Climate change news — temperature records, extreme weather, climate science, and global agreements.
Analysis: China’s CO2 climbs 2% in early 2026 due to ‘wasted’ wind and solar
China's carbon dioxide emissions increased 2% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by coal consumption that surged as the country underutilized vast r…
Cropped 3 June 2026: Highway through the Amazon | El Niño impact | State of CO2 removal
A new highway project threatens to accelerate deforestation across the Amazon basin, while scientists assess the impacts of El Niño on global carbon c…
Bonn Bulletin: Finance dominates discussions in every room
Climate finance gridlock has stalled progress across multiple negotiating tracks at UN climate talks in Bonn, with nations unable to agree on a numeri…
Agricultural subsidies can be repurposed for a just and sustainable rural transition
Agricultural subsidies currently flowing to farms worldwide could be redirected to support climate mitigation and waste reduction while protecting rur…
Q&A: How can African electricity access power jobs not just lightbulbs?
Carol Koech of the Global Energy Alliance argues that electricity expansion across Africa must prioritize economic development alongside basic access.…
Microsoft’s Clean Energy Reversal Collides With Virginia’s Climate Goals
Microsoft faces mounting pressure to clarify its clean energy commitments in Virginia as it accelerates data center construction across the state. The…
‘The Antarctic is the last frontier’: the quest to save Shackleton’s Endurance
Climate warming is making Antarctica's Weddell Sea more accessible to explorers and invasive species, threatening the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's End…
Weather tracker: Saharan heat to send temperatures soaring across Europe
Saharan air masses are driving temperatures across southern Europe into the low and mid-30s Celsius this week as heatwave conditions expand over the c…
UN officials urge Russia to free Indigenous climate advocate
Russian authorities have detained Indigenous climate advocate Daria Egereva and a colleague for six months, drawing calls from UN officials for their …
UN’s first Paris Agreement carbon credits face human rights and climate concerns
The United Nations issued its first carbon credits under the Paris Agreement's Article 6 mechanism, but the inaugural project now faces allegations of…
Cited 9 June 2026: Europe’s ‘exceptional’ heatwave | Warming forecast | AMOC observations ‘at risk’
Europe faced an exceptional heatwave in spring 2026, with temperatures reaching levels that meteorologists characterized as unusual for the season. Th…
‘Severe’ stress on oceans as rate of sea level rise doubles in 10 years, UN warns
Sea levels are rising twice as fast as they did a decade ago, according to the UN's World Ocean Assessment, which warns that oceans face "severe and a…
Indonesia’s failing Just Energy Transition Partnership is a cautionary tale
Indonesia's government scrapped a commitment to close a major coal power plant, demolishing a cornerstone of its Just Energy Transition Partnership (J…
Young South Africans take up sustainable agriculture for food security
South Africa's education system is adopting aquaponics, a sustainable farming method combining fish cultivation with plant growth in closed-loop syste…
Santa Marta process can confront trade protection for fossil fuels, experts say
Experts at the inaugural fossil fuel phase-out summit have identified investor protection treaties as a legal obstacle blocking the global energy tran…
As Global Warming Threatens Corals Worldwide, Woods Hole Scientists Search for ‘Super Reefs’ That Can Take the Heat
Anne Cohen and researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are hunting for coral reefs resilient enough to survive accelerating ocean warmin…
Amoc collapse could change Europe’s climate 10x faster than expected. We aren’t ready
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the ocean current system that distributes heat across the Atlantic and regulates European clim…
COP31 leaders unveil global targets, with spotlight on electrification
Türkiye and Australia, hosting COP31 climate negotiations this year, are pushing participating nations to commit to global targets across three priori…
The UN climate process needs ambition – the law demands it
Governments risk abandoning more ambitious emissions targets in favor of implementing existing climate pledges, a shift that violates the legal founda…
Investor climate group closes down, blaming “limits” of shareholder activism
Investors for Paris Compliance, a Canadian campaign group that coordinated shareholder activism on climate issues, closed in May after concluding that…
Freedivers, leftover cables and bits of clay: Cuba gets inventive to save its pristine reefs amid US blockade
Cuba's marine conservationists are improvising solutions to protect the Ciénaga de Zapata national park's coral reefs, a UNESCO tentative World Herita…
Denial is back in vogue. As Australia leads climate talks, it’s beyond time we took the issue seriously
Australia faces a resurgence of climate denial just as it assumes leadership of international climate negotiations, creating a dangerous disconnect be…
The scramble to stockpile critical minerals could drive up energy transition costs
Countries racing to secure supplies of critical minerals for renewable energy technologies risk inflating prices and slowing the global clean energy t…
What to expect from the Bonn climate talks
# What to Expect from the Bonn Climate Talks Negotiators gather in Bonn this month for SB64, the June Climate Meetings, as nations work to advance im…
China’s carbon emissions rise again as more clean power is wasted
China's carbon emissions increased in the first quarter of 2026 despite a record expansion of wind and solar capacity, revealing a structural mismatch…
Trees may store less planet-heating carbon than hoped, study suggests
A new study challenges assumptions about trees' capacity to sequester atmospheric carbon, finding that photosynthetic activity does not reliably trans…
Australia can switch from fossil fuel exports to renewables, says next Cop president
Australia's climate minister Chris Bowen, who will lead the 2025 UN climate talks, told delegates in Bonn that his country must abandon fossil fuel ex…
Why are so many Democrats going quiet on climate change?
Democrats have largely stepped back from vocal climate advocacy in recent campaigns, despite polling data indicating environmental protection remains …
Climate adaptation helps African nations tackle rising conflict over resources
Drought, desertification, and water scarcity across Africa are intensifying competition for dwindling resources, sparking armed conflicts in pastoral …
Bonn Bulletin: Tackling climate crisis is “hardest” challenge ever, Stiell says
Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, opened the June Climate Meetings in Bonn by declaring …
The Climate Change Culprits Not Addressed by Global Policy
A new study published in Science reveals that global climate policy overlooks atmospheric emissions that amplify warming through indirect mechanisms, …
The underwater wonders I saw on my once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galápagos
A marine journalist joined a research expedition to Darwin and Wolf Islands in the Galápagos archipelago to document how critically endangered species…
What’s driving up your expenses? Many Americans say climate change.
A new survey reveals that majorities of Democrats and moderate Republicans attribute rising household expenses to climate change, reflecting growing p…
In the Smoky Mountains, a volunteer effort aims to document every species — before it’s too late
In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a coalition of volunteer researchers has launched an ambitious biodiversity inventory aimed at cataloging spec…
European, island states seek clear future for global roadmap to cut fossil fuels
European nations and small island states are pushing for a binding global roadmap to phase out fossil fuels during UN climate negotiations, according …
DeBriefed 12 June 2026: El Niño begins | COP31 hosts eye electrification | Atlantic current monitoring at risk
An El Niño pattern has begun forming, according to weekly climate briefings from Carbon Brief. The development carries implications for global tempera…
Despite Record Renewable Growth, China Is Still Betting on Coal
China's coal power generation increased in early 2026, undermining optimism that the country has begun a lasting transition away from fossil fuels. Th…
‘Super El Niño’ is officially here, scientists say. What can we expect?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially declared El Niño conditions in effect Thursday, with scientists warning this could rank…
Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average
Antarctica's west coast has lost sea ice coverage equivalent to France's total area, with the Bellingshausen Sea showing dramatic winter ice deficit. …
Emergency hospital admissions fell after introduction of London’s T-charge and Ulez, study suggests
Researchers at Imperial College found that emergency hospital admissions declined following London's introduction of the Congestion Charge (T-charge) …
DeBriefed 29 May 2026: Europe’s ‘mind-boggling’ May | Indian heat deaths | Nigeria’s solar mini-grids
Europe's renewable energy generation reached unprecedented levels in May 2026, with wind and solar output described as "mind-boggling" by analysts tra…
Draft Guidelines on State Aid to the Air Transport Sector — T&E Consultation Response
Transport and Environment, a European advocacy organization, has submitted a formal consultation response on proposed EU state aid guidelines for avia…
The Guardian view on climate equality: a richer life and real public abundance, not just more stuff | Editorial
The World Inequality Lab released the Global Justice Report, led by economist Thomas Piketty, presenting a framework to raise living standards while r…
Fewer journalists register for Bonn talks, as cuts to climate reporting bite
Journalist registrations for the UN climate negotiations in Bonn have dropped to their lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted internationa…
Brazil jostles for rare earths share as US-China rivalry heats up
Brazil controls the world's second-largest rare earth element reserves and is now positioned as a critical battleground between the United States and …
DeBriefed 5 June 2026: UK eyes 2040 emissions cut | US ‘dismantling’ oceans research | China’s solar slump
The UK government proposed accelerating its domestic emissions reduction target to 2040, advancing the deadline by a decade from its previous 2050 com…
El Niño forms in Pacific as experts say it will likely turbocharge extreme weather
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed the formation of El Niño in the equatorial Pacific Ocean on Thursday, triggering …
Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown
Record winter temperatures in Antarctica exceeded 15 degrees Celsius in June, shattering previous benchmarks and alarming climate scientists about the…
Four days of extreme rain in Indonesia killed 7% of world’s rarest great apes, study finds
Four days of extreme rain in North Sumatra killed 58 Tapanuli orangutans, eliminating 7% of the entire remaining population of the world's rarest grea…
The Pacific made history in the courts – now we must do it in the negotiations
Pacific island nations secured a landmark legal victory establishing that countries have human rights obligations to address climate change. The Inter…