2 h. ago Amid squabbles, bombast and competing interests, what can Cop30 achieve?

Climate summit in Brazil needs to find way to stop global heating accelerating amid stark divisions“It broke my heart.” Surangel Whipps, president of the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, was sitting in the front row of the UN’s general assembly in New York when Donald Trump made a long and rambling speech, his first to the UN since his re-election, on 23 September.Whipps was prepared for fury and bombast from the US president, but what followed was shocking. Trump’s rant on the climate crisis – a “green scam”, “the greatest con job ever perpetrated”, “predictions made by stupid people” – was an unprecedented attack on science and global action from a major world leader. Continue reading...

Events

37 h. ago The Guardian view on worsening extreme weather: the injustice of the climate crisis grows ever clearer | Editorial

The increasing ferocity and frequency of tropical storms imposes an unbearable burden on countries including JamaicaThe geographically uneven risks from increasingly extreme and dangerous weather grow ever starker. As Jamaica and other Caribbean countries clear up after Hurricane Melissa, and Typhoon Kalmaegi heads west after killing nearly 200 people in the Philippines and Vietnam, the case for more international support to countries facing the most destructive impacts from global heating has never been stronger.Last week’s five-day rainfall in Jamaica was made twice as likely by higher temperatures, according to initial findings from climate attribution studies. The current death toll across the Caribbean is at least 75. The economic and social costs are hard to quantify in a region that is still recovering from 2024’s Hurricane Beryl. Crucial infrastructure has been destroyed before the loans used to build it have even been paid off. Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s prime minister, esti...

Society

65 h. ago Missing 1.5C climate target is a moral failure, UN chief tells Cop30 summit

UN secretary general António Guterres urges opening session in Brazil to bring about a ‘fundamental paradigm shift’Triple-whammy of hottest ever years risks ‘irreversible damage’, says UNThe failure to limit global heating to 1.5C is a “moral failure and deadly negligence”, the UN secretary general has said at the opening session of the Cop30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.António Guterres said even a temporary overshoot could “unleash far greater destruction and costs for every nation. It could push ecosystems past catastrophic and irreversible tipping points, expose billions to unliveable conditions, and amplify threats to peace and security”. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Still a chance to return to 1.5C climate goal, researchers say

Report calls for scaling-up of renewable energy and electrification of key sectors to limit peak of global heatingThere is still a chance for the world to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown and return to the goal of 1.5C if governments take concerted action on greenhouse gas emissions, a new assessment argues.The Climate Analytics report says governments’ goals are inadequate and need to be rapidly revised, and calls for the rapid scaling-up of the use of renewable energy and electrification of key sectors including transport, heating and industry. Continue reading...

Science

3 d. ago ‘Grim future’ for Great Barrier Reef unless global heating kept to 2C, study finds

University of Queensland modelling says reef will suffer ‘rapid coral decline’ in coming decades but could still recover if targets metSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe Great Barrier Reef will undergo “rapid coral decline” until 2050 but could recover if global heating is kept below 2C, according to the most detailed modelling so far of the future of the world’s biggest coral reef.The finding contradicts a widely held view that the decline of the oceanic gem would become irreversible as global temperatures rise above 1.5C, with one report last month suggesting the world’s tropical corals had already reached a tipping point of long-term decline.Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Scientists thought Great Barrier Reef doomed if global temperatures rise 1.5C – but a new study finds hope

University of Queensland modelling says reef will suffer ‘rapid coral decline’ in coming decades but could still recover if targets metSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesThe Great Barrier Reef will undergo “rapid coral decline” until 2050 but could recover if global heating is kept below 2C, according to the most detailed modelling so far of the future of the world’s biggest coral reef.The finding contradicts a widely held view that the decline of the oceanic gem would become irreversible as global temperatures rise above 1.5C, with one report last month suggesting the world’s tropical corals had already reached a tipping point of long-term decline.Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Dramatic update after Australian grandmother was left behind by cruise ship and died on nearly deserted tropical island

Questions remain unanswered as to why the 80-year-old was left on the Great Barrier Reef island.

Events

3 d. ago Great Barrier Reef could recover from rapid coral decline if global heating was kept to 2C, study finds

University of Queensland modelling warns of ‘grim future’ for corals once global temperatures cross thresholdSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe Great Barrier Reef will undergo “rapid coral decline” until 2050 but could recover if global heating is kept below 2C, according to the most detailed modelling so far of the future of the world’s biggest coral reef.The finding contradicts a widely held view that the decline of the oceanic gem would become irreversible as global temperatures rise above 1.5C, with one report last month suggesting the world’s tropical corals had already reached a tipping point of long-term decline.Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Solar geoengineering in wrong hands could wreak climate havoc, scientists warn

Blocking the sun may reduce global heating – but ‘rogue actor’ could cause drought or more hurricanes, report findsSolar geoengineering could increase the ferocity of North Atlantic hurricanes, cause the Amazon rainforest to die back and cause drought in parts of Africa if deployed above only some parts of the planet by rogue actors, a report has warned.However, if technology to block the sun was used globally and in a coordinated way for a long period – decades or even centuries – there is strong evidence that it would lower the global temperature, the review from the UK’s Royal Society concluded. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Abandoned to die in the middle of the sea: Horrifying story of how US couple were forgotten by Australian scuba

The American couple's dream dive in the Great Barrier Reef turned into a living nightmare when their tour group forgot them in the shark infested waters.

Events

7 d. ago Bombshell claim emerges after Coral Adventurer passenger died on Lizard Island and her ship left her behind

Suzanne Rees was found dead on Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, in Far North Queensland, on Sunday.

Events

8 d. ago A luxury cruise ship stopped at a remote Australian island. Suzanne Rees was left behind and died alone

Five hours after the Coral Adventurer left Lizard Island without the 80-year-old, it turned back. Her body was found the next day, and her family want answersThe appeal of Lizard Island is its remoteness. The Great Barrier Reef island, 250km from Cairns in Queensland’s tropical north, is known for its impressive snorkelling, with giant clams nestled among the coral. It also has a scientific research station.Tourists are mostly kept at bay by its inaccessibility and eye-wateringly high accommodation prices. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Heartbroken daughter of tragic Coral Expeditions tourist Suzanne Rees speaks out

Suzanne Rees, an 80-year-old grandmother from Sydney, Australia, was accidentally left stranded on Lizard Island, which is on the Great Barrier Reef, and was found dead

Events

9 d. ago Paint me cool: scientists reveal roof coating that can reduce surface temperatures up to 6C on hot days

Sydney researchers commercialising a product they say can cool indoor spaces and will cost little more than standard premium paintsSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereAustralian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.Heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent and more deadly due to human-caused global heating. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Agonising unanswered questions in mystery of tourist who died after cruise ship left her

Suzanne Rees, 80, was only reported missing when she failed to arrive for dinner, some five hours after she vanished on Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia

Events

1 week ago Cruise passenger, 80, found dead after being abandoned on Great Barrier Reef island

An 80-year-old cruise passenger has been found dead on a Great Barrier Reef island after being accidentally left behind by the ship's crew

Events

1 week ago Coral Expeditions tourist found dead after cruise ship leaves without her

Suzanne Rees, from New South Wales, fell ill during an organised hill climb on Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, and was later declared dead

Events

1 week ago Grieving daughter of cruise ship passenger left behind on remote Australian island says ‘there was a failure of care’

Suzanne Rees, 80, was found dead on Lizard Island a day after her cruise ship the Coral Adventurer left without herFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe family of an 80-year-old who was left behind by her cruise ship and died on a remote Queensland island has alleged there was a “failure of care and common sense”.Suzanne Rees was on the second day of a luxury 60-day circumnavigation of Australia when she disembarked the Coral Adventurer at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday morning. She and other passengers had intended to hike the island’s Cook’s Look mountain. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Cruise ship crew who left woman, 80, to die on deserted island at the start of £40,000 dream voyage only realised she was missing when she didn't turn up for dinner

The crew of the Coral Adventurer ship reported the 80-year-old missing at 10pm local time, five hours after the vessel left her behind on the Great Barrier Reef's remote Lizard Island.

Events

1 week ago Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba after turning Jamaica into ‘disaster area’

Red Cross anticipates ‘shattering and long lasting’ impact as Cuba’s president says ‘extensive damage’ already causedHurricane Melissa – live updatesHurricane Melissa has slammed into Cuba after leaving parts of neighbouring Jamaica broken and reeling from ferocious winds and extreme rainfall.The most intense tropical cyclone to hit Jamaica in nearly two centuries, Melissa is one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes observed since record-keeping began. Climate scientists say human-caused global heating has contributed to the rapid intensification of modern-day storms. Continue reading...

Events