A team of researchers at the University of Sassari, in Sardinia, used GPS collars equipped with motion sensors to track the activity of the Alpine ibex, a species of mountain goat,…Continue readingGlobal heating pushes mountain goats into more nocturnal lifestyle
Tag: climate impact
In one of the first of several teams of science agencies to calculate how off-the-charts warm 2023 was, the European climate agency Copernicus said the year was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66…Continue readingEarth shattered global heat record in ’23 and it’s flirting with warming limit
The U.S., Mexico and countries in the Caribbean are being battered by hurricane-induced ocean waves that have grown in areal size by 80% over the past 40 years, a new study…Continue readingHurricane waves hitting Americas grow 20% per decade
Warm-water coral reefs are facing unprecedented Anthropogenic driven threats to their continued existence as biodiverse, functional ecosystems upon which hundreds of millions of people rely. We draw upon a literature search…Continue readingAssessment of warm-water coral reef tipping point thresholds
How the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) responded to warmer climates in the geologic past has obvious relevance to our understanding of what its future could be as global temperatures rise…Continue readingIce sheet collapse closer than thought
More than 20 stations posted all-time December lows in the early hours of Thursday. They included Hohhot, capital of the northern Inner Mongolia region, where a reading of -29.1 degrees Celsius…Continue readingMore records tumble as China cold snap persists
Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the Amazon’s rivers and streams for food, transportation and income. But the historically low water levels have forced residents to reimagine their relationship to…Continue reading‘Everything is dead’: How record drought is wreaking havoc on the Amazon
My colleagues and I overlaid the projections of climate models with data on the geographic distributions of more than 35,000 species on land and in the ocean. We found that limiting…Continue readingClimate change research: If warming approaches 2°C, a trickle of extinctions will become a flood
Leaders of the IUCN updated their Red List of Threatened Species, a tracker of biodiversity around the globe. It was mainly bad news. The list includes information on 157,000 species, about…Continue readingEndangered species list grows by 2,000. Climate change is part of the problem.
New analysis finds the last time the air contained 420 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide was between 14-16 million years ago, when there was no ice in Greenland and…Continue readingCurrent carbon dioxide levels last seen 14 million years ago
Most people expect that if a system, like someone’s body, an ecosystem, or part of the climate system, becomes stressed, it’ll respond fairly predictably—double the pressure, double the impact, and so…Continue readingClimate tipping points are nearer than you think. Our new report warns of catastrophic risk.
Many of the gravest threats to humanity are drawing closer, as carbon pollution heats the planet to ever more dangerous levels, scientists have warned. Five important natural thresholds already risk being…Continue readingEarth on verge of five catastrophic climate tipping points, scientists warn
Simultaneous episodes of extreme heat and drought could occur earlier and repeatedly in Europe, reports a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. Laura Suarez-Gutierrez and colleagues investigated how soon end-of-century…Continue reading‘End of century’ extreme heat and drought conditions in Europe could occur much earlier than previously thought
In the ocean, tropical species are moving from the equator towards the poles as sea temperatures rise. Meanwhile, temperate species are receding as it gets too warm, they face increased competition…Continue readingGlobal marine life is on the move due to sea temperature rises
More than two million people across the Horn of Africa have been forced from their homes by torrential rains and floods, according to an AFP tally compiled Thursday from government and…Continue readingHorn of Africa floods displace more than two million
Spain, the world’s biggest producer of olive oil, suffered a very difficult year in 2022 and drought this year has compounded the problem. In Italy, this year’s olive harvest is down…Continue readingWinter isn’t coming: climate change hits Greek olive crop
Haiyan was one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall. More than 6,300 people were killed as the storm swept across the island of Leyte, flattening homes and causing a…Continue reading10 years after Haiyan, are mangroves protecting Philippine coastal areas?
The number of listed threatened species in Australia’s world heritage northern rainforests has increased by 25% since 2020, as ecologists say they are now clearly observing the long-predicted impacts of global…Continue readingQueensland’s wet tropics see 25% rise in threatened species in three years as climate change bites
Cyclone Freddy lasted a record 38 days. The storm barrelled 5,000 miles across the Indian Ocean, pummelling Madagascar and Reunion before striking the African mainland. It swirled over southern Mozambique and…Continue readingAfter the Storm, Malawi’s Farmers Face a Precarious Future
Extreme drought in northern Italy has doubled over the past two decades, creating a climate that increasingly mirrors that of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. The southern Shabelle region of…Continue readingExtreme drought in northern Italy mirrors climate in Ethiopia
Fire ravaged Canada in 2023 like no other year, by a stupendous margin. A record 45.7m acres (18.5m hectares) went up in flames, an area about twice the size of Portugal,…Continue readingAfter a record year of wildfires, will Canada ever be the same again?
Greenland’s thousands of peripheral glaciers have entered a new and widespread state of rapid retreat, a Northwestern University and University of Copenhagen study has found. To piece together the magnitude of…Continue readingStudy finds Greenland’s glacier retreat rate has doubled over past two decades
According to a new paper by scientists from a dozen institutions, the world’s average temperature will surpass 1.5°C above preindustrial times within the next several years—much faster than most existing forecasts.…Continue readingWorld temperatures will blow past Paris goals this decade
UK forests are heading for “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” within the next 50 years due to multiple threats including disease, extreme weather and wildfires, researchers have warned, with trees dying on a…Continue readingUK forests face catastrophic ecosystem collapse within 50 years
Extreme droughts that have wrecked the lives of millions of people in Syria, Iraq and Iran since 2020 would not have happened without human-caused global heating, a study has found. The…Continue readingHuman-caused heating behind extreme droughts in Syria, Iraq and Iran
October, November and December are usually a period of transition. By now, the dry season would normally have peaked, and rivers and aquifers would start to replenish. But the rains refuse…Continue reading‘Everything is parched’: Amazon struggles with drought amid deforestation
Unprecedented in Greece in its intensity, the Dadia fire has been classed by the European Commission as the largest ever recorded in the EU. Burning for three weeks, the fire consumed…Continue readingDesolation in Greece’s Dadia park after Europe’s biggest fire
Elkhorn corals are already considered “functionally extinct” in the upper Keys, and other elkhorn and staghorn populations in the Florida Reef are following suit, according to Liv Williamson, an assistant scientist…Continue readingCoral researchers see ‘mass mortality’ amid Florida Reef bleaching crisis
An unprecedented rise in ocean temperatures off the coast of Florida early in the summer made headlines as it caused countless dead fish to wash ashore. But the impact had an…Continue readingResearchers report mass bleaching of coral reefs in warming Florida oceans: ‘Like a forest without trees’
Santa Cruz del Islote, part of the San Bernardo archipelago, a few miles off Colombia’s Caribbean coast, is typical of many of the world’s low-lying coastal regions now at the forefront…Continue reading‘All we can do now is run away’: is time up for the sinking Colombian islands of San Bernardo?
Approached by motorboat across the Caribbean Sea, Gardí Sugdub, or Crab Island, first appears on the horizon as a densely packed cluster of tin-roofed huts, punctuated by the odd coconut palm.…Continue readingMeet the first climate refugees from the Americas to flee rising seas
Heat waves have always been part of summer, but the familiar short periods of oppressive conditions have grown into weeks to months of sweltering heat. Research has shown that heat waves…Continue readingHere are the places that could become too hot for humans due to climate change
In the wake of the destructive Hurricane Otis, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in the history of weather forecasting. The hurricane roared ashore with 165mph (266kph) winds and torrential…Continue readingExtreme weather is outpacing even the worst-case scenarios of our forecasting models
By Christoper Ketcham The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has assumed Nordhaus is to be trusted. The integrated assessment models used at the IPCC are based on Nordhausian visions of adaptation…Continue readingWhen Idiot Savants Do Climate Economics
From the Great Lakes in the north to Louisiana in the south, the majestic Mississippi is a shadow of its former self. For the second straight year, water levels in North…Continue readingThe mighty Mississippi, America’s water highway, is dangerously low
Earth’s vital signs have worsened beyond anything humans have yet seen, to the point that life on the planet is imperiled. William Ripple, a distinguished professor in the Oregon State University…Continue readingClimate report: ‘Uncharted territory’ imperils life on Earth
Accelerated ice melt in west Antarctica is inevitable for the rest of the century no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, research indicates. The implications for sea level rise are…Continue readingRapid ice melt in west Antarctica now inevitable
Parts of Malawi saw a maximum temperature of 43˚C (109˚F), compared with an average of nearly 25˚C (77˚F) for the time of year. The temperatures had dropped by Monday, but in…Continue readingMalawi swelters in record heat with temperatures nearly 20˚C above average
A withering drought has turned the Amazonian capital of Manaus into a climate dystopia with the second worst air quality in the world and rivers at the lowest levels in 121…Continue readingDrought turns Amazonian capital into climate dystopia
The water level at a major river port in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has hit its lowest point in at least 121 years, as a historic drought upends the lives of hundreds…Continue readingWater level at Amazon port in Brazil hits lowest point in 121 years amid drought
The deadly heat in central South America over the past two months was made 100 times more likely by human emissions that disrupted the climate, scientists have shown. Temperatures have exceeded…Continue readingHuman emissions made deadly South American heat 100 times more likely
If global temperatures increase by 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the 2.2 billion residents of Pakistan and India’s Indus River Valley, the one billion people living in eastern China and the 800…Continue readingClimate-driven extreme heat may make parts of Earth too hot for humans
The air was dry and warm and the skies over Dushanbe were gray without a hint of sun during another recent toxic sand storm that enveloped the capital of Tajikistan. Storms…Continue readingToxic storms blamed on climate change cloud Tajikistan
Afro-Siberian red knots migrate from the Arctic to winter in Africa, where they recover from the arduous journey. But warming in Siberia is causing physical changes in the birds that hinder…Continue readingClimate Change Is Pushing These Migratory Birds to the Brink
As the ice melts, the hunters in the village of Ittoqqortoormiit—home to one of the last Inuit hunting communities—worry where they will get water. On a headland of barren tundra some…Continue readingGreenland’s Inuit falling through thin ice of climate change
Tropical coral reefs could end up being one of the first victims of climate change. The marine diversity hotspots are threatened and declining as a result of global warming, ocean acidification,…Continue readingGrowth of coral reefs likely cannot keep pace with rising sea level
North Dhaka is particularly vulnerable to the urban heat-island effect due to its densely populated city centre, with some urban hotspots more than 10˚C (18˚F) higher than the surrounding countryside. With…Continue reading‘Only the rich can bear this heat’: how Dhaka is battling extreme weather
The carcasses of 120 river dolphins have been found floating in a tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil over the last week in circumstances that experts suspect were caused by…Continue readingDeaths of 120 Amazon dolphins linked to severe drought, high temperatures
When scientists started pouring over data to assess Canada’s fire season this year, they struggled to find the right superlatives. “Never before seen,” was thrown around, as was “exceptional in scale,…Continue readingCanada left battered by ‘never before seen’ wildfire season
New York City and its adjoining areas have been brought to a standstill after a bout of torrential downpours triggered flash flooding, disrupting subway service, inundating ground-level apartments and delaying flights.…Continue readingFlash flooding inundates New York City
Antarctica has likely broken a new record for the lowest annual maximum amount of sea ice around the continent, beating the previous low by a million square kilometres. The new mark…Continue readingAntarctic sea ice shrinks to lowest annual maximum level on record
As many as eight in 10 brown bear cubs born this year in a remote part of northern Japan have died amid a shortage of salmon, with experts blaming rising sea…Continue readingBrown bear cubs in Japan die of starvation amid salmon shortage
The vast swaths of pine, spruce and larch forest that blanket much of Canada have been prized for generations. Not only do they provide a home to hundreds of species –…Continue readingWildfires turn Canada’s vast forests from carbon sink into super-emitter
Sea ice insulates the ocean, reflects heat, drives currents, supports ecosystems and protects ice shelves. It also has an annual seasonal cycle—some of the ice melts, then freezes again. Every year,…Continue readingDevastatingly low Antarctic sea ice may be the ‘new abnormal,’ study warns
Earth’s life support systems have been so damaged that the planet is “well outside the safe operating space for humanity”, scientists have warned. Their assessment found that six out of nine…Continue readingEarth ‘well outside safe operating space for humanity’
After the northern summer of extreme heat and disastrous fires, we’ve seen more exceptional autumn weather over Europe with record-breaking heat in the UK. Meanwhile, record-breaking rain and intense flash floods…Continue readingFaster disaster: Climate change fuels ‘flash droughts’, intense downpours and storms
Most coastal communities will encounter 100-year floods annually by the end of the century, even under a moderate scenario where carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2040, a new study finds. And…Continue readingCentury’s end may bring annual 100-year floods
Our research shows almost everywhere in Australia is now in a different fire climate than it was just 20 years ago, with falling relative humidity a key factor. Previous research has…Continue readingFire climate regimes around Australia shifted abruptly 20 years ago, and falling humidity may explain why
Between January and August, the United States was struck by a record-breaking 23 weather and climate disasters where losses exceeded $1 billion in each case. The tally for 2023 has already…Continue readingUS hit by record number of billion-dollar disasters so far this year
Storm Daniel, which wrought devastation across the Mediterranean in the past week, killed 15 people in central Greece where it dumped more rain than previously recorded before sweeping across to Libya…Continue readingMediterranean’s devastating Storm Daniel may be harbinger of storms to come
Floods, wildfires and a deadly train collision this year have raised questions about the competence of state authorities and central government.Continue readingAfter slew of disasters, Greeks wonder what is happening to their democracy
Flash floods were triggered by rainfall from the arrival of Storm Daniel on Monday September 4 which also affected Turkey and Bulgaria. The following day, in the village of Zagora, a…Continue readingGreece’s record rainfall and flash floods: Across the Mediterranean, the weather is becoming more dangerous
Record rainfall in Hong Kong caused widespread flooding in the early hours of Friday, disrupting road and rail traffic just days after the city dodged major damage from a super typhoon.…Continue readingRecord rainfall causes flooding in Hong Kong days after typhoon
Antarctica is likely warming at almost twice the rate of the rest of the world and faster than climate change models are predicting, with potentially far-reaching implications for global sea level…Continue readingAntarctica warming much faster than models predicted in ‘deeply concerning’ sign for sea levels
The death toll from floods in central Greece has risen to four after severe rainstorms turned streets into raging torrents, hurled cars into the sea, and washed away roads and bridges.…Continue readingDeath toll rises to four in Greece after floods, more than 800 rescued
Surrounded by idyllic clear waters, the densely populated island of Carti Sugtupu off Panama’s north coast has barely an inch to spare with houses crammed together—some jutting out into the sea…Continue reading‘We’re going to sink’: hundreds abandon Caribbean island home
At least three people have died and two are missing in Spain after heavy rains triggered flash floods and impacted transportation systems. The weekend storm affected almost the whole country. The…Continue readingRoads turned into rivers as torrential rains lash Spain
Much of the world’s natural coastline is protected by living habitats, most notably mangroves in warmer waters and tidal marshes closer to the poles. These ecosystems support fisheries and wildlife, absorb…Continue readingAfter studying more than 1,500 coastal ecosystems, researchers say they will drown if we let the world warm above 2˚C
Devastating wildfires in Greece will ravage more than 150,000 hectares (370,600 acres) by the end of the summer, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis estimated Thursday, blaming the climate crisis for the disaster.…Continue readingGreek summer wildfires will burn over 150,000 hectares
A warming Arctic is limiting polar bears’ access to sea ice, which the bears use as a hunting platform. In ice-free summer months the bears must fast. While in a worst-case…Continue readingStudy connects greenhouse gas emissions to polar bear population declines
More than 450 fires have scorched parts of Louisiana amid weeks of record-breaking heat and severe drought conditions. The Tiger Island Fire, the largest wildfire in the state’s history, tore through…Continue readingLouisiana sees ‘unprecedented’ wildfires amid record heat, drought
Hurricane Idalia could become the costliest climate disaster to hit the US this year, analysts say, with massive implications for the insurance and risk management industries. The category 3 storm that…Continue readingHurricane Idalia could become 2023’s costliest climate disaster for the US
Being cautious by nature, scientists warned that in the next few decades the global emperor population will suffer significant losses. This fate appeared a long way in the future, but it…Continue readingI have studied emperor penguins for 30 years. We may witness their demise in our lifetime
The “crazy” extreme weather rampaging around the globe in 2023 will become the norm within a decade without dramatic climate action, the world’s leading climate scientists have said. The heatwaves, wildfires…Continue readingDramatic climate action needed to curtail ‘crazy’ extreme weather
Global warming is driving leafy tropical canopies close to temperatures where they can no longer transform sunlight and CO2 into energy, threatening total collapse. A tiny percentage of upper canopy leaves…Continue readingTropical forests nearing critical temperatures thresholds
Helpless emperor penguin chicks perished at multiple breeding grounds in West Antarctica late last year, drowning or freezing to death when sea ice eroded by global warming gave way under their…Continue readingWarming decimates Antarctica’s emperor penguin chicks
The regional government for the Canary Islands said that 4,000 more people were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Those were in addition to the 4,500 people who on Friday were forced…Continue readingTenerife: thousands more flee their homes as ‘out of ‘control’ wildfires rage
Dressed in a full-body protective suit, an elderly pest control worker could last no more than 15 minutes spraying pesticide along a Hong Kong pavement before the summer heat became too…Continue reading‘In a sauna’: Hong Kong’s laborers swelter as temperatures rise
A huge wildfire in northern Canada is moving closer the city of Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, and authorities have ordered the city’s 20,000 residents to evacuate. Canada is…Continue readingHuge wildfire forces evacuation of Canada’s Northwest Territories capital
Temperatures in Morocco have for the first time on record topped 50˚C (120˚F), the North African country’s meteorological service said Sunday amid a scorching heat wave. The meteorological station in the…Continue readingMorocco breaks heat record
Spain’s eastern city of Valencia set a new temperature record on Thursday as the country baked under its third heat wave of the summer. The mercury soared to 46.8˚C (116.2˚F) at…Continue readingSpanish city shatters heat record
Corals across several countries are bleaching and dying en masse from unprecedented levels of heat stress, prompting fears that an unfolding tragedy in Central America, North America and the Caribbean could…Continue reading‘Huge’ coral bleaching unfolding across the Americas prompts fears of global tragedy
Over the past few weeks, a large-scale rescue operation has been under way off the coast and keys of Florida. It began as water temperatures were rising towards a peak of…Continue readingMissing ice and bleached coral: the sudden warming of the oceans
Sea ice in the Antarctic region fell to a record low this year as a result of rising global temperatures and there is no quick fix to reverse the damage done,…Continue readingNo quick fix to reverse ‘astonishing’ Antarctic sea ice loss
Antarctica is currently experiencing dramatic changes at unprecedented rates, marked by repeated extreme events. These include circum-Antarctic summer heatwaves and an autumn heatwave last year, with temperatures soaring up to 40˚C…Continue readingAntarctica’s heatwaves are a warning to humanity – and we have only a narrow window to save the planet
Hard coral cover in the northern section of the reef, from Cape York to Cooktown, was estimated at 35.7%, down from 36.5% in 2022. Between Cooktown and Proserpine, the reef’s central…Continue readingRecovery of Great Barrier Reef stalls as scientists point to bleaching, disease and starfish attacks
Hundreds of firefighters were on Tuesday battling a wildfire that has burned for four days in Portugal, which, like neighboring Spain, is sweltering in a heat wave that has triggered widespread…Continue readingPortugal, Spain battle wildfires amid heat wave alerts
Temperatures in parts of Chile and northern Argentina have soared to 10°C–20°C above average over the last few days. Towns in the Andes mountains have reached 38°C or more, while Argentina’s…Continue readingOne of 2023’s most extreme heat waves is happening in the middle of winter
The flooding in Pakistan in August and September 2022 – described by UN secretary general António Guterres as a “monsoon on steroids” – led to the deaths of more than 1,700…Continue readingA year on, the devastating long-term effects of Pakistan’s floods are revealed