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topic: Impact Of Climate Change
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African environment programs still try to fill funding gap since USAID freeze
- Close to a year after the suspension of USAID funding in Africa, the future of many environmental programs remains uncertain.
- Alternative funding is sought from the EU, World Bank and private sector initiatives, yet experts say a significant climate finance gap remains, especially as some of these sources curtail their funding as well.
- Africa receives just 3-4% of global climate finance, according to the African Development Bank Group; while the continent contributes just 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it remains especially vulnerable to climate disasters.
Can we create new inland seas to lower sea level rise? Interview with researcher Amir AghaKouchak
- A new research project is looking into the possibility of reflooding the Qattara Depression, a massive low-lying desert area in Egypt, to help counter sea level rise.
- Scientists forecast global sea levels will rise by at least 30 centimeters (12 inches) over present-day levels by the end of the century — and that’s a conservative prediction.
- Mongabay spoke with Amir AghaKouchak, the project’s leader, who says reflooding the Qattara Depression could also bring potential benefits to Egypt, including aquaculture, renewable energy and tourism.
- The idea remains in its infancy and would require the backing of the Egyptian government as well as a great deal of further study.
Global leaders seek action on environment, despite divide
- The United Nations Environment Assembly takes place this week in Nairobi, at a time when wars, protectionist economic policies and global divisions are undermining nations’ ability to reach consensus on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution — issues that require collective action.
- UNEA president abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri reminded delegates that despite the turbulence, multilateral cooperation remains the only credible pathway.
- Despite divisions between major powers, growing North-South mistrust and an emerging “America First” posture in Washington, UNEP executive director Inger Andersen insisted that environmental diplomacy still works when countries choose compromise over paralysis.
East African court dismisses controversial oil pipeline case in setback to communities
On Nov. 26, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) dismissed an appeal filed by four African NGOs, marking the end of a landmark case against the construction of a contentious oil pipeline. The case against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), expected to become the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world, […]
Fossil fuel failure eclipses Africa’s wins at COP30
- African negotiators secured significant gains on just transition, including recognition of clean cooking and energy poverty, marking the first time these priorities entered the formal United Nations climate negotiations.
- Adaptation finance advanced but remains insufficient, with wealthy nations pledging to triple support only by 2035, despite Africa’s urgent needs and widespread concern over loan-heavy climate finance.
- Forest conservation gained new momentum, with broad backing for a global deforestation roadmap and fresh funding initiatives like Brazil’s Tropical Forever Forest Fund (TFFF) and the Canopy Trust targeting Amazon and Congo Basin conservation.
- Failure to agree on a fossil fuel phaseout puts Africa at heightened risk, with scientists warning that if carbon emissions continue to rise unabated, they could fuel more extreme events like droughts and floods, destabilize food systems, and displace people.
A forest worth more standing: Virgilio Viana on what it will take to protect the Amazon
The first time Virgilio Viana saw the Amazon up close, he was a 16-year-old with a backpack, two school friends and very little sense of what he was walking into. They arrived by land, drifting along dirt roads that had more potholes than surface, then continued by riverboat as the forest thickened around them. Something […]
A slowdown, not salvation: what new extinction data reveal about the state of life on Earth
- Extinction rates appear to have slowed since their peak in the early 1900s, suggesting not a reprieve for nature but a shift in how and where losses occur. Much of the damage was concentrated on islands, where invasive species drove many native plants and animals to extinction.
- The study challenges the assumption that past extinction patterns predict future ones, highlighting major data gaps—especially for invertebrates—and warning that today’s threats stem mainly from habitat loss and climate change on continents.
- Conservation efforts have shown that targeted actions, such as invasive species removal and habitat restoration, can be highly effective, though success remains uneven and far smaller than the scale of global biodiversity loss.
- Even as outright extinctions slow, ecosystems continue to unravel through declining abundance, lost ecological knowledge, and homogenization of species—signs that life’s diversity is eroding in subtler but equally serious ways.
At COP30, Africa can lead the way to a sustainable future — but will it? (commentary)
- With its growing focus on sustainable development and climate action, Africa has the potential to lead the way toward a more sustainable future, as seen in Nigeria’s recent submission of its third nationally determined contribution (NDC 3.0).
- COP30 this month in Belém, Brazil, should prioritize climate finance, which Africa needs to mobilize resources for the continent’s climate action.
- Africa requires support to build resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and COP30 is a crucial platform to address these needs, building a more sustainable future for all.
- This commentary is part of Our Letters to the Future, a series produced by the Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows as their final fellowship project. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Senegal’s great green wall progress falters amid unfulfilled pledges: Study
- A recent study has examined the progress to realize Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative in Senegal, which is often hailed as the model for this continent-wide project.
- The study finds Senegal has achieved encouraging social and economic results — but far less success on the ecological front.
- The study’s authors, echoing complaints from African officials, say that far less money has actually reached implementing countries and organizations than has been announced at global forums.
Climate change is wreaking havoc on World Cultural Heritage sites, study finds
- A recent study shows that 80% of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites are facing climate stress, with wood and stone constructions susceptible to a range of threats from extreme heat, humidity, aridity and other climatic factors.
- Researchers also found there is no single pathway toward mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions that will uniformly protect these sites.
- In addition, the team found a Global North-South divide in heritage conservation, as Global South nations do not have the same resources to preserve their cultural sites; preservation will take collective efforts.
- This story is part of The 89 Percent Project, an initiative of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.
Arctic seals edge closer to extinction as sea ice vanishes
- Three Arctic seal species have been moved up to higher threat categories on the IUCN Red List, with one now endangered and two now near threatened.
- Global warming is melting away the sea ice they need for breeding, resting and feeding, which has led to widespread breeding failures among ice-dependent seals.
- Loss of sea ice is also opening the region to more human activity, including shipping and oil exploration, bringing added disturbance, noise and pollution.
- The IUCN warns a similar pattern is emerging in the Antarctic. It says urgent global emissions cuts, along with stronger local protections such as reducing bycatch and pollution, are needed to prevent further declines.
Indonesia’s most vulnerable push for nation’s first Climate Justice Bill
- Climate change is forcing migration and deepening inequality across Indonesia, displacing rural residents, Indigenous peoples and those with disabilities — groups least responsible for the crisis.
- Fishers and farmers say they’ve been driven abroad by collapsing livelihoods caused by erratic weather, only to face exploitation and unsafe working conditions overseas.
- Indigenous and disabled communities are also seeing their food security, mobility and safety undermined, yet they remain largely excluded from government responses and public discourse.
- Civil society and affected groups are pushing for Indonesia to pass a Climate Justice Bill, which would enshrine climate justice as a constitutional right and protect vulnerable communities through coordinate national policy.
Five crucial Earth systems near a tipping point: Report
Five of Earth’s vital systems are close to a point of irreversible change, warns a new report released by a global network of scientists ahead of the upcoming U.N. climate change conference in Brazil. The 2025 Global Tipping Points report updates a 2023 report to assess 25 Earth systems that human societies and economies depend […]
One after another, Pakistan endures successive climate disasters
- Pakistan contributes less than 1% to global carbon emissions, yet it is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
- In recent years, Pakistan has withstood multiple catastrophes, including floods and heat waves that have killed thousands and affected hundreds of millions of people.
- The country has faced both “compound” climate change effects, occurring simultaneously, and “sequential” climate change effects, in which one can intensify or trigger another.
- More research is needed on these phenomena in order for Pakistan — and other countries — to prepare for climate change effects.
What fuel will ships burn as they move toward net zero?
- Spurred largely by pending global regulations, the race is on to develop low- and zero-carbon fuels for ships and scale up their use.
- There are “bridge fuels” that could be used during a transition period or in a limited way for the long term, such as biofuels, and then there are options that are more sustainable at scale, such as green methanol and green ammonia.
- Experts continue to debate the pros and cons of green methanol and green ammonia, which are generally seen as the best options in the medium to long term.
- A net-zero framework for shipping that would drive the adoption of alternative fuels is coming up for a vote in mid-October at a meeting of the International Maritime Organization in London.
Climate change is messing with global wind speeds, impacting planetary health
- Climate change is affecting global wind patterns in multiple ways, many of which have direct implications for human health.
- Worsening sand and dust storms, wildfires intensified by record-setting winds, and increasingly severe hurricanes, derechos, short-lived convective storms, and other extreme weather events are impacting people’s lives, health and property around the world.
- Conversely, some studies suggest escalating climate change will contribute to global declines in average wind speed and intensify “wind droughts” in some locales, which could concentrate toxic atmospheric pollutants, intensify heat domes, and have implications for renewable energy systems.
- Alterations to Earth’s high-altitude jet stream is making it “wavier,” and more likely to stall in place, contributing to longer and more severe droughts and destructive storms. In polar regions, changes in wind and storm patterns are affecting ice melt, with potentially troubling consequences for global weather.
Conservation in a hotter world
- Protected areas designed for yesterday’s climate are losing relevance as species shift habitats, spurring calls for larger, connected, and “climate-smart” reserves that can accommodate ecological change
- Conservationists are adopting once-controversial strategies such as assisted colonization and rewilding to help ecosystems endure hotter, drier, and more chaotic conditions.
- The promise of sustainable livelihoods tied to static ecosystems is fading, and new models will depend on managing shifting resources and co-designing resilience with local communities.
- NOTE: Mongabay recently produced a series of articles and videos on this topic. This post recaps some of the key themes that emerged.
When does beaver reintroduction make sense?
- California has recently relocated beavers from spots where they were causing problems, like flooding, to tribal lands in Northern and Southern California.
- Many advocates say that relocating beavers to areas where they once existed brings back “ecosystem engineering” benefits to the landscapes they live in.
- But experts also caution that while beavers can help with fire resilience and improve water quality, they are only part of broader solutions to climate change and watershed restoration.
- Beaver advocates also note that learning to coexist peacefully with beavers is critical, both for the recovery of the species and for the ecosystem services they provide.
Global CO2 storage capacity may be drastically overstated, study finds
- The storage available for safe carbon storage could be far lower than current estimates, according to a new study.
- Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been touted as a viable method for drawing billions of tons of CO2 out of the air, typically securing it in rock formations deep underground.
- However, this new analysis suggests that many locations suitable for carbon storage may also pose risks, such as water contamination or earthquakes.
- That finding led the study authors to conclude that the “prudent” available storage is much less than has been estimated.
With global rules pending, can the shipping industry get more carbon efficient?
- The European Union and the International Maritime Organization have advanced shipping decarbonization regulations that will raise the price of maritime fuels.
- The push could lead to increased use of efficiency measures that reduce how much fuel vessels need in the first place.
- Such measures include everything from adding sails to ships to lubricating or redesigning hulls and optimizing routes or arrival times. These are cheaper and more immediately available than alternative fuels.
- Many associations and companies, particularly in Europe, are working to make efficiency gains as fast as possible.
Grassroots community seeds sorghum in eastern Indonesia to adapt to climate change
- In 2022, Ambrosia Ero and Hendrikus Bua Kilok joined forces in Lembata Island to boost locally grown food staples, including persuading a junior high school to plant a field of sorghum on the school estate.
- They helped establish a village organization, Gebetan, which began by documenting nutritious crops grown by past generations of Indigenous farmers on the island. They then conducted outreach to farmers on the resilience of sorghum to drought.
- The grass roots organization has won 84 million rupiah ($5,000) in funding to expand on this work with crops that are better able to withstand the increasingly adverse growing conditions in East Nusa Tenggara province owing to climate change.
No new record low for Arctic sea ice loss in 2025
- Arctic sea ice hit its 2025 summer minimum without setting a record low on Sept. 10, despite a historically low winter maximum earlier in the year.
- Scientists say sea ice loss has slowed over the past 20 years due to natural variability in atmospheric and ocean systems, counterbalancing the impacts from human-caused climate change.
- However, researchers warn that this slowdown likely offers only a temporary reprieve, and that the continued escalation of global warming could cause rapid sea ice loss before 2050.
- The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center for the first time switched to using Japanese sea ice data after losing access to key U.S. military satellite data, which had allowed for a continuous Arctic sea ice record since 1979.
Warming triggers unprecedented carbon loss from tropical soils, study finds
- Tropical forests exchange more CO2 with the atmosphere than any other terrestrial biome, meaning that even a relatively small shift in the balance of carbon uptake and release there could have a big impact on global climate. Despite this, research on tropical soil responses to warming has lagged behind.
- In a field experiment in Puerto Rico, researchers used infrared heaters to warm understory plants and topsoil by 4° Celsius. Warming significantly increased soil carbon emissions, but terrain also had a major impact: A warmed plot at the top of a slope showed an unprecedented 204% increase in CO2 emissions after one year.
- Carbon emissions from plots lower on the slope increased between 42% and 59% in response to warming — in line with the results from the only other long-term tropical soil warming experiment to date. However, the upper-slope response represents the largest change in any soil warming experiment conducted globally.
- The new study results add to a growing body of evidence that tropical soils are far more sensitive to warming than previously thought. If elevated tropical soil CO2 releases persist in the long term, it could have dire consequences for Earth’s climate. But the soil biome may adjust over time, so future effects remain unclear.
Beavers restored to tribal lands in California benefit ecosystems
- In 2023, California relocated beavers for the first time in more than seven decades.
- The state’s wildlife agency partnered with Native American tribes to move beavers from places where they were causing problems, such as flooding, to parts of their former range.
- The moves and the state’s broader beaver restoration program are the result of decades of advocacy to change an adversarial relationship to one focused on beaver conservation and the benefits beavers can provide, from increased fire resilience to more consistent water supplies.
- The change in mindset involved education and coexistence campaigns, as well as correcting long-held misconceptions about the limited extent of the beaver’s former range in California.
Indonesia’s giant Java seawall plan sparks criticism & calls for alternatives
- Indonesia has launched a massive new project on Java’s northern coast, framed as protection for millions of residents from worsening environmental threats.
- The plan has drawn sharp criticism from experts and activists who question its methods, costs and potential impact on vulnerable communities.
- Calls are growing for deeper public consultation and long-term solutions that go beyond quick fixes.
How climate change could affect production of the world’s favorite fruit, the banana
- Bananas make up one of the largest tropical fruit export chains, with 20 million metric tons of bananas exported annually; a whopping 100 billion bananas are eaten globally each year.
- According to a recent study, the area suitable for export banana production in Latin America and the Caribbean could be reduced by 60% due to climate change and other factors, such as population density and distance from ports.
- Research highlights that countries located in the Global South may find it more difficult to adapt to climate change than wealthier countries due to a lack of resources.
- Although the study focuses on large, intensive banana plantations, researchers say small farmers could also be affected by climate change; however, they may be more resilient to climate shocks because they often use a production system that values crop diversity.
Soil carbon: Crucial ally or potential threat to net-zero commitments?
- Earth’s top 2 meters (6 feet) of soil hold 2.5 trillion metric tons of carbon — more than is held in living vegetation and the atmosphere combined. But soil carbon sinks are under threat — global warming could trigger a positive feedback loop that seriously accelerates soil emissions, just as we take steps to decarbonize society.
- The effects of elevated temperature and atmospheric CO₂ on soil carbon have been factored into climate models. But those models don’t currently capture the true complexity of the soil carbon sink, in part because scientists don’t fully understand the mechanisms that influence soil carbon gains and losses.
- Major knowledge gaps urgently need to be addressed: How are long-term soil carbon stores protected from microbial consumption (and CO₂ release)? And how will global warming alter microbial communities, deep soil carbon, and the climate sensitivity of tropical soils (which store a third of global soil carbon)?
- Improved understanding of soil carbon dynamics could offer an opportunity to better manage agricultural and forest soils for carbon sequestration. With proper management, degraded soils could sequester a billion tons of additional carbon annually, making them a key ally in the fight against climate change.
How scientists unmask climate change’s role in extreme weather
How do scientists determine whether climate change is driving extreme weather events like the floods, heat waves and droughts that we’re experiencing today? To find out about the science of attribution, Mongabay’s Kristine Sabillo recently interviewed environmental statistician Clair Barnes of World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers that has been analyzing the […]
In Nepal, artificial ponds offer drought relief despite lingering doubts
- As Nepal’s plains face severe drought, communities are building artificial ponds to cope with water shortages for drinking, irrigation and other uses.
- The ponds are becoming popular as a “nature-based solution” with both local communities and the government supporting their construction.
- Scientific studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that these ponds are successful in raising groundwater levels as well as reducing negative human-wildlife interactions.
- However, experts warn of significant gaps in knowledge, noting that many ponds are poorly designed, unscientifically built or located in unsuitable areas.
Climate change tests the resilience of people and desert-adapted wildlife in Namibia
- Since Namibia’s independence in 1990, the country has become a model of wildlife recovery, and is now famed for its free-roaming herds of megafauna and emblematic national parks.
- A key to this recovery is the model of community-based natural resource management, which places much of the responsibility and benefits of wildlife conservation in the hands of rural communities, enabling people to earn income from small-scale hunting and tourism and thus motivating them to conserve wildlife.
- A recent 11-year dry spell has tested the resilience of the model and the people and natural systems that depend on it — but it also serves as an opportunity to build a more climate-resilient future for desert-adapted megafauna in habitats projected to become hotter and drier.
- Namibian conservation experts maintain that the key to wildlife survival is to cement their economic value in policies: if the people in the areas they roam can benefit from wildlife, they will stand a better chance in a more inhospitable future.
Deadly Nordic heat wave made 10 times worse by climate change: Study
A deadly heat wave in July that left people and wildlife struggling in Norway, Sweden and Finland was made at least 10 times more likely because of human-induced climate change, a rapid analysis has found. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global research network analyzing extreme weather events, said in their latest analysis […]
From counting trees to enhancing climate resiliency, Kampala focuses on its forests
- Recognized as a “Tree City of the World,” Uganda’s capital city of Kampala has set out on a journey to transform its urban forest into a resilient, native-rich landscape.
- What began as a response to falling trees has become a comprehensive environmental strategy tackling health, equity and climate change.
- Kampala has recently expanded its mission to increase green spaces to include biodiversity and connecting wildlife corridors throughout the city.
As climate change burdens grow, community mental health alarm bells ring
- People worldwide are struggling emotionally with the relentless escalation of the climate crisis, and reports show that climate change-related threats to mental health and well-being are increasing. But this story goes beyond statistics to look at the impacts on communities, families and individuals in the developing world.
- Stories presented here tell of anxiety, depression, anger and sadness in the face of large-scale changes to communities and personal lives, mostly due to factors out of people’s hands, which leave them feeling powerless. The problem is especially acute in poorer vulnerable communities lacking sufficient mental health services.
- The current global capacity to deal with a climate change-induced mental health emergency is inadequate, say experts who are calling for the prioritization of mental health support as an integral part of climate change interventions and mitigation.
- Some local stories offer hope. Examples show how caring, engaged communities and individuals, plus government support, can help create resilience and hope. Coping strategies include culturally sensitive interventions, mentorship, ongoing mental health assistance and honest recognition of humanity’s climate change plight.
World’s first industry-wide climate mandate could be launched with shipping vote
- Shipping could become the first industry governed by a global treaty that sets enforceable decarbonization standards.
- In October, more than 100 nations will gather at a meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London to potentially adopt a “net-zero framework” for the industry.
- In 2023, the IMO, a United Nations body that regulates shipping, developed a nonbinding strategy to decarbonize “by or around” 2050; the new framework would make that vision concrete and binding. Critics from small island developing states and environmental groups say the framework falls short of fulfilling the original vision.
- Some oil-exporting countries opposed the deal, arguing that alternative fuels are costly and unproven.
Deadly monsoon rains in Pakistan made worse by climate change: Study
Unusually heavy monsoon rains that killed more than 300 people across Pakistan since late June were made 15% more intense by human-caused climate change, according to a new analysis. The study, by the international initiative World Weather Attribution (WWA), analyzed rainfall from June 24 to July 3 using observational data and climate models. It found […]
Can rainwater-fed ponds revive Bangladesh’s hilly streams?
- Natural streams in Bangladesh’s southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts are drying up due to climate change and human activities.
- Rainwater harvesting in man-made ponds holds hopes for the revival of streams and could boost local biodiversity.
- The nature-based solution faces obstacles such as lack of resources and structural vulnerability.
- Experts suggest that co-management with the participation of local communities could bring good results to conserve such natural streams in the region.
When the sea takes over: Voices from a climate-displaced community in Mexico
TABASCO, Mexico — Flooding caused by rapid sea-level rise and increasingly intense storms has decimated the coastal town of El Bosque in Tabasco, Mexico. Between 2019 to June 2024, at least 70 homes in the community were destroyed by the sea. Most of its residents have been relocated to a site further inland by the […]
Indigenous leadership and science revive Panama’s degraded lands
Two Indigenous groups in Panama are collaborating with researchers in a long-term reforestation project that promises them income in return for growing native trees for carbon sequestration, Mongabay contributor Marlowe Starling reported in May. As part of the project, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) have partnered with the local leadership in the […]
Global warming is altering storms lightning, impacting tropical forests
- As climate change escalates, intense storms are becoming more common in the tropics and elsewhere, resulting in a variety of forest impacts. Those effects are generating concern among researchers over potentially diminished carbon storage and altered forest composition.
- Increasingly common short-lived convective tropical thunderstorms are a key driver of tree mortality, according to one recent study. Researchers estimate that a combination of high winds and lightning is a major, and often unrecognized, driver of tree death.
- Research suggests convective storms are increasing in the tropics; this could mean more tree death in some regions, such as Latin America. Conversely, there are conflicting data as to whether lightning may decrease or increase in the tropics under climate change, leading to uncertainty about future impacts.
- Beyond the tropics, changing lightning patterns in temperate and boreal forests are linked to increased, often large-scale wildfires that can release vast amounts of carbon dioxide and health-harming particulate matter into the atmosphere.
Reversing damage to the world’s mangrove forests
Mangroves are an important lifeline for biodiversity, climate and coastal communities. Yet they are disappearing 3-5 times faster than total global forest losses, according to UNESCO. On July 26, celebrated as the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, we present recent stories by Mongabay’s journalists on emerging threats to these critical ecosystems […]
Deadly landslide and flooding in Colombia and Venezuela linked to rapid urbanization
Heavy rainfall in Colombia and Venezuela caused deadly landslides and widespread flooding in June. A new analysis now points to rapid urbanization, deforestation, mining and overgrazing as having reduced the region’s climate resilience. “The rapid growth of population and informal settlements in areas prone to landslides, particularly in Colombia, puts people and infrastructure at risk,” […]
In a warming world, can California save its Joshua trees?
- Western Joshua trees in California are increasingly threatened by changing climate conditions, including rising heat, increasing drought, more frequent wildfires, and by expanding renewable energy and housing developments.
- Despite increasingly harsh conditions, adult Joshua trees are expected to remain common through the end of the century, but young trees will not survive across most of their current range, scientists warn.
- Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to protect eastern and western Joshua trees under the Endangered Species Act, California passed a state law to protect its western Joshua trees in 2023.
- Scientists warn that these trees need climate action to survive the century.
The world’s children suffer brunt of wildfire smoke health impacts
- Around 270,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from breathing wildfire smoke, with 99% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), according to scientists.
- Despite a lack of extensive research on how wildfire smoke affects children’s health, recent studies have found a range of physical and mental impacts, starting in utero and continuing through adolescence. This research offers valuable evidence of a worsening global public health crisis driven by climate change-intensified wildfires.
- Researchers emphasize that children are especially susceptible to harm from wildfire smoke due to their physiology and tendency to spend more time outdoors. Also, not all smoke is the same. Combustion of different materials, ranging from plants to plastics, creates a complex mix of pollutants whose health impacts vary.
- Health experts stress that while smoke crosses borders, protections often don’t. More global research, better monitoring and action are urgently needed to protect children and other vulnerable populations from wildfire smoke.
Study links surge in lightning disasters in Bangladesh to transboundary air pollution
- Air pollution — especially from transboundary dust and sulfate particles — is intensifying lightning activity in Bangladesh, particularly during the pre-monsoon season. Studies show that these pollutants, mostly coming in from northern and western India, alter cloud dynamics and increase lightning frequency.
- Bangladesh records the highest lightning-related death density in South Asia, with over 4,000 deaths since 2010. Vulnerable rural populations with limited infrastructure and outdoor labor during harvest seasons are victims of these fatalities.
- Experts urge Bangladesh to strengthen early warning systems, improve air quality monitoring, and reduce both domestic and cross-border pollution through coordinated policies targeting traffic emissions, industrial sources and open burning.
Suspicions surround international legal trade in Galápagos iguanas
- The mega-diverse Galápagos archipelago is home to more than 9,000 species, most of them endemic, including four species of threatened iguanas.
- A new study has uncovered how traffickers obtain valid CITES permits for trafficked animals — Galápagos iguanas in this case — and trade them legally, highlighting the role of national CITES authorities in enabling illegal wildlife trade.
- The study identifies a transnational trafficking network of Galápagos iguanas, with Uganda being a hub for the “legal” trade and raises questions on the origins of these animals.
- Conservationists urge all CITES parties to exercise caution when issuing future permits for endemic species and to consult with countries where they are native. They also recommend canceling all previously issued export permits for Galápagos iguanas and refraining from issuing future export permits.
Youth and women find success in taking climate cases to court
Citizens from around the world are increasingly holding governments and businesses accountable for their greenhouse gas emissions by filing lawsuits that frame climate change impacts as human rights violations, according to a recent episode of Mongabay’s Against All Odds video series. César Rodríguez-Garavito, chair of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New […]
UN rapporteur calls for ban on fossil fuel ads and criminalizing of disinformation
A United Nations expert is calling for an urgent shift away from fossil fuels by the global economy, including a ban on advertisements or promotions, and the criminalization of misinformation from the industry. Elisa Morgera, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and climate change, who presented her 23-page report at the U.N. Human Rights […]
Assisted colonization could be our ally in adapting to climate change, study suggests
- As climate change rapidly transforms ecosystems, it threatens to wipe out vital species, potentially leading to ecosystem collapse.
- Islands, to which many species from elsewhere can’t disperse naturally, are particularly vulnerable to these threats.
- In a recent study, scientists argue that assisted colonization, where species from neighboring regions are introduced to better cope with the changing climate, could help the forests of Great Britain adapt to the rapidly changing climate.
- Some conservationists say that assisted colonization is a proactive way of thinking about conservation in a changing world, rather than more reactive approaches such as species reintroductions.
104 companies linked to 20% of global environmental conflicts, study finds
A recent study has found that just 104 companies, mostly multinational corporations from high-income countries, are involved in a fifth of the more than 3,000 environmental conflicts it analyzed. The study examined 3,388 conflicts, involving 5,589 companies, recorded in the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas) as of October 2024. The atlas is the world’s […]
Communities and ecosystems in Venezuela learn to adapt to life after glaciers
- In 2023, La Corona, Venezuela’s last standing glacier in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida National Park, was reclassified as an ice field, having shrunk to the size of barely two football fields.
- The country is now the first tropical nation to lose all of its glaciers, which melted rapidly due to a combination of warming temperatures, reduced rainfall and ineffective policies since early signs of melting appeared in the late 19th century.
- As Venezuela’s symbolic glaciers began melting one after another, a team of researchers started studying not only their disappearance, but the emerging ecosystems that were taking over the formerly icy areas.
- With the ice gone, the city of Mérida, advertised for decades as the “city of eternal snow,” is now having to reinvent its identity and its tourism industry.
Fire is both destruction and rebirth for Maya communities of Belize
- Wildfires in 2024 heavily impacted the Maya communities of southern Belize, burning 43,987 hectares (108,695 acres), a staggering 10.2% of the region’s forest and farmland.
- Fire has always been a sacred element to the Maya people, central in ancestral Mother Earth celebrations and in the traditional practice of slash-and-burn. But it has now become a debated topic, after the 2024 wildfires, exacerbated by the climate crisis.
- The Julian Cho Society, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to the conservation of the Indigenous lands of southern Belize, is working for a rebirth: distributing 30,000 seedlings of ancestral trees to restore fire-scarred farms and implement agroforestry.
As ocean acidification ramps up, experts call for speedy ocean protection
- Scientists have known for decades that soaring atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions are causing changes in ocean chemistry, threatening marine life and ecosystems.
- In June 2025, a study found that ocean acidification has passed a safe threshold across large swathes of the world’s marine environment, not only near the sea surface, but also up to 200 meters (656 feet) deep. The effect is especially severe in polar regions.
- Ocean acidification is an added stressor to marine life already facing pressure from multiple threats connected to climate change (including marine heatwaves and reduced oxygen levels in seawater), along with other direct human impacts including pollution, overfishing and deep-sea mining.
- Carbon emissions need to be deeply slashed and ocean protections greatly enhanced to allow ecosystems time to adapt and one day recover, say experts.
Of mushrooms and mycelium: How fungi are powering eco-friendly solutions
Often hidden from view, fungi are a critical part of our ecosystems. Some can be eaten as mushrooms; others help trees and forests thrive. But that’s not all: they’re also helping us create low-cost, sustainable housing materials and additional income for farmers, says Gabriela D’Elia, director of the Fungal Diversity Survey and a fungi enthusiast, […]
Vatican-backed report calls for global debt relief amid climate crisis
A commission appointed by the late Pope Francis has released a new report highlighting the urgent need to address global debt, which has hindered sustainable development and climate action. The report was authored by the Jubilee Commission, which includes a group of 30 experts including Nobel laureate and U.S. economist Joseph Stiglitz, and Martín Guzmán, […]
When heat waves hit, clownfish shrink to survive, study finds
- Clown anemonefish (Amphiprion percula) have a surprising survival strategy: they shrink in length — not just lose weight — to survive marine heat waves and avoid social conflicts, boosting their heat wave survival odds by up to 78%, a new study finds.
- Researchers tracked 67 breeding pairs of clownfish in Papua New Guinea through a severe marine heat wave, measuring fish size repeatedly and finding that synchronized shrinking between mates helps maintain social hierarchies and improves survival chances.
- The study raises bigger questions about whether this shrink-to-survive mechanism is widespread among fish, potentially explaining global trends of shrinking fish sizes amid climate change, and calls for controlled lab experiments to uncover the physiological causes.
French Polynesia creates world’s largest marine protected area
French Polynesia has announced the creation of the world’s largest marine protected area. Speaking on the first day of the United Nations Ocean Conference in France, French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson said the MPA will cover the territory’s entire exclusive economic zone (EEZ), or 4.8 million square kilometers (roughly 1.9 million square miles). “We have […]
Climate futures: What’s ahead for our world beyond 1.5°C of warming?
- This two-part Mongabay mini-series examines the current status of the climate emergency, how the global community is likely to respond and what lies ahead for Earth systems and humanity as the planet almost inevitably warms beyond the crucial 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) goal established in the Paris Agreement 10 years ago.
- For global average temperatures to stabilize at less than 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, humanity likely needs to achieve 43% greenhouse gas emissions cuts by 2030. But progress on climate action has stagnated in recent years, global GHG emissions are yet to peak and our remaining carbon budget is dwindling.
- Above 1.5°C of warming, we risk passing critical tipping points in natural Earth systems, triggering self-perpetuating changes that could shift the planet out of the habitable zone for humanity and life as we know it. Even with rapid, large-scale action on climate change, crossing some tipping points may now be unavoidable.
- However, analysts have identified positive social, technological and economic tipping points we can nurture to decarbonize far more rapidly. These include the decreasing cost of renewable energy, the rise of circular economy principles to reduce waste in industry and a societal shift to more plant-based diets.
Record-breaking heat wave due to climate change hits Iceland & Greenland: Scientists
In May, both Iceland and Greenland experienced record-breaking heat. A new rapid analysis has found that the heat wave in both regions was made worse and more likely in today’s warmer climate. The analysis was conducted by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers that evaluates the role of climate change in extreme […]
Climate futures: World leaders’ failure to act is pushing Earth past 1.5°C
- This two-part Mongabay mini-series examines the current status of the climate emergency; how world leaders, scientists and the global community are responding; and what may lie ahead as the world warms beyond the crucial 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) limit established in the Paris Agreement 10 years ago.
- The unprecedented warming that began in 2023, continued through 2024 and extended into 2025 has caused surprise and alarm. Scientists still don’t fully understand the cause, but some fear it signals the global climate is transitioning into a new state of accelerated warming.
- 2024 was the first full calendar year to exceed 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. A recent projection finds it likely Earth will see a 20-year average warming of 1.5°C by as early as 2029, exceeding a key Paris accord goal and which could trigger self-perpetuating changes pushing Earth’s climate into a less habitable state.
- In January, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, signaling that the U.S. will not lead on climate action. To date, nearly all the world’s nations have fallen far short of what is needed to stay within 1.5°C. As countries submit new U.N. carbon commitments, some fear the U.S. reversal will ripple around the world.
Indonesian women sustain seaweed traditions in a changing climate
- The women of Indonesia’s Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan islands have harvested seaweed for generations.
- Climate change and tourism development now threaten seaweed cultivators’ centuries-old practices.
- In the face of these changes, seaweed cultivators are working with tourism operators and coral-conservation groups to preserve, and adapt, their traditional practices.
Real-world return on climate adaption investments wildly underestimated, report finds
- Since 2015’s Paris climate agreement, poor, climate-vulnerable nations have made a case for wealthy, industrialized nations (responsible for most climate change) to pay hundreds of billions for climate adaption and resilience. But while making big promises, actual funding by wealthy nations has repeatedly fallen far short of what’s needed.
- One possible reason: The real-world value of adaption and resilience projects has long been grossly underestimated due to incomplete data. A new study uses a novel methodology to put a comprehensive dollar value on such projects. It found that every $1 invested yields $10.50 in environmental and social benefits over a decade.
- Known as the “triple dividend of resilience,” this new methodology counts not only avoided climate change damages, but also economic gains (such as improved infrastructure and job creation) as well as broader environmental enhancements (improved public health and biodiversity protections, for example).
- It’s hoped this new analysis will offer policymakers and NGOs leverage at November’s COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, as they try to convince wealthy nations and financial institutions to unlock the many billions needed by vulnerable nations in adaption and resilience funding to weather escalating climate change impacts.
One-two punch for mangroves as seas rise and cyclones intensify
- More than half of mangroves worldwide may face high or severe risk by 2100 due to increased tropical cyclones and sea level rise, with experts predicting Southeast Asia to be hardest hit under all emissions scenarios.
- A new risk index combines multiple climate stressors — cyclones and sea level rise — with ecosystem service value, providing a novel, globally scalable tool for risk assessment and conservation planning.
- Mangrove loss has major human and economic costs, jeopardizing flood protection worth $65 billion annually and threatening 775 million people dependent on coastal ecosystems.
- Urgent, dynamic conservation and emissions cuts are essential; restoring degraded areas, enabling inland migration, and reducing emissions could significantly reduce risk and buy adaptation time.
Heavy rains inundate northeast India
Dozens of people are reported dead amid torrential rains over the past week in India’s northeastern region, local media reported. The most heavily affected states are Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. In Assam, more than 640,000 people have been affected as the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries overflowed beyond danger levels, flooding many areas. Around 40,000 […]
Hundreds die after flash floods tear through Nigerian market town
At least 200 people have been confirmed dead and 500 more remain missing after flash floods devastated a Nigerian market town, media reported. Torrential rain started early on May 29, and within just a few hours caused intense flooding in the town of Mokwa, Niger state, a major trading hub for northern farmers selling beans, […]
Is rising CO2 really bad for the world’s drylands? Mongabay podcast probes
Increased carbon dioxide emissions since industrialization have accelerated climate change, and its widespread negative impacts have been reported worldwide. But the rising concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are also making some parts of our planet greener in what’s called the CO2 fertilization effect. Some politicians claim this effect means more atmospheric CO2 is doing […]
Kim Stanley Robinson on how his novel ‘Ministry for the Future’ holds lessons for the present
Roughly five years since Kim Stanley Robinson’s groundbreaking climate fiction novel, The Ministry for the Future, hit shelves and The New York Times bestseller list, there’s little he says he’d change about the book, were it to be published again, he tells Mongabay’s podcast. The utopian novel set in a not-so-distant future depicts how humans […]
Urban forests in Niger’s schoolyards serve climate resilience and education
- Trees growing school yards in Niger’s two largest cities are helping to cool classrooms and illustrate the value of urban forests.
- A study of green spaces across 60 schools in Niamey and Maradi two cities found that trees in schools help mitigate extreme heat, a source of food and income, and enhance learning.
- School yards represent a form of protected area within cities, and the study’s author encourages municipal and educational authorities to integrate urban forestry into planning for school infrastructure.
Climate change now threatens thousands of species on Earth
- A new analysis of more than 70,000 wild animal species reveals that climate change now threatens thousands of to the planet’s wildlife, along with overexploitation and habitat degradation.
- The study found that nearly 5% of the assessed species are threatened by climate change, with ocean invertebrates being particularly vulnerable to climate change-related threats, such as extreme temperatures, floods, droughts, storms and ocean acidification.
- The study warns that some animal populations, both on land and at sea, have already begun to collapse due to climate change-related events, and it’s now necessary to monitor mass die-offs to understand the impacts of climate change and predict future impacts.
Republic of Congo’s gold mining boom undermines conservation efforts
The Republic of Congo has one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world, but “uncontrolled gold mining” in recent years could harm the country’s biodiversity, especially in the Sangha region, Mongabay’s Elodie Toto reported in a video published in February. Sangha, located in the country’s north, on the border with Cameroon and the Central […]
Even in intact Amazon forests, climate change affects bird populations: Study
- A recent study analyzed the behavior of birds that feed on insects in parts of the Amazon that have not yet been altered by human activity. Of the 29 species studied, 24 have gone through a reduction in population.
- The results point to climate change as the cause: Less rainfall and more severe droughts seem to be affecting the number of insects there, resulting in less food for the birds, which seem to be reacting by reproducing less in order to save energy.
- According to the study, an increase of just 1° C (1.8° F) in average dry season temperature in the Amazon would result in a 63% drop in the bird community’s average survival rate.
Lack of funds, cattle ranchers challenge Brazil’s sustainable farmers
In 2005, the Brazilian government created PDS Brasília, a sustainable settlement in the state of Pará. The settlement was designed to encourage 500 families to practice small-scale family farming, while also collectively using a standing forest to harvest its fruits and nuts, Mongabay’s Fernanda Wenzel reported in March. The 19,800-hectare (49,000-acre) settlement was created following the […]
Study offers new tool to compare environmental impacts of crops
In a recently published study, researchers offer a new tool to compare how different crops affect the environment in different regions. Named PLANTdex, the tool assesses the environmental impact of a crop by considering five key indicators — greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater biodiversity loss, marine biodiversity loss, land biodiversity loss, and water resource depletion — […]
Ground-level ozone wreaks havoc on warming planet
Ozone as a layer several kilometers up in the atmosphere protects living beings, including humans, from ultraviolet rays. But its accumulation at ground level can be very dangerous, Mongabay contributor Sean Mowbray explains in an article published in April. Ground-level, or tropospheric, ozone forms when methane, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds react […]
Report shows policy gaps in safeguarding the carbon rights of forest communities
- An absence of government legal and policy reforms is impacting the rights of Indigenous, Afro-descendant peoples and local communities associated with carbon programs in 33 countries, according to a recent report.
- More than half of the reviewed countries don’t have carbon trading regulations, and nearly half have no legal provision to recognize the communities’ right to free, prior and informed consent, the report found.
- It emphasizes safeguarding carbon rights to ensure the communities’ consent and rights over decision-making as countries prepare to comply with the Paris Agreement’s market mechanism for trading high-quality carbon credits.
- Although the voluntary carbon market is faring comparatively better in ensuring these rights, researchers say there still remains much to do in terms of addressing grievances and making sure people stay informed.
Solutions needed as climate change & land use fuel global crop pest menace
- Climate change is colliding with land use practices, deforestation and biodiversity loss to drive a rapidly growing threat of crop pests.
- Future warming of 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels (likely by the 2040s or 2050s, according to current projections) could see substantial losses of staple crop yields for wheat (an estimated 46% loss), rice (19%) and maize (31%) due to pest infestations, according to a recent paper.
- Temperate regions are likely to see the greatest increases in crop pests as warming creates conditions for migrating subtropical species to establish themselves in previously unhabitable areas.
- The authors underline the need for more pest monitoring, diversification of farmland crops and biotechnological solutions to meet this growing threat.
How to conserve species in a much hotter world
By 2075, we will be living on a planet that is much hotter, possibly 3-5° Celsius (5.4-9° Fahrenheit) hotter than the preindustrial average. But how can humanity help nature improve its climate resilience in the years to come? Mongabay’s Jeremy Hance found some answers after interviewing several conservationists. “In 50 years, it’s entirely possible that […]
England’s flooded farmlands offer habitat, carbon storage & storm protection
When aging infrastructure failed to protect coastal farmland in southwest England from sea level rise, conservationists chose to embrace the flooding and created a new wetland reserve. Mongabay’s Leo Plunkett and Sandy Watt report in a recent Mongabay video that the newly created marsh has brought a host of benefits to the region. The Steart […]
How did Finland lead the pursuit of a circular economy? Mongabay podcast explores
As the first nation to develop a circular economy road map in 2016, Finland has had a head start in trying to develop an economy that’s based on reusing and regenerating materials and products. A lot can be learned from Finland’s experience so far, including challenges and gaps, Mongabay’s Mike DiGirolamo found in an episode of […]
EV supply chain & transport need redesign, Mongabay podcast shows
Reducing transportation’s carbon footprint is not as easy as replacing internal combustion engine (ICE) cars with electric vehicles (EVs). Producing EVs and disposing their components have environmental and human rights impacts, which also need to be carefully considered and mitigated, Mongabay’s Mike DiGirolamo found in an episode of Mongabay Explores podcast in November. In this […]
Global warming hits hardest for those who can’t escape it
- The world’s most vulnerable people, including refugees, migrants and the poor, increasingly face threats related to climate change.
- Many lack the ability to move away from impacts like heat, flooding and landslides.
- A new study reveals a lack of data showing the causes of this involuntary immobility.
- Experts say governments and organizations can invest in low-cost interventions aimed at reducing suffering.
DRC’s Kinshasa could see deadly rain and floods every 2 years: Study
In early April, extreme rainfall and flooding in and around Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killed at least 33 people. Such catastrophic rainfall events are predicted to hit Kinshasa every two years in today’s warming climate, according to a new rapid study by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a network of […]
Nature on the move: How conservation must adapt to survive
Resilience means getting through something — tough, messy, with losses, but surviving. So said Andrew Whitworth, executive director of Osa Conservation in Costa Rica, summing up a growing shift in conservation thinking. As the planet hurtles toward a future 3-5° Celsius (5.4-9° Fahrenheit) warmer by 2075, holding the line is no longer enough. The goal […]
2 Mongabay podcasts shortlisted for 2025 Publisher Podcast Awards
Podcasts from Mongabay and Mongabay India have been shortlisted in two categories of the 2025 Publisher Podcast Awards. Media Voices, the weekly publication behind the award, announced the shortlist for the Publisher Podcast Awards last week. Episodes from Mongabay Explores, hosted by Mike DiGirolamo, and Mongabay India’s Wild Frequencies were both shortlisted in the “Best […]
In an ancient Javanese sultanate, coastal women battle climate fallout
- The coast of Demak district, the site of the first Islamic sultanate on the island of Java, has been inundated by the sea over decades owing to groundwater extraction and development.
- The erosion of human settlements is likely introducing new risks for women: “Our conclusion is that women and children, as well as poor families, including the elderly and disabled, are the most vulnerable,” a local legal aid nonprofit told Mongabay.
- Globally, around 90% of fish species are either fully exploited or overfished, and climate change is set to worsen the crisis by disrupting fish reproduction as oceans warm and acidify.
Diverse forests and forest rewilding offer resilience against climate change
- Recent studies from two long-running planted forest experiments in China and Panama find that increasing tree diversity in reforestation efforts can boost resilience in the face of climate change, among other benefits.
- Researchers elsewhere propose a “rewilding-inspired forestry” approach that aims to restore biodiversity, aid climate mitigation and bolster forest ecosystems — an approach that requires a significant shift from current forestry practices.
- However, scientists underline that while reforestation and forest rewilding can contribute to curbing climate change, they have their limits and must be combined with deep carbon emissions cuts and conservation of existing forests.
Heat wave scorches parts of India with record temperatures
Several cities across India saw temperatures top 40° Celsius, or 104° Fahrenheit, this past week, with some areas exceeding 46°C (114.8°F). Delhi experienced a heat wave for three consecutive days, recording its warmest April night in three years, with temperatures 5-6°C (9-10.8°F) above normal for the period. Many areas in the country’s northwest remain on […]
How is conservation preparing for a much hotter world? Experts share
- Fifty years from now, in 2075, the world will be considerably hotter, perhaps as much as 3-5° Celsius (4.5 to 9° Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.
- Experts say we need to focus on building greater resilience into ecosystems now to help species get through the next half century.
- We should be protecting large landscapes, including altitudinal gradients, according to experts.
- We should also be focusing on good management, community relations, rewilding and restoration.
Honduras pays the climate cost as its forests disappear and storms rise
- Despite its high vulnerability to extreme weather events, Honduras continues to clear its forests, seen as one of its best protections against climate change and intensifying storms and hurricanes.
- Between 1998 and 2017, Honduras was the world’s second-most affected country by climate change.
- The biggest driver of deforestation in Honduras is shifting agriculture, responsible for nearly three-quarters of all tree loss, with cattle ranching being a top culprit.
- International organizations focusing on climate adaptation and mitigation are urging the Honduran government to do more to prioritize long-term preparedness, with the country recently making progress in that direction.
Study delves into increase in humpback whale sightings in UK and Ireland
Earlier this year, U.K. media reported an increase in humpback whale sightings in British and Irish waters. Between December 2024 and January, The Guardian reported some 17 sightings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the Isles of Scilly in southwest England. Meanwhile, the nonprofit Sussex Dolphin Project reported more than 50 sightings from Sussex in […]
Innovators battling wildfires with AI, drones & fungi get $50k grants to scale up
To address the devastating effects of wildfires in Western North America, the nonprofit Conservation X Labs (CXL) and its partners have awarded $50,000 each to 12 shortlisted teams seeking to scale up novel technologies and processes to lower wildlife risk and increase ecosystem and community resilience. CXL announced the 12 finalists of its first Fire […]
Wildfires in South Korea kill at least 30 people
At least 30 people were killed and more than 48,000 hectares, or 119,000 acres, of land was burned in fires that raged over the last week of March in South Korea, media reported. According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, the fires started on March 21 and were accompanied by strong winds and dry weather. Local authorities […]
Australia’s environment minister sued for failure to act on threatened species
Australian conservation NGO The Wilderness Society has launched a court case against the country’s environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, alleging her failure to put in place formal recovery plans for a number of threatened species. The public interest legal organization Environmental Justice Australia recently announced that its lawyers are representing The Wilderness Society in the federal […]
In Pakistan, sea level rise & displacement follow fisherfolk wherever they go
- Rising sea levels are displacing fisherfolk in Pakistan’s coastal areas, forcing them to move to higher ground, such as Karachi, where they now face saltwater intrusion and other climate impacts.
- For many, this displacement is not just about losing homes, but also cultural heritage, traditions and livelihoods, with women, in particular, losing economic freedom as fishing communities decline.
- The Pakistani government lacks a formal policy for the voluntary migration of climate refugees, and while efforts like mangrove restoration have been attempted, they have not significantly alleviated the fishing community’s problems.
- Karachi is projected to receive 2.3 million climate migrants by 2050, primarily due to rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion, and other climate-related catastrophes.
Polar sea ice continues steep decline; but will a troubled world notice?
- Polar sea ice has reached record, and near-record, lows for this time of year, pushing the pace of global warming and alarming scientists. The just declared 2025 Arctic sea ice extent winter maximum is the lowest on record, at 14.33 million km² (5.53 million mi²). That’s 80,000 km² (31,000 mi²) below the previous low seen on March 7, 2017.
- The 2025 Antarctic sea ice extent summer minimum on March 1 tied for the second lowest on record, at 1.98 million km² (764,000 million mi²). The all time record Antarctic summer low was 1.79 million km² (691,000 million mi²) reached on February 21, 2023. Polar ice satellite records have been continuous since 1979.
- Sea ice loss is expected to continue its slide based on climate models, with scientists warning that the Arctic landscape is likely to be transformed beyond recognition within decades. Sweeping changes will devastate Indigenous polar communities, disrupt Arctic ecosystems, and ultimately lead to the demise of iconic polar wildlife.
- Inhospitable polar conditions continue challenging scientists’ ability to gather data and make precise polar forecasts vital for knowing our climate future. But it may be even more challenging to raise public awareness and political will to reduce carbon emissions and reverse polar ice loss before it passes dangerous tipping points.
Hotter weather threatens heart health, Australian study warns
Extreme heat is putting people in Australia at serious risk of heart problems and premature deaths, according to new research. As the climate warms, rising temperatures could more than double Australia’s burden of cardiovascular diseases by 2050, unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, and people take measures to adapt to the heat, researchers found. Cardiovascular […]
African forum on urban forests calls for greater access to green spaces
- Researchers policymakers, and civil society gathered at the African Urban Forest Forum in Johannesburg to discuss the role of urban forests in African cities.
- The forum centered on how trees can make cities more climate-resilient, providing more equitable access to green spaces, and finding sustainable financing strategy for urban forests.
- In a declaration at the end of the forum, participants called for greater collaboration to increase tree canopy cover in cities and address the combined challenges of rapid urbanisation, climate change and historical inequalities.
Africa’s last tropical glaciers are melting away along with local livelihoods
- Africa’s remaining tropical glaciers are rapidly disappearing as greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming.
- New maps published by Project Pressure show the Stanley Plateau glacier, in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains, lost nearly 30% of its surface area between 2020 and 2024.
- The Rwenzoris’ glaciers are a vital source of water for more than 5 million people living in the plains below the mountain range; they also have cultural significance.
- Project Pressure’s ongoing surveys, carried out in collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, are intended to provide local authorities with data needed to adapt to the loss of the glaciers and other impacts of climate change.
World Water Day: 3 stories of resistance and restoration from around the globe
More than 2 billion people around the world live without access to safe drinkable water, as rivers, groundwater, lakes and glaciers face continued threats of pollution and overexploitation due to urbanization, environmental destruction, and climate change. This World Water Day, Mongabay looks back at some of its coverage from 2024 on how local communities are […]
With climate change, cryosphere melt scales up as a threat to planetary health
- Earth’s cryosphere — comprised of ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost and snowfall — is in a rapid state of flux due to escalating climate change, with numerous studies underlining the grave risks posed by the thaw.
- Today, that worldwide meltdown poses new threats to human lives — endangering freshwater supplies and food security while increasing the risks of natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Cryosphere loss poses immense dangers to the environment, agriculture, economy and society according to a new report.
- If emissions continue unabated, these problems will only worsen. Scientists warn of compounding risks as cryosphere melt escalates, including sea level rise, the slowing of ocean currents, and the triggering of feedbacks that will add to climate change.
- 2025 is designated the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Experts are calling for drastic cuts to carbon emissions because each fraction of a degree of warming avoided counts toward the preservation of the cryosphere along with the ecosystem services that ice, snow and permafrost provide.
Housing affordability through sustainability? Mongabay podcast explores
Countries all over the world face huge deficits in affordable housing today. But pursuing a circular economy, or the practice of making a good’s life cycle less resource-intensive, can pave the way for less expensive and longer-lasting houses, Mongabay’s Mike DiGirolamo found in an episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast published last December. In the episode, DiGirolamo talks […]
Bleak future for Karoo succulents as desert expands in South Africa
- Recent population surveys show continued decline in two desert-adapted succulent tree aloe species, with conservationists fearing for the state of an understudied third species.
- A years-long drought has accelerated spreading dust-bowl conditions following decades of mining and heavy grazing, with grave consequences for endemic succulents.
- A conservation triage should prioritize cultivating at-risk species in nurseries and botanical gardens, many of which are unlikely to survive reintroduction into their natural habitats.
Australia faces inflation, agriculture losses after Cyclone Alfred
The Australian government has warned of impacts to the country’s economy in the wake of Cyclone Alfred that caused massive losses to infrastructure, agriculture and the dairy industries when it struck in late February. The horticultural industry was among the worst hit, with strong winds toppling and damaging hundreds of orchard trees, and floodwaters inundating […]
To save a Honduran reef, locals craft custom gear and hunt invasive lionfish
Without a natural predator, invasive lionfish, which damage coral reefs, have become widespread throughout the Caribbean over the last several decades. To prevent further harm off the northern coast of Honduras, locals have resorted to crafting their own spears to effectively and safely hunt lionfish, reports Mongabay contributor Fritz Pinnow. Julio San Martín Chicas, program […]
2024 was worst year for British bumblebees: Report
Bumblebee numbers in Great Britain declined by almost a quarter in 2024 compared with the 2010-23 average, making it the worst year for the genus Bombus since records began, according to the latest “BeeWalk” report. BeeWalk, run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, is an annual standardized monitoring program, in which volunteers and partner organizations record […]
A tale of two cities: What drove 2024’s Valencia and Porto Alegre floods?
- In 2024, catastrophic floods occurred in the cities of Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Valencia, Spain. These two record floods number among the thousands of extreme weather events that saw records for temperature, drought and deluge shattered across the globe. Such horrors have only continued in 2025, with the cataclysmic wildfires in Los Angeles.
- Scientists have clearly pegged these disasters to carbon emissions and intensifying climate change. But a closer look at Porto Alegre and Valencia shows that other causes contributed to the floods and droughts there, and elsewhere on the planet — problems requiring nuanced but Earth-wide changes in how people live and society develops.
- Researchers especially point to the drastic destabilization of the world’s water cycle, which is increasingly bringing far too little precipitation to many regions for far too long, only to suddenly switch to too much rain all at once — sometimes a year’s worth in a single day, as happened in Valencia when 445.5 mm (17.5 inches) fell in 24 hours.
- The problem isn’t only CO2 emissions, but also local deforestation and hardened urban infrastructure that promote flooding. But what may be seriously underestimated is how large-scale destruction of forest, marshland and other vegetation is dangerously altering rainfall patterns, a theory proposed decades ago by a little-known Spanish scientist.
Flash floods, blackouts and a ‘sharknado’ as Cyclone Alfred lashes Australia
Heavy rainfall and flooding damaged homes and vehicles in Australia, with locals even reporting shark sightings in inland canals. Cyclone Alfred formed over the Coral Sea on Feb. 22, NASA Earth Observatory reported. It intensified for a week offshore causing heavy rainfall along the coast even before making landfall in Australia on March 8. The […]
Dry season predictability and temperature drive dengue cases: Study
What’s new: Rising temperatures and variation in the length of dry seasons appear to influence the prevalence of dengue fever, according to a recent study conducted in the Philippines. What the study says: Cases of dengue fever are rising globally; in the Americas, they more than doubled from 4.6 million cases in 2023 to 10.6 […]
Collaboration, data and tracking move Africa’s Great Green Wall toward its goal
- After years of delays due to insufficient funding and prevailing conflicts, the Great Green Wall in the Sahel, aimed at preventing desertification, gained momentum with an accelerator program announced in 2021.
- As part of the accelerator, efforts are underway to address delays, improve monitoring progress of different projects that are part of the GGW initiative, track them by country, and evaluate their effectiveness, including building a new online database.
- GGW partners say they hope the harmonized monitoring and progress tracking can help sustain funding and realize the objectives of the ambitious initiative in the Sahel.
Vicuña poop creates biodiversity hotspots as glaciers retreat rapidly
- The vicuña, a wild relative of the llama, could help reestablish plants in barren areas where glaciers have melted, according to a recent study in the high Andes of Peru.
- As vicuñas tend to poop in the same places, they establish communal latrines where soils have much higher moisture, organic matter, nutrients and microorganisms than surrounding areas formerly covered by ice.
- Researchers say they believe these more nutrient-rich soil patches can speed up plant colonization by as much as a century and provide refuge for plant species moving uphill as temperatures increase.
- Peru is losing its glaciers at a worrying speed, with research pointing out that in the Central Andes, between 84% and 98% of their glaciers might disappear by 2050.
Researchers find two individuals of UK’s ‘loneliest bat’ species
For more than two decades, researchers knew of just a single, male individual of the greater mouse-eared bat that would repeatedly hibernate in an unused railway tunnel in Sussex, U.K. This male bat became known as the “loneliest soul in Britain” since he was without a companion. But researchers have now found that he isn’t […]
‘Helicopter tourism’ in the Himalayas affecting Sherpas, wildlife
A surge in “helicopter tourism” at Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Mount Everest, is adversely affecting the local community and wildlife, reports Mongabay contributor Shashwat Pant. Helicopters have previously only been used for medical emergencies or high-profile visitors at Sagarmatha. But with choppers now regularly transporting tourists to Sagarmatha’s base camp, their noise plagues the […]
Surge in rat numbers linked to climate warming, urbanization: Study
What’s new: Cities experiencing warmer temperatures, fewer green spaces and denser human populations are seeing a rise in rat numbers, a recent study shows. What the study says: Jonathan Richardson, a biology professor at the University of Richmond, U.S., and his colleagues wanted to check if anecdotal media claims about increasing urban rat (Rattus spp.) […]
January 2025 was warmest on record as climate change ‘overwhelms’ La Niña’s cooling
January 2025 was the warmest January on record, surpassing the previous record set by January 2024, according to satellite data from the EU’s Copernicus program. The findings were unexpected as ongoing La Niña conditions in the Pacific typically cool down global temperatures. The global average surface air temperature for the month reached 1.75° Celsius (3.15° […]
Australia reeling from floods in the north, bushfires in the south
Northeastern Australia, particularly the state of Queensland, has faced record-breaking rainfall of up to 2 meters, or 6.5 feet, since Feb. 1, reportedly leaving at least two people dead. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli called the damage “quite frankly incredible,” with the state experiencing nonstop rains, heavy flooding and power outages, BBC reported. He also called […]
Cyclone Elvis kills 5 in Madagascar as another storm approaches
Madagascar is bracing for Tropical Cyclone Faida to make landfall on its northern coast on Feb. 4, even as it deals with the aftermath of another recently dissipated storm, Elvis, that reportedly killed at least five people. Those killed during Elvis’s passage were involved in “lightning events” in Vohibato district in eastern Madagascar, according to […]
As global genetic diversity declines, conservation efforts offer some hope
Genetic diversity within many species is declining globally, according to a recently published study. “Any threat that reduces the size of a population, or which causes a larger population to become fragmented into two or more smaller populations, can cause a loss of genetic diversity,” lead researcher Catherine Grueber, from the Conservation Genetics Specialist Group […]
Native trees, local wildlife thrive under Philippine tribes’ ‘rainforestation’
“Rainforestation” projects led by Indigenous communities in the southern Philippines are reaping benefits for both native trees and local wildlife, reports Mongabay’s Keith Anthony Fabro. On the island of Mindanao lies Mount Kalatungan Range Natural Park, a protected area that’s two-thirds primary forest and is home to Manobo tribespeople. Since 2021, NAMAMAYUK, an Indigenous organization […]
African nations commit to electricity for 300 million people by 2030
The heads of 30 African nations have endorsed a plan to provide “reliable, affordable and sustainable” electricity to 300 million people across the continent over the next five years. The leaders signed the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration at the “Mission 300” energy summit held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this week. The mission was […]
Climate researcher fired for refusing air travel wins compensation
A climate researcher who was fired from his job for refusing to take a flight back from a work trip has been awarded compensation in court for unfair dismissal. Gianluca Grimalda has been reducing his air travel since 2010. But in 2023, his employer, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) in Germany, terminated […]
Explosive ‘bomb cyclone’ pummels Europe, hitting UK hardest
Back-to-back storms have ravaged the U.K. and neighboring Ireland and France, causing torrential rains, power outages and flooding the past several days and overall “wild weather,” the Associated Press reported. Storm Éowyn first struck the Britain and Ireland on Jan. 23, bringing with it heavy rains and strong winds, followed by Storm Herminia soon after. […]
Pilot-turned-climate activist Todd Smith finds other ways to fly
Todd Smith says he fell in love with planes after watching an air show at age 5. “And I just thought, well, they look like they’re having fun, and that’s what I want to do,” he tells host Rachel Donald on an episode of the Mongabay Newscast, a weekly podcast by Mongabay. Smith says he […]
Historic Arctic freeze for US South and record rain in Western Australia
The southern states of the U.S. are facing a winter storm this week that will bring heavy snow and ice to a region that rarely experiences such conditions. More than 220 million people are expected to be affected from Texas to South Carolina. Several states, including Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, have each already […]
‘Unusual’ and weak La Niña confirmed, offers cooling respite after record El Niño
It’s official: a weak La Niña came into fruition in late December and is expected, with significant uncertainty, to last until sometime between February and April, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. La Niña often brings wetter conditions to Southeast Asia and the Brazilian Amazon, while cooling global temperatures overall, potentially easing recent […]
1 in 4 freshwater species worldwide at risk of extinction: Study
The most extensive global assessment of freshwater animals to date has revealed that a quarter of all freshwater animal species on the IUCN Red List are threatened with extinction. The largest number of these threatened species are found in East Africa’s Lake Victoria, South America’s Lake Titicaca, Sri Lanka’s Wet Zone, and India’s Western Ghats […]
Global temperature in 2024 hits record 1.55°C over pre-industrial level
The year 2024 was the hottest on record, with an average temperature of 1.55° Celsius (2.79° Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial levels, surpassing the previous record set in 2023, according to six international data sets. Scientists caution that the data represent the average for the Earth’s year-round weather and don’t mean that the climate has exceeded […]
No respite for storm-hit Mayotte, southeast Africa as new cyclone bears down
At least three people were killed in Madagascar over the weekend as Tropical Cyclone Dikeledi brought heavy rainfall and flooding to the island on its way to the African mainland, news reports said. The French island territory of Mayotte, the archipelagic country of Comoros, and Mozambique were also affected by the storm. It came less than […]
World’s record heat is worsening air pollution and health in Global South
- 2024 was the hottest year on record, producing intense, long-lasting heat waves. Climate change-intensified extreme events last year included the formation of vast heat domes — areas of high pressure that stalled and persisted above continental land masses in Asia, Africa, South and North America, and Europe.
- Heat domes intensify unhealthy air pollution from vehicles, industry, wildfires and dust storms. When a heat wave gripped New Delhi, India, last summer, temperatures soared, resulting in unhealthy concentrations of ground-level ozone — pollutants especially unhealthy for outdoor workers.
- When climate change-driven heat, drought and record wildfires occurred in the Brazilian Amazon last year, the fires produced massive amounts of wood smoke containing dangerous levels of toxic particulates that cause respiratory disease. Indigenous people living in remote areas had little defense against the smoke.
- Intense heat also impacted Nigeria in 2024, where major dust storms and rising temperatures created conditions that helped increased cases of meningitis — a sometimes deadly disease, especially in poor areas. Escalating climate change is expected to exacerbate pollution and worsen public health in the future.
By razing trees for flood defenses, a Philippine city may have raised its risk
Flood-mitigation infrastructure built in the southern Philippines for more than $100 million by clearing native vegetation could exacerbate flood risk in the future, reports Mongabay’s Keith Anthony Fabro. In 2011, floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Washi, known locally as Sendong, killed more than 1,260 people in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and […]
At least 11,500 deaths linked to extreme weather in 2024
Extreme weather in 2024 affected around 18 in every 1,000 people across the globe, according to preliminary figures from the International Disaster Database. Mongabay has compiled the data into an interactive dashboard below. Intense droughts, floods, storms, heat waves and other climate-driven disasters claimed more than 11,500 lives and affected at least 148 million people […]
2024’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists and policy experts from nine international research and conservation institutions share their list of the top ocean news stories from 2024.
- Hopeful developments this past year include advancing innovations in mapping technologies, legal strategies and financial instruments to protect the ocean and greater inclusion of Indigenous peoples and coastal communities into high-level ocean planning.
- At the same time, 2024 was the hottest year on record as a result of climate change, surpassing 2023, and scientists declared the fourth global coral bleaching event, a major setback for the world’s coral reef ecosystems.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
How the Sahel junta is responding to climate change amid political isolation
- Torrential rains during the Sahel’s rainy season (July to September) caused widespread flooding, displacing millions and submerging tens of thousands of hectares of cropland across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan.
- Meanwhile, military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have disrupted governance and climate adaptation projects. Political isolation from Western nations has further hindered access to international climate finance, leaving communities struggling to cope with extreme weather events.
- Organizations like the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) emphasize empowering local communities through initiatives like Water User Associations and agroecology. These efforts focus on sustainable land and water management, leveraging local knowledge for resilience.
- Despite the Sahel’s potential for renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, political instability, weak governance and funding gaps have slowed progress.
Climate change forces Jakarta fishing families to marry off young daughters
Climate change is driving families on Indonesia’s northern Javanese coast toward child marriage as a survival strategy amid dwindling fish stocks and increasing economic hardships, two Mongabay reports show. Mongabay contributor Maulia Inka Vira Fendilla traveled to North Jakarta’s Kalibaru neighborhood in 2023 and met Janah and Jaroh, sisters who were both married off at […]
Electrochemical removal of ocean CO2 offers potential — and concerns
- Stripping seawater of carbon dioxide via electrochemical processes — thereby prompting oceans to draw down more greenhouse gas from the atmosphere — is a geoengineering approach under consideration for largescale CO2 removal. Several startups and existing companies are planning projects at various scales.
- Once removed from seawater, captured carbon dioxide can be stored geologically or used commercially by industry. Another electrochemical method returns alkaline seawater to the oceans, causing increased carbon dioxide absorption over time.
- In theory, these techniques could aid in carbon emission storage. But experts warn that as some companies rush to commercialize the tech and sell carbon credits, significant knowledge gaps remain, with potential ecological harm needing to be determined.
- Achieving the scale required to make a dent in climate change would require deploying huge numbers of electrochemical plants globally — a costly and environmentally risky scenario deemed unfeasible by some. One problem: the harm posed by scale-up isn’t easy to assess with modeling and small-scale projects.
Balochistan’s Gwadar city sits at the crossroads of climate and conflict
- A new study examines the links between conflict and climate in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, where extreme weather can be a threat multiplier.
- The port city of Gwadar serves as an example, as local residents have long had grievances against the state, which were exacerbated by recent flooding that killed several people and displaced hundreds.
- Experts highlight the absence of data-driven policies, citing a gap in research that has hindered solutions; they call for investment in data and the inclusion of local people in decision-making and infrastructure planning.
Thousands feared dead as Cyclone Chido devastates southeast Africa
Intense Tropical Cyclone Chido, which developed in the southwest Indian Ocean, left a trail of destruction in the French island territory Mayotte and nearby countries in southeast Africa like Mozambique, possibly leaving thousands dead and many more without homes and livelihood. “Cyclone Chido underwent rapid intensification before landfall in Mauritius, weakened slightly, and then regained […]
Scientists in Bali find what could be the world’s largest coral colony
When a massive coral colony was recently discovered in the Solomon Islands, it was believed to be the largest in the world. Then last week, scientists found an even bigger one in the waters off the Indonesian island of Bali. Coral restoration nonprofit Ocean Gardener announced that Indonesian marine biologists had measured a Galaxea astreata […]
Landmark ICJ climate change hearing concludes; opinion expected in 2025
The world’s top court has finished hearing its largest-ever climate change case. For the first time, 96 countries and 11 international organizations presented their cases before the U.N.’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) from Dec. 2-13, arguing about the obligations of major greenhouse gas-emitting nations in tackling climate change, and the legal frameworks that could […]
Climate change fuels African floods that hit harder in vulnerable regions
- Extreme rainfall and flooding across Sudan, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad this year led to thousands of deaths and millions of displacements, mirroring what occurred in the region in 2022.
- Research by World Weather Attribution shows that such extreme floods, linked to anthropogenic climate change, are likely to become more intense and frequent in the future.
- Existing conflicts, poverty, aging infrastructure and socioeconomic inequalities further exacerbate the exposure of vulnerable communities to extreme floods; local leaders and experts call for improved sanitation and urban development policies as well as adaptation strategies in preparation for future floods.
Philippines’ ‘extraordinary’ typhoon season was climate-fueled: Scientists
From late October to November this year, six consecutive tropical cyclones battered the Philippines, affecting 30 million people. Data analyses from two separate organizations now show they were intensified by human-induced climate change. International scientific collective World Weather Attribution (WWA) released a study on Dec. 12 showing that climate change has made conditions conducive to […]
Battering in U.K. & Ireland, deaths in Thailand & Malaysia as storms keep coming
Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity across the U.K. and Ireland after the onslaught of Storm Darragh this past weekend, local media reported. Darragh, which brought wind gusts of 154 kilometers per hour (96 miles per hour), is the fourth named storm of the 2024-25 European windstorm season, which runs from Sept. […]
World’s top court starts hearing historic climate change case
A group of small island nations led by Vanuatu is urging the world’s top court to hold the major greenhouse gas-emitting countries accountable for failing to tackle climate change. The case involves nearly 100 countries and is being heard by 15 judges at the U.N.’s International Court of Justice in the Netherlands. “These ICJ proceedings […]
Eastern U.S. floods could persist longer toward the end of the century
- Fifty years from now, floods in the eastern half of the United States will last longer as climate change creates warmer and wetter weather patterns, a new study suggests.
- Floods will last longest in the winter, the analysis predicts, marking a shift in damaging flood seasons.
- The trends underscore a need to renovate levees and dams, flood channels, and other infrastructure to protect residents and cities, researchers say.
For a storm-prone Philippine city, flood control is about more than infrastructure
A history of devastating tropical cyclones prompted the construction of flood-mitigation infrastructure in the Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro over the past decade. However, experts say the infrastructure alone won’t be sufficient to address the flood risks amid increasingly frequent and stronger storms due to climate change. Residents also highlight the loss of native […]
Storing CO2 in rock: Carbon mineralization holds climate promise but needs scale-up
- Carbon mineralization is a process by which gaseous carbon dioxide reacts chemically with certain rock types and transforms into solid carbonate minerals. This natural process is an essential part of the long carbon cycle, which has helped regulate Earth’s temperature for millions of years.
- Mimicking this natural process, subsurface mineralization is a human-induced carbon storage technology, with CO₂ injected directly into in-situ basalt, peridotite and other rock types to accelerate mineralization. In 2012, Iceland’s CarbFix project first demonstrated subsurface mineralization and has stored more than 100,000 metric tons of CO₂ since then.
- Proponents say the technology is safe, verifiable and offers rapid permanent CO₂ storage, giving this sequestration method advantages over other options such as reforestation (where forests can be cut or burn) or conventional geologic storage in sedimentary basins (which requires long-term monitoring for leaks).
- Interest in subsurface carbon mineralization is growing: expanding in Iceland, with test projects in the U.S. and Oman, and others recently announced. But investment in field pilots is needed, plus regulatory and policy support, for scale-up. Unlike other geoengineering methods, this technique seems to pose few environmental problems.
Climate funds barely reaching small-scale farmers, report finds
Farmers’ organizations globally are having difficulty accessing climate funds, according to a report published last month. Produced by Netherlands-based think tank Climate Focus on behalf of the Family Farmers for Climate Action, an alliance representing 50 million farmers globally, the report analyzed spending by two of the biggest U.N. funds offering finance for environment and […]
Killer whales have found new homes in the Arctic Ocean, potentially reshaping marine ecology
- The vast ice sheets that historically kept killer whales out of the Arctic Ocean are melting as the region rapidly warms.
- Two small, genetically distinct groups of killer whales now live in the Arctic, after migrating from more southern regions of the Atlantic Ocean.
- Killer whales put pressure on the local ecosystem, including Arctic whales important to Indigenous groups.
Land use change impacting seven planetary boundaries, solutions urgent, say scientists
- A new scientific report lays bare the stark impacts of land-system change and land degradation on planetary health, while also offering solutions to these problems. The report was published on the eve of the 16th session of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, running Dec. 2-13 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- Seven of nine planetary boundaries are now adversely impacted by unsustainable land use and other land practices, the report finds. Six of those boundaries are already transgressed, having moved beyond their safe operating space for humanity and into the high-risk zone.
- Scientists warn that the seriously degraded land use boundary, interacting with the other transgressed planetary boundaries, could result in a domino-effect that may rapidly push Earth systems past dangerous and irreversible tipping points, threatening life as we know it.
- Unsustainable agricultural practices are a leading driver of land use degradation globally, responsible for vast amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, the majority of deforestation and freshwater use. Urgent measures are needed to restore ecosystems, shift to sustainable agriculture, and prevent further degradation.
PNG climate migrants sail away with native trees to their new home
Residents of the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea are on a “green migration,” contributor Thibault Le Pivain reports for Mongabay. The islanders are leaving their homes due to food shortages resulting from environmental degradation and rising sea levels, and sailing to a larger island in the country, taking with them plants that play important […]
India, U.K. deal with storms that are ‘symptom of our changing climate’
India is bracing for intense rainfall over the next few days as a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal is set to intensify into what will be called Cyclone Fengal by Nov. 29, according to local media reports. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the cyclone is likely to pass near the coast of […]
With COP29 letdown, climate activists pin their hopes on Brazil
After the recently concluded COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan failed to raise the amount of funds sought by developing countries for climate initiatives, civil society groups are calling on Brazil, the next host for the conference in 2025, to step up and lead. “Rich countries have failed to honor their responsibilities, and shown up with […]
$125b in ‘climate finance’ funds polluting, rights-violating projects: Report
Multilateral development banks claim to have handed out a record $125 billion in “climate finance” in 2023. However, a recent report finds that some of the funds went to “problematic projects.” “The development banks’ climate finance figures should be read with great caution,” Petra Kjell Wright, campaigns manager at Recourse, a Netherlands-based nonprofit that published […]
Recent surge in methane emissions driven by microbes: Study
Emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas several times more potent than carbon dioxide, increased at record-high rates between 2020 and 2022. A new study suggests that rather than fossil fuels, microbes were responsible for this recent methane surge. Until the early 2000s, fossil fuel production drove much of the increase in atmospheric methane, study lead […]
Shipping emissions reduction sheds light on marine cloud geoengineering
- Unprecedented marine heat waves in the North Atlantic have been driven in part by a recent drop in shipping emissions, leading to a reduction in highly reflective marine clouds that had previously masked some of the warming from humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, studies find.
- New limits on sulfur dioxide emissions from shipping, introduced by the International Maritime Organization in 2020, created an inadvertent “natural experiment” that is helping to improve models of the interaction between atmospheric aerosols, clouds and climate.
- The sulfur dioxide emissions reduction also provides the clearest test to date of marine cloud brightening (MCB) — a controversial geoengineering approach proposed to mitigate climate change. It shows that to be effective and avoid a dangerous termination shock, MCB would need to be continuous and sustained.
- Reducing atmospheric aerosol pollution has major benefits for human health, but will also inevitably lead to an unmasking of more dangerous climate warming. This means that improvements in air quality must simultaneously be coupled with decarbonization, experts say.
Shorebird populations drop globally, some by a third: Report
Sixteen shorebird species have been reclassified to higher threat categories as the global population of migratory shorebirds across the world saw a substantial decline, according to the latest update to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Conservation partnership BirdLife International, which helps examine the status of the world’s birds for the IUCN Red List, […]
How the oceans fared at the COP16 biodiversity conference in Colombia
- The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) took place in Cali, Colombia, from Oct. 21 to Nov. 2.
- Several oceans-related decisions, as well as the formal inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities in negotiations going forward, were bright spots at the summit, observers said.
- A key development for the ocean was the agreement, culminating eight years of negotiations, on a protocol for identifying unique areas of the high seas, the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that are international waters, for protection.
- Other important developments included the announcement of new marine protected areas and new funding for ocean conservation.
Forest fires outside tropics drove 60% CO2 surge since 2001: Study
Global carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have soared by 60% since 2001, driven largely by the burning of forests outside the tropics, according to a new study. There are now, in fact, more emissions from forests located in higher northern latitudes compared to tropical forests, the researchers found. In some areas, such as the […]
Mountain highland bats lack data, face climate threats: Study
Bats in mountainous regions are facing more threats and lack of data compared with their lowland counterparts, a recent study showed. Lead author Rohit Chakravarty in an interview with Mongabay said there is much to be learned about bats dwelling in mountains, which are known to host one-third of the world’s biodiversity and half of […]
Mining drove 1.4m hectares of forest loss in last 2 decades: Report
Global mining activity is increasingly destroying forests, including protected areas, according to a recent analysis. Between 2001 and 2020, nearly 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of tree cover, an area a third the size of Denmark, was lost from mining-related activity, the analysis from the World Resources Institute (WRI) found. The associated greenhouse gas […]
At least 146 dead in back-to-back tropical cyclones in Philippines
Two tropical cyclones recently struck the Philippines one after the other, leaving at least 146 people dead, according to government reports. The country first felt the peak intensity of Severe Tropical Storm Trami (local name Kristine) on Oct. 24. The storm maintained sustained winds of up to 95 kilometers per hour (59 miles per hour) […]
Population crash means African penguins are now critically endangered
Africa’s only resident penguin species is now officially critically endangered, according to a recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Over the past century, the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) has suffered precipitous declines in its population. In the mid-1950s, there were an estimated 141,000 breeding pairs of African penguins, or 282,000 […]
Karachi expected to receive 2.3 million climate migrants by 2050: Report
A new study finds that Karachi — Pakistan’s most populous city, home to more than 20 million people — could get an influx of 2.3 million climate migrants by 2050. According to a recent report, only Dhaka, Bangladesh, is expected to receive more migrants. If the world fails to meet the Paris Agreement target to […]
Calls for caution as enhanced rock weathering shows carbon capture promise
- Natural rock weathering is a fundamental part of Earth’s carbon cycle but occurs over thousands of years. Enhancing this cycle by spreading fine volcanic rock on agricultural land is a form of geoengineering that could speed up this process and permanently lock away carbon dioxide within decades.
- Startups and research programs are underway across the globe to explore the effectiveness and risks of this climate solution. Spreading rocks such as basalt can sequester carbon and benefit soils, with some studies showing crop yield increases.
- If scaled up, enhanced rock weathering could store gigaton levels of carbon in the future, according to early research. But myriad challenges and uncertainties remain, not least of which is how to accurately calculate and verify how much carbon is being stored, and for how long.
- Some companies are already pushing ahead with deployment, with the idea of profiting from carbon credits, but experts caution that long-term studies are needed to ensure the technique’s efficacy, sustainability and environmental safety.
Women-led groups remain ‘severely underfunded’ for climate action: Report
Women-led Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local community grassroots organizations struggle to access global funding to fight climate change impacts due to structural barriers and stereotypes, a recent report shows. Total government aid, or official development assistance (ODA), for NGOs and women’s rights organizations declined from $891 million between 2019-2020 to $631 million between 2021-2022, according to […]
Six months after its worst floods, Rio Grande do Sul works to bounce back
- A combination of wet El Niño weather and human-induced climate change were key drivers of the worst flooding event in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state earlier this year.
- The flooding affected 90% of the state and displaced more than half a million people.
- Poor land management is also responsible for the region’s vulnerability to floods, as current agricultural practices in the highlands favor runoff and reduce the soil’s ability to soak up water, with lowlands particularly exposed to high waters.
- While some scientists are still deciphering the causes and behavior of the floodwaters, other experts are working to rehabilitate farmland, tackle soil erosion, and source native seeds for ecological restoration.
‘Treat us as partners, central actors’: Interview with Indigenous activist Joan Carling
- Joan Carling recently became the first Indigenous Filipino to win the Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Carling called for the recognition of Indigenous peoples as partners and central actors in conservation and climate action.
- Carling said the push for development projects, the transition to renewable energy, and “fortress conservation” have resulted in criminalization and human rights violations.
- Instead, she said, governments should recognize Indigenous land rights and incorporate traditional knowledge in conservation efforts.
As 25 Earth vital signs worsen, scientists warn of ‘irreversible climate disaster’
- Earth is inching closer to irreversible climate change according to a recent report by an international group of climate researchers and Earth System scientists.
- Tracking 35 planetary vital signs — used to gauge Earth’s response to human activities — researchers found 25 are at record risk levels, including greenhouse gas concentrations, fossil fuel consumption, rising temperatures, forest loss, and biodiversity decline.
- The authors underline the immediate need for wide-ranging climate action to rein in fossil fuel use and control emissions, alongside other measures to stave off a deepening climate crisis. “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” they wrote.
Climate change is turning Antarctica green, but not in a good way: study
What’s new: A recent study reveals that the icy Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica, has experienced a nearly twelve-fold increase in plant cover over the last 35 years. The greening, driven primarily by the spread of mosses, has accelerated notably since 2016, researchers found. “The landscape is still almost entirely dominated by […]
Drought & climate change force Ethiopia pastoralists to go job hunting
- A severe drought, worsened by climate change, is driving pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Somali region to abandon traditional herding lifestyles in favor of urban labor, leading to significant shifts in their livelihoods.
- Many pastoralists are forced to seek alternative livelihoods in farming, construction and trade, which require new skills and adaptation to urban life.
- Former pastoralists express emotional ties to their traditional way of life and struggle with the demands of new jobs, reflecting the broader impacts of climate change on their identities and futures.
- A land and agriculture expert says nature-based solutions provide an opportunity to help pastoralists adapt to droughts, while government programs are focused on technical support and helping pastoralists achieve alternative livelihoods.
Controversial US marine geoengineering test delayed until next year
- The first-ever field test of ocean alkalinity enhancement in the United States was pushed back to 2025 due to shipping issues. But the geoengineering experiment has also run into public opposition from local environmentalists, commercial fishers and others.
- The test would dump sodium hydroxide (commonly called lye) off the New England coast to study its dispersal as a potential tool for sequestering CO₂.
- Opponents allege this small-scale geoengineering test could harm local wildlife, but researchers say the material will disperse within minutes.
- The scientists say they will also continue to reach out to local communities to alleviate fears over the study.
The Amazon is ablaze again. What it means for us (commentary)
- The Amazon rainforest, devastated by over 70,000 wildfires in 2019, is once again ablaze, threatening even greater destruction of wildlife, human health, and ecosystems.
- Climate change is now a tangible global threat, with rising sea levels and extreme heat affecting entire regions, while indigenous communities, like the Kogi in Colombia, have long warned of these environmental dangers, argues Mark J. Plotkin, an ethnobotanist who co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team.
- The Amazon, which stores one-fifth of the world’s terrestrial carbon, plays a crucial role in regulating global climate, but continued deforestation risks releasing this carbon and disrupting weather patterns far beyond the region.
- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.
Arctic sea ice hits summer minimum; Antarctic hovers at new winter lows
- The Antarctic winter sea ice maximum is on track to be the second lowest on record, at 17.15 million square km² (6.62 million mi²), close to the 2023 record low of 16.96 million km² (6.55 million mi²). Some scientists see this as anomalous. Others see it as a shift in the southern polar environment, maybe triggered by climate change.
- The Arctic summer sea ice minimum also stayed low this year, at 4.28 million km² (1.65 million mi²), making it the 7th lowest minimum in the satellite record. So far, 2012 saw the record minimum of 3.41 million km² (1.32 million mi²).
- Polar sea ice losses have global impacts. In one analysis, researchers estimated the planetary cooling effects of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice during 2016-2023 were about 20% and 12% less, respectively, than they were during 1980-1988, leading to almost 15% less cooling power for the planet.
- With about 12% declines of Arctic Ocean ice each decade, researchers predict a nearly ice-free Arctic summer by 2050, allowing more shipping through the Northwest Passage but threatening this unique polar ecosystem. Studies also show the Antarctic ice sheet to be increasingly at risk, particularly Western Antarctica.
Inaugural Planetary Health Check finds ocean acidification on the brink
- A first of its kind Planetary Health Check by an international team of scientists indicates that six of nine planetary boundaries are not only transgressed, but are moving further into zones of risk. In addition, recent research shows that a seventh boundary, ocean acidification, is on the verge of transgression.
- Intensifying ocean acidification spells problems for marine life, fisheries and economies. Based on current human CO₂ emission trajectories, this boundary may be breached in a few years, say experts. Others argue this threshold may already have been crossed, with regional acidification above safe limits.
- Together, the nine planetary boundaries identify limits within which Earth systems can operate safely to maintain the planet’s habitability. Transgressing boundaries heightens risks of breaching tipping points that would bring about irreversible shifts to the planet, threatening humanity and life as we know it.
- This inaugural Planetary Health Check is the first of yearly scheduled reports on the wellbeing of Earth systems. Annual reports are now needed due to humanity’s rapid crossing of planetary boundaries, and due to the urgency of providing up to date scientific data to policymakers.
Climate change could threaten newly described ‘shiny’ North American bees
- A recent study examining North American bee species belonging to the Lasioglossum genus has led to the describing of three previously unknown bee species from specimens collected from California, Arizona and Baja California.
- Due to their distinct metallic sheen, one was designated as Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) iridescens, while another was named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) dilisena, derived from Sinhala, the majority-spoken language in Sri Lanka, with the word dilisena translating to “shining.”
- The third species is named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) silveirai as a tribute to the late Fernando Silveira of the Federal University of Minas Gerais for his significant contribution to bee taxonomy.
- The newly described species are predominantly found in high-elevation areas in California, where climate change poses a significant threat, so scientists emphasize the importance of further research on their ecology and distribution.
Amazon River and tributaries at record low levels
The Amazon Rainforest’s main rivers are drying out due to an unprecedented drought exacerbated by climate change. Levels have continued to drop since Mongabay’s Sept 9. feature by Fernanda Wenzel. Major rivers such as the Madeira and Negro continue to beat record lows, disrupting life for Indigenous communities and raising concerns about economic and environmental […]
Bangkok turns to urban forests to beat worsening floods
- Bangkok is launching city forests to help beat flooding by soaking up excess rainwater runoff.
- A new park slated to open in December will feature 4,500 trees, a floodplain and a weir to slow the flow of water; another newly opened $20 million city forest acts as a sponge during the monsoon season.
- Bangkok is sinking, and fast: according to the World Bank, 40% of the Thai capital could be flooded by 2030.
- The key to solving the city’s flooding problem is to learn to live with water, not to rid the city of water, says one landscape architect helping to launch the urban forests.
Bats & bees help ni-Vanuatu predict storms — but will climate change interfere?
- In disaster-prone Vanuatu, Indigenous ni-Vanuatu people traditionally rely on plants and animal species as indicators that predict extreme weather events and help them prepare.
- But climate change is affecting weather patterns, and species’ behavior may impact the accuracy of this knowledge and predictions, elders say.
- Government, national organizations and scientists launched a national booklet and a mobile app to both document these traditional knowledge indicators and assess how climate change is impacting their accuracy.
- Researchers use a citizen science approach that encourages youth and community people’s hands-on participation in documenting species and changes.
Study finds Amazon fires nearly 30 times likelier due to climate change
Climate change is turning the humid rainforest of the western Amazon into an ecosystem nearly 30 times more prone to fire, according to the 2023-2024 State of Wildfires report. The study shows that between March 2023 and February 2024, rising temperatures, reduced rainfall, drier air and less resilient forests set up the region for a […]
Record drought in Yucatán prompts revival of ancient Maya rain ceremony
- Maya farmers in Yucatán, Mexico, have rekindled a pre-Hispanic ceremony that calls for rain from the god Cháak as the state suffers its worst drought in 50 years.
- The extended dry season has prevented local farmers from generating sufficient harvests to provide enough food to sustain Indigenous people from remote regions.
- In early May, the Yucatán Peninsula experienced a record high temperature of 43.7°C (110.7°F) after an already year-long drought.
- Pollution from industrial pig farms and monocrop plantations is contaminating groundwater systems and cenotes, considered sacred by the Maya and relied upon to supply farms in rural communities.
Will we be ready? Geoengineering policy lags far behind pace of climate change
- The history of geoengineering policymaking has been piecemeal over past decades, with U.N. bodies failing to create or implement rigorous binding international regulatory frameworks for geoengineering management, and with academia and think tanks delivering reports and recommendations that offer little definitive detailed regulatory guidance.
- Now, as climate change impacts intensify, the debate over what safe, effective national and international geoengineering policies should look like has intensified among academics, regulatory and advisory bodies and researchers.
- Meanwhile, scientists continue trying to find out if geoengineering (the deliberate altering of global atmospheric or oceanic conditions), can help cool off a dangerously warming planet without triggering harmful effects.
- Some warn geoengineering is too risky and want field research stopped. Others say research is urgently needed so decision-makers can understand geoengineering options and risks, so as to make informed choices. For now, few definitive road signs exist to guide policymaking.
Severe droughts isolate Amazon communities, study finds
The rivers of the Amazon Basin serve as highways for much of the region. Boats are often the easiest and quickest way to get goods and services in and out of remote communities and large cities alike. However, the Amazon Basin has experienced several severe droughts over the last 20 years, which have caused river […]
Fires devastate critical refuge for hyacinth macaws
Recent fires in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands have burned through nearly 80% of a refuge that serves as critical habitat for the iconic hyacinth macaw, according to media reports. The striking, cobalt-blue hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) is the largest parrot species in the world, reaching up to 1 meter (3.3 feet) in length from tail tip […]
Arctic melt ponds influence sea ice extent each summer — but how much?
- July marks the midpoint of the summer sea ice melt season, during which ice declines rapidly under the almost constant Arctic sun, and melt ponds form on ice floes. Scientists study melt ponds to better understand sea ice dynamics and to help forecast the annual sea ice minimum in September.
- Sea ice melt ponds absorb more solar energy than bare ice or snow but far less than open ocean, which complicates the story of summer sea ice melt. But in the past, scientists lacked the tools to accurately measure melt pond impacts.
- New remote sensing data look at sea ice from different satellite resolutions. High-resolution imaging sends a clear picture of melt ponds in a very small area, while low-resolution imaging produces a fuzzy picture of them across the entire Arctic.
- A combination of satellite data and on-the-ice observations now help scientists track the evolution of sea ice melt ponds and their influence on the overall decline of sea ice in the Arctic.
Climate change threatens public health, raising the spread of food-borne diseases
- A new study finds that climate change is affecting the distribution and spread of food-borne diseases.
- An increase in the number and severity of heatwaves, droughts, and heavy precipitation events are all expected to lead to a rise in food-borne diseases, hitting Africa and Asia particularly hard.
- Investing in research and innovation can provide valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms of climate change-pathogen interactions and novel solutions for mitigating effects.
- For example, the Cameroon National Climate Observatory, ONACC, already provides national sectors, such as agriculture, livestock, and health with forecast climate information translated into local languages to facilitate monitoring in the context of global warming.
As waterbodies lose oxygen, are we breaching a potential planetary boundary?
- A new perspective piece argues that aquatic deoxygenation — the depletion of oxygen in marine and freshwater environments — should be considered its own “boundary” in the planetary boundary framework first proposed by scientists in 2009. Human-caused nitrogen pollution and climate change have greatly worsened aquatic deoxygenation worldwide.
- The planetary boundary framework defines nine natural biophysical and biochemical system processes that maintain the resilience of the Earth system, allowing life to thrive. But each boundary includes limits within which humanity needs to safely operate.
- The paper’s lead author says that increased scientific understanding of dissolved oxygen in marine and freshwater environments shows that it regulates, and is regulated by many of the other planetary processes, which in turn warrants the inclusion of aquatic deoxygenation in the planetary boundary framework.
- The framework is a rapidly evolving theory. Whether aquatic deoxygenation is already indirectly taken into account by the existing framework, as some argue, or whether it should be considered as its own planetary boundary remains to be determined.
Cloud brightening over oceans may stave off climate change, but with risk
- Marine cloud brightening (MCB), the spraying of sea salt aerosols or other fine particles into clouds to artificially brighten them and increase the sun’s reflectivity, is a proposed strategy to ward off the full effects of climate change.
- However, this solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering technique is highly controversial, and experts say governance of MCB field experiments and deployment is needed now at the national and international levels.
- Ongoing efforts to include marine cloud brightening under an international anti-marine pollution treaty, the London Protocol, could be one effective route to setting standards for research and field experiments.
- But if MCB is deployed on a large scale, some experts say there is the potential for serious negative effects on the global climate system. These impacts could be especially severe if deployment is uncontrolled and lacks science-based governance.
South Africa adopts a new climate change law
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed into law a new climate change act, the first of its kind for the country. The legislation aims to both reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change already baked into the global system. The new law aims to set […]
Uttarakhand villagers thirst for water as tourism, temps & development rise
- An influx of tourists and new residents to Uttarakhand, driven by heat waves and work-from-home options, is straining local resources, particularly water.
- Nearly 12,000 natural springs reportedly have dried up in recent years, with 90% of Uttarakhand’s population depending on these vital water sources.
- Widespread construction for tourism disrupts aquifers and natural water percolation, exacerbating water scarcity and affecting water quality; water sources are further threatened by changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures.
- Local residents, especially women and marginalized communities, face increased hardships in accessing water amid growing allegations of water diversion by hotels.
Climate change could return a stolen lake to Indigenous people, a century later
- Semá:th Xhotsa, or Sumas Lake, in Canada was the center of First Nations’ food system and culture, before European colonists drained it in 1924 to create farmland.
- Almost 100 years later, catastrophic flooding threatens to refill the lake and displace the farmers.
- First Nations people and university researchers have proposed restoring the lake ecosystem to adapt to climate change-driven flooding, and as a method of reparation, but the local government is pushing back.
China is latest country to oppose EU regulation to track deforestation
In a recent development, China has opposed the European Union’s landmark regulation to prevent deforestation-linked commodities from entering the EU market. This update comes from GD Holz, the German timber trade association. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is designed to ensure that forest-related products that are sold in the EU market are deforestation-free. That is, […]
As climate change shakes up global map of venomous snakes, health risks abound
- Researchers assessed the impacts of climate change on 209 species of venomous snakes from now until 2070, and concluded that while some may disappear from their range, others are likely to expand to new areas.
- Venomous snakes are among the most dangerous animals on the planet, responsible for at least 80,000 deaths a year, mostly in low-income countries with limited access to antivenom.
- Another impact on public health is the reduction in drug development: snake venom has great pharmacological potential, contributing to the production of medicines used to treat illnesses ranging from cancer to heart failure.
- Ecosystems will also face an imbalance as new species move in and existing ones go extinct, since snakes play a critical role in controlling the population of other animals such as rodents, which are also disease vectors.
Geoengineering gains momentum, but governance is lacking, critics say
- As the climate crisis advances, geoengineering — intentionally modifying Earth systems on a large scale to cool the planet or store additional carbon — is increasingly a hot topic. But an intense debate is raging as to how to govern research and deployment of these deeply contentious strategies.
- Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) — involving the release of sunlight-blocking particles such as sulfur dioxide into the lower atmosphere to block the sun’s rays — is at the forefront of a range of geoengineering technologies and approaches.
- Most SAI research to date involves modeling, while small-scale experimentation is foundering. SAI, though likely capable of cooling Earth’s climate, comes laden with governance challenges, myriad uncertainties and knock-on effects to the climate, ecosystems and human health.
- Projected deployment within a decade or two is cause for concern, say experts who warn that policy guidance and regulatory mechanisms at the national and international levels are now patchy at best, leaving huge gaps in oversight, transparency and monitoring of field research and potential deployment.
Cerrado’s current drought impossible without human-caused climate change: Study
- Since early 2000s, Brazil’s Cerrado has been suffering severe drought episodes, with water shortages affecting hydroelectric power, agriculture and water access. Its water supply has also been under pressure from encroaching agriculture and deforestation.
- Analysis of 700 years of climate data indicated an unprecedented drying trend that started around the 1970s, which experts say was made possible by human-induced warming, and not by climate’s natural variability.
- Researchers collected data from stalagmites in one cave in the state of Minas Gerais and built a climate record for the Cerrado.
Scientists are racing to save South Asia’s butterflies from the threat of extinction
- Butterflies are some of Bangladesh’s most prolific pollinators and important ecosystem indicators.
- Insects, including butterflies, are especially vulnerable to climate change and other human-caused ecosystem changes.
- Despite the increasing threat of extinction, few legal protections or conservation initiatives focus on preserving butterflies and other insects.
- South Asian scientists are engaging communities in citizen science to garner attention to often-overlooked butterfly species.
Biomass power grows in Japan despite new understanding of climate risks
- New biomass power plants continue to come online in Japan, requiring an ever-greater quantity of imported fuel. The government’s feed-in tariff scheme, which has been tweaked but not canceled, incentivized these projects.
- Although understanding of forest biomass’s negative environmental and climate impacts is growing in Japan, policy advocates say operators of existing biomass power plants need to pay back construction bank loans, and the government’s refusal to admit its mistake is keeping biomass plants running.
- A major biomass fuel type is wood pellets, which in Japan is presently primarily sourced from plantation forests in Vietnam and primary forests in British Columbia, Canada. While BC ecologists have spoken out against wood pellets, and found allies in Vietnam, the biomass issue has proved challenging for Japan’s forest advocates.
- Though historically a small source of wood pellets for Japan, the growing popularity in Indonesia of pellets for both export and domestic use risks tropical forests there being cleared to make way for biomass energy plantations, NGOs warn.
Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate
- As tropical forests are degraded and decline at increasing rates the world over, the fate of these forests’ largest trees remains unknown.
- Big trees store a huge amount of carbon, so assessing their current mortality rates and causes of death (especially due to escalating climate change) is vital to calculating how much tropical forest carbon sinks could decline in the future.
- The Gigante project, getting started in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2024, is initiating an innovative new protocol utilizing detailed drone surveys combined with ground truthing to evaluate tropical big tree mortality.
- The project has begun an identical survey in Panama and will conduct others in Malaysia, Cameroon and at another Amazon location. Knowledge of how tropical big trees are faring could help improve climate model accuracy. A Mongabay reporting team joined the Gigante project in Brazil at the start of this groundbreaking work.
In sub-Saharan Africa, ‘forgotten’ foods could boost climate resilience, nutrition
- A 2023 study was recently awarded the Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for its work identifying “forgotten” food crops in sub-Saharan Africa that may be more resilient to climate change than the region’s current staple crops of maize, rice, cassava and yams.
- The study found that West Africa and Central Africa would experience the largest decrease in suitability for current staple crops by 2070, and that maize was the most vulnerable of the staples.
- In addition to identifying 52 food crops that will likely be better-suited to the region’s future climate — and which have more nutritional value than staple crops — these researchers have already succeeded in introducing some of the overlooked crops to local communities.
Don’t even study it: Geoengineering research hits societal roadblocks
- As climate change accelerates, some scientists are calling for more field research into solar geoengineering concepts. However, these ideas are running into opposition from other researchers, some governments and the public.
- A series of recent setbacks has put solar geoengineering research on the back foot, attempting to figure out a way to navigate the opposition.
- Proponents of field research say it would help humanity better understand the potential and problems with solar geoengineering, while opponents argue that there are too many risks and it could take our eye off the ball: cutting carbon emissions.
- The debate has spilled into the international arena, pitting nations that support greater research against those that would like to see a solar geoengineering non-use agreement.
Sun block: The promise and peril of solar geoengineering
- Recent research and interest, especially from the U.S. government, has pushed a solar geoengineering idea known as SAI, or stratospheric aerosol injection, to the top of lists of potential ideas to cool the planet. SAI would use fleets of high-flying aircraft to disperse sunlight-reflecting particles, including sulfates, into the stratosphere.
- As climate change worsens and carbon emissions continue to rise, researchers say we must be ready with other potential tools to stave off total catastrophe, such as the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with sea-level rise that would drown coastal cities.
- But critics say any geoengineering is too unpredictable and could allow governments to lower their ambitions on cutting emissions. They also argue that there’s no global governance policy to implement geoengineering justly.
- As debate intensifies, however, some feel it’s only a matter of time, given the current and projected trajectory of warming, until the world seriously considers geoengineering deployment.
Africa’s great ape sanctuaries are feeling the heat from climate change
- While a growing body of research highlights the impacts of climate change on wild apes, sanctuaries caring for apes are also feeling the impacts of a warming world.
- Sanctuaries across Africa are affected by changing weather patterns, including both droughts and floods, increasing the challenges of caring for resident apes.
- Extreme weather also increases the likelihood of human-wildlife conflict in conservation areas, and makes daily life more difficult for sanctuary staff and their families and communities.
Climate surprises: Amazonia and the lessons of Brazil’s catastrophic flood in Rio Grande do Sul (commentary)
- Brazil’s catastrophic flood in the state of Rio Grande do Sul is helping to raise public awareness of climate change but has had no visible effect on the Brazilian government’s actions and plans on greenhouse gas emissions. The flood provides an example of “climate surprises,” which are expected to increase further in frequency and severity with projected global warming.
- Amazonia has already been the victim of a series of such surprises, and these threaten the Amazon forest with collapse and the consequent pushing of global warming beyond a point of no return.
- Except for the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, the rest of Brazil’s presidential administration is on the wrong side of the issue, expanding fossil fuel extraction and promoting deforestation in various ways. An immediate turnaround is needed.
- This is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
As the world burns, can we learn to live with wildfire health risks?
- Climate change is driving or contributing to increased risk of extreme wildfires in many parts of the world, and experts say urgent action on climate change is needed.
- Finding ways to better manage land use can help reduce the likelihood and severity of wildfires: In landscapes where fire is natural, experts say we should bring back historic fire regimes through cultural burning and prescribed burns.
- Experts say more needs to be done to protect vulnerable populations from wildfire smoke, such as those with preexisting medical conditions, pregnant women, children and seniors, who may be impacted even thousands of miles from a fire’s source.
- Smoke prediction apps, early-warning systems and air filtration systems can help people reduce smoke exposure.
The health impacts of escalating megafires are everyone’s problem
- Increases in extreme wildfires in many parts of the world are fueling concerns over the impacts of smoke on human health, with global warming, forest management and land-use change the primary drivers of increasing wildfires.
- Similar to other types of air pollution, wildfire smoke is associated with a wide range of short-term health impacts, especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and people with preexisting medical conditions.
- Wildfire smoke is increasingly adding to the cumulative air pollution burden experienced by modern industrial societies — even in remote or rural areas.
- Emerging evidence also suggests wildfire smoke may have long-term health impacts and contribute to increased risk of chronic conditions.
Pantanal’s intense blazes stoke fears of another destructive fire season
- The fire season has started early in the Brazilian Pantanal, amid concerns the biome might see another catastrophic fire season like in 2020.
- The first 23 days of June alone saw more than 2,100 hotspots recorded, the highest figure by far for the month, and more than 627,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) burnt.
- The Pantanal is going through a severe drought, which, coupled with climate- and human-driven disruption of its usual ebb and flow of water, has left the biome drier and more vulnerable to fires, experts say.
- Although authorities are better prepared to fight the fires than in the past, civil society organizations say they worry the response is insufficient in the face of a new, more extreme reality.
Activists blame policy failures over climate change for Nepal Terai’s water crisis
- Deforestation and unregulated extraction of resources in the youngest and most fragile of the Himalayan ranges have disrupted groundwater recharge and increased soil erosion, contributing to the current water crisis.
- Activists criticize the government for blaming global climate change to deflect from local accountability and for neglecting Chure’s conservation while focusing on Himalayan snowmelt.
- Despite conservation efforts, government plans to export construction materials from Chure continue, risking further environmental damage and criminal influence.
Living under the apartheid of Brazil’s soybean capital
- Brazil produces more soybeans than any other nation, and the city of Sorriso, Mato Grosso, leads this production, which drove the municipal per capita GDP from 27,000 reais to 132,000 reais ($15,800 to more than $25,000) in the last 10 years.
- The highway running through town helps illustrate the contrast between gated communities of luxury homes along one side and precarious homes where agricultural workers and family farmers live amid vulnerable social situations on the other.
- Family farmers struggle to keep producing amid land disputes and clouds of pesticides that destroy their crops, ruin honey production and raise cancer rates — which are twice as high in Sorriso than the state average.
- Lives are also lost to organized crime in Sorriso, the municipality with the sixth-highest murder rate in the nation, and also to agribusiness itself, with dozens dead after becoming engulfed in soybean silos.
Women in Sierra Leone unite after devastating floods
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – In this episode of Mongabay Sessions, Romi Castagnino, Mongabay’s associate video producer, interviews documentary director Ibrahim S. Miles Kamara about his impactful film, Freetown Floodfighters: Women’s Resilience on the Frontline. This documentary highlights the efforts of community groups led by women to build resilience against climate change-induced floods in Freetown, Sierra […]
Indigenous Alaskans drive research in a melting arctic
- In Utqiagvik, Alaska, the Iñupiat rely on whaling and subsistence hunting for the bulk of their diet, a practice dating back thousands of years.
- Powered by mineral wealth, the Iñupiat-run North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management employs a collaborative team of scientists and hunters.
- Though the arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, the Iñupiat are confident in their ability to adapt their practices to changing conditions.
- The Department of Wildlife Management provides a potential model for collaborations between Indigenous peoples and western researchers — with Indigenous leaders in charge of funding and resource allocation.
‘Non-market’ solutions to deforestation need more support, advocates say
- In a report released May 29, three environmental groups called for a shift away from carbon markets and toward “non-market” solutions to deforestation.
- The Paris Agreement has a clause calling for such solutions, which the groups said could include financing for Indigenous groups, payment for ecosystem services, and debt relief.
- The report criticized carbon markets, saying incentives for brokers and project developers are misaligned with global environmental priorities.
Marshallese worries span decades — first nuclear tests, now sea-level rise
- The Marshall Islands were the site of numerous U.S. nuclear tests in the 1950s that displaced communities and altered their way of life.
- Locals across the islands and atolls are now at risk of evacuation and losing more of their ties to the land if sea-level rise continues at its current rate.
- For many Marshallese elders, their connection to the land is deeply rooted in their mind, body and soul: It is an integral part of their identity and culture.
- Elders talk about their concerns for the future and explain their intimate connection to their land.
Polar warning: Warming temperatures mean more than melted ice
- The Arctic and Antarctic are changing rapidly in response to global warming, with scientists striving to understand how escalating impacts on these unique regions impact the rest of the world. This story summarizes three significant recent studies.
- A new comprehensive greenhouse gas budget for Arctic terrestrial ecosystems estimates that the permafrost-covered region now emits more greenhouse gases — including carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) — than it stores. That trend is expected to accelerate if Arctic warming worsens further.
- Another recent study looked at the ice shelves edging the Antarctic continent, which act as brakes slowing the flow of glacial ice into the ocean that adds to sea-level rise. Although many factors impact the mass and stability of these shelves, a new model shows El Niño warming events help melt ice from below to increase shelf loss.
- Scientists also analyzed a record-breaking heat wave hitting Antarctica in March 2022, when temperatures soared by up to 40°C (72°F) above normal. They determined that this “black swan” event is having long-term impacts on the region’s ecosystems. The odds are that more such high-heat events will occur in future.
In Brazil’s Cerrado, aquifers are losing more water than they can replace
- A new monitoring model combining satellite images with artificial intelligence can identify variations in the volume of Brazilian aquifers.
- The Urucuia, one of the largest aquifers in the Cerrado biome, saw its water volume decrease by 31 cubic kilometers (7.43 cubic miles) over two decades; most of it is in western Bahia, where monoculture plantations are gaining ground.
- According to researchers, Brazil’s groundwaters—which cover 2.84 million square kilometers (1 million square miles) — remain “an unknown resource,” and few tools exist to monitor them.
Are carbon credits another resource-for-cash grab? Interview with Alondra Cerdes Morales & Samuel Nguiffo
- Indigenous and traditional communities around the world are increasingly being recognized for their stewardship of forests.
- That’s led to their lands being seen as prime targets for carbon credit projects, the idea being that the carbon sequestered here can be sold to offset emissions elsewhere.
- While some Indigenous communities have welcomed these projects and the funds they bring in, others say they’re just another example of the monetization of natural resources that’s driving the climate crisis in the first place.
- Mongabay interviewed two leading Indigenous voices on both sides of the debate, who say the issue is a deeply nuanced one that carries implications for Indigenous land rights, culture and sustainability.
Report ranks 60+ ideas, including geoengineering, to save the Arctic
- Given that the serious impacts of climate change are rapidly escalating, some scientists, backed up increasingly by governments, are looking into extreme measures such as geoengineering to slow the rate of change.
- A new report examines 61 climate mitigation ideas for the Arctic, including geoengineering.
- The report ranked tried and true measures, like restoring peatlands, the highest, but some geoengineering ideas, such as solar geoengineering, also ranked high.
- Researchers say, however, that while geoengineering ideas may be worth studying, the goal right now must be to aggressively cut emissions. Some also fear that geoengineering will become a costly distraction, diverting attention from the need for fossil fuel companies to cut production, and for decarbonization of the economy.
Amid ravaging wildfires in Venezuela, experts cite institutional collapse
- Since the start of the year, Venezuela has been experiencing record-breaking fires. Apart from the highest number of fires in any January and February for the last two decades, wildfires continued all the way to early May, devastating national parks and affecting the capital of Caracas.
- Some experts say that in 2024 so far, up to 2 million hectares (4.94 million acres) of land appear to have already burned.
- Higher temperatures, drought and the fact that Venezuela lacks fire-tolerating plants have been contributing to more intense fires, which have been made worse by the country’s institutional failures.
- Experts say that a lack of adequate institutions, a collapse of public services and an absence of planning and monitoring strategies have resulted in Venezuela being unable to handle the wildfires.
Bangladeshi farmers find zucchini’s high yields & low costs palatable
- Though long considered “foreign” to Bangladeshi farmers, zucchini squash is now cultivated among growers who value its high productivity, lower production cost and short growing time.
- Farmers living in dry regions and river islands prefer to cultivate this vegetable, where watering the plant is an issue.
- Bangladesh Agricultural Extensions expects more zucchini squash cultivation in the coming days based on farmers’ enthusiasm and growing local demand in the market.
From polling stations to weather stations, the heat is on in India (commentary)
- Parts of India are facing a heatwave, for which the heat in the state of Kerala is a curtain raiser. Kerala experienced its first recorded heatwave amid the ongoing election campaign.
- Heatwaves, droughts and floods do not distinguish along political lines. If the destruction is across board, the mitigating action also has to be across political lines, writes Mongabay-India’s Managing Editor, S. Gopikrishna Warrier, in this commentary.
- Climate change poses economic, social and political challenges, influencing election discourse and policy agendas.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Rocky rollout for Bangladesh’s ambitious solar-powered irrigation plans
- Nearly half of irrigation costs in Bangladesh are due to irrigation, and the diesel pumps that currently power irrigation networks are responsible for 1.6% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
- To address both issues, the government is rolling out a nationwide program to gradually replace these diesel pumps with solar-powered ones, aiming to slash irrigation-related emissions by 0.8 million metric tons by 2030.
- It also says that given that irrigation use is concentrated in the non-monsoon months, the surplus energy generated by the pumps the rest of the time can be fed into the grid, providing up to 480 gigawatt-hours of clean energy a year.
- In pilot programs, however, farmers have expressed concern over the reliability of the solar pump systems, especially for water-intensive crops such as rice and corn, and have also noted that their irrigation costs remain the same.
Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters
- Many of India’s more than 4 million fishers are sailing beyond the country’s exclusive economic zone into the high seas in search of a better catch.
- Rising sea surface temperatures, overfishing near the shore, and the destruction of reefs have decimated nearshore fisheries, forcing India’s fishers farther out to sea where they face greater risk.
- A common danger they run is straying into the waters of another country, which can lead to their boats being seized and the crew being jailed or even killed.
- The Indian government has issued policies to protect and recover nearshore fish stocks, even as it encourages fishing in the high seas.
Uttarakhand limits agricultural land sales amid protests & tourism development
- Following widespread protests, Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has issued orders to district magistrates to deny permission to sell agricultural lands to those outside the state.
- With just 14% of its land designated for agriculture and more than 65% of the population relying on agriculture, calls for legislation to safeguard residents’ land rights have intensified.
- With a lack of comprehensive, updated land records, monitoring the usage of farmlands for nonagricultural purposes has become challenging.
- Lack of employment opportunities and resources as well as shifting weather patterns and climate change have pushed numerous farmers to sell their land holdings.
Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- The 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) took place in Athens from April 15-17.
- Government, NGO and philanthropic delegates made 469 new commitments worth more than $11.3 billion to help protect the oceans, which was lower than in previous years.
- While some conference hosts and attendees celebrated the many successes of the OOC, there was also a shared concern that decision-makers aren’t moving fast enough to secure a sustainable future for the global ocean.
In largest ever study, Indigenous and local communities report the impacts of climate change
- Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study.
- The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in precipitation, plant cultivation and marine ecosystems.
- Existing measures to track climate change impacts are barely able to relate to the diverse and complex ways in which local people experience and observe environmental changes, according to the authors. For instance, instrumental measurements might capture changes in rainfall patterns but miss crucial relationships between climate change awareness, sensitivity and vulnerability.
- This research constitutes the largest global effort by Indigenous peoples and local communities to compile and categorize local observations of climate change and its impacts.
Faced with an extreme future, one Colombian island struggles to rebuild
- In 2020, Hurricane Iota destroyed most of the housing and infrastructure on the Island of Providencia, in Colombia’s Caribbean archipelago of San Andres.
- Although the government sent aid and rebuilt homes, communities complained they were left out of the consultation process and that the reconstruction had been poorly done, without addressing the island’s increased vulnerability to climate change.
- Locals sued the government, obtaining a reopening of consultations, which the new left-wing government has agreed must reach a solution that accords with the islanders’ traditional customs.
- More than 700 islands in the Caribbean could be increasingly exposed to more extreme weather, as climate change threatens to make events such as hurricanes more destructive.
Rainwater reserves a tenuous lifeline for Sumatran community amid punishing dry season
- Kuala Selat village lies on the coast of Indragiri Hilir district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
- In the first half of the year, residents of the village arrange buckets and drums to collect rainwater to meet their daily needs.
- They will then stockpile water to last through the dry months from June-September, but a longer dry spell has led to an acute shortage of water.
- Residents say they believe the water crisis in the village was linked to bouts of diarrhea, and that many fled the village during an outbreak.
Enviva bankruptcy fallout ripples through biomass industry, U.S. and EU
- In March, Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer for industrial energy, declared bankruptcy. That cataclysmic collapse triggered a rush of political and economic maneuvering in the U.S. (a key wood pellet producing nation), and in Europe (a primary industrial biomass energy user in converted coal plants).
- While Enviva publicly claims it will survive the bankruptcy, a whistleblower in touch with sources inside the company says it will continue failing to meet its wood pellet contract obligations, and that its production facilities — plagued by chronic systemic manufacturing problems — will continue underperforming.
- Enviva and the forestry industry appear now to be lobbying the Biden administration, hoping to tap into millions in renewable energy credits under the Inflation Reduction Act — a move environmentalists are resisting. In March, federal officials made a fact-finding trip to an Enviva facility and local communities who say the firm is a major polluter.
- Meanwhile, some EU nations are scrambling to find new sources of wood pellets to meet their sustainable energy pledges under the Paris agreement. The UK’s Drax, an Enviva pellet user (and also a major pellet producer), is positioning itself to greatly increase its pellet production in the U.S. South and maybe benefit from IRA subsidies.
We need rapid response support for Indigenous peoples in the face of growing extreme weather events (commentary)
- Climate change can sometimes feel distant and intangible, but the increasingly frequent extreme weather events in tropical forest regions like the Amazon and Congo Basin are already having very real-world impacts on Indigenous and other local communities in these areas.
- While Indigenous and grassroots organizations are often the first responders and are best placed to know the needs of their communities, they face huge challenges in accessing heavily bureaucratic disaster response funding.
- This is why we are calling for the establishment of a dedicated fit-for-purpose rapid response fund for them to be able to respond and recover from such events.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
‘Another catastrophe’: Flooding destroys Indigenous agroforestry projects in Peru’s Amazon
- Heavy rains likely caused by El Niño began flooding Peru’s Ene River at the beginning of March, with waters reaching around 2 feet high and spreading across 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of land occupied by around 300 Indigenous Asháninka families.
- Families in five Asháninka communities lost their homes as well as years of work on successful and sustainable agroforestry projects for cacao, coffee and timber, among other products.
- The flood waters have only recently receded, so a long-term or even mid-term plan for recovering their agroforestry projects hasn’t been developed yet.
- The Asháninka have faced many other setbacks over the years, from drug trafficking groups to unsustainable development projects, but have often overcome them to defend their territory. This flood marks the latest setback.
UN probes controversial forest carbon agreement in Malaysian Borneo
- The government of Sabah state in Malaysian Borneo will continue to move forward with an opaque nature conservation agreement despite concerns raised by the United Nations.
- In a letter, the U.N. calls in question the transparency of the agreement and the state’s approach to the human rights law principle of free, prior and informed consent.
- The agreement was signed by state officials and a representative of a Singaporean company in 2021. Shortly after news of the deal became public, some Indigenous groups in the state said they hadn’t been consulted or informed about the deal covering 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of the state’s forests.
- The U.N. letter was written by a group of “special procedures experts” with mandates established by the U.N. Human Rights Council, including the special rapporteurs on the rights of Indigenous peoples, on human rights and the environment, and on the right to development.
Rising temperatures threaten the tiny animals responsible for groundwater quality
- A new study compared temperatures inside 12 caves around the world with their respective surfaces, showing that average annual temperatures in underground systems tend to mirror those of the surface, but with far less variation.
- The researchers also found that while some caves follow outdoor temperatures with little or no delay, others have temperatures that are very asynchronous with the surface, being at their warmest when the world outside is at its coldest, and vice versa.
- Scientists also detected the existence of daily thermal cycles in the deepest sections of some caves, suggesting that such cycles might mark the circadian rhythms of cave-adapted organisms.
- The results indicate that underground fauna — with many species ill-adapted to handle large temperature variations — might be at threat due to climate change, and that their extinction might risk the water quality of aquifers worldwide.
Brazilian youngsters discuss how they are tackling the climate emergency
- Affected by drought, pollution, high waters and floods, young people from different Brazilian states describe how climate change is impacting their routines and causing illness, malnutrition, displacement and school disruption.
- According to a UNICEF report, 2 billion children and adolescents in the world are exposed to risks arising from the climate emergency; in Brazil, there are 40 million affected children and adolescents — 60% of Brazilians under 18.
- According to experts, the climate crisis is a crisis of the rights of children and adolescents, as it affects everything from the right to decent housing and health care to education and food, leading to problems in child development and learning abilities.
Climate change brews trouble for tea industry, but circular solutions await
- In its many varieties, tea is renowned as one of the world’s most consumed beverages, second only to water.
- Like many other agricultural crops, tea production impacts the environment: Production in tropical countries is implicated in deforestation, pollution and impacts on fragile biodiversity.
- Climate change imperils the tea industry, threatening to reduce yields and hammer millions of smallholder farmers who derive their livelihood from the crop.
- Experts say circular solutions can help build resilience in tea production against climate change, while at the same time lessening its environmental impact.
Big problems for little animals when floodwaters rise, study finds
- Increasingly frequent and severe weather events are testing the resilience of both human and animal communities across Africa; Cyclone Idai, which made landfall in Mozambique in 2019, caused massive flooding that killed more than 1,600 people.
- Researchers studying the aftermath of Idai in Gorongosa National Park found many smaller-bodied animals in low-lying areas drowned or starved before forage recovered from the severe flooding that followed the cyclone.
- Larger animals were able to both reach higher ground ahead of rising waters and adapt to reduced availability of food in the long months it took for the floodplain to dry out and recover.
- The study is a rare example of close monitoring of animals before, during and after an extreme weather event, and provides conservationists with important insights into planning and managing protected areas in a changing climate.
Why language is central to the survival of cultures and communities
- More than half the world’s languages could go extinct by 2100, The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues says.
- Roughly 4,000 of the world’s 6,700 languages are spoken by Indigenous communities and contain knowledge key for conservation and human health, but multiple factors threaten their existence along with their speakers’ cultures.
- Joining the podcast is Jay Griffiths, author of ‘Wild’ and other seminal books about how language and relationship are central to cultural survival, and why connection to the land is a universal human right.
- The guest also draws parallels between humans, nature and culture: “There’s great research that suggests that we learned ethics from wolves [of taking] an attitude to the world of both me the individual, and of me the pack member,” she says.
Studies still uncovering true extent of 2019-20 Australia wildfire catastrophe
- Australia’s 2019-20 bushfires burned with unprecedented intensity through a total of 24 million hectares (59 million acres), an area the size of the U.K.
- New research shows total costs incurred to the tourism industry from that single bushfire season may be 61% higher than previously calculated.
- Up to 1.5 billion wild animals may have perished in the fires, and new research is uncovering the cost to individual species as a result of the fires.
- One study published shows 15% of all known roost locations of the gray-headed flying fox, Australia’s largest bat species, may have been directly impacted by the fires.
Study on Brazilian heat wave deaths shows gender & racial disparities
- A new study estimates that the deaths of nearly 50,000 people in Brazil in recent decades could be attributed to the occurrence of heat waves, and it points out that these extreme events have become increasingly frequent.
- The paper reveals that Blacks, Browns, females, older adults and those with lower educational levels are the most affected population subgroups, suggesting that the impacts of heat waves are felt unevenly, thus exposing socioeconomic inequalities.
- The researchers analyzed data from 14 metropolitan regions with a population of 74 million people, representing nearly one-third of Brazil’s population.
- This research is important because it joins others in analyzing racial and gender dimensions of the populations most vulnerable to extreme events, the scientific coordinator at Iyaleta Research Association says.
Sumatra firefighters on alert as burning heralds start of Riau dry season
- On the northeast coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, the first of two annual dry seasons led to a spike in wildfires in some peatland areas in February.
- In the week ending March 2, Indonesian peatland NGO Pantau Gambut said 34 hotspots, possibly fires, were identified by satellite on peatlands in Riau province.
- Emergency services in the province have been concentrated to the east of the port city of Dumai, where a fire started in the concession of a palm oil company, according to local authorities.
In climate-related flooding, a Ugandan river turns poisonous
- Uganda’s Nyamwamba river, in the Rwenzori Mountains, has begun to flood catastrophically in recent years, partly due to climate change.
- Along the river are copper tailings pools from an old Canadian mining operation, which are becoming increasingly eroded by the flooding.
- According to a series of studies, these tailings have been washing into the water supply and soil of the Nyamwamba River Basin, contaminating human tissue, food and water with deadly heavy metals.
- Cancer rates are higher than normal near the tailings pools, and scientists fear that as the flooding continues to worsen, so will the health crisis.
As lightning strike fatalities increase, Bangladesh still has no reliable preventive measures
- Between 2011 and 2020, lightning strikes claimed the lives of 2,164 people, or nearly four people every week, in Bangladesh, according to the country’s disaster management department. However, a Bangladeshi NGO reports at least a thousand more lightning related fatalities between 2010 and 2021.
- Researchers linked the increased frequency of lightning with climate change; as for the increased death toll, they blamed the government’s inefficient protection measures, including the lack of tall trees.
- To reduce the number of fatalities, the government has started working on long-term solutions, such as installing lightning arresters and growing palm trees. Nevertheless, a significant sum of money is being squandered and nothing functions as expected, say experts.
Climate change brings a river’s wrath down on western Uganda
- Since the 1960s, Uganda’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.3°C (2.3°F).
- The warming is partly responsible for an increasing number of catastrophic floods on the Nyamwamba River, in western Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains.
- In 2020 alone, 173,000 people were affected by flooding in Kasese district, when 25,000 houses were destroyed.
- Many of those rendered homeless by the floods continue to languish in temporary housing camps four years on.
U.S. natural gas expansion would surrender world to fatal warming, experts say
- The United States is planning a major expansion of its export infrastructure for liquified natural gas (LNG), a fossil fuel mostly containing methane. Public outcry in the U.S. over the risk to the global climate forced U.S. President Joe Biden to pause the LNG permitting process for reconsideration in January.
- However, the U.S. continues investing billions in new LNG infrastructure abroad. Scientists and climate activists around the globe are warning that LNG expansion renders U.S. climate commitments unreachable, locks in fossil fuel emissions for decades and could trigger catastrophic warming.
- LNG emits more than coal when exported due to massive leaks of methane into the atmosphere during oceanic transport, a preprint study has found. Another report estimates that emissions from planned U.S. LNG exports, if all 12 facilities are approved, would total 10% of the world’s current greenhouse gas emissions.
- Climate impacts around the world would be severe, scientists say. Drought in Europe, for example, is already leading to higher food and energy prices, creating conditions for poverty even in developed nations, while a tipping point in the Amazon Rainforest could lead to mass deaths due to extreme heat and humidity.
Harsh dry season sours harvest prospects for Java coffee farmers
- Indonesia is the world’s fourth-largest producer of coffee, after Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia, but the archipelago’s farmers are less productive than their competitors.
- In East Java province, farmers have seen yields plummet as a protracted water deficit shrinks fruit and introduces pests.
- Total output is expected to drop by more than 20% this season, while increasingly frequent extreme weather may pose challenges to the viability of some smallholders in lowland areas of Indonesia.
Freeze on Russian collaboration disrupts urgently needed permafrost data flow
- Accelerating Arctic warming threatens to thaw more and more carbon-rich permafrost and release vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere, but scientists don’t know when such a tipping point event might occur.
- The potential for large and abrupt permafrost emissions adds urgency to better understanding the factors that could turn permafrost from a carbon sink into a carbon source.
- However, more than half of all Arctic permafrost lies under Russian soil, and a two-year freeze on collaborations between Russian scientists and the international scientific community — prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 — is disrupting data flows and hamstringing the polar research community.
- Despite an uncertain geopolitical landscape, scientists are determined to close the data gap with work-arounds such as pivoting to “proxy” field sites, ramping up remote sensing with AI, and mining archived data for new insights. But reintegrating Russian research with other Arctic research is a priority of the scientific community.
As climate disasters claim their children, Bangladeshi mothers seek safety in bigger families
- Climate change is exacerbating child mortality in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh, prompting mothers to have larger families as a response to the fear of losing children to disasters.
- Studies indicate an 8% surge in infant mortality risk in flood-prone regions, resulting in more than 150,000 lives lost between 1988 and 2017.
- While Bangladesh has seen improvements in disaster management, reduced cyclone deaths, and progress in health for mothers and children, climate change poses new threats, especially to vulnerable coastal communities lacking adequate protection.
- A National Adaptation Plan offers solutions such as water conservation and livelihood opportunities, but challenges like funding, coordination and transparency need attention for effective implementation, experts say.
The new Arctic: Amid record heat, ecosystems morph and wildlife struggle
- Every species of animal and plant that lives or breeds in the Arctic is experiencing dramatic change. As the polar region warms, species endure extreme weather, shrinking and altered habitat, decreased food availability, and competition from invading southern species.
- A wide array of Arctic organisms that rely on sea ice to feed or breed during some or all of their life cycles are threatened by melt: Over the past 40 years, the Arctic Ocean has lost about 75% of its sea ice volume, as measured at the end of the summer melt season. This translates into a loss of sea ice extent and thickness by half on average.
- Researchers note that the rate of change is accelerating at sea and on land. While species can adapt over time, Arctic ecosystem alterations are too rapid for many animals to adapt, making it difficult to guess which species will prevail, which will perish, and where.
- The only thing that could limit future extinctions, researchers say, is to quickly stop burning fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.
In Bangladesh, sunflower grows where other crops don’t amid increasing salinity
- The changing climate, rising sea levels and other anthropogenic factors are forcing a vast area of Bangladesh’s coastal zone to remain barren due to the presence of salinity in arable land.
- Overcoming these hurdles, coastal farmers, with the support of the government and various nongovernmental organizations, are now farming sunflowers and benefiting from the alternative crop.
- Bangladesh currently produces only 10% of the oilseeds it uses; imports from different countries meet the rest of the demand.
- The government estimates that the country could produce sunflower to meet the local demand for cooking oil by up to 26% by cultivating the oilseed in saline-prone zones.
Ocean heating breaks record, again, with disastrous outcomes for the planet
- New research shows that ocean temperatures are hotter than ever in the modern era due to human-driven global warming.
- High ocean temperatures are placing a strain on marine life and biological processes while also increasing extreme weather events on land.
- The world is also seeing an escalation in the frequency and intensity of marine heat waves, events in which sea temperatures exceed a certain threshold for five days or more.
Maluku farmers sweat El Niño drought as Indonesia rice prices surge
- Rice prices surged across Indonesia during the second half of 2023 as the effects of El Niño led to widespread crop failures.
- In December, President Joko Widodo ordered military personnel to help farmers plant rice in a bid to boost domestic production, and curb food price inflation.
- On Buru Island, Mongabay Indonesia spoke with farmers who described risks of conflict as water scarcity forced farmers to queue for access to water.
Java’s crumbling coastline and rising tide swamp jasmine flower trade
- Growers of jasmine flowers in lowland areas of Indonesia’s Central Java province are vulnerable to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
- Research published in 2022 showed Central Java’s Semarang was among the fastest-sinking major cities in the world.
- Jasmine grower Sobirin has altered his home on three occasions since 2010, raising the floor to adapt to increasing tidal surges.
In Mexico, Xalapa’s chronic water scarcity reflects a deepening national crisis
- Residents of Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, Mexico, have been struggling with a worsening water shortage that often leaves people without daily access to household water for washing.
- The problem is nationwide, in 30 of 32 states, forcing residents to purchase and recycle water and postpone bathing.
- Experts have blamed climate change and extreme heat for the country’s water shortages; others also blame corruption that allows companies to pay for unlimited water use.
- Deforestation for development, an increase in construction and building and population increases are also factors.
Bangladeshi farmers eye moringa as a climate and economic solution
- Farmers in Bangladesh are increasingly turning to the fast-growing, drought-resistant moringa (Moringa oleifera) tree, which is indigenous to South Asian nations such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
- Researchers say moringa is beneficial for human health, as both the leaves and the fruits are rich in nutrients and minerals.
- Researchers also suggest that moringa cultivation could be a part of smart agriculture as climatic patterns change, as the plant can tolerate extreme heat and cold.
- A Bangladeshi entrepreneur has been working to create a social movement and entrepreneurship in moringa cultivation and marketing since 2017; so far, he has engaged some 5,000 farmers in 20 districts of Bangladesh.
Indigenous effort in Bangladesh helps reverse endangered fish’s slide to extinction
- Unchecked logging and quarrying of rocks from streambeds in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts led to springs drying up and populations of putitor mahseer fish, an endangered species, disappearing.
- The situation was worsened by climate change impacts, characterized here by a more intense dry season during which even streams that once ran year-round now dry up.
- A project launched in 2016 and backed by USAID and the UNDP is working with Indigenous communities to reverse this decline, starting with efforts to cut down on logging and quarrying.
- As a result of these efforts, areas where forests have been conserved have seen the flow of springs stabilize and populations of putitor mahseer and other fish revive.
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