climate
How 2023 shattered nearly every modern climate record
A wildfire rages near Athens, Greece Valerie GACHE / AFP This year’s COP28 climate summit began with a stark reminder of what is at stake during the coming fortnight of climate negotiations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At the opening of the summit, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released their State of the Global Climate…
Major climate tipping points could be triggered within a decade
Warming oceans could lead to the mass die-off of tropical coral reefs Helmut Corneli / Alamy The climate has warmed so much that we are already at risk of triggering five global “tipping points” that would have catastrophic effects worldwide and couldn’t be reversed easily if at all, according to a major report. As the…
COP28: The biggest climate wins and flops from the first week
Activists participate in a demonstration for a loss and damage fund at COP28 AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili/Alamy The first week of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, saw a flurry of major announcements from countries aiming to take action on climate change. But the summit, which is set to end on 12 December,…
Ancient climate analysis suggests CO2 causes more warming than thought
Illustration of Earth 65 million years ago, when CO2 levels were much higher than those of today CHRIS BUTLER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY It is possibly the toughest question in climate science: how much warming does carbon dioxide cause? A new analysis of 66 million years of Earth’s climate history suggests the planet is much more sensitive…