At least 10 people died and 4 were missing after an extraordinary thunderstorm sparked major flooding in central Italy. Prime Minister Mario Draghi confirmed the toll, while saying it could change,…Continue reading‘Like a waterfall’: deadly Italian storms spark climate debate
Tag: impact
A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in the Horn of Africa, which is in the grip of its worst drought in at least four decades. More than 20 million people in Somalia,…Continue readingWhy East Africa’s Facing Its Worst Famine in Decades
The waters of the EU are in a “dismal” state, with only a third of fish populations studied in the north-east Atlantic considered to be in good condition, according to more…Continue readingEU slammed over failure to protect marine life from ‘destructive’ fishing
Caption for figure above: Grid-cell specific rankings of 22-yr negative soil moisture anomalies (drought rank) in 2000–2021 compared to the driest 22-yr period in each previous drought event back to year…Continue readingMegadrought in the American south-west: a climate disaster unseen in 1,200 years
Higher high tides, supercharged by rising sea levels, could flood all or parts of an estimated $34 billion worth of real estate along the nation’s coasts within just 30 years, a…Continue readingRising seas fueled by climate change to swamp $34 billion in US real estate in just 30 years
The latest assessment by risk company Verisk Maplecroft brings those two threats together to calculate that heat stress already poses an “extreme risk” to agriculture in 20 countries, including agricultural giant…Continue readingCountries growing 70% of world’s food face ‘extreme’ heat risk by 2045
Smoke from hundreds of wildfires has darkened skies over the Alaskan interior this summer with the state experiencing its fastest start to the fire season on record amid hot and dry…Continue reading‘Nothing left to burn’: Wildfires blaze through the Arctic
The climate crisis has driven the world to the brink of multiple “disastrous” tipping points, according to a major study. It shows five dangerous tipping points may already have been passed…Continue readingWorld on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points
Amid blistering heat waves, brutal drought and widespread wildfires, Europe just notched its hottest summer in recorded history, new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows. It was the second…Continue readingEurope just had its hottest summer on record
The heat wave that’s been gripping California and other parts of the West for 10 days and counting is the most severe ever recorded in September, weather experts have said —…Continue readingNo September on record in the U.S. West has seen a heat wave like this
China recorded its highest temperatures and one of its lowest levels of rainfall in 61 years during a two-month summer heatwave. The average national temperature in August, 22.4˚C, was 1.2˚C higher…Continue readingChina reports ‘most severe’ heatwave and third driest summer on record
Unprecedented and societally disruptive extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts, dust storms and torrential rains, will soon become a reality unless immediate, ambitious, and transboundary climate action is taken, warns…Continue readingWarming of up to 5°C in this century projected for the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East
The UN describes Iraq as the fifth-most-vulnerable country to climate change. Temperatures have increased by 1.8˚C (3.2˚F) in three decades, well above the global average, and in the summers, the mercury…Continue readingClimate migrants flee Iraq’s parched rural south, but cities offer no refuge
Chad’s heaviest seasonal rainfall in more than 30 years has left parts of the capital N’Djamena navigable only by boat and forced thousands to flee their flooded homes over the past…Continue readingChad’s heaviest rains in 30 years leads to ‘catastrophic’ floods
The rice fields are washed away. The coconut trees and chilli plants, flooded with salt water, are all dead. The farmers’ fish ponds fail, the water so high that the fish…Continue readingThe Indonesians living in flooded villages
Pakistan is experiencing its worst floods this century. At least one-third of the country is under water. Scientists say several factors have contributed to the extreme event, which has displaced some…Continue readingWhy are Pakistan’s floods so extreme this year?
Major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now inevitable, scientists have found, even if the fossil fuel burning that is driving the climate crisis were to…Continue readingMajor sea-level rise is ‘now inevitable’
Avian flu is a highly pathogenic strain of the H5N1 virus. Since its early detections in poultry and wild birds in the spring of 2021, this new strain has killed more…Continue readingA new strain of avian flu is decimating wild birds. Humans should worry
Flash floods, which have intensified in recent days, have swept away villages, roads, bridges, people, livestock and crops across all four provinces. Pakistan has appealed for international help as soldiers and…Continue readingPakistan declares floods a ‘climate catastrophe’ as death toll tops 1,000
One argument against deep seabed mining is the existence of previously unknown species in the deep sea, including the recently discovered pom-pom-like Biremis spaghetti worm and the delightfully weird rubber squirrel.…Continue readingTwo-year countdown for deep seabed mining
The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon hit a nearly 15-year high this week, according to official figures that provided the latest warning on the advancing destruction of the…Continue readingBrazil records worst day for Amazon fires in 15 years
Iraq is known in Arabic as the Land of the Two Rivers, but it has seen water levels on the once mighty Tigris and Euphrates plummet. The Euphrates, which passes through…Continue readingBoiling heat and no water: taps run dry in southern Iraq
A giant, gentle sea creature that belongs to the manatee family is now “functionally extinct” in China with no sightings recorded since 2008, a new study said. The dugong, a strictly…Continue reading‘Charismatic’ dugong sea mammal declared functionally extinct in China
Researchers found that a typical forest fire season now burns 3 million more hectares (7.4 million more acres) than in 2001. Forest fires accounted for a quarter of global tree loss…Continue readingForest fires burn twice as many trees as two decades ago
An international team of researchers looked specifically at 25,000 species, including fish, bacteria, plants and protozoans living in the top 100 meters of the world’s oceans. They found that under the…Continue reading90% of marine species at risk of extinction by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed
47% of Europe is undergoing warning conditions, as moisture in the soil dries out and 17% of the region is on a state of alert as vegetation is affected. The current…Continue readingEurope facing its worst drought for 500 years
Bumblebee populations have dropped throughout the United States and Europe as Earth has heated up. Research from 2020 found that the number of areas populated by the insects had fallen 46%…Continue readingBumblebee species stressed by climate change
People in large parts of China have been experiencing two months of extreme heat. Hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken.…Continue readingHeatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world
Forest fires supercharged by climate change are burning twice as much global tree cover as 20 years ago. The equivalent of 16 football pitches are now lost every minute. Wildfires have…Continue readingClimate change driving unprecedented forest fire loss
Despite enviable earnings, shares of Three Gorges Renewables are down 15% this year and trade at 20 times forward earnings, half the level of a year ago. Strict policy mandates to…Continue readingDroughts push China towards coal power
The reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden, Iraq’s swamplands have been battered by 3 years of drought and low rainfall, as well as reduced water flows along rivers and…Continue readingIraq’s Garden of Eden now ‘like a desert’
The world’s biggest ice sheet could cause “several meters” of sea-level rise over centuries if the global temperature rises more than 2°C, according to a British study. Researchers at Durham University…Continue readingWorld’s biggest ice sheet could cause massive sea rise without action
Blazes that have torched tens of thousands of hectares of forest in France, Spain and Portugal have made 2022 a record year for wildfire activity in southwestern Europe. France had in…Continue reading2022 sets record fire activity in southwest Europe
No longer having access to potable running water, the villagers of Ouled Essi Masseoud rely solely on sporadic supplies in public fountains and from private wells. “The fountains work just one…Continue readingDrought tightens its grip on Morocco
As Antarctica’s slow rivers of ice hit the sea, they float, forming ice shelves. These shelves extend the glaciers into the ocean until they calve into icebergs. But they also play…Continue readingIce shelves hold back Antarctica’s glaciers from adding to sea levels, but they’re crumbling
Forests from the Arctic to the Amazon are transforming at a “shocking” rate due to the climate crisis, with trees advancing into previously barren tundra in the north while dying off…Continue readingGlobal heating has caused ‘shocking’ changes in forests across the Americas
Europe’s most severe drought in decades is hitting homes, factories, farmers and freight across the continent, as experts warn drier winters and searing summers fuelled by global heating mean water shortages…Continue reading‘The new normal’: how Europe is being hit by a climate-driven drought crisis
Wildfires have depleted almost all of the carbon credits set aside in reserve by forestry projects in the US to protect against the risk of trees being damaged over 100 years,…Continue readingWildfires destroy almost all forest carbon offsets in 100-year reserve
Nearly every sea turtle born on the beaches of Florida in the past four years has been female. The spike in female baby turtles comes as a result of intense heatwaves…Continue readingGlobal heating means almost every sea turtle in Florida now born female
The eastern two thirds of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet so large that if it melted the sea would rise by 52 meters (170 feet). An estimated 1 billion…Continue readingTroubling new research about East Antarctica
Rainwater everywhere on the planet is unsafe to drink due to levels of toxic chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). PFAS were initially found in packaging, shampoo or makeup…Continue readingRainwater unsafe to drink due to chemicals
The hippopotamus is one of the world’s heaviest land animals; males can weigh as much as 1,800kg, and they are often found in large groups. The animals are especially vulnerable to…Continue readingCall for hippos to join list of world’s most endangered animals
Extreme weather events linked to climate change caused about $65 billion in total losses in the first half of 2022, roughly half of which hit uninsured assets, according to data compiled…Continue readingExtreme weather caused $65 billion in losses in first half of 2022
At least nine people have died and seven were missing in and around the South Korean capital, Seoul, after the city was lashed by the heaviest rains in more than 100…Continue readingSevere flood damage in South Korea’s Seoul after record rains
Trends – At one weather station in Fairbanks, Alaska, each hour of rainfall is about 50% more intense, on average, than it was a half-century ago. The Wichita area, Kansas, is…Continue readingExtreme Rainfall in the U.S.
Heavy rains in Iran have set off flash floods and landslides in 21 of the country’s 31 provinces, killing at least 53 people, heavily damaging hundreds of villages, cutting off access…Continue readingHeavy Rain Causes Deadly Flooding Across Iran
A team of researchers have found that the global forest area has declined by 81.7 million hectares from 1960 to 2019, equivalent to an area of more than 10% of the…Continue readingNew study finds global forest area has declined by 81 million hectares from 1960 to 2019
Mangroves are enormously valuable coastal ecosystems. Healthy mangrove ecosystems not only buffer shorelines against rising sea levels, but they also provide valuable protection against erosion, abundant carbon sinks, shelter for animals,…Continue readingClimate change killed 40 million Australian mangroves in 2015. Here’s why they’ll probably never grow back
In the last two years, fires have consumed nearly 20% of them, according to the Forest Service. In Kings Canyon, hundreds of giant sequoias have burned to death — even though…Continue readingGiant Sequoias Are Built to Withstand Fire, But Not These Fires
The 127-gram hatchling was found lying on its back in a rockpool near Sydney’s Tamarama beach. It was missing one of its four flippers, had a chip in another, and had…Continue readingTurtle pooed ‘pure plastic’ for six days after rescue from Sydney beach
Illegal ivory poaching once posed a significant threat to Kenya’s elephants. But now the giants of the animal kingdom are facing an even bigger risk: climate change. As Kenya battles its…Continue readingClimate change is killing more elephants than poaching
The health of Australia’s environment is poor and has deteriorated over the past five years due to pressures of climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, pollution and mining. The state of…Continue readingAustralia State of the Environment Report
In its State of the Climate report for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for 2021, the WMO said ecosystems, food and water, human health and welfare were all taking a…Continue readingBattered by climate change, Latin America must brace for worse
At a sprawling landfill near Madrid, hundreds of white storks dodge garbage trucks as they look for scraps of food among the mountains of multicoloured garbage bags. The birds have traditionally…Continue readingStorks give up migrating to live on landfill in Spain
Italy faced the hottest day of the current heatwave Friday with red extreme heat warnings issued for 16 cities across the country, as firefighters battled blazes up and down the country.…Continue readingItaly heatwave peaks with 16 cities on red alert as Tuscany burns
Wildfires and heatwaves wreaking havoc across swathes of the globe show humanity facing “collective suicide”, the UN secretary general has warned. António Guterres told ministers from 40 countries meeting to discuss…Continue readingHumanity faces ‘collective suicide’
As dawn breaks over Javed Rahi’s mountain village, a loud boom shatters the silence and a torrent of water comes cascading down from the melting glacier nearby, followed by a thick…Continue readingConcerns as Pakistan glaciers melt
Kenya’s remote Marsabit County, in the far north near the border with Ethiopia, is the land of pastoralists. The region has been dubbed the “Cradle of Mankind” – Kenya has more…Continue reading‘Everything is dry’- The droughts putting Kenya’s herding cultures at risk
In 2015, French oil giant TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the governments of Uganda and Tanzania, to drill for oil…Continue readingOil drilling to go ahead in Ugandan park despite threat to nature
The migratory monarch butterfly, a North American icon with a continent-spanning annual journey, now faces the threat of extinction. Thursday’s decision by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to declare…Continue readingWhy monarch butterflies, now endangered, are on the ‘edge of collapse’
In the years ahead, sea level rise, more intense storm surge and jacked-up tropical storms will be visiting many of the world’s roughly 3,800 ports. Most of those ports are coastal;…Continue readingRising Seas Are the Next Crisis for the World’s Ports
No organism on Earth is known to live as long as the Great Basin bristlecone pine. The oldest documented tree, a well-hidden specimen nicknamed “Methuselah,” after the long-lived biblical patriarch, was…Continue readingScientists rush to save 1,000-year-old trees on the brink of death
France, Portugal and Spain are among the European countries particularly affected, with temperatures of more than 45˚C (113˚F) recorded during a heatwave that is also sweeping the UK. France: 3,000 firefighters,…Continue readingFirefighters tackle southern Europe wildfires as heatwave passes 45˚C
While 425 square kilometres of land lie within the probable maximum flood in the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley, it has also long been identified as fertile for property development amid rising house prices…Continue reading‘Stark raving, barking mad’: experts question the building of homes below ‘worst-case’ flood levels in western Sydney
Salmon famously travel hundreds of miles upstream to reach their home waters to spawn, but climate change is shrinking their destination. A new study offers high-resolution details on how Chinook salmon…Continue readingClimate change is shrinking and fragmenting salmon habitat
From ocean depths to mountain peaks, humans have littered the planet with tiny shards of plastic. We have even absorbed these microplastics into our bodies—with uncertain implications. Millions of tonnes of…Continue reading‘They’re everywhere’: microplastics in oceans, air and human body
A potent weather system near Australia’s east coast has unloaded tremendous rainfall in the state of New South Wales for days, putting Sydney on track for its wettest year on record.…Continue readingAustralia flood, boosted by climate change, making history in Sydney
Italy is facing an unusually early heatwave and a lack of rainfall, particularly in the northern agricultural Po valley, which has been hit by its worst drought in decades. The drought…Continue readingItaly declares state of emergency in five regions over drought
Almost a quarter of the world’s population are exposed to significant flood risks, according to new research published Tuesday, which warned those in poorer countries were more vulnerable. 1.81 billion people—or…Continue readingNearly 1 in 4 globally at risk from severe flooding
Millions of native animals, including wallabies, green rosellas, cockatoos and wombats have been killed in Tasmania, Australia, under property protection permits. In Tasmania, landowners can obtain property protection permits which allow…Continue readingMillions of native animals killed under Tasmania’s property protection permits
One of the world’s biggest gliding mammals – the once common greater glider – has been pushed closer to extinction and is now officially endangered. The nocturnal marsupials, which are unique…Continue readingGreater glider now endangered as logging, bushfires and global heating hit numbers
Unless urgent action is taken, emissions are expected to cause the planet to continue heating rapidly over the next few decades, prompting the global average temperature to overshoot the Paris agreement’s…Continue readingEven temporarily overshooting 2°C would cause permanent damage to Earth’s species
Millions in Assam have been affected by the floods since heavy pre-monsoon rains first hit the region last month, inundating large parts of the valley. After the initial deluge in May,…Continue reading‘All is lost’: Floods in India’s Assam leave trail of destruction
Most rain on the Iberian peninsula (most of Spain and Portugal, as well as a small area of Southern France, Andorra, and Gibraltar) falls in winter as wet, low-pressure systems blow…Continue readingSpain and Portugal suffering driest climate for 1,200 years
Scientists have been able quickly to prove that record-breaking temperatures are no natural occurrence. A study published last month showed that the south Asian heatwave was made 30 times more likely…Continue readingBurning planet
Scientists estimate that Australia’s east coast estuaries are warming four times faster than anywhere else in the world. Prof Maria Byrne from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science says south coast…Continue readingExperts warn the NSW South Coast marine environment is undergoing a ‘dynamic state of change’
Land clearing in New South Wales (NSW), Australia continues to exceed the long-term average. 51,400 hectares (127,012 acres) of woody vegetation was cleared across the state in 2020, a decrease on…Continue readingEmissions warning: calls to stop ‘skyrocketing’ land clearing in NSW
When the U.S. Forest Service started an intentional fire in the Santa Fe National Forest in early April, the aim was to reduce the risk of a destructive blaze. But the…Continue readingForest Service says it failed to account for climate change in New Mexico blaze
In a study just released in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, Dr. Armineh Barkhordarian confirms that this systematic warming pool is not the result of natural climatic variations—but of human…Continue readingSystematic warming pool discovered in the Pacific due to human activities
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in southern China, according to state media, amid floods and landslides triggered by the heaviest rainfall the region has seen…Continue readingHundreds of thousands evacuated in China amid heavy rains, floods
Experts say the catastrophic rain-triggered floods, which submerged large part of the country’s northern and northeastern areas, are an outcome of climate change. Saiful Islam, director of the Institute of Water…Continue readingBangladesh floods: Experts say climate crisis worsening situation
Floodwaters have inundated more of Bangladesh and northeast India, officials say, as authorities struggle to reach more than 9.5 million people stranded with little food and drinking water after days of…Continue readingBangladesh, India floods kill over 100; millions in need of aid
Niger is on the frontline of the climate crisis. Increasingly erratic rainfall and longer dry seasons mean that many parts of the country have not had a good harvest in a…Continue readingNiger is in the eye of the climate crisis – and children are starving
Firefighters in Spain and Germany are struggling to contain wildfires amid a heatwave in Western Europe, unusual for this time of year. The worst damage in Spain has been in the…Continue readingSpain, Germany battle wildfires amid unusual heatwave in Europe
In just more than two decades, the continent has experienced its five hottest summers since 1500. 2021: Hottest ever Last year was Europe’s hottest summer on record. Greece endured what Prime…Continue readingEurope’s five hottest summers since 1500
In the shallow waters and seagrass meadow of Spain’s Ebro delta, there are almost no solid surfaces for creatures to latch on to. That’s where the fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) comes…Continue readingMollusc mass mortality event
The historic drought in the western United States is about to get worse. Much of the West is already experiencing severe to exceptional drought, but scorching summer temperatures will dry out…Continue readingThese maps illustrate the seriousness of the western drought in the U.S.
Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the continent’s climate is changing, and the Southern Ocean is warming, becoming more acidic and losing oxygen. Locally, changing climates are already affecting the region’s iconic…Continue readingAntarctic is changing dramatically, with global consequences
Sea level rise will force the abandonment of about 200,000 coastal properties in England within 30 years, new data suggests, as the climate crisis takes hold. These are the homes that…Continue readingSea level rise in England will force 200,000 to abandon homes