Climate

Favourites such as cod, haddock and salmon could be replaced as UK waters warm up, scientists warn

UK waters, particularly the southern North Sea, are warming fast, making the North Atlantic one of the world’s marine “hot spots”. Scientists have been asked by the UK government to forecast what this means for British food supply and predict potentially dangerous tipping points that lie ahead.

While the UK already has milder winters because of warmer seas and heavier rain because of extra moisture in the atmosphere, this investigation is about what is happening under the waves. Already fishers are travelling ever further north to catch British favourites such as cod and haddock, and some salmon stocks face extinction.

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The cuts came just before a separate wave of departures was expected under the Trump administration’s so-called deferred resignation program.

Employees informed by email that their jobs would be cut off at end of day in move a worker called ‘wrong all around’

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The Trump administration has fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency housed within the Department of Commerce, the Guardian has learned.

On Thursday afternoon, the commerce department sent emails to employees saying their jobs would be cut off at the end of the day. Other government agencies have also seen huge staffing cuts in recent days.

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Along with about 1,000 rank-and-file workers, FEMA is losing some of the managers most experienced in handling emergency efforts.

Indigenous activists behind protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline say a lawsuit against Greenpeace is trying to rewrite their role and history.

As the president pressures countries to buy more American energy, Asian officials and investors are reconsidering a hugely expensive plan stalled for decades.

By my count, representatives from roughly 190 countries are currently gathered in Hangzhou, China, to advance the current cycle of scientific assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). However, one country is notably absent: the United States. Just as I boarded my flight to China to attend the IPCC meeting as an observer, news broke that the Trump administration’s “work stop” order would prevent any US federal scientists from participating in this crucial IPCC meeting.  

This raises urgent questions: How does this decision impact international climate collaboration, and what can we expect moving forward? The US has historically played a critical role in the IPCC in three main ways: providing scientific expertise, participating in negotiations, and helping to fund the process. The current de facto withdrawal affects all three. 

Absence of Federal Scientific Expertise 

One of the most immediate and significant consequences of the US withdrawal is the absence of US federal scientists at the IPCC plenary. US scientists from federal agencies such as NASA and NOAA have long played an important role. In this cycle, they have a prominent role in Working Group III (WG3), which focuses on climate change mitigation—assessing methods for reducing heat-trapping emissions and removing them from the atmosphere. 

The impact of this absence is particularly severe because NASA’s chief scientist, Kate Calvin, is currently the co-chair of WG3. Without her leadership, the group loses an essential voice in shaping climate mitigation strategies. 

Additionally, each working group relies on a Technical Support Unit (TSU) to provide scientific, technical, and organizational assistance. The WG3 TSU is staffed almost entirely by US personnel (9 of 10 people), and its contributions are substantial: just last cycle, the WG3 report spanned over 2,000 pages. Compounding the challenge, the NOAA Assessment Technical Support Unit, which provides editorial, data visualization, IT, and production services, is also sidelined by the work stoppage and anticipated attempts to dismantle NOAA.  

While this stoppage is technically temporary, if federal experts continue to be barred from participating, it would represent a major loss to the IPCC’s ability to produce rigorous and comprehensive reports. 

No US Negotiators at the Table 

IPCC plenary meetings are where representatives from participating countries review, discuss, and make key decisions to advance the IPCC’s work. During the meeting this week, countries are debating outlines for all the major IPCC reports. This is an important moment that sets the stage for work over the next few years. While country negotiators do not author the reports themselves, the IPCC’s influence stems in part from its consensus-based approach—ensuring that governments accept and commit the science and its conclusions. The absence of US negotiators means that the US has effectively removed itself from this process. 

Why does this matter? Without US participation, other countries will shape the discussions without US input, reducing the nation’s influence in shaping global climate assessments. This might be an overall benefit to the IPCC based on Trump’s public anti-science rhetoric on climate change, but historically the US has been a value-add to the process.  

Loss of US Funding for the IPCC 

Countries make voluntary contributions to support the IPCC’s work. The Biden administration had pledged approximately $1.5 million for this year’s IPCC budget, but those funds have not been delivered. Given Trump’s past actions—he pulled US funding from the IPCC during his previous term—there is little expectation that his administration will reinstate financial support. 

The loss of US funding, while not crippling, creates additional financial strain for the IPCC. Other nations or philanthropists (Bloomberg stepped in to cover UNFCCC funding) may step in to fill the gap, but the de facto withdrawal reinforces the message that the US is abdicating from its commitments to international climate cooperation. 

What This Means for the Future of the IPCC 

Climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions. The IPCC was founded to foster international collaboration on climate science—science that is not policy-prescriptive, but rather provides world leaders with information crucial to crafting policy decisions. While this week’s IPCC plenary is proceeding, the absence of the United States signals a retreat from international climate leadership at a time when the worsening climate crisis demands stronger global cooperation.  

In the face of these restrictions, it’s important to remember that the IPCC’s structure allows for continued participation from non-federal scientists in the US—scientists like me. The IPCC’s strength lies in its ability to convene voluntary experts from universities, NGOs, research institutions, and government agencies worldwide. The last cycle included thousands of authors, most of whom are independent researchers unaffected by the federal work stoppage.  

However, the withdrawal of US federal support weakens the IPCC’s collective ability to provide the science the world needs to help tackle the climate crisis. In a moment when urgent, coordinated action is needed, this step back from collaboration could have long-term consequences. The path forward may not be easy, but the IPCC will continue its work and adapt to these challenges. As an observer organization, the Union of Concerned Scientists will continue to actively engage in this important scientific process. The real question now is how long the US will remain on the sidelines, and at what cost to the global effort and US communities? 

In Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, people have watched the ice fields turn to exposed rock and experts predict these vital water sources could be lost in 30 years

• Words and photographs by Euan Wallace in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia

At an altitude of 4,200 metres in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia, Edilsa Ibañéz Ibañéz lowers a cupped hand into the water of a glacial stream. A local guide and mountaineer, she has grown up drinking water that runs down from the snowy peaks above. As she stands up, however, the landscape that greets her is markedly different from that of her childhood.

“We used to think the ice would be eternal,” says Ibañéz, 45. “Now it is not so eternal. Our glaciers are dying.”

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Synechococcus elongatusis soaks up carbon dioxide for its photosynthesis and stores more than other strains

Chonkus may sound like a champion Sumo wrestler but it is the nickname for a superpower strain of microbe that absorbs lots of CO2 relative to its size and stores it in its large cells.

Chonkus’s real name is Synechococcus elongatus, and it is a large and heavy strain of blue-green alga that soaks up CO2 for its photosynthesis, grows fast in dense colonies and stores more carbon than other strains of this microbe.

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Energy Transfer, which owns the Dakota Access Pipeline, is seeking $300 million, a sum that Greenpeace says could bankrupt the storied environmental group.

Attempts to discredit the Climate Change Authority risk undermining public trust in both politicians and our government

Taking a wrecking ball to science and public institutions might sound distinctly Trumpian, but as the Climate Change Authority announced their latest findings into the impact of delaying our energy transition to accommodate nuclear earlier this week, we all found ourselves with a front-row seat to see how this may play right here at home.

“Political appointments” to peak statutory bodies, or plum diplomatic postings, are frequently a topic of discussion within both the media and general population. But what happens when this conversation is flipped on its head and a senior bureaucrat is threatened with being terminated because they are seemingly actually allowing the independent institution they oversee to do its job?

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The president said Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, was planning mass layoffs. Several hours later, White House officials said the president was referring to budget cuts.

University announces new BA, after survey found most 14- to 18-year-olds want more rigorous climate change education

The University of Sussex will introduce what it says is the UK’s first undergraduate degree focused on climate justice.

The BA course, called “climate justice, sustainability and development”, will begin in 2026. The university says it will equip students with a blend of expertise in climate politics, activism and environmental human rights.

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The administration is setting the stage for Congress to repeal a longstanding waiver that allows California to set its own pollution standards. State officials say the effort is illegal.

Officials are seeking to boost competitiveness and reduce the regulatory burden on businesses during what a European commissioner called a “perilous” time.

A first-of-its-kind analysis found that people living in hotter areas experienced more molecular changes than those in cooler places.

Climate scientists caution, however, that even weakened currents would cause profound harm to humanity

Vital Atlantic Ocean currents are unlikely to completely collapse this century, according to a study, but scientists say a severe weakening remains probable and would still have disastrous impacts on billions of people.

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a system of currents that plays a crucial role in the global climate. The climate crisis is weakening the complex system, but determining if and when it will collapse is difficult.

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Thomas Woldbye says ministers must commit to plans, with decision on second Gatwick runway due this week

The boss of Heathrow has said there is room for both of London’s biggest airports to expand significantly if the government can guarantee steps to a third runway, with ministers expected to approve Gatwick’s second runway this week.

Thomas Woldbye said Heathrow would be seeking government commitments on the airport’s funding model and changes to airspace before construction of a new runway could start.

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Analysts and investors have long trumpeted ‘climate-proof’ US communities, but recent disasters show the need for a different way of thinking

A few years ago, while visiting a tiny village, I toured a grand old community hall scheduled to be demolished after a historic flood. Across the street, a phantom row of eight buildings had already come down. Next to go was this beloved structure, built with local lumber by the craftsman grandfathers of the people who still lived there. One of the two local officials escorting me had been married here, she told me. There was a plan to repurpose the six soaring arches, the other official said, gazing towards the ceiling. “The other part of it, knocking the rest of it down … ,” he trailed off, emotionally. “I won’t be in town to see that.”

This village isn’t located on the rapidly eroding Gulf coast, or any coast. It isn’t on the edge of a drought-stricken wildland. It isn’t anywhere typically named as existentially threatened due to the impacts of climate change. Forever altered by floods, the village of Rock Springs, in my home state of Wisconsin, is instead located smack in the middle of what’s often been called a “climate haven”.

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Workers at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fear crackdown will have global fallout

The Trump administration has set its sights on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency, with significant cuts and a political crackdown on climate science. As Trump takes aim at the agency, the impact is likely to be felt across the US and around the world.

Noaa provides essential resources to the public and has helped make the US a scientific leader internationally. Operating 18 satellites and 15 research and survey ships, the agency’s scientists, engineers and policy experts issue forecasts relied on by aviation, agriculture and fishing industries; ocean floor mapping depended upon for shipping; advises on species protection, and increasingly precise and accurate modeling on what to expect as climate crisis unfolds.

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