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Environment

World

Three-quarters of world's displaced people face severe climate risks, UN says

Nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people, or three-quarters of the global total, live in countries highly exposed to climate hazards, the UN Refugee Agency said on Friday, urging action ahead of the COP31 climate summit in Turkey. It said droughts, floods and extreme heat were making lasting solutions harder to find.

Weather

World’s wettest rainstorms are getting wetter, affecting flood and drought risk

Events that deliver about half of global rainfall are getting shorter but more intense, with wide-ranging implications The world’s wettest rainstorms produce about half of the global annual rainfall. Now a study shows that these intense downpours have become shorter in duration and fewer in number, compressing the same amount of rain into quicker and more extreme events, with implications for flood and drought risk. Chiyuan Miao and colleagues from Beijing Normal University in China analysed daily measurements between 1980 and 2022 from more than 19,000 rain gauges around the world. They found

Weather

How autumnal high pressure brings on the dark doldrums

With no wind to disperse the low cloud, mist and fog and less sunlight to burn it off, anticyclonic gloom can set in In summer, a high-pressure system over the UK usually means fine weather. But in the colder months it can result in anticyclonic gloom, characterised by grey skies, mist, fog and drizzle. A settled high-pressure system brings stable conditions and impedes the usual vertical movement of air. This is a recipe for sunshine when humidity is low, but can act like a lid, trapping atmospheric moisture near the surface. Continue reading...

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Check the waistband – and beware sneaky jargon: the expert guide to buying clothes that last

Should you look for French seams or overlocking? Is dry-clean only a red flag? And how do you spot quality when shopping online? We asked the pros • How to make your leather last a lifetime Take a look at the outfit you’re wearing now: how many times have you worn each item? And how long have you had them? Just over 10 years ago, Eco-Age founder Livia Firth and journalist Lucy Siegle launched the 30 wears challenge to encourage people to buy clothes they would wear at least 30 times. The 30 wears challenge is a great concept. As a journalist interested in sustainable fashion, I’ve enjoyed appl

Style

‘People sell their best stuff on Vinted’ – how charity shops became a dumping ground for unsellable clothes

Swamped with ‘daily avalanches’ of soiled items and poor-quality fast fashion, secondhand stores are in crisis. What went wrong with people’s good intentions? And is it possible to donate more effectively? The small stockroom of St Raphael’s Hospice charity shop in Cheam, south London, is rammed with donations. “On average, we get 30 to 50 bags a day,” says Caroline Worley, the commercial manager, “but it’s not unusual to receive over 100.” This might sound like a good problem to have, but the sheer volume of stuff is the shop’s biggest challenge. “Sometimes, there’s only [enough] floor space

World

El Nino breaks Pacific temperature record as weather pattern intensifies

An intensifying El Nino pushed sea surface temperatures in a key Pacific monitoring region to a record 29.70C in September, the EU’s Copernicus climate service said Monday. Forecasters expect the weather pattern, which raises drought and flood risks and exacerbates global warming, to become the strongest ever recorded this year.

World

France’s seafood problem starts elsewhere

Much of the fishmeal and fish oil that support seafood consumed in France come from global supply chains linked to pollution, labour abuses, overfishing, and food insecurity in poorer countries.

Weather

Meet Japan’s mythical beast who appears in bolts of lightning

Raijū is normally docile but gets agitated in storms and leaps up to run among the clouds, according to folklore The Japanese raijū (thunder beast) is said to fall to Earth in a bolt of lightning. It is generally described as looking like a weasel, but is also compared to a cat, a wolf or a badger. According to folklore the raijū is normally docile, but becomes agitated during storms and leaps up to run among the clouds. Trees struck by lightning are said to have been scratched by its claws. Continue reading...

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World

El Nino set to intensify before peaking in December, UN warns

The United Nations warned on Thursday that El Nino will intensify before peaking in December, bringing higher temperatures to much of the planet and compounding the effects of man-made climate change. The World Meteorological Organization added that this naturally occurring weather phenomenon could be the strongest since at least 1950.

World

Pacific leaders urge climate action as UN pre-COP talks open in Fiji

Pacific leaders urged action on climate change as UN pre-COP talks opened in Fiji's Nadi on Monday, ahead of next month's COP31 summit in Turkey. Discussions in Fiji and Tuvalu will focus on limiting warming to 1.5C, improving access to climate finance and protecting oceans as rising seas threaten communities.

World

More than half of Europe faced intense summer heat stress, EU monitor says

A record 52% of Europe faced intense heat stress this summer, the EU’s climate monitor said Friday, as climate change fuelled widespread heatwaves and tens of thousands of excess deaths. Europe recorded its third warmest summer, while western Europe experienced its hottest, with several countries setting national temperature records overall.