Ruby Lott-Lavigna The UK’s newly appointed minister for net zero is facing questions over her links to a think tank funded by oil giants that called for climate protesters to be jailed. Claire Coutinho, appointed minister for energy security and net zero this week, was a senior fellow to the opaquely funded right-wing think tank… Read More Net zero minister linked to oil-funded group that targeted climate protesters
Water levels at Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world and South America’s largest – are dropping precipitously after an unprecedented winter heat wave. The shocking decline is affecting tourism, fishing and agriculture, which locals rely on to make a living. “We don’t know what we will do from now until December because the… Read More Titicaca: the world’s highest navigable lake is drying out
Joanna Moorhead A British landscape artist who recreated a climb made 150 years ago to document the impact of the climate crisis on western Europe’s highest mountain says what he found was so grim it reminded him of the “dark paintings” of Francisco de Goya. French painter Gabriel Loppé’s artwork The Shadow of Mont Blanc at Sunset, painted… Read More Artist captures the impact of climate crisis over 150 years on Mont Blanc
By SABRINA HAAKE Anyone who watched the first Republican presidential debate last week watched the candidates — minus Donald Trump, of course —punt on climate. Ron DeSantis, who angrily deflected the issue, has called climate change “left-wing stuff,” while Vivek Ramaswamy exuberantly declared that “climate change is a hoax.” Nikki Haley, whose debate performance was otherwise borderline-reasonable, thinks the U.S.… Read More Climate nihilism in the USA
Barbara Wienecke Last week I saw a headline announcing that last year thousands of emperor penguin chicks had died in the Bellingshausen Sea, when the fast ice broke out unusually early. I was deeply saddened and devastated, but not surprised. The region where this dreadful event occurred has been one of the fastest warming areas… Read More I have studied emperor penguins for 30 years. We may witness their demise in our lifetime
The G20 poured record levels of public money into fossil fuels last year despite having promised to reduce some of it, a report has found Ajit Niranjan The amount of public money flowing into coal, oil and gas in 20 of the world’s biggest economies reached a record $1.4tn(£1.1tn) in 2022, according to the International… Read More G20 poured more than $1tn on fossil fuel subsidies despite Cop26 pledges – report
As the climate warms, scientists have suggested that “time-traveling pathogens” unleashed by thawing Arctic permafrost may pose a risk to modern ecosystems. Permafrost is a hard layer of frozen ground made of soil, sand and rocks in high-latitude or high-altitude areas such as Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and northern Canada. This icy layer traps microbes that… Read More New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’
Jonathan Watts in Altamira Like mechanised Valkyries, nine helicopters filled with armed men and women in camouflage uniforms swoop over dense forests and remote rivers – but this is not a scene from Apocalypse Now, it is a Brazilian government mission to forestall catastrophe in the Amazon rainforest. The aircraft from the country’s two main environmental agencies,… Read More Driving out the rainforest invaders: crackdown on illegal mining brings hope after Bolsonaro
The judge who heard the US’s first constitutional climate trial earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of violating their right to a healthy environment. “I’m so speechless right now,” Eva, a plaintiff who was 14 when the suit was filed, said in a statement. “I’m… Read More Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial
Out in the Sahara Desert, in one of the most inhospitable environments imaginable, a natural solution to the climate crisis is growing – and at a rapid rate. London-based startup Brilliant Planet has leased 6,100 hectares of land outside the remote coastal town of Akhfenir in southern Morocco, wedged between the Atlantic Ocean to the… Read More Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis
After the truth-shower 