38 h. ago ‘We had to swim to safety. I didn’t think we would make it out alive’: the people fleeing climate breakdown – in pictures

Photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer capture the families, farmers and fishers who have been forced to leave their homes by extreme weather – and the landscapes they left behind. Introduction by Dina NayeriIn 2009, Swiss photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer set out to document the people suffering the first shocks of the climate crisis. They had just returned from China, where rapid, unregulated development has ravaged the natural landscapes. Back home, though, the debate still felt strangely theoretical. “In 2009, you still had people who denied climate change,” Braschler recalls. “People said, ‘This is media hype.’” So the couple, working with the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva and supported by Kofi Annan, began The Human Face of Climate Change, a portrait series that showed the people on the frontline of a warming world.Sixteen years later, climate change is no longer up for debate; the urgent discussions now revolve around solutions. Braschler an...

Society

44 h. ago Revealed: Europe’s water reserves drying up due to climate breakdown

Exclusive: UCL scientists find large swathes of southern Europe are drying up, with ‘far-reaching’ implicationsVast swathes of Europe’s water reserves are drying up, a new analysis using two decades of satellite data reveals, with freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK.Scientists at University College London (UCL), working with Watershed Investigations and the Guardian, analysed 2002–24 data from satellites, which track changes in Earth’s gravitational field. Continue reading...

Politics

51 h. ago After landmark climate win, lawyer hopes for a ‘new legal order’ to protect Indigenous rights

Pacific lawyer Julian Aguon to be honoured with Right Livelihood award for his work that led to ICJ ruling on climate harmSix years ago, human rights lawyer Julian Aguon received a call from Vanuatu’s foreign affairs minister. The minister had an unusual request – he wanted Aguon to help develop a legal case on behalf of dozens of law students who were seeking climate justice from the world’s highest court.Aguon, a Chamorro lawyer based in Guam, was excited by the opportunity and believed they could clear up legal ambiguities he says had “long hobbled the ability of the international community to respond effectively to the climate crisis.” Continue reading...

Society

62 h. ago After a career as an environment writer, here’s what I have learned

Paul Brown looks back at his career reporting on the climate crisis, failed summit and nuclear power – and how to do it wellPaul Brown was the Guardian’s environment correspondent from 1989 until 2005 and has written many columns since. He submitted his last column last week after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. From his hospital bed in Luton, Paul offers his reflections on 45 years writing for the Guardian.We, in the climate business, all owe a great deal to Mrs Margaret Thatcher. Her politics were anathema to me and to many Guardian readers. But she prided herself on being a scientist before she was a politician. Continue reading...

Politics

62 h. ago ‘I have watched politicians failing yet and yet again’: lessons from a life as an environment writer

Paul Brown looks back at his career reporting on the climate crisis, failed summit and nuclear power – and how to do it wellPaul Brown was the Guardian’s environment correspondent from 1989 until 2005 and has written many columns since. He submitted his last column last week after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. From his hospital bed in Luton, Paul offers his reflections on 45 years writing for the Guardian.We, in the climate business, all owe a great deal to Mrs Margaret Thatcher. Her politics were anathema to me and to many Guardian readers. But she prided herself on being a scientist before she was a politician. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Easter Island mystery is SOLVED: Scientists finally pinpoint who built the iconic stone heads 900 years ago

Scientists have finally solved the mystery of Easter Island as they pinpoint who built the iconic stone heads over 900 years ago.

Politics

6 d. ago UK wildfires devastated more areas in 2025 than at any time since records began, figures show

Firefighters call for long-term investment and say UK is dangerously underprepared as climate crisis worsensWildfires have devastated more moorland, forests and fields in the UK this year than at any time since records began, putting huge pressure on the country’s fire service, figures show.The Global Wildfire Information System estimates that by November, wildfires had burned 47,026 hectares (116,204 acres) in 2025 in the UK – the largest area in any year since monitoring began in 2012, and more than double the area burned in the record-breaking summer of 2022. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Scientists pinpoint the body type which can protect you against brain ageing linked to dementia

Researchers may be on the edge of a medical breakthrough, after finding that people with more muscle mass, but less hidden fat have healthier, younger brains.

Politics

6 d. ago How to spot a CHEATER: Scientists pinpoint 4 red flags that suggest someone is likely to have an affair

According to scientists from Koç University in Istanbul, there are four red flags that indicate someone is likely to cheat.

Society

6 d. 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

7 d. 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

7 d. ago UN warns world losing climate battle but fragile Cop30 deal keeps up the fight

Reaching agreement in divisive political landscape shows ‘climate cooperation is alive and kicking’, says UN climate chiefThe world is not winning the fight against the climate crisis but it is still in that fight, the UN climate chief has said in Belém, Brazil, after a bitterly contested Cop30 reached a deal.Countries at Cop30 failed to bring the curtain down on the fossil fuel age amid opposition from some countries led by Saudi Arabia, and they underdelivered on a flagship hope – at a conference held in the Amazon – to chart an end to deforestation. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Villagers furious over 'monstrous' plans for traveller site next to their £800k homes in quaint Chiltern Hills and claim house prices could plummet

Families living in an ultra-exclusive spot of the Chiltern Hills have claimed they are now 'terrified' of going out alone - due to a small traveller encampment

Economics

8 d. ago A lack of leadership proved to be the ultimate stumbling block for Cop30

Multilateralism survived another year at Cop30 in Brazil - but the outcome was far below the level of ambition that is needed to address the climate crisis

Politics

8 d. ago Compromises, voluntary measures and no mention of fossil fuels: key points from Cop30 deal

A deal is welcome after talks nearly collapsed but the final agreement contains small steps rather than leapsThe UN climate summit Cop30 moved forward the fight against the climate crisis and the damage it is already causing to lives and livelihoods. But the measures agreed are steps, rather than the leaps needed. Continue reading...

Economics

9 d. ago There’s a catastrophic black hole in our climate data – and it’s a gift to deniers | George Monbiot

Climate sceptics tell us that more people die of extreme cold than extreme heat. What’s the truth?I began by trying to discover whether or not a widespread belief was true. In doing so, I tripped across something even bigger: an index of the world’s indifference. I already knew that by burning fossil fuels, gorging on meat and dairy, and failing to make even simple changes, the rich world imposes a massive burden of disaster, displacement and death on people whose responsibility for the climate crisis is minimal. What I’ve now stumbled into is the vast black hole of our ignorance about these impacts.What I wanted to discover was whether it’s true that nine times as many of the world’s people die of cold than of heat. The figure is often used by people who want to delay climate action: if we do nothing, some maintain, fewer will die. Of course, they gloss over all the other impacts of climate breakdown: the storms, floods, droughts, fires, crop failures, disease and sea level rise. B...

Politics

9 d. 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

1 week ago White House walks back Trump’s suggestion of executing Democrats who urge military to disobey illegal orders – live

Karoline Leavitt says Trump doesn’t want to execute Democrats after president’s earlier social post suggesting their behavior is ‘punishable by DEATH’The Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events – including the impacts from the climate crisis – and rescind the “blanket rule” that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago US dignitaries gather for Dick Cheney’s funeral but Trump, Obama and Clinton not in attendance – live

Donald Trump and JD Vance reportedly not invited to the former vice-president’s funeral; Clintons and Obamas notably absent from the eventThe Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events – including the impacts from the climate crisis – and rescind the “blanket rule” that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Epstein survivors urge justice department to ‘do the right thing’ and release complete files – US politics live

Several survivors of late sex offender’s abuse urge department to ‘not withhold information’ as ongoing probes at Trump’s behest could limit what is releasedThe Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events – including the impacts from the climate crisis – and rescind the “blanket rule” that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered. Continue reading...

Politics