The Guardian Climate Change

Post-Covid hunger for travel is taking a heavy toll on the environment amid race to net zero, say experts

For some people, summer holidays are a relaxing break from daily life, a blissful chance to hit the sunbed and lie flat for as long as humanly possible. Other people are on the hunt for new places and adventure – plummeting down a hill on the back of a bike or tied to flimsy fabric and pulled through the air. Others still are on a quest for culture, cuisine or enlightenment – or, ideally, all three and then a nap. Travel is, most people seem to feel, amazing.

The result has been an economic boon for some parts of the world that has shifted money across oceans and into impoverished communities. But it has come at a cost to the planet that travellers have long overlooked.

Donald Trump gets everything wrong about the climate crisis. The results of the vote in November could reverberate for a million years

Here is the biggest thing happening on our planet as we head into the autumn of 2024: the Earth is continuing to heat dramatically. Scientists have said that there’s a better than 90% chance that this year will top 2023 as the warmest ever recorded. And paleoclimatologists were pretty sure last year was the hottest in the last 125,000 years. The result is an almost-cliched run of disasters: open Twitter/X anytime for pictures of floods pushing cars through streets somewhere. It is starting to make life on this planet very difficult, and in some places impossible. And it’s on target to get far, far worse.

NSW, Victoria, south-western Queensland and parts of central Australia had temperatures climb by 6C to 12C above average, BoM says

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Parts of Sydney and south-west New South Wales faced elevated fire danger on Friday as high winds and unseasonably warm temperatures pushed through south-eastern Australia before a cooler, more settled weekend.

New South Wales, Victoria, south-west Queensland and parts of central Australia experienced temperatures between 6C and 12C above average on Friday, with damaging wind warnings for parts of New South Wales and Victoria.

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New research shows that cases of valley fever, which in rare cases can be fatal, have risen dramatically in recent years

At least 19 people contracted valley fever, a fungal infection that in rare cases can be fatal, after attending an outdoor music festival in southern California in May, public health officials have reported.

The number of illnesses associated with the five-day Lightning in a Bottle event has almost quadrupled over the last month. Valley fever is caused by inhaling Coccidioides, a fungus endemic to the soil of the US south-west. New research shows that cases of the illness have risen dramatically in recent years.

Study’s authors say integrity of higher education ‘at risk’ upon finding lack of attention to role of oil and gas firms

Fossil fuel companies’ funding of universities’ climate-focused efforts is delaying the green transition, according to the most extensive peer-reviewed study to date of the industry’s influence on academia.

For the study, published in the journal WIREs Climate Change on Thursday, six researchers pored over thousands of academic articles on industries’ funding of research from the past two decades. Just a handful of them focused on oil and gas companies, showing a “worrying lack of attention” to the issue, the analysis says.

In Barra de Santiago, local people are struggling to save one of the few remaining mangrove forests, as they are lost to agriculture and urban sprawl

Along El Salvador’s western coast lies a 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) emerald oasis, in stark contrast to the rest of the country’s largely deforested landscape. This lush forest, just a few miles from the Guatemalan border, teems with diverse wildlife – from crocodiles and crabs to fish darting through seemingly endless mangroves.

More than a biodiversity haven, Barra de Santiago serves as a crucial carbon sink in a region battling deforestation, and a natural shield for a country exposed to climate crisis-induced tropical storms and escalating sea levels. It is also home to thousands of people, whose lives are intricately tied to the resources provided by land and sea.

McLeod Ganj is a magnet for domestic holidaymakers fleeing scorching temperatures. But their cars choke the streets and new hotels stretch scarce water supplies

SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj’s narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music. The powerful vehicles soon get stuck in the traffic near Kalachakra temple, the place of worship of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

“You can be stuck in this traffic easily for two hours,” says a frustrated local taxi driver, not keen to share his name.

Heating of 4C could increase potential offshore wind energy by average of 9% by end of century, research suggests

A warmer world could bring more potential for offshore wind energy, according to a new study. Although it doesn’t bear thinking about, with heating of 4C potential offshore wind energy could increase by an average of 9% globally by the end of this century.

Previous research has indicated that global heating will reduce the potential for wind power generation, but there is much uncertainty in how wind patterns will shift, and in particular how surface wind speeds will change over time.

Experts urge Australia not to delay target too long as report by Climate Change Authority identifies six barriers to net zero

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The Australian government may delay the announcement of a 2035 climate target until after the February deadline and beyond the next election, in part due to uncertainty about the ramifications of the US presidential election.

Some big emitting countries are lagging in developing their 2035 emissions reduction targets, which under the Paris climate agreement are due before the UN climate summit in Belém, Brazil, in November next year.

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Scientist James Lovelock gave humanity new ways to think about our home planet – but some of his biggest ideas were the fruit of a passionate collaboration

Love rarely gets the credit it deserves for the advancement of science. Nor, for that matter, does hatred, greed, envy or any other emotion. Instead, this realm of knowledge tends to be idealised as something cold, hard, rational, neutral and objective, dictated by data rather than feelings. The life and work of James Lovelock is proof that this is neither possible nor desirable. In his work, he helped us understand that humans can never completely divorce ourselves from any living subject because we are interconnected and interdependent, all part of the same Earth system, which he called Gaia.

Our planet, he argued, behaves like a giant organism – regulating its temperature, discharging waste and cycling chemicals to maintain a healthy balance. Although highly controversial among scientists in the 1970s and 80s, this holistic view of the world had mass appeal, which stretched from New Age spiritual gurus to that stern advocate of free-market orthodoxy, Margaret Thatcher. Its insights into the link between nature and climate have since inspired many of the world’s most influential climate scientists, philosophers and environmental campaigners. The French philosopher Bruno Latour said the Gaia Theory has reshaped humanity’s understanding of our place in the universe as fundamentally as the ideas of Galileo Galilei. At its simplest, Gaia is about restoring an emotional connection with a living planet.

The Climate Change Authority’s sector pathways review says a huge national effort is needed and the net zero goal should become front of mind for business, investors and governments

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A zero-carbon mindset must “become the new normal” in Australia, according to a much-anticipated report from the federal government’s independent climate advisory body.

The report, released today by the Climate Change Authority, describes how Australia can meet the crucial target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Hottest large city in US broke previous heat record from 1993 as temperatures are expected to reach 110 tomorrow

Phoenix, Arizona, saw its 100th straight day of 100F (37.7C) heat this week.

The hottest large city in the United States broke its previous record of 76 consecutive 100F days set in 1993. The relentless streak, which started on 27 May and hit its 100th day on Tuesday, is forecast to persist into next week. An excessive heat warning is in effect through Friday, with temperatures expected to reach 110F (43C) tomorrow.

Residents tell of ‘apocalyptic scenes’ after more than 60mm of rainfall falls on Italian capital in less than an hour

Lightning has struck the Constantine Arch near the Colosseum in Rome during a violent thunderstorm, breaking off fragments from the ancient structure, officials have said.

The fragments were immediately gathered and secured by workers at the Colosseum Archeological Park, authorities in the Italian capital said. The extent of the damage, which occurred on Tuesday, was being evaluated.

“The recovery work by technicians was timely. Our workers arrived immediately after the lightning strike. All of the fragments were recovered and secured,” the park said in a statement.

Rome was hit by a sudden and powerful storm that dumped more than 60mm of rain in less than an hour, equivalent to a month’s rainfall in autumn. The city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, described it as a “downburst”.

Dialogue with green groups results in agreement on ‘urgent, ambitious and feasible’ reforms in agriculture

Europe’s food and farming lobbies have recognised the need to eat less meat after hammering out a shared vision for the future of agriculture with green groups and other stakeholders.

The wide-ranging report calls for “urgent, ambitious and feasible” change in farm and food systems and acknowledges that Europeans eat more animal protein than scientists recommend. It says support is needed to rebalance diets toward plant-based proteins such as better education, stricter marketing and voluntary buyouts of farms in regions that intensively rear livestock.

California, Nevada and Arizona swelter in what could be the most intense heatwave of an already blazing season

Searing temperatures will roast the US west once again this week, as a brutal heatwave could bring some of the highest temperatures of the summer so far.

Excessive heat warnings were in effect across parts of southern California, Arizona and Nevada, affecting tens of millions of people. The harsh weather was predicted to peak beginning on Wednesday and lasting into the weekend.

Nuclear is costly, risky and slow, Ramana says. Why then, he asks in his new book, do governments still champion it?

You would be forgiven for thinking that the debate on nuclear power is pretty much settled. Sure, there are still some naysayers, but most reasonable people have come to realise that in an age of climate crisis, we need low-carbon nuclear energy – alongside wind and solar power – to help us transition away from fossil fuels. In 2016, 400 reactors were operating across 31 countries, with one estimate suggesting roughly the same number in operation in mid-2023, accounting for 9.2% of global commercial gross electricity generation. But what if this optimism were in fact wrong, and nuclear power can never live up to its promise? That is the argument the physicist MV Ramana makes in his new book. He says nuclear is costly, dangerous and takes too long to scale up. Nuclear, the work’s title reads, is not the solution.

This wasn’t the book Ramana, a professor at the University of British Columbia, planned to write. The problems with nuclear are so “obvious”, he wagered, they do not need to be spelled out. But with the guidance of his editor, he realised his mistake. Even in the contemporary environmental movement, which emerged alongside the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements, there are converts. Prominent environmentalists, understandably desperate about the climate crisis, believe it is rational and reasonable to support nuclear power as part of our energy mix.

Nuclear is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change by MV Ramana is out now

Three states and the Northern Territory face an increased risk of bushfire this spring, according to fire authorities and the BoM

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Large parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, the south-west of Victoria and south-east corner of South Australia face an increased risk of bushfires this spring.

An official assessment from fire authorities and the Bureau of Meteorology, co-ordinated by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities (AFAC) and released on Wednesday morning, points to a likely early start to the fire season in Victoria.

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Hannah Kim, eight, and Jeah Han, 12, are part of a group of activists that won a four-year fight to tackle climate inaction. For them, it is just the beginning

Hannah Kim, eight, was just starting primary school when she joined the “baby climate litigation” to force South Korea’s government to protect the rights of future generations against the dangers of the climate crisis.

Now, with high school still some way off, she is toasting success after winning her part in a four-year legal battle that has set a significant precedent for climate-related legal action in Asia.

Take renewable energy out of the equation and there isn’t much else expected to reduce fossil fuel use this side of 2030

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Australia has a problem with greenhouse gas emissions – a bigger problem than the political debate concedes.

Late last week, as Australians endured record August warmth and global heating-fuelled extreme rain, the federal government released data that suggest heat-trapping gases across most of the economy are currently headed in the wrong direction or yet to budge much from historic highs.

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Heatwaves and lack of rainfall have led to receding water levels in the Mornos reservoir, which submerged Kallio in the 1970s

No place is more indicative of plummeting rainfall levels in Greece than the Mornos reservoir. And no settlement is more indicative of how serious this year’s drought has been than Kallio, a village submerged by the artificial lake in the late 1970s.

Nearly five decades after Kallio was deliberately flooded as part of the construction of a dam to ensure water supply for Athens, people living nearby have watched in disbelief as reserves have receded to the point that the village has reappeared.