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…Continue readingAustralia flood, boosted by climate change, making history in Sydney
Tag: impact
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.…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…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.…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…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…Continue readingAntarctic is changing dramatically, with global consequences
Most people see Antarctica as a pristine, relatively untouched place, but a new study published today has revealed the presence of microplastics – plastic pieces much smaller than a…Continue readingFirst evidence of microplastics in Antarctic snow
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…Continue readingSea level rise in England will force 200,000 to abandon homes
Iraq temporarily closed Baghdad airport Monday as choking clouds of dust blanketed the capital, the latest crippling sandstorm in a country that has warned climate change poses an “existential…Continue readingIraq swept by tenth sandstorm in weeks
Climate change is slowing down the conveyor belt of ocean currents that brings warm water from the tropics up to the North Atlantic. Our research, published today in Nature…Continue readingA huge Atlantic ocean current is slowing down—if it collapses, La Niña could become the norm for Australia
Almost the whole of Portugal was in severe drought at the end of May. The month of May was the hottest in the southern European country for the last…Continue reading97% of Portugal in severe drought
A world severely blighted by plastic pollution is on track to see the use of plastics nearly triple in less than four decades. Even with aggressive action to cut…Continue readingGlobal plastic use and waste on track to triple by 2060
Fueled by abnormally dry, warm conditions and spread by strong winds, wildfires have burned more than 600,000 acres across New Mexico this spring — making it one of the…Continue readingA ‘Perfect Recipe for Extreme Wildfire’:
New Mexico’s Record-Breaking, Early Fire Season
Muhammad Akbar, 40, sells dried chickpeas on a wheelbarrow in Jacobabad, and has suffered heatstroke three times in his life. But now, he says, the heat is getting worse.…Continue reading‘It seems this heat will take our lives’: Pakistan city fearful after hitting 51˚C (124˚F)
Basra, Iraq – Southern Iraq was once known as the “black land” – the vast swaths of palm trees blocking out everything else, and providing food, shelter, and shade.…Continue readingClimate change ravages Iraq as palm trees make way for desert
The summer monsoon, which typically arrives in June and continues till September, is life and livelihood. More than 75% of India’s annual rainfall occurs during this period. Monsoon rains…Continue readingIn India, waiting for the monsoon
In their effort to provide decision makers with insight into the consequences of climate change, climate researchers are bringing order to the large number of sea level projections. Aimée…Continue readingBringing order to the chaos of sea level projections
Iraq closed public buildings and temporarily shut airports Monday as another sandstorm—the ninth since mid-April—hit the country. More than 1,000 people were hospitalised across the nation with respiratory problems.…Continue readingIraq sandstorm grounds flights, sends 1,000 to hospitals
After two years of delays, governments had been scheduled to meet in Kunming, China, for COP15 in late April to negotiate this decade’s targets to halt and reverse the…Continue reading‘Sleeping through extinction’: China urged to end delays to COP15 summit
Australia’s tropical rainforest trees have being dying at double the previous rate since the 1980s, seemingly because of global heating, according to new research that raises concerns tropical forests…Continue readingAustralia’s tropical rainforests have been dying faster for decades in ‘clear and stark climate warning’
Sandstorms across the Middle East have delayed flights, closed schools and hospitalised thousands—a phenomenon experts say could worsen as climate change warps regional weather patterns. The Middle East has…Continue readingMideast sandstorms snarl traffic, close schools, harm health
Jacobabad in Pakistan’s arid Sindh province is in the grip of the latest heatwave to hit South Asia—peaking at 51˚C (124˚F). Canals in the city—a vital source of irrigation…Continue readingExtreme temperatures compound poverty in Pakistan’s hottest city
Pakistan is in the grip of a blistering heatwave, with parts of the nation already scorched by temperatures of nearly 50˚C (122˚F) as officials warn of acute water shortages…Continue readingPakistan city hits nearly 50˚C (122˚F) as blistering heatwave grips nation
Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating mitigation must be done “urgently, using every tool we can,” says a new report from the…Continue readingWorld ‘at a crossroads’ in management of droughts, up 29% in a generation and worsening, reports the UN
Microplastics are being transported to some of the most remote places on Earth by the wind, according to new research involving the University of East Anglia. A new study…Continue readingHow microplastics in the air are polluting the most remote places on Earth
Since 2000, more than 71 million hectares of dry forest have been destroyed, an area about twice the size of Germany. Many hotspots of deforestation are concentrated in South…Continue readingTropical dry forests disappearing rapidly around the globe
Spanning more than 179,000 km2 (69,000 square miles) in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia, the Pantanal boasts one of the highest concentration of flora and fauna in South America while…Continue readingThe Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland, is at risk of collapse
The Reef snapshot: summer 2021-22, quietly published by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on Tuesday night after weeks of delay, said above-average water temperatures in late summer…Continue reading‘Devastating’: 91% of reefs surveyed on Great Barrier Reef affected by coral bleaching in 2022
The relentless dry spell that is withering the American West is steadily warping normal life. Major reservoirs have baked down to record lows and are still dropping, threatening the…Continue readingFacing a new climate reality, Southern California lawns could wither
Satellite images show a total area of destroyed forest cover of 1,012.5 square kilometres (391 square miles) from April 1 to 29, with the last day of the month…Continue readingBrazil deforestation shatters April record
The world’s birds, described as the planet’s “canaries in the coalmine”, are disappearing in large numbers as the colossal impact of humanity on the Earth grows, a global review…Continue reading‘Canaries in the coalmine’: loss of birds signals changing planet
The number of flying insects in Great Britain has plunged by almost 60% since 2004, according to a survey that counted splats on car registration plates. The results from…Continue readingThe number of flying insects in Great Britain has plunged by almost 60% since 2004
Oyster fisheries in Australia and North America survived for up to 10,000 years prior to colonisation, sustaining First Nations communities even under intense harvest. Oyster fisheries have declined globally…Continue readingPrecolonial First Nations oyster fisheries sustained millennia of intense harvests
In the Horn of Africa as a whole, in an area stretching from northern Kenya to Somalia and swaths of Ethiopia, up to 20 million people could go hungry…Continue readingHorn of Africa ravaged by worst drought in four decades
Just 9% of all plastic waste ever created has been recycled. Last year, the U.S. exported 74,000 shipping containers of plastic waste to low-income countries. For decades, China was…Continue readingWhere your recycling actually goes
21% of reptile species are threatened with extinction, including more than half of turtles and crocodiles. More than 40% of amphibians, 25% of mammals and 13% of birds could…Continue readingOver 21% of reptile species at risk of extinction
Pristine rainforests were once again destroyed at a relentless rate in 2021, according to new figures, prompting concerns governments will not meet a COP26 deal to halt and reverse…Continue reading‘Relentless’ destruction of rainforest continuing despite Cop26 pledge
Coral reefs are rapidly declining due to local environmental degradation and global climate change. In particular, corals are vulnerable to ocean heating. Hotter oceans can kill corals via expulsion…Continue readingPast the precipice? Projected coral habitability under global heating
Half of all river basins across the world are now “severely affected” by water diversion projects, which can exacerbate drought conditions and lead to human conflict. About the same…Continue readingDead rivers, polluted oceans: Industry adds to world’s mounting water crisis
In this mysterious woodland the cloud drapes over mountain ridges and “the trees are dwarfed and wind-sculpted, gnarled and heavily laden with mosses,” said J Alan Pounds, an ecologist…Continue readingLost golden toad heralds climate’s massive extinction threat
As a punishing, record-breaking drought enters its 13th year, Chile has announced an unprecedented plan to ration water for the capital of Santiago, a city of nearly 6 million.…Continue readingChile announces unprecedented plan to ration water as drought enters 13th year
As one of the world’s most famous game reserves, Murchison Falls National Park is home to some of the largest populations of elephants, giraffes, lions and leopards anywhere on…Continue readingThe oil giants drilling among the giraffes in Uganda
Scientists from the University of Illinois tracked species of birds in a protected forest reserve in central Panama to determine if and how populations had changed from 1977 to…Continue readingBird populations in Panama rainforest in severe decline
Large quantities of plastic—transported by rivers, the air and shipping–can now be found in the Arctic Ocean. High concentrations of microplastic can be found in the water, on the…Continue readingThe global ‘plastic flood’ reaches the Arctic