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Rebecca Speare-Cole, The Press Association
The amount of sea ice in Antarctica has “plummeted to unprecedented lows…due to a series of interconnected climate change-driven phenomena”, says the Press Association, citing new research published in the journal Science Advances. It notes that, until 2015, sea-ice levels in the continent were increasing, but this trend then “abruptly shifted”. It continues: “[H]uman-induced climate change intensified winds, which, from around 2013, began drawing warm, saline water from the deep ocean closer to the surface. Then, in 2015, intense wind mixed the deeper heat directly into the surface layer, rapidly melting sea ice…Since 2018, the ice-ocean system has been trapped in a cycle where – with less ice to melt – the surface remains salty and warm so that ice cannot recover.” CNN also has the story.
MORE ON CLIMATE RESEARCH
The Guardian: “Inequality causing 100,000 extra deaths a year from heat and cold in Europe.” The Times of India: “Combined impact of climate change and rapid development triggers landslides: study.” The Press Association: “Warning climate change could threaten Britain’s beloved cup of tea.” The Associated Press says seasonal models are “predicting an El Niño climate pattern that could be the strongest on record, bringing with it more extreme weather”.
Alexandra Witze, Nature
The US universities that run the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, are taking the Trump administration to court, reports Nature, in an effort to prevent the centre from being “dismantled”. It says NCAR is a “crucial global resource whose models underpin much of modern atmospheric science”. The outlet explains: “At the heart of the legal fight is whether the US National Science Foundation (NSF), which provides the bulk of NCAR’s funding through a contract with UCAR, is moving too quickly and without authority to hand off pieces of NCAR – including a supercomputing centre in Cheyenne, Wyoming – to public and private institutions.” Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on how a “Trump panel seeks to weaken disaster response amid climate crisis”. It says: “Sweeping changes may be in store at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the nation’s frontline emergency response coordinator, that experts warned could further erode US capacity to handle disasters.”
MORE ON US
Financial Times: “US wildfires surge to decade high as drought fuels fears of brutal summer.” Time: “The worst spring drought on record is putting US crops at risk.” A comment for the Financial Times by global business columnist Rana Foroohar says that US farmers have been “hurt by trade wars, climate disasters and, most recently, rising fertiliser and other input prices”. Vox: “Levees can no longer save New Orleans.” Politico: “The East Coast’s signature climate policy [the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative] is poised to spike electricity prices just as governors are desperate to lower them.” The Wall Street Journal: “New York is working on a blueprint for greener buildings.” Agence France-Presse: “Climate risks fuel insurance costs, squeezing US households even inland.”
Sam Li and Lewis Jackson, Reuters
China’s oil imports fell 20% year-on-year in April to the lowest level in almost four years amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that disrupted supplies, reports Reuters, citing customs data released on Saturday. The newswire adds that China’s crude inventories rose by 17m barrels in April despite the decline in imports, according to ship tracker Vortexa. The Chinese government’s export restrictions also drove refined oil products down to their lowest level in roughly a decade, down by around a third since March, according to the newswire. Bloomberg also covers the story, saying that imports of gas also fell by 13% last month. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a Trump administration “crackdown” has seen installers, banks and insurers stop doing business with “at least a half dozen recently built US panel factories because of uncertainty over whether their ties to China could disqualify them from clean-energy subsidies”.
MORE ON CHINA
The South China Morning Post: “China vows action after EU cuts funding for green projects using Chinese inverters.” China’s NDRC has raised domestic petrol prices by 320 yuan ($47) per tonne while calling state oil companies to ensure stable market supply, reports Xinhua. CWEA’s Qin Haiyan has said “green methanol and ammonia” are two core “hydrogen-based energy carriers” for safeguarding China’s energy security and building a new power system, reports Xinhua. China needs to “embrace green energy” by focusing on three areas, including technological innovation, energy systems and international cooperation, reports Economic Daily. He Weiwen, with the Centre for China and Globalisation, has said China and the US share enormous opportunities in areas including “green transformation”, reports China Daily. The state-supporting Global Times says China can provide “technology, capital and a stable market” to help Brazil build domestic rare-earth processing capacity.
Oliver Gill and Lara Spirit, The Sunday Times
A number of UK outlets preview the upcoming King’s speech, which will outline the new legislation set to be introduced by the government over the year ahead. The Sunday Times says the speech will announce the “full nationalisation of British Steel”. It adds: “The situation also means that British Steel is unable to press ahead with plans to switch to newer steelmaking methods. Ministers still hope to swap the blast furnaces for an electric arc furnace that has a far lower carbon footprint.” The Guardian says: “Officials reportedly drafting legislation likely to safeguard Britain’s last blast furnaces and save thousands of jobs.” BBC News lists legislation expected in the speech including an Energy Independence Bill that had been promised in Labour’s 2024 manifesto. Meanwhile, the opposition Conservatives have pledged to “restart drilling in the North Sea” if elected in 2029, reports the Daily Mail.
MORE ON UK
The Financial Times reports on last week’s local elections: “Greens score some urban goals, but undershoot the wider target.” The Times reports warnings from trade body British Glass that a recycling tax, which the newspaper describes as a “green levy”, is “put[ting] UK glass industry’s future at risk”. The Daily Express reports “fury” at a proposal from a thinktank for a temporary reduction in speed limits to reduce fuel demand during the Iran crisis. [The International Energy Agency has previously called for such a measure.] The Guardian carries a feature on a 2022 wildfire in east London that “showed [the] scale of UK wildfire threat”. The Guardian: “Google developers significantly misstate carbon emissions of proposed UK datacentres.” The Sunday Times asks: “How much energy and water do our AI tools really use?” The Guardian examines whether home batteries are a “gamechanger” for cutting energy bills.
Allan Olingo, The Associated Press
“Soaring prices and fuel shortages” are “compel[ling]” countries in Africa to look towards electric vehicles (EVs), reports the Associated Press. It cites customs data showing the number of EVs imported to the continent from China more than doubled in 2025. The newswire continues: “As the Iran war drags on, Ethiopia’s fuel shortages are rippling through transport systems and daily life, reinforcing its effort to cut costly imports of oil and gas and strengthen its energy security. However, that trend is raising questions about charging infrastructure and affordability.” It adds: “Egypt, South Africa and Morocco also are pursuing a transition to EV use, adopting a mix of policy incentives, investing in manufacturing capacity and in clean energy.” Another Associated Press article says: “Bolivia’s fuel shortages and ‘junk gasoline’ drive a surge in electric cars.” Bloomberg reports that a solar firm is planning a $750m expansion in four African countries.
Alice Hancock, Financial Times
There has been a rise in the global capacity for coal-based steelmaking driven by a “major expansion of steel production in India”, reports the Financial Times. It says: “More than 300mn tonnes a year of new coal-based blast furnace production has been announced or is under construction to date, a 5% increase in the past year, according to a new report by Global Energy Monitor, a non-governmental organisation that tracks fossil-fuel and renewable-energy projects.” The newspaper adds: “Electric-arc furnace capacity increased 1% in the past year to 34% of total global production, up from 31% in 2022, according to the GEM report.” Bloomberg says: “The global steel industry’s green transition is threatened by continued spending on coal-based production and underinvestment in cleaner methods, according to a clean energy research group.”
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