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Limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C Would Reduce Risks to Humans by Up to 85%

New research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) quantifies the benefits of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and identifies the hotspot regions for climate change risk in the future.

Climate change may spark conflict in Africa

Scientists have found interesting details about how climate change plays a role in likelihood and duration of conflict on the African continent. The likelihood and duration of armed conflict in Africa can be impacted by climate change, a new study suggests.

Why we need a code of conduct for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal

It is becoming clearer with every passing day and with every new high-level report that we need to take immediate and increasingly drastic action to blunt our current climate crisis.

Nations must work together through ‘conflict and crisis’ to reduce climate change risks, Albanese tells OECD

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese will declare the world must raise ambition to reduce the risks of runaway global heating and cooperate amid national policy differences even when “long shadows of conflict and crisis are threatening our shared security”.

Mice populations increase due to climate change, as demand soars for pest control in the US

At her home in Rockford, Illinois, Rita Davisson said the “one or two” mice she normally sees during the waning winter months “have turned into more like 10 or 15” in the last couple years. Scientists say the warmer weather might have something to do with it.

Study suggests existence of up to 2.1m ancient and veteran trees in England

Researchers find there could be many more ancient trees than previously recorded, amid calls for better protections. There could be more than 2m ancient and veteran trees in England, many times more than previously recorded, researchers have found.

Warning Conditions Will Worsen without Stronger Governance, Speakers Discuss Ways to Stop Marine Biodiversity Loss, Restore Ocean Health, at Lisbon Dialogue

Marine and coastal ecosystems are the most threatened in the world — a fact that must receive greater attention if Governments are going to successfully reverse pollution trends and restore the health of the world’s oceans, speakers in the third interactive dialogue taking place alongside the 20 ...

Global biodiversity deal to halt nature loss stalls in Nairobi

Efforts to draft an ambitious global agreement on halting nature loss ended Sunday with little progress made in the Nairobi negotiations, leaving limited time for brokering a biodiversity pact this year.

Less talk, more action from the G7 on climate change

It's difficult to cajole developing countries to abandon coal while reopening your own coal-fired power plants.

Can degrowth stop climate change and end poverty?

A growing movement of researchers want to shrink rich economies to stop the planet heating — but both supporters and critics are gambling on prosperity and climate stability for billions of people across the world.

Every heatwave occurring today is more intense due to climate change

It is no longer important to use modelling to determine whether a heatwave was made more likely by climate change, say scientists, because it plays a role in all heatwaves today

As Climate Change Threatens Mounting Urban Costs, Is Biomimicry The Way Forward?

It’s well established that urban environments are going to be home to the majority of the world’s population in the coming decades. While extreme weather is causing floods, droughts and wildfires, it’s also going to have significant effects on urban living.

London Could Feel as Hot as Barcelona by 2050

A major climate change study has found that London's weather could feel more like Barcelona's by 2050. Even though this might sound like a dream at first to Londoners, the change could turn into a nightmare as it would be accompanied by stretches of severe drought as well as heavier downpours in ...

Climate Change and the Affordable Housing Crisis

1 in 10 residential properties in the United States was impacted by natural disasters in 2021 alone. The climate crisis has exacerbated economic and social disparities within the country, directly affecting the human right to adequate housing.

The eco–climate nexus

Ecosystems, and the services they provide, can support climate mitigation and adaptation, yet also suffer from climate change impacts. Now, discussions surround how to best support the eco–climate nexus, overcoming the challenges ahead and creating multiple benefits.

Climate change role clear in many extreme events but social factors also key, study finds

Climate change is to blame for the majority of the heatwaves being recorded around the planet but the relation to other extreme events and their impacts on society is less clear, according to a study.

Urban Wildlife Photography Awards 2022: in pictures

An amateur photographer who works in digital advertising has won the inaugural Picfair Urban Wildlife Photography Awards for his image of two coyotes on a dimly lit suburban street in Ontario. All Picfair profits on print sales will go to global conservation non-profit Re:Wild

UN meet sees blitz of pledges to protect ailing oceans

A major UN conference on how to restore the faltering health of global oceans kicked off in Lisbon this week with a flurry of promises to expand marine protected areas, ban deep-sea mining, and combat illegal fishing.

Global Experts and Practitioners Unite to Improve Ocean Health by Tackling Systemic Challenges in Marine Management

Global experts from the United Nations Environment Programme, The Nature Conservancy, governments, research agencies, and the private sector are coming together to share best practices in improving marine management based on lessons learned around the world.

UN meet sees blitz of pledges to protect ailing oceans

Oceans Great Dying 2.0: Earth’s climate moderator is warming, faster

Oceans are heating up as they cross their natural capacity to sink carbon and atmospheric heat induced by GHGs emissions. It will further disrupts life above the oceans

Why the UN Ocean Conference is a key step on the road to recovering ocean health

A healthy ocean is critical to all life on Earth, and the UN Ocean Conference is a step in this direction. However, the ocean’s health is declining – from overfishing to acidification.

UN chief calls for more efforts to conserve world’s oceans

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants countries to step up their efforts to conserve the world’s marine resources even as he acknowledged the progress made since the last UN Ocean Conference.

Aquaman speaks up for world’s oceans at UN conference

Hollywood actor Jason Momoa is taking his role as Aquaman, protector of the deep oceans, off the screen. Attending a UN conference in Portugal, Momoa was appointed the new UN Environment Program advocate for Life Below Water – an honorary position to acknowledge his work to help protect marine life.

Ogiek, Sengwer cry as Nairobi talks end without solution

The UN negotiators are in Nairobi to strengthen the Convention on Biological Diversity treaty, through new rules expected to be adopted in Montreal this year.

Researchers Create ‘Species Stock Market’ to Help Protect Biodiversity

European researchers have come up with a system to help determine the value of a species to help protect threatened species. They also hope the system will help them see how human activities affect biodiversity.

Practice what you preach: have biodiversity negotiations forgotten the urgency to act?

As the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) talks close in Nairobi, Kenya; Director of IUCN’s International Policy Centre Sonia Peña Moreno reflects on the past week of discussions, and what must change to deliver a truly global framework to halt the loss of biodiversity.

UN members 'need to urgently scale up actions' to protect the ocean: Vivian Balakrishnan

Members of the United Nations (UN) "need to urgently scale up actions" to protect the ocean and mitigate the impacts of climate change, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said at the Second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon on Tuesday

Trade in ocean goods shows resilience, UNCTAD data reveals

Trade in ocean-based goods showed remarkable resilience during the recession induced by COVID-19 in 2020, according to the latest available data from a new UNCTAD database. Such goods include resources either sourced from the ocean, made from marine resources or manufactured for marine activities.

UN Ocean Conference: Colombia first nation to achieve 30x30 goal

The United Nations Ocean Conference is currently underway in Portugal’s Lisbon. Ending on 1 July, the conference is attended by heads of state from 20 countries. In the opening speech of the event on 27 June, UN secretary general António Guterres has declared an “ocean emergency” and urged gover ...

More than 150 companies take principled stand at UN Ocean Conference

At the Sustainable Blue Economy Investment Forum in Cascais, Portugal, a special UN Ocean Conference event, more than 150 major companies have signaled their commitment to a healthy ocean by signing onto the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles.

For fisheries in the Caribbean, life revolves around the climate… and our climate resilience

“Life revolves around the climate,” says José Luis “Pepe” Gerhartz, a senior conservation specialist from the Caribbean Biological Corridor Initiative, or CBC, a joint initiative between Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.

The three global agreements that could change the future of the oceans

The oceans cover about 70% of the planet’s surface and are the main regulators of global climate. They produce much of the oxygen we breathe and support enormous biodiversity, far richer than what we see on land. But they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

As Nepal’s tigers thrive, Indigenous knowledge may be key in preventing attacks

On June 6, a 41-year-old woman was attacked by a tiger while she was collecting firewood in a forest in Nepal’s Bardiya district, a key habitat for endangered Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris).

Unprecedented drought conditions projected to be more frequent and consecutive in certain regions

A new study presents the future periods for which aberrant drought conditions will become more frequent, thereby creating a new normal. The projected warming impacts show significant regional disparities in their intensity and the pace of their growth over time.

Increasing heat waves affect up to half a billion people

Climate change is a reality and extremely high temperatures have been reported by India and Pakistan in the spring. In a new scientific journal article, researchers from the University of Gothenburg, amongst others, paint a gloomy picture for the rest of the century.

How climate change is affecting extreme weather events around the world: new study

Attribution science has led to major advances in linking the impacts of extreme weather and human-induced climate change, but large gaps in the published research still conceal the full extent of climate change damage, warns a new study released today in the first issue of Environmental Research ...

Update noise regulations to protect seals, porpoises: study

Noise produced by pile drivers building offshore wind turbines can damage the hearing of porpoises, seals, and other marine life. Regulations are in place, but guidance on this difficult topic requires regular revisits to incorporate results from new experiments.

Sustainable practices improve farmers' well-being

Small-holder farmers in rural Tanzania can improve food security and their well-being by adopting agroecological practices, new research funded by UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund has shown.

Bacteria species found in glacial ice could pose disease risk as glaciers melt from global warming

A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found nearly 1,000 species of bacteria in snow and ice samples collected from Tibetan glaciers. In their paper published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the group describes collecting and studying the bacteria and their concerns a ...

Aspects of Asian elephants' social lives are not related to amount of intestinal parasites

An international team of scientists found that sociality is not linked to intestinal nematode infection in Asian elephants. The researchers looked at loneliness and characteristics of the elephants' social groups and found no differences in infection levels.

Life in the abyss, a spectacular and fragile struggle for survival

Cloaked in darkness and mystery, the creatures of the deep oceans exist in a world of unlikely profusion, surviving on scant food and under pressure that would crush human lungs.

Cop15: lack of political leadership leaves crucial nature summit ‘in peril’, warn NGOs

UN biodiversity negotiations have reached crisis point due to a lack of engagement from governments, leading NGOs have warned, three years after experts revealed that Earth’s life-support systems are collapsing.

WWF calls for ambitious, consensual framework to halt biodiversity loss

The international community should agree on establishment of a new and transformative framework to strengthen conservation of biodiversity in the light of threats fueled by human actions and the climate crisis, senior officials from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Sunday.

Lack of progress for nature at UN talks: Civil society leaders

Various countries gathered past week in Nairobi for the final preparatory session before the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity which will be held in Montreal December 5-17.

My Beautiful, Diverse Home Is Sinking Because of Climate Change. Here’s What I’m Doing About It.

Indonesia is one of the countries most at risk of the impacts of climate change. A 2004 report by the World Wildlife Fund showed that the country's annual temperatures had increased and that precipitation patterns had changed — noting a decline in rainfall in some regions and an increase in others.

Soil quality key to increasing crop production and resilience to climate change

New research has found that high-quality cropland soils limit losses in response to warmer climates and support higher yields.

In conversation with Elizabeth Mrema: Why biodiversity matters

We speak with the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity on why current negotiations taking place in Nairobi are crucial to ensuring the future of the Earth's natural environment

Montreal to host delayed COP 15 summit to halt global biodiversity loss

A pivotal UN summit conference on biodiversity is moving from Kunming, China, to Montreal, putting the Canadian city at centre stage for what could be the most important meeting for threatened wildlife and ecosystems in a dozen years.

Negotiations on Global Biodiversity Agreement Begin in Nairobi

On Tuesday, the final round of negotiations on the draft of the "Global Agreement on Biodiversity" began in Nairobi (Kenya), as a prelude to the second part of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), scheduled for December in Montreal (Canada).