Inside Climate News
Some Climate Shocks Can Increase the Likelihood of War
Groundbreaking research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences draws a direct line between climate extremes and armed conflict, finding that drought conditions exceeding critical thresholds significantly elevate the risk of war. The study, spanning seven decades of data from 1950 to 2023, identifies vulnerable regions including parts of Africa and Southeast Asia as particularly exposed. The findings add urgent weight to arguments for treating climate resilience as a matter of national and global security.
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Mongabay
What tree rings reveal about climate change in the Amazon
Tree rings from Amazonian species are giving scientists an unprecedented window into centuries of climate variability, helping researchers understand whether the catastrophic 2024 drought — which drove Manaus water levels to their lowest point in over 120 years — is truly unprecedented or part of a longer natural cycle. By analyzing growth patterns embedded in timber, researchers can reconstruct historical rainfall and river conditions far beyond the reach of modern instruments. The findings carry urgent implications for predicting how the world's largest rainforest will respond to intensifying climate extremes.
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Mongabay
Nearly all climate claims by meat and dairy firms amount to greenwashing: Study
A new study analyzing over 1,200 environmental commitments from 33 major meat and dairy companies found that 98% of those claims could be classified as greenwashing. Researchers tracking pledges made between 2021 and 2024 found the commitments largely failed to meet basic standards of credibility or accountability. The findings raise serious questions about corporate transparency in one of the world's most emissions-intensive industries.
Read article →Guardian Environment
The global sand crisis: it’s being used up faster than it can be replaced
Sand is the world's most extracted solid material, and demand is outpacing natural replenishment at a pace that threatens ecosystems and coastal communities alike. The Maldives exemplifies the paradox: nations are stripping sand from their own seabeds to reclaim land from rising seas, solving one climate crisis by accelerating another. Without urgent regulation of sand extraction, the resource underpinning construction, glass, and land reclamation globally could become critically scarce within decades.
Read article →Guardian Environment
Datacentres should be forced to invest in wind and solar energy, agree all states except Queensland
Australia's energy ministers have reached near-unanimous agreement that data centres must directly fund enough wind and solar capacity to fully offset their electricity consumption, with Queensland the sole holdout. The push comes as AI-driven demand threatens to strain the national grid with unprecedented power requirements. The policy would effectively force tech infrastructure operators to become active investors in renewable generation rather than passive consumers of the existing network.
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