Climate change

Analysis of the science, politics and economics of the climate


Latest stories

An illustration of industrial buildings with smoking chimneys creating a smog in the air which blends into circuit board-like patterns.

AI models are helping dirty industries go green

Mining companies and steelmakers are feeling the benefits

An illustration depicting a lightning strike with a circuit board pattern in the centre with four boxes in each corner joined to it by a line. Each box contains a symbol to represent water, oil, fire and the sun.

AI models can help generate cleaner power

Energy companies are using them to increase efficiency and spot problems


An AI brain with plants flourishing on the left half and withering on the right.

How AI could help the climate

The technology could help decarbonise the industries that have proved the hardest to clean up


Negotiators must prepare for a chaotic COP in Brazil

The climate meeting will be hot, humid and uncomfortable. That might help

The green promises of Colombia’s president ring ever more hollow

Costly imported gas? Sure! Big gas discovery? Great!

The sea is swallowing an African island

In Sierra Leone, adjusting to a warmer climate is getting harder




Politics

An illustration of a plug and a socket separated but a fence with barbed wire.

Why don’t more countries import their electricity? 

The economics make sense, but the geopolitics are nerve-racking

illustration of a world map outlined by a single red electrical cord, with a plug at one end and a socket at the other

To make electricity cheaper and greener, connect the world’s grids

Less than 3% of the world’s power is internationally traded—a huge wasted opportunity


 Firefighters battle the Eaton fire in strong winds

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

The lesson of the tragedy is that better incentives will keep people safe


Smarter incentives would help India adapt to climate change

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



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

Navy submarine

Climate change may make it harder to spot submarines

The sound of their engines will not travel as far

The rising Earth is about five degrees above the lunar horizon.

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

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


Sun glint on the Caspian Sea.

Earth is warming faster. Scientists are closing in on why

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


What has four stomachs and could change the world?

Technology is transforming cattle farming, but not fast enough



Latest coverage

The Americas

Negotiators must prepare for a chaotic COP in Brazil

The climate meeting will be hot, humid and uncomfortable. That might help

China

China could greatly reduce its reliance on coal. It probably will not

Even though solar and wind power are growing at a blistering pace

Middle East & Africa

The sea is swallowing an African island

In Sierra Leone, adjusting to a warmer climate is getting harder

Britain

The rise of the Net-Zero Dad

Middle-aged men care less about the problem. But they love the solution 

Finance & economics

The Arctic: climate change’s great economic opportunity

An enormous prize is on offer. When might it be grasped?

Graphic detail

Which parts of the world are becoming more prone to wildfires?

Two maps explain why fire seasons are lasting longer and becoming more dangerous

Leaders

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

The lesson of the tragedy is that better incentives will 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