The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, built a model of sea surface temperatures since 1940 that removed the heating the climate crisis has caused. The…Continue readingClimate crisis has tripled length of deadly ocean heatwaves
Tag: impact
Findings, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, come as nations prepare to battle again over a treaty to address plastic pollution after the last round of negotiations failed to…Continue readingGlobal plastic recycling rates ‘stagnant’ at under 10%: Study
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
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
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Monitoring Laboratory on Monday released data showing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by 3.75 parts per million in 2024. That…Continue readingIs the planet losing one of its best ways to slow climate change?
Last month, Parisians voted in a referendum to turn an additional 500 streets over to pedestrians. A year earlier, Paris had moved to sharply increase parking fees for SUVs, forcing drivers…Continue readingParis said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Sweden’s recycling centers are overflowing with clothes after an EU-wide ban this year on throwing away textiles, leaving overwhelmed municipalities eager to have fast fashion giants take responsibility. The aim is…Continue readingSweden drowns in discarded fast fashion items
In a study published in One Earth, scientists report that, for the highly populated coastal country of Bangladesh, what was once a 100-year event could now strike every 10 years—or more…Continue readingHundred-year storm tides to hit Bangladesh every decade as climate change intensifies, scientists report
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
Water levels in the Caspian Sea—the world’s largest landlocked water body—are getting lower, as hotter temperatures cause more water to evaporate than is flowing in. Even if global warming is limited…Continue readingCaspian Sea’s rapid decline threatens endangered seals, coastal communities and industry, study warns
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
A National Science and Technology Council and Ministry of Environment report projected that Taiwan could stop experiencing winters by 2060 due to climate change. Taiwan summers could extend to over 150…Continue readingClimate change could erase winters in Taiwan by 2060
The winter growth period for sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is now over, with levels at a record low. The winter ice extent on 21 March 2025 was lower than…Continue readingLowest levels on record for Arctic winter sea ice
The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, a top insurer has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate. The world…Continue readingClimate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer
Morocco is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tapping northern rivers to supply water to parched cities farther south but experts question the sustainability of the project in the face…Continue readingMorocco ‘water highway’ averts crisis in big cities but doubts over sustainability
Melting Arctic sea ice—mostly in the summer—is making the polar bear population smaller, weaker and hungrier because they rely on the sea ice to hunt from, scientists said. And winter sea…Continue readingArctic sea ice hits record low for its usual peak growth period
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
Humans are driving biodiversity loss among all species across the planet, according to a synthesis of more than 2,000 studies. The study – which accounted for nearly 100,000 sites across all…Continue readingBiodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans
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
Today, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published its annual State of the Climate report, which found heat records kept being broken in 2024. It’s likely 2024 was the first year to…Continue readingSahara flooding, Amazon tributaries drying, warming tipping over 1.5°C—2024 broke all the wrong records
The WMO’s report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000…Continue readingMore than 150 ‘unprecedented’ climate disasters struck world in 2024, says UN
The study, published in The Journal of Climate Change and Health, reveals alarmingly high levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness among adolescents in one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions. In…Continue readingClimate change fueling mental health crisis in areas most affected by climate crisis
Extreme temperatures and severe droughts are ravaging Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, and taking a heavy toll on local harvests. Global demand, meanwhile, continues to surge, particularly in China. Now…Continue readingWhy is your morning joe so expensive? Brazil’s coffee farms have the answer.
A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém. The Amazon…Continue readingAmazon forest felled to build road for climate summit
Analysis of young sable shearwaters, a migratory bird that travels between Australia’s Lord Howe Island and Japan, has found that plastic waste is causing damage to seabird chicks not apparent to…Continue readingPlastic pollution leaves seabirds with brain damage similar to Alzheimer’s, study shows
South Australia’s Environment Protection Authority did not open a formal investigation into what may have killed dozens of birds in Port Pirie, despite tests showing some of the animals had been…Continue readingDead and dying Port Pirie birds and bats exposed to lead at 3,000 times acceptable levels
The pollution of the planet by microplastics is significantly cutting food supplies by damaging the ability of plants to photosynthesise, according to a new assessment. The analysis estimates that between 4%…Continue readingMicroplastics hinder plant photosynthesis, study finds, threatening millions with starvation
Lahore’s 14 million residents spent six months breathing concentrations of PM2.5—tiny particles that can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream—at levels 20 times or more than recommended by the World Health Organization.…Continue reading‘Really suffocating’: Pakistan emerges from record smog season
Nearly every country on Earth has dirtier air than doctors recommend breathing, a report has found. Only seven countries met the World Health Organization’s guidelines for tiny toxic particles known as…Continue readingOnly seven countries worldwide meet WHO dirty air guidelines, study shows
SUVs and huge utes have become the most popular vehicles in Australia. Of the 1,220,607 new vehicles sold in 2024, most were SUVs, with about 57% market share. Light commercial vehicles…Continue readingAustralians are obsessed with SUVs and huge utes, but experts say they are making our roads deadlier
Water is vital to a city’s growth and stability and is the backbone to healthy societies. But the threat of too much or too little water puts everything at risk. Right…Continue readingWater and climate: Rising risks for urban populations
Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes.…Continue reading13 die in Argentina after 1 year’s worth of rain falls in 8 hours
The first section of London’s Ulez scheme was launched in 2019 in the central part of the city. The zone was expanded across inner London boroughs in 2021 and enlarged again…Continue readingDramatic fall in London’s levels of deadly pollutants after Ulez expansion
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
Researchers from the University of Melbourne and NORCE Norway Research Center, have shown the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) slowing by around 20% by 2050 in a high carbon emissions scenario. The…Continue readingMelting Antarctic ice sheets are slowing Earth’s strongest ocean current, research reveals
Microscopic plastic pollutants drifting through the air are lodging in the lungs of birds, a new University of Texas at Arlington study finds. Researchers worldwide are increasingly alarmed by how pervasive…Continue readingHigh microplastic levels in bird lungs suggest widespread air pollution impact
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
AIMS has been monitoring mass bleaching throughout the Great Barrier Reef since the early 1980s, and reefs in Western Australia since the early 1990s. Mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier…Continue readingFrom August 2024: New report on Great Barrier Reef shows increases of coral cover before onset of serious bleaching, cyclones
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
The studies were conducted independently by researchers in Europe and Canada. They tackled the same basic question: is a year above 1.5°C global warming a warning sign that we’re already crossing…Continue readingEarth is already shooting through the 1.5°C global warming limit, two major studies show
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’
For the past few years, scientists have watched, aghast, as global temperatures have surged — with both 2023 and 2024 reaching around 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average. Two new…Continue readingScientists have a new explanation for the last two years of record heat
The climate crisis drove weeks of high temperatures in the west African region responsible for about 70% of global cacao production, hitting harvests and probably causing further record chocolate prices, researchers…Continue readingClimate crisis contributing to chocolate market meltdown
Insurers paid out a record £585m for weather-related damage to homes and possessions in Britain last year, after record-breaking rain and storms hit the country. The data, from the Association of…Continue readingUK insurers paid out record £585m last year as climate breakdown intensifies
Colorado’s forests store a massive amount of carbon, but dying trees—mostly due to insects and disease—have caused the state’s forests to emit more carbon than they absorbed in recent years, according…Continue readingColorado forests are releasing more carbon than they capture each year
Last month was the hottest January on record, blitzing the previous high and stunning climate scientists who expected cooler La Niña conditions to finally start quelling a long-running heat streak. The…Continue readingJanuary smashes heat record, surprising scientists
Warm-water coral reefs are facing unprecedented human-driven threats to their continued existence as biodiverse functional ecosystems upon which hundreds of millions of people rely. These impacts may drive coral ecosystems past…Continue readingConsiderations for determining warm-water coral reef tipping points
Millions of tonnes of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and much is broken down into small fragments. Microplastics were already known to have polluted the entire planet, from the…Continue readingVehicle tyres found to be biggest source of nanoplastics in the high Alps
The human body is widely contaminated by microplastics. They have also been found in blood, semen, breast milk, placentas and bone marrow. The impact on human health is largely unknown, but…Continue readingLevels of microplastics in human brains may be rapidly rising, study suggests
Waters off WA have been affected by prolonged marine heatwaves since September. Regions off the north-west coast were hottest, with ocean temperatures 1.5˚C higher than average over a five-month period and…Continue readingDeaths of 30,000 fish off WA coast made more likely by climate change
The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and the climate crisis…Continue readingMonarch butterfly numbers plummet in US west coast winter habitats
Temperatures at the north pole soared more than 20˚C above average on Sunday, crossing the threshold for ice to melt. Temperatures north of Svalbard in Norway had already risen to 18˚C…Continue readingTemperatures at north pole 20˚C above average and beyond ice melting point
Residents of parts of Townsville and nearby towns spent the night in shelters as rising flood waters inundated their homes. In some places, more than 1 metre of rain fell during…Continue readingOne metre of rain in 48 hours: flooding to continue in north Queensland with thousands of homes at risk
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
Deforestation in Indonesia rose in 2024 for a third year running, a local environmental NGO said Friday based on satellite image analysis and fieldwork. Indonesia has one of the world’s highest…Continue readingIndonesia deforestation rises for third year running
A sustained strategy was developed by the government and approved by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, in December 2023 after the committee had warned in September the reef would be considered…Continue readingAustralia tried to influence other countries and Unesco to keep Great Barrier Reef off in-danger list
In North America and Europe, scientists have long warned bird numbers are falling. As cities and farms expand, forests around them become fragments, animal habitats shrink, pollution contaminates rivers, pesticides and…Continue readingIn the most untouched, pristine parts of the Amazon, birds are dying. Scientists may finally know why.
A study has found microplastic and nanoplastic pollution to be significantly higher in placentas from premature births than in those from full-term births. Microplastics, broken down from plastic waste, have polluted…Continue readingMicroplastics in placentas linked to premature births, study suggests
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
Tens of thousands of fish have died off northwestern Australia, as a large and long-lasting marine heat wave intensifies. The fish kill at Gnoorea Beach near Karratha is concerning our team…Continue readingA marine heat wave in northwest Australia is killing huge numbers of fish—it’s heading south
Researchers surveying nests for the harmful chemical found in pet flea treatments found that it was present in every single nest. The scientists from the University of Sussex are now calling…Continue readingSongbirds being killed by pesticides found in pet fur flea treatments
Storm Eowyn caused havoc Friday as it battered Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, killing one person and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power, flights grounded and schools shut. Gusts…Continue readingPower cuts and transport chaos as Storm Eowyn hits Ireland and UK
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
The Indonesian government wants to turn 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of forest into areas for food and energy production and water reserves, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni recently said…Continue readingActivists slam ‘destructive’ Indonesia forest conversion plan
A third of the Arctic’s tundra, forests and wetlands have become a source of carbon emissions, a new study has found, as global heating ends thousands of years of carbon storage…Continue readingA third of the Arctic’s vast carbon sink now a source of emissions
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
More than 40% of individual corals monitored around a Great Barrier Reef island were killed last year in the most widespread coral bleaching outbreak to hit the reef system. Scientists tracked…Continue reading‘Catastrophic’: Great Barrier Reef hit by its most widespread coral bleaching
Almost 26,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was greenlit for destruction in 2024 – more than double the previous year. A new Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) report has revealed a huge…Continue readingAlmost 26,000 hectares of Australian threatened species habitat approved for clearing under Labor in 2024
Using high levels of common fertilisers on grassland halves pollinator numbers and drastically reduces the number of flowers, research from the world’s longest-running ecological experiment has found. Increasing the amount of…Continue readingHigh fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, world’s longest study finds
Indonesia produced nearly four times the amount of nickel in recent years compared to a decade earlier—following the global push for a low-carbon revolution that drives the mining for the mineral…Continue readingWeighing the green cost: How nickel mining in Indonesia impacts forests and local communities
Huge volumes of sewage sludge, also known as biosolids but which is essentially human excrement and industrial waste, are spread on UK fields every year. It is regulated by the Environment…Continue readingUK farmland being contaminated by ‘forever chemicals’ linked to cancers
The global economy could face a 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 unless immediate policy action on risks posed by the climate crisis is taken, warns a new report…Continue readingCurrent climate policies risk catastrophic societal and economic impacts
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
More than 13,000 droughts spanning years have overwhelmed our planet across nearly four decades. These severe droughts are becoming hotter, longer and more devastating as our planet’s global temperature increases, new…Continue readingMultiyear droughts are worsening. Here’s where they have the most effects.
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 multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as “forever chemicals” and…Continue reading3M knew firefighting foams containing PFAS were toxic, documents show
“Our paper says that the Atlantic overturning has not declined yet,” said Foukal, who conducted the research while at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). “That doesn’t say anything about its future,…Continue readingCritical ocean current has not declined in the last 60 years, AMOC study finds
Tropical storm Dikeledi barreled towards Mozambique on Monday after leaving three dead in Madagascar and triggering floods in the French territory of Mayotte, less than a month after the cyclone-battered region…Continue readingCyclone-battered region sees storm Dikeledi leave Mayotte for Mozambique
The international team, led by Cardiff University researchers, show how southern migration of the westerly winds and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) towards the pole during periods of past global warming…Continue readingPast climate shifts altered Southern Ocean currents and carbon exchange: Study warns it may be happening again
Climate breakdown drove the annual global temperature above the internationally agreed 1.5˚C target for the first time last year, supercharging extreme weather and causing “misery to millions of people”. The average…Continue readingHottest year on record sent planet past 1.5˚C of heating for first time in 2024
The 2024 Global Water Monitor Report was produced by an international team of researchers from universities in Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Germany and elsewhere. The team used data from thousands of…Continue readingClimate crisis ‘wreaking havoc’ on Earth’s water cycle
Thirteen of the ports with the highest supertanker traffic will be seriously damaged by just 1 metre of sea level rise, the analysis found. The researchers said two low-lying ports in…Continue reading‘Ironic’: climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports
The increasing speed of sea level rise hardly seems to register with policymakers in Britain – even though with the UK weather getting more violent, destructive storm surges are increasingly likely.…Continue readingWeatherwatch: The need to wake up to sea level rise in the UK
The paper, published in the journal Science Advances, suggests that the industrial hunting of great whales such as sperm, blue, fin and right whales “masked” the ability of these underwater giants…Continue reading‘Extraordinary longevity’: great whales can live a lot longer than we thought – if we leave them alone
By David Spratt at Climate Code Red If an unexpected leap in the global average temperature in 2023 was described by one scientist as “gobsmackingly bananas”, are there even words to…Continue readingA(nother) year of scientific shock and awe
The Gulf of Mannar, an inlet of the Indian Ocean connecting India and Sri Lanka, is rich in biodiversity and a source of livelihood for both countries’ fishermen. Kachchatheevu, a tiny…Continue reading‘Treat us like humans’: Fishing wars trap Indians in Sri Lankan waters
Pariva beach is part of Kerema in Papua New Guinea’s Gulf province. In that area, rising sea levels and sand erosion have forced about 40,000 people to move inland over the…Continue reading‘Moving to the mountaintops’: rising seas displace tens of thousands in Papua New Guinea
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