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Climate
Biden Bans New Oil and Gas Drilling Along Most U.S. Coasts
Biden bans new drilling in US coastal waters weeks before Trump handover
Ban includes entire Atlantic coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and part of Bering Sea
Joe Biden has banned offshore drilling across an immense area of coastal waters, weeks before Donald Trump takes office pledging to massively increase fossil fuel production.
The US president’s ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.
Continue reading...‘He was prescient’: Jimmy Carter, the environment and the road not taken
The ex-president was a pioneer on renewable energy and land conservation but his 1980 defeat was a ‘fork in the road’
When a group of dignitaries and journalists made a rare foray to the roof of the White House, Jimmy Carter had something to show them: 32 solar water-heating panels.
“A generation from now,” the US president declared, “this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
Continue reading...Climate crisis ‘wreaking havoc’ on Earth’s water cycle, report finds
Global heating is supercharging storms, floods and droughts, affecting entire ecosystems and billions of people
The climate crisis is “wreaking havoc” on the planet’s water cycle, with ferocious floods and crippling droughts affecting billions of people, a report has found.
Water is people’s most vital natural resource but global heating is changing the way water moves around the Earth. The analysis of water disasters in 2024, which was the hottest year on record, found they had killed at least 8,700 people, driven 40 million from their homes and caused economic damage of more than $550bn (£445bn).
Continue reading...Ripe for the picking? Irish wine on the up – but ‘nobody will retire rich’
Global heating has made conditions more favourable for growing grapes – and finding the right variety is key
Heard the one about Irish wine? Like its English counterpart, it is no longer a joke, with more than a dozen vineyards now producing bottles to emulate those of the terroirs of France, Spain and Italy.
At about €60 (£50) a bottle and produced in small quantities, it is far from a commercial activity, but efforts over the last 10 years have produced what one retailer described as an “arguably very fine” rosé.
Continue reading...‘It’s not just alerts, it’s a state of mind’: How a wildfire monitoring app became essential in the US west
Watch Duty – which began in California and has expanded across 14 states – alerted the public to more than 9,000 wildfires in 2024
Cristy Thomas began to panic as she called 911 for the second time on a warm October day but couldn’t get through. She anxiously watched the plume of black smoke pouring over her rural community in central California get larger.
Then she heard a familiar ping.
Continue reading...From Trump tariffs to AI: the big economic questions facing governments in 2025
The main issues confronting policymakers around the world seem particularly portentous this new year
January is always a time for new beginnings and fresh thinking. But with Donald Trump heading for the White House and a new(ish) Labour government in charge of a faltering UK economy, the onset of 2025 seems especially portentous.
Forecasting is a mug’s game, as former Bank of England governor Mervyn King used to say about predicting exchange rates; but here are some of the big economic questions to ponder, as the new year gets under way:
Continue reading...Is America Just Going to Abandon Its Towns Falling Into the Ocean?
‘Ironic’: climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports, study shows
Ports including in Saudi Arabia and the US projected to be seriously damaged by a metre of sea level rise
Rising sea levels driven by the climate crisis will overwhelm many of the world’s biggest oil ports, analysis indicates.
Scientists said the threat was ironic as fossil fuel burning causes global heating. They said reducing emissions by moving to renewable energy would halt global heating and deliver more reliable energy.
Continue reading...House Republicans Pledge Drilling and Make It Easier to Shed Federal Land
The week around the world in 20 pictures
The New Orleans truck attack, hunger in Khan Younis, the plane crash in Seoul and new year’s celebrations: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
Continue reading...