Don’t look there: how politicians divert our attention from climate protesters’ claims: The right to protest is a distinctive feature of democratic, liberal societies. Yet the way in which many leading British politicians are currently talking about Just Stop Oil might make you think otherwise. Far from engaging with the issues at stake in these …
‘Worthless’ forest carbon offsets risk exacerbating climate change: In early 2023, the Guardian published an article suggesting that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets are worthless. These credits are essentially a promise to protect forests and can be bought as a way to “offset” emissions elsewhere. Verra, the largest certifier of these offset credits, …
World’s beaches are changing because of climate change – green thinking is needed to save them: Coastlines – the interface between land and sea – lie at the frontline in the battle against climate change impacts. Globally, almost 1 billion people now live within 10km of a coastline and the same number live in areas …
A billion people in Africa are at a climate risk blind spot: Cyclone Idai heading towards Mozambique and Zimbabwe in 2019. lavizzara/Shutterstock Disasters related to the weather or climate are becoming more common. Since 1970, there has been a five-fold increase in the number of weather-related disasters, causing economic damages that have surged a staggering …
Climate change is making debt more expensive – new study: Ned Snowman/Shutterstock Earth is overheating due to the greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. This is “the biggest market failure the world has seen” according to economist Nicholas Stern. The rational behaviour of companies that pollute by making profitable commodities, and consequences of most …
17 of the best political Edinburgh Fringe shows to watch this year, tackling issues from gender to climate change: Powerofflowers/Shutterstock I’m at the Edinburgh Fringe this year directing CREEKSHOW, a play about the gentrification of Deptford. While here, I’ve watched as much politically minded work as I’ve been able to. With 3,031 registered shows a …
Is climate change really a reason not to have children? Here’s four reasons why it’s not that simple: Should we consider having children to be the same as overconsumption? Piyaset/Shutterstock In 2009, statistician Paul Murtaugh and climate scientist Michael Schlax calculated that having just one child in a high-emitting country such as the United States …
Do heat pumps work in the UK’s climate? An expert answers your low-carbon heating questions: WathanyuSowong/Shutterstock Retrofitting every house in the UK to net zero standard by 2050 will require replacing all gas boilers, mostly with heat pumps. The target rate is 600,000 a year by 2028 – but in 2022, fewer than 60,000 heat …
Rising methane could be a sign that Earth’s climate is part-way through a ‘termination-level transition’: Soaring wetland emissions of methane reflect those which accompanied previous abrupt changes in Earth's climate. I. Noyan Yilmaz/Shutterstock Since 2006, the amount of heat-trapping methane in Earth’s atmosphere has been rising fast and, unlike the rise in carbon dioxide (CO?), …
Why older people are some of those worst affected by climate change: shutterstock While we are all affected to some extent by extreme weather, it is older adults, especially older women and those with disabilities, who tend to be the most vulnerable. Who struggles most is partly determined by age but also pre-existing health conditions, …
How climate change might trigger more earthquakes and volcanic eruptions: A volcanic eruption at the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland in May 2021. Thorir Ingvarsson/Shutterstock Earth’s climate is changing rapidly. In some areas, escalating temperatures are increasing the frequency and likelihood of wildfires and drought. In others, they are making downpours and storms more intense or …
Forests are breaking up in the tropics but coming together elsewhere – here’s what it means for wildlife and the climate: Maksim Safaniuk/Shutterstock In 2015, research on global forest cover revealed a concerning fact: 70% of the world’s remaining forest now lies within 1km of the forest’s edge. This process, called fragmentation, is causing the …
Conflict between humans and wildlife in Tanzania is being poorly managed – and climate change is making things worse: Elephants are being forced into confrontations with humans Wikimedia Commons Human-wildlife conflicts are a challenge for authorities in African countries where people live near protected areas. Programmes for communities to participate in wildlife tourism and share …
Net zero: direct costs of climate policies aren’t a major barrier to public support, research reveals: Amid headlines of wildfires raging across Europe and Africa and flooding in China, the UK government took the bewildering choice to expand fossil fuel extraction. Prime minister Rishi Sunak declared that more than 100 new oil and gas drilling …
Science shows the severe climate consequences of new fossil fuel extraction: An offshore drilling platform. Mike Mareen/Shutterstock The world has just suffered through its warmest month ever recorded. Heatwaves have swept across southern Europe, the US and China, breaking many temperature records in the process. Climate scientists have been sounding the alarm for decades that …
How board games can get people involved in climate action: The dangerous wildfires burning across Europe show us how real the climate crisis has become. When we see these disasters on the news, it’s clear we need to take action on climate change now. But it can still be hard to really understand how. That’s …
Nuclear war would be more devastating for Earth’s climate than cold war predictions – even with fewer weapons: Hamara/Shutterstock Christopher Nolan’s biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer has revived morbid curiosity in the destructive power of nuclear weapons. There are now an estimated 12,512 nuclear warheads. A war in which even a fraction of these bombs were …
Climate change contributes to violence against children – here’s how: Refugees, some of them children, in Hargeisa, Somaliland. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images Every day of the northern hemisphere’s summer in 2023 seems to bring a calamitous headline about the climate: heatwaves, wildfires, massive hailstorms. Such scenes are set to become our global reality in …