Climate science
Weekly wrap: Paris preview, blocking coal and 2C controversy
This week’s top climate politics and policy stories. Sign up inside to have our Friday briefing sent to your inbox
UN moves goalposts to keep 2C hope alive
NEWS: Positive message of ’emissions gap’ report ahead of COP21 is based on implausible assumptions, warns scientist Oliver Geden
World headed for hottest year on record – WMO
NEWS: 2011-2015 was the warmest five-year period since measurements began, UN weather agency declares before Paris summit
‘I’m going to Paris because I’m fighting for my home’
COMMENT: Marshallese poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner explains why she has decided to travel thousands of miles to France, and why she’s not leaving without an ambitious climate deal
Bangladesh capital faces future influx of climate refugees
NEWS: Rising sea levels and cyclones spell huge migrations to overpopulated Dhaka if the planet doesn’t cut carbon emissions fast enough
Inside Canada premiers’ climate science class before Paris summit
NEWS: Prime minister Justin Trudeau uses first meeting between provincial chiefs and Ottawa in 7 years to build bridges and buff up climate knowledge
Climate change speeds retreat of Trinidad’s idyllic beaches
NEWS: Caribbean island needs more than seawalls to keep coastal erosion at bay. Time for a long-term vision backed by business, say researchers
Brewing El Nino among strongest on record – WMO
NEWS: Abnormally warm Pacific waters are playing havoc with global weather and could surpass 1997-98 record, says UN agency
Nepal’s farmers turn ‘climate smart’ as erratic rains bite
NEWS: Plastic sheeting, plywood and resilient seeds can make a huge difference to communities faced with increasingly tough climate-linked impacts
Meet the Indian islanders losing ground to the sea
NEWS: In the Bay of Bengal, Ghoromara faces disaster as the rising ocean eats away at people’s homeland
No backpedalling on UN deal, say Africa’s endurance cyclists
NEWS: Teams of bikers pass baton across vulnerable continent to drum up support for global pact to cap warming to 1.5C
WMO urges emissions cuts as atmospheric CO2 levels break records
NEWS: Carbon dioxide levels in the air passed 400ppm globally in April. That will soon be a “permanent reality”, says UN agency
Climate change could push 100m into extreme poverty
NEWS: World Bank warns of human impact by 2030 if development doesn’t protect the most vulnerable from extreme weather
These weather events were affected by climate change last year
NEWS: Tropical cyclones to snowstorms had direct links to a warming planet last year, say scientists
UNEP: National climate plans deliver half carbon cuts needed for 2C
NEWS: Government pledges will cut 11 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases by 2030, report finds, leaving an emissions gap of 12Gt
Saudi forum seeks to scale up carbon capture and storage
NEWS: Delegates from 23 countries agree to cooperate on bringing down the towering costs of CCS at summit in Riyadh
Decarbonisation risks sidetracking Paris pact, says ex-UN climate chief
NEWS: Fossil fuel phase-out this century is an ‘impressive sound bite’ but could harm chances of an agreement at COP21, says Yvo de Boer
Countries near deal to phase out super warming HFCs
NEWS: Formal negotiations on the Montreal Protocol in Dubai this week get world closer to tackling pollutants used in air conditioners
2050 weather forecast brought to your living room
NEWS: World Meteorological Organization tasks weather presenters to imagine reports if world fails to cut carbon emissions
US considers Bikini Atoll climate refugee claims
NEWS: Decades after a nuclear bomb uprooted a small group of Pacific islanders, global warming could make them homeless yet again