3 d. ago Glaciers to reach peak rate of extinction in the Alps in eight years

Climate crisis forecast to wipe out thousands of glaciers a year globally, threatening water supplies and cultural heritageEurope live – latest updatesGlaciers in the European Alps are likely to reach their peak rate of extinction in only eight years, according to a study, with more than 100 due to melt away permanently by 2033. Glaciers in the western US and Canada are forecast to reach their peak year of loss less than a decade later, with more than 800 disappearing each year by then.The melting of glaciers driven by human-caused global heating is one of the clearest signs of the climate crisis. Communities around the world have already held funeral ceremonies for lost glaciers, and a Global Glacier Casualty List records the names and histories of those that have vanished. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement

The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurableTen years on from the historic Paris climate summit, which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.Renewable energy smashed records last year, growing by 15% and accounting for more than 90% of all new power generation capacity. Investment in clean energy topped $2tn, outstripping that into fossil fuels by two to one. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Polar bears are 'adapting' their DNA to cope with warmer climates and survive

With global warning and climate change continuing to affect us humans, animals are also being forced to change their habits, as new research shows nature is evolving to survive

Events

9 d. ago 2025 is set to be in the top three hottest years on record, scientists warn

This year will also likely round out the first three-year period in which the average global temperature exceeded 1.5C

Events

1 week ago Mohamed Salah gives clear signal that Liverpool fate is sealed as agreement reached

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah delivered a scathing post-match interview after being benched for three games in a row, and his bombshell claims have thrown the club into a fresh nightmare

Politics

1 week ago Readers’ Letters: Scottish Greens should go global with climate complaints

The latest demands from the Scottish Greens brought a suggestion from one reader

Society

2 w. ago Global race to secure critical minerals for weapons threatens climate, warns report

Study reveals US earmarked billions to stockpile critical minerals for military use, including precision-guided weaponry and AI-driven warfareThe accelerating global arms race is hindering climate action as critical minerals that are key to a sustainable future are being diverted to make the latest military hardware, according to a reportThe study from the Transition Security Project – a joint US and UK venture – reveals how the Pentagon is stockpiling huge stores of critical minerals that are needed for a range of climate technologies including solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and battery storage. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Researchers slightly lower study's estimate of drop in global income due to climate change

Researchers who examined climate change’s potential effect on the global economy say data errors led them to slightly overstate an expected drop in income over the next 25 years

Politics

3 w. ago Here’s where Antarctica’s ice melt would have the biggest impact on sea levels

A team of scientists has investigated how ice melting in Antarctica affects global climate and sea level

Politics

3 w. ago How rolling sand dunes are creeping up on last remaining oases on edge of Sahara

In western Chad, villagers are desperately trying to hold back the sand as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on one of the hottest countries in the worldOn the ochre sands of Kanem, the neat vegetable gardens and silver-green palm trees of Kaou oasis stand out, incongruous in this desert province of 70,000 sq km in western Chad.Oases such as this, on the edge of the Sahara, have sustained human life in the world’s deserts for thousands of years. Globally, an estimated 150 million people rely on the water, arable land and access to trade networks they provide. But in Chad, such oases are disappearing fast. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Another Cop wrecked by fossil fuel interests and our leaders’ cowardice – but there is another way | Genevieve Guenther

The fingerprints of Russia and Saudi Arabia are all over the decision text in Brazil. But a group of nations led by Colombia and the Netherlands offer hopeGenevieve Guenther is the founding director of End Climate SilenceThe 30th conference of the parties (Cop30), the annual climate summit of all nations party to the UNFCCC, just ended. Stakeholders are out in the media trying spin the outcome as a win. Simon Stiell, climate change executive secretary for the UN is, for instance, praising Cop30 for showing that “climate cooperation is alive and kicking, keeping humanity in the fight for a liveable planet”. But let us be clear. The conference was a failure. Its outcome, the decision text known as the Global Mutirão or Global Collective Effort, is, in essence, a form of climate denial.In 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that the world had already developed, or planned to develop, too much fossil fuel to be able to halt global heating at 2C. It ackn...

Politics

3 w. ago We delivered a clear message at Cop30: the delayers and defeatists are losing the climate fight | Ed Miliband

For all its flaws, the Brazil conference underlined the wish by a global majority for clean energy and climate action – and the UK will keep leading the wayEd Miliband is the secretary of state for energy security and net zeroSweaty, maddening, sleepless. That’s what it was like to be part of Cop30 in Brazil. And yet more than 190 countries came together in the rainforest of the Amazon and reaffirmed their faith in multilateralism, the Paris agreement and the need to redouble our efforts to keep global warming to 1.5C.We went to Cop because working with other countries to tackle the climate crisis is the only way to protect our home and way of life. We know the UK produces just 1% of emissions, which is why, as the prime minister said in Belém, our government is “all-in” on working with others to reduce the remaining 99%.Ed Miliband is Labour MP for Doncaster North and secretary of state for energy security and net zero Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago EU leads isolated group of countries pushing for global climate action

‘Axis of obstruction’ stalls progress with poor and middle-income countries reluctant to quit fossil fuels despite peril

Politics

3 w. ago Global climate agreement sealed at COP30 despite deep divisions

Push for ‘road map’ on how economies can wean off coal, oil and gas fails but Brazilian presidency promises to follow up

Politics

4 w. ago As I write my last column, the facts on climate crisis speak for themselves

Since 1995, when the first Cop was held, carbon levels have increased from 360.67 parts per million to 426.68 parts nowIn 1995, when the first “conference of the parties” (Cop) of the UN’s climate change convention met in Berlin, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 360.67 parts per million. The then German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, gave a passionate speech about how greenhouse gases must be reduced to save the planet from overheating. There was a relatively unknown East German woman, the environment minister, Angela Merkel, chairing the conference. She was red hot at keeping order. The UK journalists concluded she would have a bright future.Immediately after the conference I was commissioned to write a book about climate change called Global Warming: Can Civilization Survive? It sold well and was the first of several. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago The two extraordinary young activists making me feel optimistic at Cop30

In today’s newsletter: Despite valid criticisms, the summits are filled with smart, passionate people dedicating their lives to fighting the climate crisis• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIt is easy to criticise the UN climate conferences. But unless you’ve been, there’s one wonderful, almost miraculous, thing that you may not be aware of: it is a beautiful gathering of humanity, people from virtually every country on Earth, all thrown together in common cause.What’s more, many are incredibly smart, passionate and dedicating their lives to fighting the climate crisis. The more of them you meet, the more your hope grows that global heating can be defeated.Trump’s anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3m more deaths globally, analysis findsTropical cyclone Fina intensifies to category two and could hit NT coast on FridayEngland’s Beth Mead: ‘If we don’t adapt to climate change, football becomes a privilege, not a right‘ Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘We can no longer predict the seasons’: why Indonesia’s coal mindset has to change

It’s a climate-vulnerable nation, while also being the world’s sixth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter. Global investment in climate action is vital Continue reading...

Politics

last month Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane ‘would avoid nearly 1C of global heating’

Analysis published at Cop30 summit shows adhering to pledges offer world hope of avoiding climate breakdownSticking to three key climate promises – on renewables, energy efficiency and methane – would avoid nearly 1C of global heating and give the world hope of avoiding climate breakdown, analysis published at the Cop30 climate summit suggests.Governments have already agreed to triple the amount of renewable energy generated by 2030, double global energy efficiency by then, and make substantial cuts to methane emissions. Continue reading...

Politics