48 h. ago What I saw reporting on the American lives cut short by killer heat

In this week’s newsletter: Coroners can’t agree on how to count heat fatalities – and the dismantling of climate investments is leaving fragile communities exposed• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereDonald Trump’s decision to boycott Cop30, withdraw the US from the Paris agreement and illegally terminate a slew of investments in renewable energy will not change the reality of climate breakdown for Americans.In what has become an annual reporting tradition, I found myself in Arizona reporting on heat-related deaths during yet another gruelling heatwave, when temperatures topped 43C (110F) on 13 out of 14 straight days in Phoenix. Before embarking on this trip, I spent weeks combing through hundreds of autopsy reports, which I obtained from two county medical examiners using the Freedom of Information Act. Each death report gave me a glimpse into the person’s life, and I used clues from the case notes to track down friends and loved ones in the hopes of bett...

Events

7 d. 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

8 d. 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

8 d. ago Africa’s forests transformed from carbon sink to carbon source, study finds

Alarming shift since 2010 means planet’s three main rainforest regions now contribute to climate breakdownAfrica’s forests have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source, according to research that underscores the need for urgent action to save the world’s great natural climate stabilisers.The alarming shift, which has happened since 2010, means all of the planet’s three main rainforest regions – the South American Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa – have gone from being allies in the fight against climate breakdown to being part of the problem. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff

Wealthy countries agree to triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final dealThe world edged a small step closer to the end of the fossil fuel era on Saturday, but not by nearly enough to stave off the ravages of climate breakdown.Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase out of fossil fuels, and they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. 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

2 w. ago Cop30 live: ‘We need to think about how to live without fossil fuels’ Brazilian president Lula tells summit

Brazilian president underlines need to reduce emissions as Turkey set to host next year’s summitOne big piece of news out of Belém last night was that Turkey will host Cop31 next year, with Australia leading the actual negotiations, under a deal to end an unprecedented stand-off between prospective host countries.The unusual arrangement, which was being negotiated overnight and is expected to be officially announced today, would see the event take place in Antalya, a 2000-year-old Mediterranean city that has become the country’s tourism capital. Turkey would manage the event while Australia would preside over the diplomatic wrangling to stop the planet from heating and keep people safe from the breakdown of a stable climate. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘My husband and daughter went down to the garage in case it flooded. Then I heard a strange noise’ – This is climate breakdown

She was sure that there would be warnings if there was any danger. But then the floods came. This is Toñi García’s storyLocation Valencia, SpainDisaster Floods, 2024Toñi García lives in Valencia. On 29 October 2024, devastating storms hit the Iberian peninsula, bringing the heaviest rain so far this century. The national alert system sounded at around 8.30pm local time; by then, however, flood waters had already broken through the city. Scientists say the explosive downpours were linked to climate change. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘We sent the kids home. Then all our cellphones went out’ – This is climate breakdown

When the Maui fires ripped through Hawaii, the community came together. For everyone it was a life-changing experience. This is Ryan’s storyLocation Maui, Hawaii, United StatesDisaster Maui wildfires, 2023Ryan Kirkham had been the principal at Maui preparatory school for 13 years when the Maui wildfires ignited in 2023, killing 102 people in Lahaina and costing almost $3.3bn in insured damages. Climate change is increasing the severity of droughts in the Hawaiian Islands, which correlates with an increased likelihood of wildfires. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago 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

2 w. ago ‘I had already given my baby a name’ – This is climate breakdown

It started with a migraine but ended in hospital. When Gowend had dengue the first time she had no idea she was pregnant. This is Gowend’s storyLocation Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina FasoDisaster Ill with dengueGowend (not her real name) lives in Burkina Faso. In 2023, in the early stages of pregnancy, she was admitted to hospital and diagnosed as having had dengue fever, a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes which is, in a small number of cases, potentially fatal. It has been linked with miscarriage by some studies. Dengue is on the rise in Africa and Asia, partly thanks to the warming climate, and is increasingly being detected in Europe, too. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘This is survival’: Jamaica leads calls from vulnerable nations at Cop30

Countries including Mauritius and Cuba reiterate life-or-death nature of cutting emissions, calling it ‘a moral duty’Cop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of climate talks in BrazilJamaica has led calls from vulnerable nations at the Cop30 climate summit to urge immediate action on climate breakdown as the conference entered its second week.As high-level ministers from governments around the world took over negotiations in Belém, Brazil, vulnerable nations lined up to say how important it was that wealthier countries cut emissions in order to limit the worst effects of global heating. In addition, they renewed a longstanding call for rich nations to do more financially to help poor countries deal with warming. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe’ – This is climate breakdown

As summer went on, the temperature climbed and climbed. Every day became harder. This is Neha’s storyLocation Manesar, IndiaDisaster Indian heatwave, 2024Neha is 25 years old and works for a large multinational company at a warehouse in Manesar, Haryana state, so she can send money back home to her family. In 2024, her working conditions worsened after a deadly heatwave spread across northern India. Climate breakdown is increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in India by warming the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Can methane cuts pull us back from the brink of climate breakdown?

With temperatures breaching the Paris limit, experts say tackling the powerful gas could buy crucial time as the clean-energy shift stallsCop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of the climate talks in BrazilFor two years, global temperatures have exceeded the 1.5C heating limit laid out in the Paris climate agreement. This overshooting will have “devastating consequences”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned.The biggest worry for scientists is that further heating could trigger irreversible tipping points, such as the widespread drying out and dying off of the Amazon, or the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, beyond which climate breakdown could spiral out of control. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Cop30 was meant to be a turning point, so why do some say the climate summit is broken?

Swamped by lobbyists and hobbled by a lack of urgency, there are fears Cop could become a sprawling spectacle that betrays those who depend on it mostThousands of diplomats, activists, journalists and lobbyists are gathering in the sweltering, tropical heat of Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon, for the Cop30 climate talks.Since Brazil was awarded the hosting duties three years ago, hopes have been high that the Amazonian Cop – taking place in the country that hosted the Earth summit where the global fight for the climate first began – could be a turning point in the fight against climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘The water came up to my waist but I carried on walking’ – This is climate breakdown

When the rain started I had to find a way home to my children. I could never have imagined how long it would take. This is Ruchira’s storyLocation Mumbai, IndiaDisaster Maharashtra floods, 2005Ruchira Gupta is an English-to-Hindi interpreter, a former lawyer, and mother of two daughters. In 2005, she was working at a small law firm in Mumbai, India when heavy rainfall flooded the country’s western state of Maharashtra, killing 926 people. Between 1950 and 2015, there was a threefold increase in extreme rain events in India. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘There’s fire all around us, this is it’ – This is climate breakdown

Working with jaguars in Brazil’s Pantanal was a huge source of joy. But the wildfires are getting worse. This is Abbie’s storyLocation Pantanal, BrazilDisaster Wildfires, a number of yearsAbbie Martin splits her time between captaining a boat in the Virgin Islands and doing research in Brazil’s Pantanal, a region that includes the world’s largest tropical wetland and where she founded the Jaguar Identification Project. Fires in the Pantanal have reached new extremes, killing at least 17 million vertebrate animals and burning 27% of the vegetation cover in 2020. Climate breakdown made the Pantanal drier between 2001-21, increasing the occurrence of above-average fires in the region. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘She rang me to say there was water coming into the house’ – This is climate breakdown

His mother had lived in the same house for 83 years. When the floods came, no one was ready. This is Paul Gilbert’s storyLocation Chesterfield, UKDisaster Storm Babet, 2023Paul Gilbert’s mother, Maureen, lived in Chesterfield. In 2023, Storm Babet claimed seven lives across the UK, led to more than 10,000 people being evacuated from their homes and caused in excess of £450m in property damage. Extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world, and experts have linked some of the damage caused by Storm Babet to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago ‘I would give all my life for my brother to come back for one second’ – This is climate breakdown

Ari loved his community and set up a volunteer group to fight wildfires. One day his brother Bilal received the phone call he had long dreaded. This is Bilal’s storyLocation Halabja, IraqDisaster Wildfires, 2025Bilal Mukhtar is a teacher living in Halabja, in the Hawraman region of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. Wildfires are breaking out here with increasing frequency, caused by natural events and compounded by hotter and drier weather. Iraq is experiencing its worst drought in nearly a century. Climate change makes drought and wildfire in Iraq more likely. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling

Exclusive: Research shows oil, gas and coal firms’ unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate actionMore than 5,000 fossil fuel lobbyists were given access to the UN climate summits over the past four years, a period marked by a rise in catastrophic extreme weather, inadequate climate action and record oil and gas expansion, new research reveals.Lobbyists representing the interests of the oil, gas and coal industries – which are mostly responsible for climate breakdown – have been allowed to participate in the annual climate negotiations where states are meant to come in good faith and commit to ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Politics