Climate change

Analysis of the science, politics and economics of the climate

Latest stories

The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood, Los Angeles.

Los Angeles against the flames

Always vulnerable, the city is increasingly susceptible to fire

A woman is crosses a dried up lake at Boklung near Kathiatoli in Nagaon District, Assam, India

How 1.4bn Indians are adapting to climate change

As heat, floods and drought get worse, people are getting creative


People stand on the destroyed Saopin bridge due to the flooding of the Cangrajal river.

Failure to prepare for climate change is costing Honduras dear

Weeks after the most recent storm, the country is still in emergency mode


Britons brace themselves for more floods

A warming planet is making a soggy island soggier 

Global warming is speeding up. Another reason to think about geoengineering

Reducing sulphur emissions saves lives. But it could also be hastening planetary warming

Earth is warming faster. Scientists are closing in on why

Paradoxically, cleaner emissions from ships and power plants are playing a role



Politics

Trees planted in the Taklamakan Desert to control sand movement

Will China’s “green Great Wall” save it from encroaching sands?

A big part of it has just been completed. Its effect is hotly debated

Legal Amazon preservation area borders the field for soybean planting.

Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions

Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier


COP29 UNFCCC Climate Conference In Baku

Half a loaf, at best, from the climate talks

This year’s negotiations made very modest progress


Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour 

It accounts for almost 40% of global investment in clean energy


Business and finance

TVs on seat backs in a plane.

Carbon emissions from tourism are rising disproportionately fast

The industry is failing to make itself greener

An illustration showing the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy and the costs associated with it.

The energy transition will be much cheaper than you think

Most analysts overestimate energy demand and underestimate technological advances


 A worker uses a torch to cut steel pipes near the coal-powered Datang International Zhangjiakou Power Station

King coal is dirty, dangerous—and far from dead

Rumours of its rapid demise have been greatly exaggerated


Big oil may be softening its stance on climate-change regulation

ExxonMobil’s boss wants America to stick with the Paris accord


Science and data

Cows

What has four stomachs and could change the world?

Technology is transforming cattle farming, but not fast enough

Kazakhstan, the Ustyurt plateau. Caspian sea;

The Caspian Sea is shrinking rapidly

This has big implications for Russia, which has come to rely on Central Asian ports


Display of an image of the world on the Hyperwall at the NASA Ames Research Center

Artificial intelligence is helping improve climate models

More accurate predictions will lead to better policy-making


Why it’s so hard to tell which climate policies actually work

Better tools are needed to analyse their effects


Latest coverage

Leaders

Much of the damage from the LA fires could have been averted

The lesson of the tragedy is to craft better incentives to keep people safe

United States

How will calamity change Los Angeles?

Short-sighted policies amplified the destruction. Will LA–and California–learn from their mistakes?

Graphic detail

How to make sense of 2024’s wild temperatures

Our climate team highlight four charts and two maps

United States

Los Angeles against the flames

Always vulnerable, the city is increasingly susceptible to fire

The Americas

Failure to prepare for climate change is costing Honduras dear

Weeks after the most recent storm, the country is still in emergency mode

Leaders

Smarter incentives would help India adapt to climate change

It is the biggest test case for how hot, hard-up countries can cope

Asia

How 1.4bn Indians are adapting to climate change

As heat, floods and drought get worse, people are getting creative

Britain

Britons brace themselves for more floods

A warming planet is making a soggy island soggier 

Science & technology

Earth is warming faster. Scientists are closing in on why

Paradoxically, cleaner emissions from ships and power plants are playing a role

International

What has four stomachs and could change the world?

Technology is transforming cattle farming, but not fast enough

The Americas

The Caribbean struggles to break its dependence on fossil fuels

But moving to renewables is slow and expensive

Science & technology

Carbon emissions from tourism are rising disproportionately fast

The industry is failing to make itself greener

Science & technology

Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions

Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier

International

Half a loaf, at best, from the climate talks

This year’s negotiations made very modest progress

The World Ahead By Invitation: Science & technology in 2025

Casey Handmer says solar power is changing the economics of energy

Large-scale production of synthetic fuel is now feasible, argues the founder of Terraform Industries

The World Ahead Science & technology in 2025

Supercomputers and AI are helping build better climate models

The coming year will be a big one for the advance of climate science

Next