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  Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere just hit a ‘depressing’ new record

These data come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s Mauna Loa Observatory, which may soon be shut down
because of proposed government budget cuts. The amount of carbon dioxide
detected in the atmosphere hit a record high in April. CO2 levels averaged
about 431 parts per million (ppm) over that month, according to data
collected at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna
Loa Observatory in Hawaii.


 Scientific American 5th May 2026, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-dioxide-levels-in-the-atmosphere-just-hit-a-depressing-record-high/

May 10, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Hope is contagious and science is king: 10 big lessons on ending the fossil fuel era.

 After a landmark climate meeting in Santa Marta, Colombia, where nearly 60
countries gathered to work out how to end the production and use of
planet-heating fossil fuels, what have we learned? The single most
important thing to come from the first Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels
conference, in Santa Marta, has been a change of mood. Whereas the UN’s
annual climate summits, or Cops, can often feel stuck and frustrating, with
countries circling the same topics without resolution, nearly every
delegate in Colombia felt liberated. In a world of climate denial and
misinformation, Santa Marta was a shining example of science-led decision
making. Hundreds of experts, academics and scientists inspired and informed
the launch of three major initiatives on the energy transition.

 Guardian 1st May 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/01/santa-marta-colombia-climate-conference-ending-fossil-fuel-era

May 4, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Toxins plus climate harms likely cause of reduced fertility, study finds

Simultaneous exposure to toxic chemicals and climate change’s impacts
likely generates an additive or synergistic effect that increases
reproductive harm, and may contribute to the broad global drop in
fertility, new peer-reviewed research finds. The review of scientific
literature considers how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, often found in
plastic, coupled with climate change’s effects, such as heat stress, are
each linked to reductions in fertility and fecundity across global species
– including in humans, wildlife and invertebrates.

Guardian 26th April 2026,
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/26/toxic-exposure-climate-crisis-study

May 2, 2026 Posted by | climate change, environment | Leave a comment

Nations have chance to break ‘fossil fuel mindset’: Mary Robinson

Santa Marta (Colombia) (AFP) – Former Irish President Mary Robinson has had a front-row seat to historic change — and senses another turning point coming at a fossil fuel phaseout meeting in Colombia.

 28/04/2026 – https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260427-nations-have-chance-to-break-fossil-fuel-mindset-mary-robinson

She casts the Santa Marta conference as a rare opportunity to break the “fossil fuel mindset” — and as the Iran war roils energy markets, it spotlights the risks of coal, oil and gas dependence, particularly for the poor she has long championed.

Speaking to AFP on Monday in Santa Marta ahead of the high-level talks on April 28-29, Robinson also described how listening to a calving glacier brought her to tears — and crystallized the urgency of the climate fight.

This interview with Robinson, a member of The Elders group of former heads of state founded by Nelson Mandela, has been edited for length and clarity.

A: “I do believe the COP (UN Conference of the Parties) is still very important and I hope that Santa Marta will be a complement to it and feed into the process.

“There are many other ways in which we need the COP. But we failed in Belem (at COP30) to get reference to phasing out fossil fuel because of the penetration of the fossil fuel lobbies. So that’s a reality.

“But when we planned Santa Marta we didn’t know we’d be in the worst crisis of oil and gas. The timing is important. Now is the time to change the mindset — get out of a fossil fuel mindset into a future-oriented clean energy, renewable energy.

“It’s the way we have to go, it’s the way we are going, but we need to go far much faster.”

A: “There are real possibilities. We really have never had the time and space before to do it. It’s not a negotiated conference — you don’t have to worry about negotiation.

“Countries have come thinking of what they are prepared do: governments, sub-national organizations, business generally, civil society, and the energy of the people summit. The dynamic is real.

“We’re on the brink of a new dynamic way forward of doers, coalitions of doers and it has to be the outcome of Santa Marta.”

“They are the very citizens who are suffering now from this conflict, which has choked off 20 percent of oil and gas. And it’s the poorest that suffer most from the rise in prices, the farmers can’t get the fertilizer, etc. This is not a reliable future. I think that’s a really important moment for Santa Marta.”

A: “We are coming close to real tipping points, and the scientists have been warning us for years. But they are worried that things are accelerating.

“Not enough of the planning of governments is grounded in the science. One of the things we’re calling for — and I’m very keen on this — is that governments should have chief planetary scientists. During COVID, lots of countries had chief medical officers, and we listened because we were scared. They had a lot of authority.

“We’re in the same position. We haven’t thought it through yet, but we are.”

A: “When you hear the science, it is scary. And we should be more scared.

“Part of it is aligning ourselves with nature. I had an experience of doing that. I was lucky enough to be on a scientific expedition in Greenland where we were told to just be on your own and listen to the glacier.

“I was listening to the sound of thunder — which was a major calving — and then sharp, smaller calving like rifle shots, I found myself crying. I was on my own, listening to nature and I was crying because I knew it wasn’t right, I knew what we were doing, we shouldn’t be doing.

“I was so grateful to that moment of really understanding that nature was talking to us and saying, stop this.

“And so it’s the urgency of the science, the opportunity at the moment, and the space that is provided by Santa Marta. We must avail of it, and we must build momentum.”

May 2, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Three dead as California faces invasion of killer snakes.

 After an unusually warm and wet start to the year, rattlesnake season has started
early in parts of the Golden State,

 Times 22nd April 2026, https://www.thetimes.com/us/american-politics/article/california-invasion-venomous-snakes-three-dead-k78jxt3hv

April 28, 2026 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear War at Ukraine-Russia border could trigger years of global climate disruption and radioactive fallout, research suggests.

 Duncan Sandes, 23 April 26, https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-environment-science-and-economy/nuclear-war-at-ukraine-russia-border-could-trigger-years-of-global-climate-disruption-and-radioactive-fallout-research-suggests/

Geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe underscore the urgency of addressing the climate and radiological consequences of a regional nuclear conflict.

Even a small-scale nuclear conflict at the Ukraine–Russia border could cause years of severe global climate disruption and radioactive fallout across much of the world, new research suggests.

In the study, published in npj Clean Air, researchers at the University of Exeter used the UK Earth System Model to simulate a hypothetical regional nuclear conflict at the Ukraine-Russia border. The results shows that the soot emitted after nuclear detonation would rapidly spread through the atmosphere, block sunlight and disrupt climate across the Northern Hemisphere.

In the first year after the conflict, the Northern Hemisphere cools by about 1°C on average, with much larger regional drops of around 5°C in Russia and 4°C in the United States. Surface sunlight declines sharply, and precipitation falls substantially across key mid-latitude agricultural regions.

The researchers also found that the climate effects would not be short-lived, lasting for approximately 6 years. Stratospheric warming caused by the soot alters major atmospheric circulation patterns, including the jet streams and the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Alongside the climate impacts, the study examined the long-term dispersion of radioactive material attached to the black carbon particles. The results suggest that long-lived radionuclides could be transported globally, with around 40% eventually depositing in the Southern Hemisphere. This means the consequences of a regional nuclear conflict would not remain confined to the war zone but would instead become a global humanitarian and environmental issue.

Lead author Dr Ananth Ranjithkumar, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, said: “Even a small-scale regional nuclear conflict would not remain a regional catastrophe for long. Our simulations show that its effects could reverberate across the planet for years, disrupting climate systems and spreading radioactive fallout far beyond the detonation zone, turning a regional war into a global crisis.”

Co-Author Professor Jim Haywood, also of the University of Exeter added: “This study confirms the global impact of regional nuclear conflicts upon climate, and emphasises that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that ended February 5, 2026 urgently needs to be extended.”

Co-Author Professor Nathan Mayne, also from the University of Exeter said “This is an excellent example of how our studies of other planets can contribute to understanding Earth’s climate.

“From planet wide dust storms on Mars, to kilometre per second winds in the atmospheres of extremely hot gas giant planets, our adaptations lead to improvements in how we capture climate and weather phenomena for Earth itself both in `normal’ and, in this case, extreme situations.”

The study, Nuclear Conflict in Eastern Europe: Climate disruption and Radiological fallout, is available to read here .

April 27, 2026 Posted by | climate change, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds

Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new
analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by
political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather.


At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted
by climate-related impacts over the last two decades, researchers found. As
risks intensify, the pressure on already fragile democratic systems –
particularly in Africa and Asia – is forecast to grow.

The findings, from
the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an
intergovernmental organisation that aims to support democracy around the
world, is the first global analysis of how natural hazards are affecting
elections.

Guardian 22nd April 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/apr/22/climate-change-extreme-weather-heatwaves-floods-wildfires-threat-democracy-elections

April 25, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought

The critical Atlantic current system appears significantly more likely to
collapse than previously thought after new research found that climate
models predicting the biggest slowdown are the most realistic.

Scientists called the new finding “very concerning” as a collapse would have
catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa and the Americas. The Atlantic
meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global
climate system and was already known to be at its weakest for 1,600 years
as a result of the climate crisis.

Scientists spotted warning signs of a
tipping point in 2021 and know that the Amoc has collapsed in the Earth’s
past. Climate scientists use dozens of different computer models to assess
the future climate. However, for the complex Amoc system, these produce
widely varying results, ranging from some that indicate no further slowdown
by 2100 to those suggesting a huge deceleration of about 65%, even when
carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning are gradually cut to net zero.

The research combined real-world ocean observations with the models to
determine the most reliable, and this hugely reduced the spread of
uncertainty. They found an estimated slowdown of 42% to 58% in 2100, a
level almost certain to end in collapse.

Guardian 15th April 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/critical-atlantic-current-significantly-more-likely-to-collapse-than-thought

April 20, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

New Nuclear Is Too Late and Too Costly for the Climate Crisis

14 April 2026, Paul Dorfman, https://bennettinstitutesussex.org/stories/nuclear-is-too-late-and-too-costly-for-the-climate-crisis/

Dr Paul Dorfman, Bennett Scholar, makes a clear and evidence based case: new nuclear power cannot play a meaningful role in addressing the climate or energy crises. It is not simply expensive, it is structurally misaligned with the speed, scale and affordability required for effective climate action.

In the report, ‘Debt, Delays, Dependencies. Why Public Banks
Should Not Support Nuclear Power
‘, Dr Dorfman’s contribution makes clear that new nuclear power represents a policy dead end, diverting scarce resources away from climate‑effective solutions. The opportunity cost is enormous: every pound invested in nuclear is a pound not invested in renewables, energy efficiency, storage or grid resilience. New nuclear is already too late. The renewable transition is happening now – and smart policy must move with it.

Key Findings

Dr Dorfman shows that time is the critical constraint. New nuclear projects consistently take 15–20 years from planning to operation, with average construction overruns of more than 60%. In contrast, wind and solar projects move from planning to generation in months to a few years, making them vastly more effective in the decisive decade for emissions reduction. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that renewables are now up to ten times more effective at cutting emissions than new nuclear, underscoring the urgency of choosing technologies that can deliver now rather than decades from now.

Cost compounds the problem. Dr Dorfman highlights that new nuclear is the most expensive form of electricity generation. Nuclear projects routinely double their initial cost estimates, while renewable technologies continue to fall rapidly in price due to economies of scale, innovation and fast global deployment.

The chapter also challenges the notion that nuclear complements renewables. Evidence shows that large, inflexible nuclear plants crowd out investment in grids, storage and flexibility – exactly the systems needed to integrate high shares of renewable energy. Meanwhile, renewables already deliver the bulk of new global power capacity, with wind and solar generating significantly more electricity than nuclear worldwide, and expanding at a far faster rate.

Finally, Dr Dorfman highlights a growing but under‑discussed risk: climate change itself threatens nuclear infrastructure. Rising sea levels, heatwaves, floods and water scarcity increasingly disrupt reactor operation, driving up costs and safety risks. Rather than being a climate solution, nuclear power is becoming more vulnerable because of climate impacts, further undermining its viability.

Why this matters for policy and innovation

Dr Dorfman’s chapter, ‘New nuclear: Too late and too costly for the climate and energy crises‘ has a central insight that aligns squarely with the Bennett Institute’s mission to accelerate effective, evidence‑based policy innovation. The persistence of nuclear in policy debates is not driven by outcomes, but by legacy thinking, political inertia and vested interests. Dr Dorfman’s analysis shows that innovation is not about new reactor designs, but about deploying solutions that already work, quickly, affordably and at scale. This research reinforces a core Bennett Institute principle: policy decisions must be grounded in real‑world delivery.

April 18, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Sea-level rise is a health crisis and we must hold polluters accountable

Christiana Figueres

 There are moments in history when a crisis long treated as distant reveals
itself to be intimate, immediate and profoundly human. Sea-level rise is
one of those moments.

For years it has been discussed in the abstract
language of centimetres, coastal infrastructure and future projections.
This can make it seem like a technical challenge – something for
engineers and planners to grapple with.

But rising seas are already
damaging bodies, minds, livelihoods and cultures. Sea-level rise is a
present-day health crisis. When saltwater intrudes into freshwater
supplies, health suffers. When floods overwhelm sanitation systems,
diseases spread. When farmland is inundated by king tides, nutrition
deteriorates. And when people are forced to contemplate leaving the land of
their ancestors, they face a painful mix of physical, financial, emotional,
cultural and spiritual harm. The effect of sea-level rise on property lines
and insurance procurement is clear.

But what is being lost goes far deeper
– it’s safety, dignity, continuity and belonging. Across low-lying
coastal regions and small island states, including throughout the Pacific,
communities are living with this reality today. For Indigenous peoples
especially, land is identity, memory, law, kinship, sustenance today and
connection to a shared future.

 Guardian 7th April 2026,
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/07/sea-level-rise-health-crisis-christiana-figueres

April 16, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

John Gibbons: I’ve changed my mind on nuclear power — we don’t need it any more

Becoming energy independent is simpler than it’s ever been — wind and solar have the potential to free us from endless energy shocks

Sat, 11 Apr, 2026 , John Gibbons, https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41825069.html

Nuclear power would, in the future, be “too cheap to meter”. This bold prediction was made by the chair of the US Atomic Energy Commission, Lewis Strauss, in September 1954. This was at the very dawn of the age of nuclear energy and it reflected the Utopian mood of the post-war era.

Fast forward to 2026, and while nuclear is no energy silver bullet, nor has it been an abject failure. Today, just under one tenth of total world electricity production is from nuclear reactors, which have the key environmental advantage of being virtually zero carbon.

Responding to the oil shocks of the early 1970s, France invested heavily in nuclear energy. Its 56 reactors account for about two thirds of total national electrical production, and it regularly exports surplus clean electricity to its European neighbours. 

None of these plants are household names, for the good reason that France has managed its fleet of nuclear reactors well and avoided any major incidents over the last half century.

Ireland also looked seriously at the nuclear option, with proposals as far back as 1968 to build four nuclear power stations. These were revived some years later following the oil shocks and in late November 1973, the Irish government approved in principle the construction of a nuclear power  station, with an initial budget of £100m. Carnsore Point in Co Wexford was selected as its location.

Growing public opposition to the Carnsore project, including two well-attended protest concerts at the site in 1978 and 1979, saw the government tiptoe away from plans to build a nuclear plant, and the idea was quietly shelved. 

The disastrous nuclear accident at the Chernobyl power plant in April 1986 hardened public and political opinion decisively against nuclear energy.

In Ireland, this took the form of the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999, which set out in law a national prohibition on “the use of nuclear fission for the generation of electricity”. That, it seemed, was that.

Opposition to nuclear energy has long been an article of faith among environmentalists. The anti-war movement and the green movement largely coalesced around the idea that nuclear power was both intrinsically dangerous and associated with the proliferation of nuclear weapons. These fears are not totally unfounded. Many countries have indeed developed their civilian and military nuclear programmes in tandem.

In an ideal world, we would have neither nuclear power plants nor nuclear weapons, but that’s not the world we live in. As an environmental commentator, I took the view two decades ago that the unfolding climate emergency was by far the greatest threat we collectively face, and anything that could help in the fight to decarbonise the global economy had to be taken seriously. And yes, that absolutely included nuclear energy.

This was, to put it mildly, not a popular position to adopt. Many people who strongly support climate action are also fervently anti-nuclear. In late 2012, I took part in a green event at Carnsore Point and found myself the odd man out, facing a sceptical audience and an openly hostile fellow panellist, German Green MEP Rebecca Harms.

In 2006, German chancellor Angela Merkel stated: “I will always consider it absurd to shut down technologically safe nuclear power plants that don’t emit CO2.” 

Five years later, under pressure from the German Greens in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan, the government decided to shut down its 17 nuclear power plants, and the absurd became real, as lignite, an ultra-dirty fuel, largely replaced zero carbon nuclear.

Now, the wheel has turned again. In response to the disastrous Iran war, Ireland is now looking to rethink its position on nuclear, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressing an open mind on nuclear energy, while noting costs and timescales make it very much a long term option — and this assumes the Irish public would ever tolerate the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Having long supported nuclear power when it was widely opposed in Ireland, I now find myself in the opposite camp. I no longer believe nuclear power can or will play any part in Ireland’s energy future, and here’s why.

First, the cost. In late 2022, Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor went online, 12 years behind schedule and three times over budget. The final cost exceeded €11bn. This was the first new nuclear power plant built in Europe in over 15 years. At full production, the Olkiluoto plant will supply around 1.6GW of power.

Last year, more than 10 times that amount of wind power was installed across Europe, while 65GW of new solar was deployed in Europe in 2025. In total, some 80GW of new clean renewable energy was added to the European grid last year — the peak equivalent of 50 Olkiluoto nuclear plants.

What changed my mind is that the facts have changed, and changed decisively, over the last decade and more as renewable energy technologies have rapidly matured. 

Wind and solar, supported by battery arrays and e-fuels, are now the cheapest, cleanest sources of energy in history. Last year, Ireland alone added 1GW of new solar capacity, meaning we now have at peak a total of 8GW of green electricity, or the equivalent of five Olkiluoto plants.

To grasp the exponential nature of renewable energy roll-out, consider that in 2004, a total of 1GW of solar was deployed globally. Last year, the same amount was added every 12 hours.

Battery storage costs have fallen by an astonishing 90% over the last decade, with no sign as yet of this downward cost curve flattening out. According to the International Energy Agency, renewable power capacity is projected to increase by 4,600GW between 2025-2030.

You would need to build literally thousands of nuclear power plants to keep pace with renewable energy, yet barely 100 have even been commissioned worldwide in the last quarter century, while others, such as in Germany, and Japan, have been shut down.

Ireland has made huge strides in renewable electricity over the last decade in particular, and we need to double down on offshore wind and solar farms to power the electrification of our entire economy and society in the turbulent years ahead. Our continued reliance on fossil fuel imports places us at the mercy of an increasingly volatile global energy marketplace.

While the world’s existing nuclear plants should be maintained, I believe new nuclear power plants have no useful role in decarbonising and achieving energy independence quickly and at scale. 

Worse, Irish politicians now dallying with nuclear may only serve to undermine our critical imperative to press ahead with the rapid roll-out of renewable energy.

John Gibbons is an environmental journalist and author of The Lie of the Land: A Game Plan for Ireland in the Climate Crisis

April 14, 2026 Posted by | climate change, Ireland | Leave a comment

‘Non-survivable’: heatwaves are already breaching human limits, with worse to come, study finds

Analysis of six extreme heatwaves found when
temperature and humidity were accounted for, all were potentially deadly
for older people.

Extreme heat is already creating “non-survivable”
conditions for humans in heatwaves that have killed thousands and likely
many more, according to new research that warns people are more susceptible
to rising temperatures than first thought.

Scientists re-examined six
extreme heatwaves between 2003 and 2024 and found that when temperature,
humidity and the body’s ability to stay cool were accounted for, all were
potentially deadly for older people.

Guardian 8th April 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/08/extreme-weather-heatwaves-breaching-human-survival-limits-study-finds

April 14, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

US scientists are escaping to Norway because of Trump’s anti-climate agenda, minister says.

.At least 23 research scientists have left the US for
Norway in the wake of Trump returning to office, including to six
pioneering climate programmes. In the first year of Trump’s second term,
the US government cut thousands of jobs at federal science agencies,
slashed grant money for universities and effectively ended
government-backed research into the climate crisis, notably with the
announcement last December that the Colorado-based National Center for
Atmospheric Research would close.

More than 10,000 doctorate-level experts
in science and other fields have now left federal government employment,
according to one analysis, leading to fears of a scientific brain drain
from the US. Research minister Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland told The Independent
that several American scientists had joined research institutes in her
country over the past year, many of which are prioritising pioneering
climate research in the Arctic.

Last summer, the centre-left Norwegian
government announced a 100m kroner (£7.8m) programme to attract
international researchers. So far, 27 scientists have come to Norway under
the programme, including 23 from the US.

 Independent 1st April 2026, https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/trump-climate-arctic-norway-scientists-b2938958.html

April 7, 2026 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Climate change will push venomous snakes towards highly populated coastlines, study finds

 Climate change will drive venomous snakes away from arid interiors and
towards densely populated coastlines, increasing the risk of deadly
encounters for millions of people, a new global study says. It notes that
snake populations will broadly move towards higher latitudes and more
heavily populated areas as rising temperatures make their current habitats
less suitable. In Australia, the shift is expected to be especially
pronounced along the east coast where snakes will move from the arid centre
into more heavily populated southern areas.

 Independent 2nd April 2026,
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/venomous-snakes-climate-change-b2950023.html

April 5, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Funding gap threatens next round of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate science reports.

The latest IPCC session in Bangkok was clouded by persistent
differences over when its flagship reports should be published and concern
over cost-cutting proposals. A lack of money is hampering the work of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a substantial funding
boost is needed to ensure its scientists can complete their next set of
flagship reports, the chair of the UN body has warned.

Funding from
governments fell in 2024 and 2025 and the organisation could run out of
money by 2028 unless it receives fresh funds or implements spending cuts,
chair Jim Skea told an official meeting of IPCC scientists in Bangkok last
week, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), which provides
coverage of UN negotiations. Skea told the IPCC’s 64th session that
without a substantial increase in contributions, the completion of the next
set of reports, known as AR7, would be jeopardised.

 Climate Home News 1st April 2026,
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2026/04/01/funding-gap-threatens-next-round-of-ipcc-climate-science-reports-chair-warns/

April 5, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment