In 2022 the summer minimum was less than 2 million square km for the first time since satellite records began. This summer, the minimum was even lower—just 1.7 million…Continue readingAntarctica’s heart of ice has skipped a beat: Science briefing calls for action
Tag: impact
The groundbreaking modeling study published by Australian and American researchers at the end of March for the first time includes a detailed assessment of the likely impact of melting…Continue readingNew Research Sparks Concerns That Ocean Circulation Will Collapse
The world’s glaciers melted at dramatic speed last year and saving them is effectively a lost cause, the United Nations reported Friday, as climate change indicators once again hit…Continue readingUN reports ‘off the charts’ melting of glaciers
The United States is Earth’s punching bag for nasty weather. Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on…Continue reading“Buckle up. More extreme events are expected,” says head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The race for high-tech metals has sparked a cobalt boom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has come at a steep human cost. In an e360 interview,…Continue readingFor Your Phone and EV, a Cobalt Supply Chain to a Hell on Earth
New research by Australian scientists suggests 40% slowdown in just three decades could alter world’s climate for centuries.Continue readingMelting Antarctic ice predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean current by 2050
More than 100,000 hectares burned in MacDonnell Ranges area, which has been declared a federal priority for threatened species conservation.Continue readingEnvironmental ‘tragedy’ as fires burn through one-fifth of Northern Territory national park in Australia
First analysis of plastics’ hazards over life cycle – from extraction to disposal – also shows ‘deep societal injustices’ of impact.Continue readingPlastics cause wide-ranging health issues from cancer to birth defects, landmark study finds
The fight for a healthy Darling-Baaka River is becoming a ‘recurring nightmare’ for the communities that depend on it.Continue readingAt Menindee, NSW, Australia, the lifeblood of the people has turned to bitter sludge
Ecologists say some bodies of water may already have passed the tipping points from which they may never recover.Continue reading‘Like you’re in a horror movie’: pollution leaves New Zealand wetlands irreversibly damaged
Report says 435,000 hectares have been degraded through logging since 2000, affecting 244 threatened species.Continue readingMore than half NSW forests lost since 1750 and logging ‘locking in’ species extinction, study finds
“If nothing is done, it will be a business-as-usual scenario—it will keep on being between 40 percent and 50 percent of the population of the world that does not…Continue reading‘Vampiric’ water use leading to ‘imminent’ global crisis, UN warns
Four straight years of flooding, an unprecedented phenomenon linked to climate change, has swamped two-thirds of South Sudan but nowhere more dramatically than Bentiu, a northern city besieged by…Continue reading‘Uncharted territory’: South Sudan’s four years of flooding
Increasing ocean temperatures present ‘existential threat’ with knock-on effects for ecosystems and commercial fisheries, researchers say.Continue readingDecline of more than 500 species of marine life on Australian reefs ‘the tip of the iceberg’, study finds
A new report released by the Somalian government suggests that far more children died in the country last year due to the ongoing drought than previously realised. Half of…Continue readingDrought caused 43,000 ‘excess deaths’ in Somalia last year, half of them young children
The new study showed a significant increase in emissions from boreal fires over the past two decades. Things were particularly dramatic in 2021, when they comprised a record 23%…Continue readingExtreme wildfires are turning the world’s largest forest ecosystem from carbon sink into net-emitter
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said: “Since the source of energy is green, the products that will be produced later in the Industrial Park Area are also green products,…Continue readingIndonesia breaks ground on $2.6bn Mentarang Induk hydropower project
Natural History Museum scientists say plasticosis, which scars digestive tract, likely to affect other types of bird too.Continue readingNew disease caused by plastics discovered in seabirds
Oil companies plan to pump crude oil from Lake Albert, Uganda to the coast of neighbouring Tanzania, with the goal of producing 1.4bn barrels over the next two decades.…Continue readingCounting the cost of Uganda’s east Africa oil pipeline – in pictures
The University of Melbourne study estimated that 11,105 people die prematurely from transport emissions, many more than past figures.Continue readingCar pollution kills more Australians than crashes, new research finds
Far more tiny particles now come from tyres than are emitted from exhausts.Continue readingHealth impact of tyre particles causing ‘increasing concern’, say scientists
Scientists studying the Permian-Triassic mass extinction find ecosystems can suddenly tip over.Continue readingEcosystem collapse ‘inevitable’ unless wildlife losses reversed
Analysis says hundreds of animals are contaminated with dangerous compounds linked to cancer and other health problems.Continue readingAlarming toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in animals’ blood – study
Parts of Earth’s ice sheets that could lift global oceans by meters will likely crumble with another half degree Celsius of warming, and are fragile in ways not previously…Continue readingClimate, ice sheets & sea level: the news is not good
António Guterres calls for urgent action as climate-driven rise brings ‘torrent of trouble’ to almost a billion people.Continue readingRising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns
Oxford University-led study detects 26 types of PFAS compounds in ice around Svalbard, threatening downstream ecosystems.Continue readingAlarming levels of PFAS in Norwegian Arctic ice pose new risk to wildlife
Australian scientists say the animals unlikely to be able to change nesting behaviour enough to mitigate temperature rises.Continue readingSea turtles under threat from warming seas and hotter beaches, research suggests
Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push.Continue readingDead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push
A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7˚F (1.5˚C) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to…Continue readingNew ice core analysis shows sharp Greenland warming spike
The people of the Hawizeh marshes of southern Iraq have an ancient history living in the world’s most unique and biodiverse wetlands. The region has been reduced to near-desert…Continue reading‘It used to be like heaven’: the Iraq wetlands decimated by the climate crisis – in pictures
Environment ministers’ decisions spanning 15 years made no difference to amount of habitat destroyed, researchers say.Continue readingSystem to protect Australia’s threatened species from development ‘more or less worthless’, study finds
Using the new measurements of land elevation, Vernimmen and co-author Aljosja Hooijer found coastal areas lie much lower than older radar data had suggested. Analyses of the new lidar-based…Continue readingWorst impacts of sea level rise will hit earlier than expected, says modeling study
The most recent decade surveyed in a study, the years 2001 to 2011, was the warmest in the past 1,000 years, and the region is now 1.5 degrees Celsius…Continue readingGlobal warming reaches central Greenland
Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating.Continue readingRevealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
In 1900, approximately 80% of the elements humans used came from biomass (wood, plants, food, etc.). That figure had fallen to 32% by 2005, and is expected to stand…Continue readingHumans plunder the periodic table while turning blind eye to the risks of doing so, say researchers
Study also says eating one serving of fish with PFAS could be equivalent to drinking contaminated water every day for a month.Continue readingFreshwater fish more contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ than in oceans
Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays living on world’s coral reefs at risk, with 14 of 134 species reviewed critically endangered. “These sharks and rays have evolved over 450m…Continue reading‘Extinction crisis’ of sharks and rays to have devastating effect on other species, study finds
It’s lost 73% of its water and is unable to sustain some wildlife – and could soon negatively affect human health.Continue reading‘Last nail in the coffin’: Utah’s Great Salt Lake on verge of collapse