Last week, analysts at First Street, a financial research firm in Manhattan that models the future of property values in a climate-damaged world, issued a report suggesting that home values in…Continue readingLetter to the Sun Belt
Tag: fire
The home-wrecking storms and floods that swept Europe last year affected 413,000 people, a report has found, as fossil fuel pollution forced the continent to suffer through its hottest year on…Continue readingDeadly floods and storms affected more than 400,000 people in Europe in 2024
Vast areas of habitat for animals including butterflies, beetles and falcons have been damaged, and some peat bogs may take “hundreds of years” to recover following one of the driest Marches…Continue readingWhole ecosystems ‘decimated’ by huge rise in UK wildfires
Nearly 2 million hectares of forests suitable for endangered koalas have been destroyed since the iconic species was declared a threatened species in 2011, according to analysis for Guardian Australia. The…Continue readingRevealed: nearly 2m hectares of koala habitat bulldozed since 2011 – despite political promises to protect species
A dry winter is intensifying wildfires in Nepal, experts said Wednesday, as the capital Kathmandu continued to suffer from hazardous air quality that ranks it among the most polluted cities globally.…Continue readingNepal fights wildfires and pollution amidst drier winter
By Dan Drollette Jr March 12, 2025. Carlos Afonso Nobre is a Brazilian scientist and meteorologist who is mainly highlighted in global warming-related studies. For roughly 65 million years, the forests…Continue readingCarlos Nobre on tipping points in the Amazon rainforest
Wildfires driven by strong winds have devastated parts of South Korea’s southern regions, killing at least 24 people, destroying more than 200 structures, and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate. The wildfires,…Continue readingWildfires kill 24 and displace thousands in South Korea
Wildfire season in Canada has historically spanned from late April to August—with the most damaging of these fires typically burning in June and July. But in recent years, we’ve seen a…Continue readingWildfire season is changing in Canada
Dramatic rainstorms earlier this month brought more than 6in of rain to the California mountains – a full month’s worth of rain in little more than a day – but the…Continue readingCalifornia faces worsening drought despite recent heavy rainstorms
Since dry lightning ignited more than a dozen fires in Tasmania’s west on February 3, an estimated 94,000 hectares of diverse wilderness has been burned. The fires are expected to burn…Continue readingNearly 95,000 hectares of wilderness in Tasmania’s west lost to bushfires
Fires that have razed 90,000 hectares of Tasmanian wilderness, including parts of the famous Overland walking track, could burn for weeks as firefighters battle to contain blazes in remote terrain. By…Continue readingTasmania fires destroy huge swath of wilderness and could ‘burn for weeks’
The UK is not prepared for the impact of climate breakdown, fire chiefs have said, as they called on the government to take urgent action to protect communities. It said fire…Continue readingFire chiefs warn UK is not prepared for climate crisis impacts
Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found. But…Continue readingStudy says climate change made conditions that fed California wildfires more likely, more intense
Extreme weather disrupted the schooling of about 242 million children in 85 countries last year—roughly one in seven students, the UN children’s agency reported Thursday, deploring an “overlooked” aspect of the…Continue reading242 million children’s schooling disrupted by climate shocks in 2024: UNICEF
Wildfires in Brazil last year consumed a total area larger than all of Italy, a monitor reported Wednesday, as the country continues to battle blazes often set by farmers and ranchers…Continue readingBrazil saw 79% jump in area burned by fires in 2024
A growing number of homeowners nationwide are being dropped by insurance companies as firms and regulators struggle to deal with the unpredictable and costly risks of climate disasters. Nonrenewal notices surged…Continue readingCalifornia isn’t the only place where insurers are dropping homeowners
Twelve fires have ignited in the Los Angeles area since January 7, when a once-in-a-decade Santa Ana wind storm blew across Southern California’s drought-parched landscape. Since then, more than 60 square…Continue readingLA fires were larger and more intense because of planet-warming pollution, study suggests
The world has endured a “decade of deadly heat”, with 2024 capping 10 years of unprecedented temperatures, the UN has said. The UN’s climate and weather agency, the World Meteorological Organisation…Continue readingWorld endures ‘decade of deadly heat’ as 2024 caps hottest years on record
The Arctic tundra is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by frequent wildfires that are turning it into a net source of carbon dioxide emissions after millennia of acting as a carbon…Continue readingArctic tundra is now emitting more carbon than it absorbs
A new study published in Environmental Research Letters reveals that the severity of the state’s wildfires has rapidly increased over the last several decades, contributing to greater forest loss than would…Continue readingAs climate warms, California wildfires are becoming more severe, killing more trees
Ecuador has declared a 60-day state of emergency as the South American country has been hit by a severe drought and record wildfires that have razed large swaths of territory over…Continue readingEcuador declares 60-day state of emergency to help battle wildfires
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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’
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
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
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
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
The Durango Fire Protection District was repeatedly denied insurance coverage for the construction of its new downtown firehouse earlier this year because of the wildfire risk. “We literally are a fire…Continue readingColorado’s wildfire risk is so high a fire department struggled to find insurance to build a new firehouse
The time has come to accept that climate policy has failed, and that the 2015 landmark Paris agreement is dead. We let it die by pretending that we could both continue…Continue readingThe overshoot myth: you can’t keep burning fossil fuels and expect scientists of the future to get us back to 1.5°C
Under a federal government scheme, people and businesses can undertake projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or store carbon, in exchange for financial rewards known as carbon credits. The government has…Continue readingIndustry push to earn carbon credits from Australia’s native forests would be a blow for nature and the climate
A massive wildfire blazed its way into Athens’ northeastern suburbs on Monday as hundreds of firefighters battled to contain it, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes and sparking a…Continue readingAthens suburbs on fire as Greece calls on EU for help
Greece on Sunday was battling a spate of wildfires which have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, as experts warn of more extreme weather conditions to come next week. Firefighters…Continue readingGreece wildfires force hundreds to evacuate
The Brazilian government wants to develop the upper 435 miles (700km) of the Paraguay River into the Paraguay-Paraná hidrovia (waterway). In 2022 and 2023, preliminary licences were issued for the construction…Continue readingPantanal waterway project would destroy a ‘paradise on Earth’, scientists warn
The wildfire has already destroyed a third of the popular tourist town of Jasper — and officials say the flames could stay ablaze for months. The wildfire in Alberta, Canada, broke…Continue readingJasper National Park’s largest wildfire in a century destroys a third of Canadian town — and could continue for months
Seasonal change in the north is rapid and, for local people, summer marks a brief reprieve from months of bitter cold. But a heatwave that is currently hovering over the community…Continue reading‘It’s devastating’: summer in Canada’s Arctic region brings severe heatwaves
The punishing heat experienced around the Mediterranean in July would have been “virtually impossible” in a world without global warming, a group of climate scientists said Wednesday. A deadly heat wave…Continue readingMediterranean heat wave ‘virtually impossible’ without climate change: Scientists
A crushing drought in Sicily has withered fields of grain, deprived livestock of pasture land and fanned a spate of wildfires, causing damage already estimated at 2.7 billion euros this year.…Continue readingDrought in Sicily threatens grain fields, animal herds
A fast-moving wildfire has hit the town of Jasper in the Canadian Rockies, causing “significant” losses as firefighters work to hold back the flames. Located about 370km (230 miles) west of…Continue reading‘Our worst nightmare’: Raging wildfire hits western Canada town of Jasper
Unrelenting heat is blanketing swathes of southern and eastern Europe, with dozens of cities on red alert as scorching temperatures fuel wildfires, strain power grids, and make daily life unbearable. Greece,…Continue reading‘It’s unbearable’: heat waves scorch southern and eastern Europe
Canada is currently battling 575 active fires with more than 400 considered out of control. Around 9,000 people have been evacuated in northeastern Canada because of raging wildfires. Residents of the…Continue reading9,000 evacuated in northeast Canada due to wildfires
Las Vegas set a new record on Wednesday as it marked a fifth consecutive day over 115˚F (46˚C). The brutal milestone marks yet another record for the Nevada desert city this…Continue readingLas Vegas sets record for number of days over 115˚F amid its ‘most extreme heatwave in history’
The Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, is on fire. Huge stretches of land resemble the aftermath of a battle, with thick green…Continue readingDevastation as world’s biggest wetland burns: ‘those that cannot run don’t stand a chance’
The frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires has more than doubled worldwide over the past two decades as human activity has warmed the planet. The intensity of the 20 most extreme…Continue readingExtreme wildfires doubled over past two decades: Study
Regional authorities in Brazil on Monday declared a state of emergency as the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetlands, faces “out of control fires,” according to a decree. The surge of…Continue reading‘Out of control fires’ in Brazil wetlands spark state of emergency
Exposure to extreme weather events can make people more aware of environmental changes; however, it remains unclear how such events influence politicians’ behaviour. Combining supervised learning algorithms on over 260,000 press…Continue readingExtreme weather events do not increase political parties’ environmental attention
The air quality in San Pedro Sula, the second-largest city in Honduras, as been classified as the most polluted on the American continent due to forest fires and weather conditions aggravated…Continue readingHonduran city’s air pollution is almost 50 times higher than WHO guidelines
The largest ever recorded leap in the amount of carbon dioxide laden in the world’s atmosphere has just occurred, according to researchers who monitor the relentless accumulation of the primary gas…Continue readingRecord-breaking increase in CO2 levels in world’s atmosphere
Hundreds of the world’s leading climate scientists expect global temperatures to rise to at least 2.5˚C (4.5˚F) above preindustrial levels this century. Almost 80% of the respondents, all from the authoritative…Continue readingWorld’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5˚C target
The climate emergency is already here. Even just 1˚C of heating has supercharged the planet’s extreme weather, delivering searing heatwaves from the US to Europe to China that would have been…Continue reading‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair
Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal’s capital Thursday as the Himalayan republic endures a severe fire season authorities have blamed on a heat wave.…Continue readingNepal battles raging wildfires across the country
A new study presents the first large-scale analysis of fire patterns in West and Central Africa’s wet, tropical forests. The number of active fires there typically doubled over 18 years, particularly…Continue readingWildfires in wet African forests have doubled in recent decades, large-scale analysis finds
Europeans are suffering with unprecedented heat during the day and are stressed by uncomfortable warmth at night. The death rate from hot weather has risen 30% in Europe in two decades,…Continue readingEurope baked in ‘extreme heat stress’ pushing temperatures to record highs
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?
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
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
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?
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
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
Global destruction of forests increased by 4% last year, compared to 2021, according to a new report. A total of 6.6 million hectares of forests were lost in 2022—an area more…Continue readingDestruction of forests gathered pace in 2022, despite global promises
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Scientists and academics say they have been warning for several years that invasive grasses covering a quarter of the Hawaii islands are a major fire risk. Untamed grassland helped fuel the…Continue readingNon-native grass species blamed for ferocity of Hawaii wildfires
Canada’s military deployed to far north Sunday in the fight against hundreds of out-of-control wildfires as residents of several remote communities fled the advancing blazes. This season, megafires have spread across…Continue readingMilitary joins wildfire fight in Canada’s far north
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
The collapse of a glacier in the Dolomites and a landslide on the island of Ischia. Devastating floods, wildfires and record-breaking heatwaves. The worst drought of the Po, Italy’s longest river,…Continue readingClimatologist warns of Italy’s vulnerability to climate crisis
A massive fire burning through the desert in California and southern Nevada has scorched tens of thousands of acres in a biodiverse national preserve and torched its iconic Joshua trees. The…Continue readingHuge wildfire explodes in southern California and spreads into Nevada
Algeria: At least 34 people were killed, where 8,000 firefighters battled blazes across the tinder-dry north. Fires burned in a total of 15 provinces, leading to the evacuation of more than…Continue readingMediterranean on fire as blazes spread across nine countries