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Climate change has been the backdrop to Charles Hughes' entire life, from kindergarten lessons about disappearing habitats to wildfire smoke billowing through the air he breathed while growing up in Colorado. But now that he's a college student in Massachusetts, he said global warming is rarely a top issue. "Honestly, it doesn't come up as much," said Hughes, who chairs the state's chapter of the College Democrats. What a difference six years makes -------------------------------------- During President Donald Trump's first term and especially during the Democratic primaries to determine who would run against him in 2020, Democrats spoke constantly about climate change. They used it to rally young voters such as Hughes, fuelling protests and sweeping demands to remake the economy with proposals like the Green New Deal. But there has been a national shift in the conversation that is sharp enough for some researchers to coin the term "climate hushing" to describe it. The Searchlight
A new study suggests that El Ninos - the natural climatic chaos agent that pops up periodically and spikes global temperatures - are getting stronger because of human-caused climate change. El Ninos are more than 36% stronger than they were before the industrial age began in the mid 1800s, with a 16% jump in just the last 40 years showing that the increase is accelerating, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science. The findings come as a strong El Nino that formed a couple months ago is forecast to be the biggest on record in coming months. El Ninos, which are a temporary warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific, warp weather worldwide and increase extreme events, including heat waves, floods in some places and droughts in others. They can cost trillions in damage. "That's important because strong El Ninos have much stronger impacts on climate hazards and extremes worldwide. When we set out to answer the question of why this might be happening, we set our data up against
Asia-Pacific economies, like India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, are seeing a surge in prices, with households remaining highly vulnerable to further weather-related supply shocks, including those triggered by the El Nino, S&P Global Ratings has said. S&P said the effects of the El Nino period starting in 2026 will reach Asia-Pacific mainly through weaker rainfall and climate disruption, and the macroeconomic impact is likely to be manageable. Key transmission channels include reduced agricultural output, higher food inflation, diminished hydropower generation, and vegetation fires and haze. S&P said many economies have expanded food buffer stocks, improved import planning and strengthened market management mechanisms to cushion supply disruptions. At the same time, investments in reservoir management, irrigation infrastructure and water governance have strengthened resilience to periods of reduced rainfall. "In India, strong food and grain buffers for affected .
Heat that hit Europe exceptionally early and hard this year appears to have led to a spike in deaths, with well over 10,000 more people dying at the height of the heat wave than would normally have been expected, according to figures that are still emerging across the continent. Measures of what researchers call "excess mortality" - the difference between the normally expected number of deaths and the actual number - spiked in late June, when parts of Europe experienced record temperatures. Experts caution that it takes a while for a full picture to emerge, and that many heat-related deaths will never formally be recorded as such. For example, a heart attack, which can be triggered by extreme heat exposure, especially in people who are older or have underlying health issues, may be listed on a death certificate simply as a heart attack. It's an alarming start to the summer. Several heat waves have killed thousands of people in the past few years in Europe. Still, 2003 stands as the
Workers in agriculture and construction sectors in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria are already losing 20 working days or more every year to heat stress, leading to loss of income especially for families already struggling to make ends meet, according to a new report. The report based on an analysis by adelphi global is the first of its kind to trace a direct link between the physical health tolls of climate change and the resulting strain on already strained family budgets and national economies. Spanning eight diverse economies - Bangladesh, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Nigeria, and South Africa - the research bridges the gap between climate science, public health, and economic analysis. Extreme heat is being made more frequent and intense by climate change, primarily driven by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas. This year has already seen some of the worst heatwaves ever recorded, some virtually impossible without the influence of climate ...