Climate Change Worldwide as the Planet Warms

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Shrinking ice

An Antarctic glacier shrank by nearly 50% in just two months — the fastest retreat recorded in modern history. One scientist called it “astonishing,” and experts warn that it could have major implications for rising sea levels around the world.   ‘Rewriting race history’ Runners already face immense physical and mental demands at the starting line. Now there’s an added challenge — rising temperatures could make it harder for elite athletes to break records.

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Landmark Paris Agreement set a path to slow warming. The world hasn’t stayed on it

The world has changed dramatically in the decade since leaders celebrated a historic climate agreement in Paris a decade ago, but not quite in ways they expected or wanted. Scientists say Earth's warming has outpaced efforts to reduce fossil fuel pollution that came out of the 2015 accord. This issue will be a focus of this week's UN climate talks in Brazil. Read more.

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?️ Charted: Surprise climate progress

Data: IEA. Chart: Sara Wise/Axios Global efforts to address climate change are going far better today than they were a decade ago — even with recent politics pushing the problem to the back burner, Axios Future of Energy co-author Amy Harder writes. Why it matters: We usually operate on daily, monthly and yearly time frames. So it can be easy to miss the energy transition unfolding over decades and centuries. ? Zoom in: This chart compares two projections on greenhouse gas emissions from the International Energy Agency to one from more than a decade ago. The large gap between the top line and the lower two shows the progress made on clean energy over the last decade.

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Revealed: Europe’s water reserves drying up due to climate breakdown

Vast swathes of Europe’s water reserves are drying up, a new analysis using two decades of satellite data reveals, with freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/29/climate-crisis-depleting-europe-groundwater-reserves-analysis?

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☀️ Bill Gates' dim-the-sun scenario

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

Bill Gates says he would support deploying artificial cooling technologies to lower global temperatures — but only if the planet hits so-called climate tipping points, national energy correspondent Amy Harder writes in Axios Future of Energy. Why it matters: The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist is a major funder of research into this controversial technology. His comments in a recent interview with Axios are among his most expansive yet. ? Zoom in: Gates said the world is largely on track to avoid the worst climate impacts thanks to rising clean-energy deployment. But he emphasized there's still an outlier chance of especially dire consequences driven in part by tipping points: You "would then need to reach for some other type of intervention." When asked whether that meant geoengineering, Gates replied: "Yes, I've been a funder of trying to understand geoengineering." Much of his funding isn't publicly disclosed, but what is known includes past support for Harvard University's solar geoengineering program. ? How it works: Solar geoengineering aims to cool the planet by reflecting sunlight. The most-discussed method involves injecting sulfuric-acid particles into the upper atmosphere, mimicking the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions.

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• ? A headline-grabbing study predicting climate change would cost $38 trillion annually by 2049 was retracted amid questions about the researchers' data and methodology. Go deeper.

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Colombia is the deadliest country for environmental defenders Climate activists are facing steep risks in Colombia, the deadliest country in the world for people protecting land and forests. An international watchdog group monitoring attacks on activists recorded 48 killings in Colombia last year, nearly a third of all cases worldwide. Read more.

What to know: Colombia says it protects activists through its National Protection Unit, which provides bodyguards and other security measures. Officials also point to recent court rulings recognizing the rights of nature and stronger environmental oversight as signs of progress.   Longtime environmental activist Jani Silva has been threatened for work that includes protecting part of the Amazon from oil and mining exploitation. She has had four full-time bodyguards for 12 years provided by the National Protection Unit. Yet the threats have not pushed her from her mission. “I have a calling to serve,” Silva said. “There is still so much to do.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Colombian environmental activist finds ways to protect the Amazon despite threats, armed groups

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Climate Change Is Forcing Polar Bears to Rewrite Their DNA

A new study suggests polar bears are adapting to climate change to survive.

A new study suggests polar bears may be genetically adapting to survive a rapidly warming Arctic—in what researchers describe as a “glimmer of hope” for the endangered species. Researchers at the University of East Anglia analyzed blood samples from polar bears in northeast and southeast Greenland and found evidence of genetic changes linked to diet and metabolism, NBC reported. As global temperatures rise, Arctic sea ice is shrinking, leaving bears without the frozen platforms they rely on to hunt seals. The study’s lead author, Alice Godden, told NBC News that prolonged food scarcity appears to be driving biological shifts that allow some bears to better process plant-based and lower-fat diets when prey is unavailable. While the adaptation doesn’t mean polar bears are suddenly thriving, researchers say it suggests the species may have more resilience than previously understood. Godden says the bears were projected to go extinct by the end of the century, but hopes that with these new findings we are able to reduce our carbon emissions to buy the bears enough time to adapt to their changing environment. The findings highlight both the urgency of climate action, and the remarkable lengths wildlife may go to survive it.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/climate-change-is-forcing-polar-bears-to-rewrite-their-dna/?

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Cyclones, floods and wildfires among 2025’s costliest climate-related disasters

Cyclones and floods in south-east Asia this autumn killed more than 1,750 people and caused more than $25bn (£19bn) in damage, while the death toll from California wildfires topped 400 people, with $60bn in damage, according to research on the costliest climate-related disasters of the year.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/27/cyclones-floods-and-wildfires-among-2025s-costliest-climate-related-disasters?

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?️ The world's great climate collapse

Data: PitchBook. Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios The climate agenda's fall from grace over the past year has been stunning — in speed, scale and scope, Axios Future of Energy co-author Amy Harder writes. Why it matters: Whether this collapse in climate-change ambition proves permanent or temporary will shape the planet — which is still warming in unprecedented ways — and trillions of dollars in global energy investment. President Trump announced last week he's withdrawing from the world's 33-year-old flagship climate treaty, making the U.S. the only country not to be part of it. "There's no hand-waving about how 'We want to cooperate on climate,'" oil historian and S&P Global vice chairman Dan Yergin said. "It's: 'We're slamming the door on that issue.'" ? Zoom in: An epic reversal spread quickly this last year from governments to boardrooms to pop culture. Trump has aggressively and comprehensively dismissed climate change as a problem. Bill Gates circulated a memo criticizing the climate movement while shifting much of his money and focus back to public health — just four years after publishing "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster." Even Hollywood is moving on — swapping climate angst for oil swagger, as seen in the current hit TV show "Landman." ? By the numbers: Global venture capital investments in climate and clean tech have dropped nearly 50% since their high of 2021, according to PitchBook data compiled for Axios. Keep reading.

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In a warming world, freshwater production is moving deep beneath the sea

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Some four miles off the Southern California coast, a company is betting it can solve one of desalination’s biggest problems by moving the technology deep below the ocean’s surface.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-solutions-desalination-oceans-drinking-water-faba2579f83df4c0688a3ea5e20ab3a6?

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Global warming forced scientists to change the way they look at El Niño

El Niño happens when ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific spike way above average. Because that region is so much warmer than the water around it, the atmosphere reacts and weather patterns change — which is why we care so much about El Niño and its cooler sister, La Niña.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/17/weather/el-nino-global-warming-pacific-ocean?

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'It’s too warm': Greenland’s fishermen are under threat from climate change

The Arctic’s rapidly changing climate is bringing more questions for Greenland, the semiautonomous territory of Denmark that’s been shaken by U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in owning it. While Trump’s approach to Greenland has shifted, the world has been unable to slow the effects of climate change. The Arctic is warming faster than any other region in the world, driven by the burning of oil, gas and coal. What that means for the fishing industry that largely drives Greenland’s economy is unknown. Fishing accounts for up to 95% of exports, many to the territory’s biggest market, China, along with the United States, Japan and Europe. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

WATCH: Greenland’s sea ice is melting. Fishermen worry what comes next The sea is higher than we thought and millions more are at risk, study finds Alaska Native villages have few options and little US help as climate change devours their land  Scientists change how El Nino is labeled to keep up with spike in temperature   🌊 Climate change may threaten tens of millions more people than scientists originally thought due to faulty assumptions about sea levels, a new study finds. Go deeper. Water worries Sea levels are on average 1 foot higher than previously assumed, raising alarms that the world is underestimating how much land and how many people will be affected by rising oceans. That could spell trouble for the future.

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As the planet warms, scientists burn homes to figure out how to best protect them in wildfires

RICHBURG, S.C. (AP) — It took less than three minutes for wind-whipped flames to go from licking the side of the house to shattering a window and working under the eaves to burn everything inside. Weeks later, another house in the exact same spot was burning — again in the name of science.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-wildfire-testing-homes-a7c768e84a499d7e51be160f51739dbf?

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A warmer world creates bigger and more damaging hailstones, study says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A warmer world will likely make bigger and more damaging hail, a new study said.

https://apnews.com/article/hail-climate-change-damage-storms-warming-8573b10ae336f3705865466e5bc986ef?