climate change

Wildfires close in on Bordeaux as 300,000 flee in France and Spain

Wildfires raging across southwestern France and central Spain have forced more than 300,000 people to evacuate or shelter in place, in what French authorities have called the country's largest peacetime evacuation. As of Sunday, flames had advanced to within 15…

2026 El Niño forecast to be strongest on record by wide margin

A rapidly intensifying El Niño — forecast to be the strongest since modern record-keeping began — is reshaping expectations for global temperatures, with climate scientist Zeke Hausfather estimating a 35% chance that 2026 will set a new annual heat record…

Caltech-Google study finds low clouds accelerate warming

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology and Google Alphabet Inc. have published findings showing that low-level clouds over the tropical Pacific are thinning in response to rising carbon dioxide concentrations and warming sea surface temperatures, creating a feedback loop…

Study: climate change, not El Nino, caused all major coral bleaching events

Human-caused climate change — not El Niño — has been the primary force behind every global coral bleaching event over the past four decades, according to new research published Wednesday in the journal Oceanography.

Extreme heat, not lack of rain, now drives Europe’s droughts, study finds

Human-caused climate change is intensifying drought across Europe not by reducing rainfall but by driving extreme heat that evaporates water from soils, lakes, and rivers at unprecedented rates, according to an analysis published Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group.

Deutsche Bank warns El Niño could deliver major supply shock

Deutsche Bank warned on July 20 that a rapidly strengthening El Niño weather pattern could deliver a "multi-channel supply shock" to the global economy at a time when inflation is already running above central bank targets and geopolitical disruptions have…

Study finds Arctic winter sea ice decline resumed after brief pause

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirms that Arctic winter sea ice has resumed its long-term decline after what scientists say was only a temporary pause in the early 2020s. The research, led…

Europe’s heatwaves threaten to push food prices higher in 2027

Germany recorded an estimated 5,120 heat-related deaths so far this year, most of them during the late-June heatwave that paralyzed much of Europe for more than a week, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's national public health…

Climate change made West Africa floods five times more likely, study finds

Human-induced climate change made the extreme rainfall that caused devastating floods across West Africa's coast in June approximately five times more likely than it would have been in pre-industrial times, according to a study released this week by the World…

NOAA puts super El Niño odds at 81% as Panama Canal tightens draft limits

Insurance and risk management firm TT Club has called on global supply chain operators to urgently review their resilience strategies as forecasts point to a developing "super" El Niño that could deliver simultaneous disruption to ports, energy systems, commodity markets,…

Over 2,700 died in England and Wales heatwaves, study finds

Western Europe is still counting the dead from an unprecedented June heatwave that sent temperatures above 40°C and overwhelmed health systems across the continent. Belgium alone recorded 1,747 excess deaths between June 18 and July 1 — its deadliest heatwave…

England, Norway face extreme Miami heat in World Cup quarterfinal

England and Norway met in a World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, under punishing heat that threatened to become one of the most demanding weather challenges of the 2026 tournament. Forecasts warned of…

NOAA says El Nino could rank among strongest on record

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center released its latest monthly update on Thursday, warning that a rapidly intensifying El Niño is increasingly likely to rank among the most powerful events since modern record-keeping began in 1950. The agency now places an 81%…

EU household cooling energy doubled in six years, Eurostat data shows

Energy consumed by EU households for cooling doubled between 2018 and 2024, reaching 80,400 terajoules, according to data published by Eurostat on Tuesday. The surge underscores the growing strain on European energy infrastructure as the continent grapples with its hottest…

WMO says Pacific’s last tropical glacier may vanish by early 2027

The World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday released its annual State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report, projecting that the region's last remaining tropical glacier will vanish within months as ocean warming, marine heatwaves, and sea-level rise intensify across…

COP29 chief warns heat waves outpacing climate forecasts

A record-breaking series of heat waves sweeping across Europe and the United States has alarmed climate scientists and energy officials, with Azerbaijan's climate representative warning that extreme weather is outpacing expectations and disrupting even nuclear power generation.

June heatwave may have killed 20,000 in Europe, study estimates

A record-shattering heatwave that engulfed Europe in late June has pushed Swiss glaciers past their annual tipping point weeks earlier than normal, while a rapid-attribution study found that $15.6 trillion in economic activity was exposed to heat conditions intensified by…

UN warns El Niño will rapidly strengthen into a ‘strong’ event this summer

The World Meteorological Organization on Friday raised its forecast for the rapid emergence of a strong El Niño, warning that the climate phenomenon has already taken hold in the tropical Pacific and will quickly gain strength between July and September,…

ECB warns Europe’s heatwave is fueling inflation

A record-breaking heatwave gripping Europe is no longer just a public health emergency — it is rapidly being reframed as a structural threat to the continent's already fragile economy, with central bankers, insurers, and economists warning of hundreds of billions…

Allianz warns climate change is making more assets uninsurable

As a deadly heat wave claims more than 1,300 lives across Europe, one of the world's largest insurers is warning that climate change is making a growing number of assets impossible to cover.

Global oceans hit hottest June on record, scientists warn of more heat ahead

The world's oceans recorded their hottest June in history, with global average sea surface temperatures reaching 20.98°C and surpassing previous records set in 2023 and 2024, according to data released Wednesday by the European Union's Copernicus Marine Service and the…

Data centers emitted 57% more CO2 than estimated, Allianz Trade study finds

The global buildout of data centers to power artificial intelligence is running into twin headwinds: a growing wave of climate litigation and a grassroots opposition movement that has disrupted tens of billions of dollars in planned projects. New research published…

Google’s emissions, power use hit record highs amid AI buildout

Google's electricity consumption, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions all climbed to record levels in 2025 as the company raced to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to the tech giant's 11th annual environmental report released Sunday.

Heat wave threatens World Cup knockout rounds across U.S. Northeast

A dangerous heat wave is bearing down on the northeastern United States as the FIFA World Cup 2026 enters its knockout phase, raising fresh concerns about player safety and fan welfare at venues including MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New…

ING warns eurozone heatwaves now pose structural economic threat

As Europe endures another punishing summer — with more than 1,300 excess deaths reported since June 21 and temperature records shattered across the continent — ING is sounding the alarm that recurring heatwaves have crossed from a meteorological nuisance into…

Europe’s deadly heatwave exposes AI data center climate risks

A record-breaking heatwave that has swept across Europe over the past week, killing more than 1,300 people and shattering temperature records in at least a dozen countries, is exposing the vulnerability of the continent's rapidly expanding AI data center infrastructure…

Europe heatwave kills over 1,300 as Paris morgues run out of space

Every few minutes, calls come in from families desperate to find space for their dead. Paris mortuaries have reached full capacity as France's record-breaking heatwave — which has been linked to roughly 1,000 excess deaths in the country — forces…

First study links Antarctic glacier retreat to human activity

Human-caused climate change intensified the retreat of one of Antarctica's most critical glaciers by 18% to 20% since the 1940s, adding several kilometers to its landward withdrawal, according to a study published in The Cryosphere on June 28.

Pakistan, British Columbia issue glacial flood warnings amid record ice loss

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority issued a glacier melting alert for June 27 to July 3, warning that persistent heat and forecast rainfall could trigger glacial lake outburst floods, flash floods, and landslides across the country's mountainous north. Days earlier,…

North Atlantic ‘cold blob’ linked to Europe’s record heat dome

As a historic heat dome continues to shatter temperature records across Europe, scientists are pointing to an unlikely accomplice: a persistent patch of cold ocean water in the North Atlantic that may be amplifying the continent's extreme heat.