Global water scarcity has reached a new and potentially irreversible stage, an era of “bankruptcy” driven by decades of overuse, groundwater depletion and climate change, UN experts warned on Monday. Kaveh Madani, lead author of Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that this issue matters […]
Beneath the ground, vast networks of fungi quietly support plant life and play an important role in regulating the planet’s climate by helping move carbon into soils. Now, researchers have created the first global maps showing where these underground fungal networks are found and how much of them exist worldwide. The study, published in Science, focuses […]
The El Nino weather system is forecast to intensify in the next three months, increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall, the World Meteorological Organisation has warned. The WMO is stepping up its early warning support to help governments, humanitarian agencies, agriculture and health industries, and vulnerable communities […]
Decades of environmental policy seem to be paying off, as Europe sees its air quality continuing to improve. Europe’s air quality is getting better, despite “persistent pollution episodes” threatening to halt progress. The EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) says in its latest report that while some parts of the continent are still experiencing issues […]
With France experiencing record-breaking temperatures this month, I prepare for the daily onslaught of heat in Paris the way I prepare to report in war zones. Every day, I rise at 5am before the sky lightens and close the shutters and windows of my apartment, which has no air conditioning. This suffocation strategy comes from a […]
The Arabian Peninsula has seen temperatures on the hottest days of the year rise by what feels like 4°C since the 1970s, a sharper increase than in many other parts of the world, a study has shown. As a result, more people are being put at risk from heat stress, research from the European Centre for […]
The rainfall loss caused by deforestation could cost over $1 trillion of GDP annually in Europe, China and the USA, a new study has found. Around the world, over 130 countries are economically dependent on the rainfall that is generated by forests, according to researchers at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change. They estimate that in […]
Despite backsliding on some commitments, the UN climate conference showed glimmers of hope ahead of COP31. The Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB64) drew to a close today (18 June), laying the groundwork for COP31 in Türkiye in November. The meetings provide a crucial space for governments who have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on […]
An Arabian Sea humpback whale, which usually hugs the coastline of Oman, has been tracked making a journey to Goa in search of food or a mate. This is the first direct evidence that the species crossed the Arabian Sea and is considered by scientists to be a behavioural anomaly because its members are so uniquely […]
This year’s potentially record-breaking El Niño could impact food systems, energy production, economies, ecosystems and human wellbeing. Climate scientists have warned that El Niño has officially begun, as the world braces for a year of turbocharged weather. The natural phenomenon, which happens irregularly every two to seven years, occurs when sea surface temperatures in the […]
