Climate change is one of the biggest global problems today. The scientific consensus clearly shows that human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, is the main driver (more…)

Since almost every month in 2024 was the warmest on record, the world can survive until now na warmer year. One of the reasons for extreme heat is a particularly strong seizure El Niño , a natural climate phenomenon characterized by warmer than usual waters in the tropical Pacific.

El Niño is now receding, but human-caused global warming is not, and many scientists say the world is now on track exceed the preferred limit set by the Paris Climate Agreement – 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial baselines. (Max Kim, Stephanie Yang, more at latimes.com)

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences launched web application , which is a collaboration between Matt Fitzpatrick and his team. This tool allows you to explore how the climate might evolve in over 40,500 different locations. For example, if you live in Brussels, the app will tell you that by 2080, that city's climate will resemble that of Bomba, Italy, with summers predicted to be 5.3°C warmer and drier by 20.6 %.

This application not only makes predictions, but also supports thinking about possible actions to mitigate these changes. Depending on the greenhouse gas emission scenarios, the application actually offers different visions of the future , thereby allowing the potential effects of reducing emissions to be visualized. It highlights the importance of international agreements like Paris and shows that every action counts in the fight against global warming. This new tool is intended to be a catalyst for awareness, helping citizens understand the range of potential impacts and engage in informed discussions about the measures to be taken to protect our local environment from the vagaries of a changing climate. The app designed by Professor Fitzpatrick and his team integrates climate volatility by offering simulations based on different scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions , both high and low, to illustrate potential climate change in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This approach enables users to understand the specific impacts of global warming on their immediate environment, in order to realize the urgency and severity of climate change. The professor hopes that this app will enrich the public debate on these questions by helping everyone understand why the scientific community is so insistent on these questions.

Climate change has serious implications for biodiversity. Climatic disturbances increase pressures exerted by human activity. Halting the collapse of biodiversity is essential for the response to the climate crisis and will be essential for the survival of ecosystems as well as humanity. This is not the first crisis that biodiversity has faced, but this one is special for two reasons. First, because it is moving extremely fast: it is 100 to 1000 times faster than all the crises in the past. (More on researchactionclimat.org)

As the climate warms, many species are on the move, creating new challenges for policymakers around the world. Shifts in the distribution of mosquitoes and disease-carrying ticks and bats bring diseases such as malaria and Lyme disease to areas where health care systems are unprepared. Movements of commercially important fish from one jurisdiction to another displace employment opportunities and cause trade disputes. (McGill University, more at phys.org)

Governments are set to put in place the required plan to make the European Union's climate ambitions a reality, threatening efforts to eliminate the bloc's contributions to global warming by mid-century. Only four of the EU's 27 governments - the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Sweden - met Sunday's deadline to submit their so-called National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), a key document for officials that shows how they will intervene. its share of the bloc's 2030 emissions reduction target. Pätina, Italy, presented its plan on Monday. (ZIA WEISE, more at politico.eu)

Researchers from the universities of Zurich, Vienna and Utrecht have revealed significant flaws in current climate risk assessment techniques that could lead to a serious underestimation of climate-related financial losses for businesses and investors.

A study by Stefan Battiston from the Department of Finance at the University of Zurich and his co-authors, published in Nature Communications , identified critical gaps in the way climate-related risks to corporate assets are currently assessed .

Many current estimates of climate-physical climate risk rely on simplified and proxy data that do not accurately represent society's true exposure to risk. This can lead to a significant underestimation of climate-related losses, with serious implications for business investment planning, asset valuation and climate change adaptation efforts. (Melanie Nyfeler, University of Zurich, more at phys.org)

Around 50 % of the world's population – literally billions of people – will go to the polls in 2024, which could have environmental, social and economic consequences. As the AP reported: “There are more than 50 elections scheduled for this year that affect half of the planet's population. From Taiwan to Russia to India and beyond, presidential and legislative contests have huge implications for human rights, the economy, international relations and the prospects for peace in volatile times. (Joan Michelson, forbes.com)

A recent University of Michigan study reveals a gap in sociology: the lack of focus on climate change. Societies are driving this crisis and dealing with its consequences, but sociology as a discipline appears to be under-engaged in the issue, says Sofia Hiltner, a PhD student in sociology at the University whose research is published in The American Sociologist .

The study points to the critical need for a sociological perspective on the fight against climate change. There is no mention in leading sociology journal articles (0.9 %), conference proceedings (1.5 %), faculty biographies (2.8 %), and course listings at leading US departments (0.2 %) about climate change.

"This deficit threatens the importance of sociology for human well-being. It also limits our understanding of the climate crisis as a social problem and our ability to imagine responses," said Hiltner, a predoctoral fellow at the Center for Population Studies at the Institute for Social Research. (Tevah Platt, University of Michigan, more at phys.org)

An international team led by Scripps postdoctoral fellow Bethan Wynne-Cattanach took measurements along the slope of an undersea canyon in the Atlantic Ocean. What they discovered challenges long-held theories about how cold, deep water moves in the ocean.

Challenging the traditional ocean circulation model. The study's findings point to a phenomenon called upwelling-driven turbulent mixing. The process, which has been observed directly for the first time, involves cold, dense water rising rapidly from the deep ocean to the surface along steep underwater slopes.

The measured upwelling speed was extremely high, more than 10,000 times faster than previously estimated by renowned oceanographer Walter Munk in the 1960s. (More on openaccessgovernment.org)

Workers will experience the effects of climate change in many ways: job insecurity, changes in job roles and responsibilities, and changes in their workplaces, which may include different work practices and the development of new activities and products. Climate change risks are associated with increased exposure to risks, leading to lower quality work standards, loss of productivity and greater job and work insecurity. Almost half of EU workers will experience profound changes in their work roles as economies adapt to climate change and mitigation strategies are implemented. In addition, work is likely to change as a result of society's responses to climate change. These changes in work, while increasing the vulnerability of some workers, offer opportunities to improve some dimensions of work quality. This report outlines the complex relationship between job quality and climate change, including the implications of environmental tasks in selected sectors. (More on eurofound.europa.eu)

Funding for research can be the key to the discoveries and innovations that shape our future. Regardless of which country you are in, grant opportunities are available and waiting for their recipients. Calling NGOs and non-profit organizations - now is the time to explore available opportunities and secure funding for your projects. Whether your focus is on health research, environmental sustainability, technological development, or social innovation, there are a number of grant programs that can support your work and help you achieve your goals. Don't miss this chance for development and innovation that can have a global impact! (More on fundsforngos.org)

A doubling of atmospheric CO2 could significantly increase the Earth's average temperature by 7 to 14 degrees Celsius, according to a study led by researchers from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Marine Research (NIOZ) and the universities of Utrecht and Bristol.

These findings contrast sharply with the 2.3 to 4.5 degrees predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

An invaluable resource for study

To collect the data, the scientists used a 45-year-old drill core from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The core has preserved organic matter due to the lack of oxygen, making it an invaluable resource for the study of historical climate conditions.

"I realized that this core is very attractive to researchers because the ocean floor at this location has had oxygen-free conditions for many millions of years," said lead author Jaap Sinninghe Damsté, a scientist at NIOZ and professor of organic geochemistry at Utrecht. (Andrei Ionescu, more at earth.com)

The EEA invites individual experts to express their interest in helping to carry out preparatory work in support of the EEA's activities, focusing, inter alia, on the areas of climate, health and the environment. Listed professionals could be asked to perform a variety of tasks related to a specialized current job, e.g. they drafted report chapters, performed data analysis, provided opinions on the development of tender specifications, etc.

Fear, sadness, anger: these are just some of the emotions that children most associate with concerns about the future of the planet. 95 % girls and boys surveyed said they were worried about the future of the environment and more than one in 3 (40 %) reported having a bad dream about climate change or a threatened environment and having trouble sleeping or eating because of these thoughts. This follows from the results of a recent Italian study, unique in the international scientific panorama, which was born in the context of the Scuolattiva Onlus educational project "A Scuola di Acqua", carried out nine years ago in collaboration with the Sanpellegrino group and dedicated to raising awareness among the youngest about hydration issues and environmental sustainability. (Grazie Capuano, more at spazio50.org)

With climate change and increased demand, water is increasingly scarce, and competition for limited water resources could cause tension and conflict between countries and communities. But within the framework of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube (ICPDR) 14 countries and the EU pledged to implement the 1994 Convention on the Protection of the Danube, with the ICPDR becoming a model for transboundary management of common river basins worldwide.

It enables countries and the EU to work closely together on water management issues and ensure that surface and groundwater in the Danube basin are managed and used sustainably and fairly. (More on environment.ec.europa.eu)

According to the EU's climate change monitor Copernicus, wildfires are "again ravaging the Arctic Circle", reports BBC News. In a statement, Copernicus said warmer air temperatures and drier conditions in Russia's Sakha created ideal conditions for wildfires "when a spark strikes," he added. Russia's state news agency Tass quoted the region's deputy minister of ecology, management and forestry as saying that as of June 24, more than 160 forest fires had affected nearly 460,000 hectares of land. It is the third time in the past five years that high-intensity fires have swept across the Arctic, notes BBC News. Scientists fear that smoke from the fires will hinder the Arctic ice's ability to reflect sunlight, meaning both land and sea will absorb more heat, the article continues. Professor Gail Whiteman of the University of Exeter tells the media that the Arctic is "ground zero for climate change" and adds: "The growing Siberian fires are a clear warning sign that this fundamental system is approaching dangerous climate tipping points. The Arctic is not going to stay there,…[these fires are] a warning cry for urgent action.”

In other wildfire news, a new report found that Canada's wildfires last year released more carbon dioxide (CO2) than India's from burning fossil fuels, the Guardian reports . Scientists from the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland found that months of wildfires in Canada released about 3 billion tons of CO2 in 2023, he continues. The fires, which covered an area of forest larger than the US state of West Virginia, produced almost four times more CO2 than airplanes and about the same amount of CO2 as 647 million cars in a year, he adds. The update is not peer-reviewed, but is based on an original study that was, the Guardian notes. (Carbonbrief.com, Malu Cursino, BBC News)

A research team closes the information gap in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and presents surprising data. It is probably one of the most important climate protection questions: How much CO₂ can humans produce to keep the global temperature from rising by more than 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times? The Paris Climate Agreement states that every effort should be made to achieve this goal.

Now updated data from The Global Climate Change Initiative shows: The CO₂ budget is falling faster than expected. Humans can still produce around 200 billion tons of CO₂, otherwise there is a 50 percent chance that the Paris target will not be met.

In concrete terms, this means: With current global emissions of around 40 billion tonnes, the CO₂ budget will run out in 2029. If you want to stay “well below 2 degrees of warming”, as required by the Paris Agreement, you have more time: the CO₂ budget will then last until 2051. (Martin Läubli, more at bazonline.ch)

Fires are the new "polar bear" commonly used by the media to convey the climate crisis and the threat of major natural hazards. And this despite the fact that most fires on Earth are harmless, even ecologically beneficial. But are the fires really more extreme? Climate skeptics have disputed this claim. They point to a global decline in burned area and argue that attention paid to wildfires is a disruptive form of media confirmation bias. (Calum Cunningham, David Bowman and Grant Williamson, The Conversation)

The global pandemic, war, inflation and other upheavals and crises have tested the European Green Deal and its ambition to build a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. Two new reports from the European Environment Agency (EEA), published today, discuss how Europe can respond to pressing and complex societal challenges while moving towards long-term sustainability goals. (More on eea.europa.eu)