2 h. ago Trump cuts will increase devastation after disasters, expert warns: ‘It is really scary’

Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will hamstring emergency managers, warns professor Samantha MontanoThe Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost American lives, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned.Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Trump cuts will lead to more deaths in disasters, expert warns: ‘It is really scary’

Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will impact how they predict and respond to disasters, warns professor Samantha MontanoThe Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost lives in the US, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned.Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago How the climate crisis threatens Indigenous traditions in Canada: ‘It’s not the way it used to be’

Shorter winters and thinning ice are imperiling cultural activities in the north, including hockey, broomball and huntingJanelle Oombash stands on the smooth ice of an outdoor rink, keeping score and watching the time as two teams of teenagers run across the ice, whacking a ball with sticks under the afternoon sun. Outside the rink, a bonfire crackles, keeping spectators warm as they watch the game.Broomball has been played for more than a century in northern Ontario. The game is similar to hockey, but players use a ball instead of a puck and wear specialized shoes rather than skates. Now 31, Oombash started playing the game at age 11. Her dad is a coach and taught her to play. “It’s a big sport. Everybody plays broomball or hockey,” she said. Continue reading...

Events

47 h. ago Scientific societies to do climate assessment after Trump administration dismissed authors

Two groups join forces for peer-reviewed research after key contributors on Congress-mandated report dismissedTwo major US scientific societies have announced they will join forces to produce peer-reviewed research on the climate crisis’s impact days after Donald Trump’s administration dismissed contributors to a key Congress-mandated report on climate crisis preparedness.On Friday, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) said that they will work together to produce over 29 peer-reviewed journals that will cover all aspects of climate change including observations, projections, impacts, risks and solutions. Continue reading...

Politics

65 h. ago Puerto Rico drops climate lawsuit after DoJ sues states to block threats to big oil

Territory’s voluntary move comes as Trump administration makes good on pledge to end lawsuits against oil and gasPuerto Rico has voluntarily dismissed its 2024 climate lawsuit against big oil, a Friday legal filing shows, just two days after the US justice department sued two states over planned litigation against oil companies for their role in the climate crisis.Puerto Rico’s lawsuit, filed in July, alleged that the oil and gas giants had misled the public about the climate dangers associated with their products. It came as part of a wave of litigation filed by dozens of US states, cities and municipalities in recent years. Continue reading...

Society

3 d. ago Ugandan activist asks HSBC to put ‘lives before profit’ as campaigners target bank’s AGM

Patience Nabukalu, who has experienced climate-related flooding, joins protestors from around the world to deliver a letter to CEO Georges Elhedery criticising the financing of oil, gas and coal projectsAt nine years old, Patience Nabukalu was devastated when her friend, Kevin, died in severe flooding that hit their Kampala suburb, Nateete, a former wetland. Witnessing deaths and the destruction of homes and livelihoods in floods made worse by extreme rainfall has had a profound impact on her.She decided to try to bring about change – to do what she could to amplify the voices of those in the Ugandan communities worst affected by the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Economics

3 d. ago Red Pockets by Alice Mah review – finding hope amid the climate crisis

A professor’s quest to make sense of her eco-anxiety takes her from her ancestral village in China to Cop 26 and beyondEco-anxiety is not an official medical diagnosis, but everyone knows what it means. The American Psychological Association defines it as “the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm that comes from observing the seemingly irrevocable impact of climate change and the associated concern for one’s future and that of next generations”. Fear of the future, an ache for the past, the present awash with disquiet: into this turmoil Alice Mah’s new book appears like a little red boat, keeping hope afloat against all odds.Mah is a professor of urban and environmental studies at the University of Glasgow as well as an activist passionately concerned with pollution, ecological breakdown and climate justice. Her previous books, Petrochemical Planet and Plastic Unlimited, catalogued the catastrophic impacts of the petrochemical industry on the natural and human world. In Red ...

Events

3 d. ago A climate election? The Coalition wants to take Australia backwards, while Labor is standing still | Clear Air

Depending on where things end up after Saturday, the biggest climate push may come from the crossbenchElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; Election guide; Interactive seat explorerParty policies; Micro parties explained; Full election coverageListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastIf further confirmation was needed that the Peter Dutton-led Coalition would take Australia aggressively backwards on dealing with the climate crisis, his final election costings released on Thursday tell the story in black and white.The Liberal and National parties plan to gut programs designed to cut emissions and help create green industries to give the country an industrial future as demand for fossil fuels falls. They also plan to ignore advice that Australian nature is in poor and deteriorating health and strip back already limited funding for environment programs.Si...

Politics

3 d. ago John Swinney urges all parties to ‘recommit’ to action on climate change

The Scottish First Minister condemned ‘anti-science climate denial’ as he said the climate crisis is ‘one of the greatest global issues of our time’.

Politics

4 d. ago I worked with Tony Blair when he put climate at the heart of UK policy. He must not now undermine that | David King

I support the Climate Paradox report from the Tony Blair Institute, but his foreword risks compromising what must be achievedDavid King was chief scientific adviser to the UK government under Tony Blair, and is founder and chair of the global Climate Crisis Advisory GroupI have always been proud of the progress the UK made between 2003 and 2007 in formulating a credible response to the climate change. Under Tony Blair’s leadership, the UK placed climate at the heart of global diplomacy. At the time, our understanding was based largely on scientific projections and models. Today, the crisis is in full view – faster and more devastating than many imagined. The world is now experiencing the daily impacts of climate breakdown, and our responses must reflect this escalating emergency. We need measured, strategic, sustained and, above all, urgent interventions to ensure a manageable future for humanity.That is why I support much of the thrust of The Climate Paradox report from the Tony Bl...

Society

4 d. ago Trump has launched more attacks on the environment in 100 days than his entire first term

Blitzkrieg has hit protections in place for land, oceans, forests and wildlife, and will worsen the climate crisis‘A ruthless agenda’: charting 100 days of Trump’s onslaught on the environmentDonald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault upon the environment, instigating 145 actions to undo rules protecting clean air, water and a livable climate in this administration’s first 100 days – more rollbacks than were completed in Trump’s entire first term as US president.Trump’s blitzkrieg has hit almost every major policy to shield Americans from toxic pollution, curb the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and protect landscapes, oceans, forests and imperiled wildlife. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago HSBC accused of ‘bulldozing through’ key climate policy with $1bn Glencore deal

New analysis from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Independent has found that in May 2023 the bank helped raise funds for the mining giant despite climate promises

Economics

4 d. ago ‘A ruthless agenda’: charting 100 days of Trump’s onslaught on the environment

Guardian reporters map out how Trump is eviscerating efforts to protect the natural world – from ‘drill, baby, drill’ to mass firings100 days of Trump: inside Trump’s whirlwind start to his second termDonald Trump has never been mistaken for an environmentalist, having long called the climate crisis a “giant hoax” and repeatedly lauding the supposed virtues of fossil fuels.But the US president’s onslaught upon the natural world in this administration’s first 100 days has surprised even those who closely charted his first term, in which he rolled back environmental rules and tore the US from the Paris climate agreement.Taken more than 140 actions to roll back environmental rules and push for greater use of fossil fuels.Set about rewriting regulations that limit pollution from cars, trucks and power plants.Officially reconsidering whether greenhouse gases actually cause harm to public health.Legally targeted states that have their own laws on tackling the climate crisis.Speeded up env...

Politics

5 d. ago Tony Blair’s climate crisis views ‘absolutely aligned’ with government policy, Starmer says – UK politics live

PM says he and Blair aligned ‘if you look at the detail of what he said’PMQs is starting soon.Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump’s assault on climate make UN talks an ‘uphill battle’, says Cop30 chair

Environmental rollbacks and tariffs makes meeting challenging, says summit president André Corrêa do LagoCrucial United Nations climate talks this year will be a “slightly uphill battle” due to economic turmoil and Donald Trump’s removal of the US from the effort to tackle global heating, the chair of the upcoming summit has admitted.Governments from around the world will gather in Belem, Brazil, in November for the Cop30 meeting, where they will be expected to announce new plans to deal with the climate crisis and slash greenhouse gas emissions. Very few countries have done so yet, however, and the world remains well off track to remain within agreed temperature limits designed to avert the worst consequences of climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago UN climate talks will be ‘uphill battle’ amid Trump rollbacks, says Cop30 chair

Tariffs and environmental cuts will make meeting challenging, says summit president André Corrêa do LagoCrucial United Nations climate talks this year will be a “slightly uphill battle” due to economic turmoil and Donald Trump’s removal of the US from the effort to tackle global heating, the chair of the upcoming summit has admitted.Governments from around the world will gather in Belem, Brazil, in November for the Cop30 meeting, where they will be expected to announce new plans to deal with the climate crisis and slash greenhouse gas emissions. Very few countries have done so yet, however, and the world remains well off track to remain within agreed temperature limits designed to avert the worst consequences of climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump dismisses contributors to key US report on climate crisis preparedness

The assessment, mandated by Congress, is used by federal and local governments to prep for climate disastersDonald Trump’s administration has dismissed all contributors to the US government’s flagship study on how to prepare for climate change impacts, prompting strong criticism from experts over a “senseless” move.The climate assessment is used by federal and local governments to understand how to prepare for climate crisis impacts including from extreme heat, hurricanes, flooding and drought. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Dining across the divide: ‘I felt awkward ordering a pork chop after she’d spoken about animal rights’

They saw eye to eye on mental health and dating apps, but did they come to an accord on the climate crisis?Ella, 27, LondonOccupation International development policy and communications Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Pacific island states urge rich countries to expedite plans to cut emissions

Developed countries pressed to submit national plans well before Cop30 as time runs out to avoid 1.5C temperature riseRich countries are dragging their feet on producing new plans to combat the climate crisis, thereby putting the poor into greater danger, some of the world’s most vulnerable nations have warned.All governments are supposed to publish new plans this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but so far only a small majority have done so, and some of the plans submitted have been inadequate to the scale of action needed. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Giorgia Meloni faces awkward weekend at funeral of pope whose values she opposed

Italian PM and pontiff could not have been further apart on issues such as migration, climate crisis and economyIt is an awkward weekend for Giorgia Meloni. The Italian leader will host a gathering of world leaders to say goodbye to a much-revered pope whose public views – from the treatment of people fleeing war to the climate crisis – were diametrically opposed to hers.While Pope Francis was a staunch advocate for asylum seekers, and blessed the vessels that saved refugees at sea, Meloni once said Italy should “repatriate migrants back to their countries and then sink the boats that rescued them”. Continue reading...

Events