Nine miles south of the picturesque French city of Bordeaux, firefighters are at war with a phenomenon straight out of an apocalyptic epic. Scientists call them pyrocumulonimbus, or PyroCbs. NASA calls them the “fire-breathing dragon of clouds”. The port capital of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, normally bustling with tourists at peak season, is instead drowned in smog, so […] Continue reading ->
Conflict is reshaping the global trade map, and the collapse of Afghanistan’s opium production could, paradoxically, be pushing the world even faster toward more dangerous synthetics. Meanwhile, governments continue to prioritise punishment over care for people caught up in the cycle of drug use. Nearly half a million people died from drug use in 2023, […] Continue reading ->
The world will permanently breach the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C warming limit within about four years if emissions continue at current levels, a major global stocktake of the climate system published Thursday has found. The fourth annual Indicators of Global Climate Change report, published at the UN climate meetings in Bonn as negotiators begin to lay […] Continue reading ->