief
Longtime forest advocates have expressed disgust at the ongoing logging of koala habitat in northern New South Wales despite promises the state government would protect the species, with one seasoned campaigner…Continue readingContinued logging of NSW koala habitat is ‘a profound tragedy’, conservationist says
On the border with New Hampshire and Massachusetts – about 35 miles north of Boston – is Salisbury, a coastal town and popular summer destination for tourists. But for those who…Continue readingMassachusetts town grapples with sea rise after sand barrier fails
About 44% of migratory species across the world are in decline while 20% the threat of all-out extinction, according to a new report from the United Nations. About 14% of migratory…Continue readingWhy are one-fifth of the world’s migratory species facing extinction?
Climate activists in four countries are blocking access to North Sea oil infrastructure as part of a coordinated pan-European civil disobedience protest. Blockades have been taking place at oil and gas…Continue readingClimate activists across Europe block access to North Sea oil infrastructure
England has experienced its wettest 18 months since records began in 1836, leaving farmers struggling to plant crops in waterlogged fields and transport networks disrupted by flooding. Climate change has exacerbated…Continue readingEngland drenched after the wettest 18 months since records began in 1836
Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped by one-tenth last year as renewable energy grew in importance, the use of coal and gas diminished and economic pressures weighed on businesses and consumers. Germany…Continue readingGerman greenhouse gas emissions dropped sharply last year
The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica are increasingly experiencing the impacts of plastic reaching floating ice and land, not solely as larger macroplastics (>5 cm), but as microplastics (0.1…Continue reading97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics
Six leading international datasets used for monitoring global temperatures and consolidated by WMO show that the annual average global temperature was 1.45 ± 0.12 °C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900) in 2023.…Continue readingWMO confirms that 2023 smashes global temperature record
The Norwegian energy firm Equinor might be better known for its oil and gas holdings but, as of August, it now operates the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm, which will…Continue readingMoving away from fossil fuels is easier said than done
Hundreds of Thai children strain to sing the national anthem, reedy voices and fragile lungs competing against eight lanes of belching traffic next to their school’s open atrium in central Bangkok.…Continue readingSmog and sick kids: Thai pupils endure air pollution
Geologists on an international subcommission recently voted down a proposal to formally recognize that we have entered the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch representing the time when massive, unrelenting human impacts…Continue readingViewpoint: What the Anthropocene’s critics overlook, and why it really should be a new geological epoch
Planet-heating methane released by the fossil fuel industry rose to near record highs in 2023 despite technology available to curb this pollution at virtually no cost, the International Energy Agency said…Continue readingMethane emissions from energy sector rose in 2023: IEA
A skeleton lies exposed to the elements as turquoise Caribbean waters lap the shores near a shattered tomb—a grisly reminder that the Colombian city of Cartagena is slowly being swallowed by…Continue readingColombia’s Caribbean jewel slowly sinking as sea waters rise
Rain used to be rare in most parts of the Arctic: the polar regions were, and still are, usually too cold and dry for clouds to form and absorb moisture. When…Continue readingRain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes
The temperature was minus 45 degrees F when Uuganaa, a 27-year-old nomad with a wife and two children, woke to the howling winds outside his “ger,” a felt-covered traditional Mongolian dwelling.…Continue readingIn Mongolia, a Killer Winter Is Ravaging Herds and a Way of Life
Months of record breaking temperatures and the El Niño weather phenomenon pushed the heating up of the world’s oceans to a new peak in February, scientists said. Oceans cover 70 percent…Continue readingCarbon emissions and El Nino push oceans to record temperatures
The Great Barrier Reef is in the grip of a mass coral bleaching event driven by global heating – the fifth in only eight years – the marine park’s government authority…Continue readingFifth mass coral bleaching event in eight years hits Great Barrier Reef, marine park authority confirms
Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for…Continue readingAmid explosive demand, America is running out of power
For the first time, clean energy in the United States is at the same price as energy from burning fossil fuels thanks to policy measures. The report found that electric vehicle…Continue readingWhat’s slowing down America’s clean energy transition? It’s not the cost
The quest to declare the Anthropocene an official geological epoch has descended into an epic row, after the validity of a leaked vote that apparently killed the proposal was questioned. The…Continue readingQuest to declare Anthropocene an epoch descends into epic row
Many traditional Malaysian fishermen have found themselves increasingly affected by the climate crisis, which is changing weather patterns that have long governed when and where they can fish. Such fishermen are…Continue readingClimate change pushes Malaysia’s coastal fishermen away from the sea
In January, the average temperature hit a record, “exceeding 3.8C (38.8F) above normal for the period 1991-2020,” said Houcine Youaabed, the head of communications for the meteorological department. It is the…Continue readingMorocco winter breaks heat records
Dozens of koalas have been killed or injured and left for dead during logging of blue gum plantations in South Australia, according to former employees of the harvesting company and a…Continue readingDozens of koalas allegedly killed or injured during plantation logging on Kangaroo Island
More than 2 million hectares (4.94 million acres) of bushland in Queensland that included large swathes of possible koala habitat has been cleared over a five-year period, new analysis shows. The…Continue readingLand clearing: 2 million hectares of Queensland forest destroyed in 5 years
Three people have been charged after climate activist Deanna “Violet” Coco and others allegedly used a truck to cause traffic chaos on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge. Extinction Rebellion members allegedly parked…Continue readingThree charged after climate activist Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco and others block traffic on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge
Vietnamese capital Hanoi was blanketed by a thick haze of pollution on Tuesday that obscured high-rise buildings and left the city’s nearly nine million people breathing toxic air. The city topped…Continue readingHanoi chokes as Vietnam capital tops most polluted cities list
The world is off track to meet its climate goals and the public is to blame, Darren Woods, chief executive of oil giant ExxonMobil, has claimed. As the world’s largest investor-owned…Continue readingFury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate failures
Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose to a record level in 2023. CO2 emissions from energy rose by 1.1% in 2023, increasing by 410 million tonnes to a record 37.4 billion…Continue readingEnergy-related carbon dioxide emissions hit record levels in 2023: IEA
There’s enough water frozen in Greenland and Antarctic glaciers that if they melted, global seas would rise by many feet. What will happen to these glaciers over the coming decades is…Continue readingAn 80-mph (129kph) speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse
The world generated 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal waste last year and the pile of trash is set to grow another two-thirds by 2050, the UN said Wednesday, warning of devastating…Continue readingWorld must act to stem surge of polluting trash, UN warns
While ice cover across the Great Lakes – a network of five freshwater lakes about the size of the United Kingdom – has been declining since the early 1970s, this year…Continue readingVanishing ice and snow: record warm winter wreaks havoc across US midwest
Profits for the biggest US oil and gas producers have almost tripled under President Joe Biden, even as the industry berates his administration’s “hostile” policies and warns that a second term…Continue readingOil and gas profits triple under Joe Biden even as industry decries him
QatarEnergy has unveiled plans to proceed with the North Field West project, aiming to boost the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity to 142 million tons per annum (MTPA) by…Continue readingQatar’s LNG production to ramp up by nearly 85%
Shell has commenced production at Rydberg, a subsea tie-back to the Appomattox production hub in the Gulf of Mexico. Rydberg is a conventional oil development located in ultra-deepwater in the US,…Continue readingShell begins production from Rydberg project in US Gulf of Mexico
Wind project costs in Europe have risen by 30-35% since before the pandemic, according to one senior banker who works in renewables. The profitability of new projects in Spain, measured by…Continue readingThe problem with Europe’s ageing wind farms
The problem of the ever-growing demand for power must be addressed if the world is not to risk descending into “energy turmoil” as it transitions towards clean energy, according to the…Continue reading‘Energy turmoil’ looms unless demand is checked, says Cop28 president
EnergyAustralia has announced the opening of its 320MW Tallawarra B gas-fired power station in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, following two years of construction. It is located next to the Australian…Continue readingEnergyAustralia inaugurates 320MW Tallawarra B gas-fired power station
Dr Stuart Rowland, a retired principal research scientist who worked for NSW Fisheries for 36 years and remains a mentor to scientists in the agency, says there is a conflict within…Continue reading‘The river has been destroyed’: expert says agriculture has overshadowed science in the Murray-Darling Basin
A blanket of smog covers Milan, empty reservoirs bake in Sicily and wine production is down in Piedmont as a lack of rain across Italy exacerbates pollution and sparks droughts. Gas-guzzling…Continue readingLack of rain leaves Italy gasping
Ocean currents are driven by winds, tides and water density differences. In the Atlantic Ocean circulation, the relatively warm and salty surface water near the equator flows toward Greenland. During its…Continue readingOnce melting glaciers shut down the Gulf Stream, we will see extreme climate change within decades
Launched in 2017, Climate Action 100+ aims to work with companies to halve their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, through governance reforms, the elimination of emission through the value chain and…Continue readingBig firms with $7 tn exit climate investment pressure group
UAE’s state-owned energy company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and British oil and gas firm BP have agreed to create a new gas joint venture (JV) in Egypt. The new…Continue readingADNOC and BP to create JV for gas development in Egypt
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/FFS5AELJ2BP7LEX4NL7YNB44DA.jpg "Bangkok says work from home as pollution blankets city")
Bangkok city employees have been told to work from home to avoid harmful air pollution, as a layer of noxious haze blanketed the Thai capital on Thursday. City authorities asked for…Continue readingBangkok says work from home as pollution blankets city
The European Drought Observatory’s map of current droughts in Europe shows the entire Spanish Mediterranean coast in bad shape, with red areas indicating an alert similar to those in north Africa…Continue readingWhat will Spain look like when it runs out of water? Barcelona is giving us a glimpse
Global liquefied natural gas demand is forecast to surge 50% by 2040 as the world transitions to cleaner fuel, Shell said in its latest annual LNG outlook. China was likely to…Continue readingLNG demand set to surge 50% by 2040 in clean-fuel transition, says Shell
Oxford university has come under heavy criticism after its £6bn endowment fund increased its investment in fossil fuels just a few years after making a landmark commitment to divestment. About £1 out of…Continue readingOxford under fire for increasing fossil fuel investments
Greenland is part of the Arctic region. It is the world’s biggest island, around 836,330 sq miles in size (2.1 million sq km). Most of the land is covered by ice…Continue readingGreenland’s ice sheet is melting and being replaced by vegetation
The Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system. A new Nature study by an international research…Continue readingAmazon rainforest at a critical threshold: Loss of forest worsens climate change
The devastating drought in the Amazon River Basin that reported in October has continued into Northern Hemisphere winter, which is the heart of the wet season in the southern part of…Continue readingWhat’s causing the Amazon’s ongoing record drought?
AMOC, which encompasses part of the Gulf Stream and other powerful currents, is a marine conveyer belt that carries heat, carbon and nutrients from the tropics towards the Arctic Circle, where…Continue readingAtlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point
TotalEnergies and its partners in Nigeria have commenced production from the Akpo West field in the Gulf of Guinea. Akpo West, which is located 135km off the coast, is producing through…Continue readingTotalEnergies begins production from Akpo West field offshore Nigeria
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of…Continue readingIce cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past
The new chief of the World Meteorological Organization said it looks to her that the rate of human-caused climate change is accelerating and that warming has triggered more Arctic cold outbreaks…Continue readingNew UN weather agency chief says rate of global warming is speeding up
BP’s new boss Murray Auchincloss set out plans to win over shareholders on Tuesday as he pledged to turn the oil major into a “higher value company” even as he sticks…Continue readingBP targets boost for returns as it delivers second biggest profit in a decade
Scientists analysed 300 years of ocean temperature records from marine sponges and discovered global warming has increased by 0.5˚C more than was previously estimated. In the study, published in Nature Climate…Continue readingMarine sponges reveal global warming has already exceeded 1.5 degrees
Limiting average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels has been the gold standard for climate action since at least the 2015 Paris Agreement. A…Continue readingNew study says the world blew past 1.5˚C four years ago
There’s no precedent in at least five centuries for how hot and dry the West has been in the last two decades, new research asserts using analysis of tree rings. The…Continue readingUS West’s ‘hot drought’ is unprecedented in more than 500 years
Chile began two days of national mourning Monday for at least 122 victims of a raging wildfire, as the search continued for the missing and survivors picked through the scorched remains…Continue readingChile mourns 122 killed in wildfire inferno, searches for missing
In a warming climate, meltwater from Antarctica is expected to contribute significantly to rising seas. For the most part, though, research has been focused on West Antarctica, in places like the…Continue readingCurrently stable parts of East Antarctica may be closer to melting than anyone has realized
Exxon posted full-year net income of $36bn, down from $55.7bn the previous year, but otherwise its biggest profit since 2012. Chevron’s net income of $21.4bn was down from $35.5bn the previous…Continue readingExxonMobil and Chevron notch second-biggest annual profits in decade
Fipronil and imidacloprid are highly toxic pesticides that are no longer approved for use in outdoor agriculture, but continue to be widely used in pet flea treatments, typically applied to the…Continue readingHandwashing is a major source of pet pesticide pollution in UK rivers