Volcanic eruption may have triggered Europe's deadly Black Death plague 14 hours ago Share Save Helen Briggs Environment correspondent Share Save Getty The Black Death fundamentally altered medieval society A volcanic eruption around the year 1345 may have set off a chain reaction that unleashed Europe's deadliest pandemic, the Black Death, scientists say. Clues preserved in tree rings suggest the eruption triggered a climate shock and led to a string of events that brought the disease to medieval Europe. Under this scenario, the ash and gases from a volcanic eruption caused extreme drops in temperature and led to poor harvests. To avert famine, populous Italian city states were forced to import grain from areas around the Black Sea - bringing plague-carrying fleas that carried the disease to Europe as well. This "perfect storm" of a climate shock, famine and trade offers a reminder of how diseases can emerge and spread in a globalised and warmer world, according to experts. "Although the coincidence of factors that contributed to the Black Death seems rare, the probability of zoonotic diseases emerging under climate change and translating into pandemics is likely to increase in a globalised world," said Dr Ulf Büntgen of the University of Cambridge. He added: "This is especially relevant given our recent experiences with Covid-19. " Credit: Ulf Büntgen Tree rings from the Spanish Pyrenees point to unusually cold summers in 1345, 1346 and 1347 The Black Death swept across Europe in 1348-49, killing up to half of the population. The disease was caused by a bacterium known as Yersinia pestis spread by wild rodents, such as rats, and fleas. The outbreak is believed to have started in Central Asia, moving around the world through trade. But the precise sequence of events that brought the disease to Europe - killing millions of people – has been pored over by scholars. Now researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) in Leipzig have filled in a missing part of the puzzle. They used clues from tree rings and ice cores to examine climatic conditions at the time of the Black Death. Their evidence suggests that volcanic activity around 1345 caused temperatures to drop sharply over consecutive years because of the release of volcanic ash and gases which blocked out some sunlight. This in turn caused crops to fail across the Mediterranean region. To avoid starvation, Italian city states traded with grain producers around the Black Sea, unwittingly enabling the deadly bacterium to gain a foothold in Europe. Getty Fleas spread the plague from infected rats to humans

au/2025/11/the-phase-change-continues-the-sierra-club-loses-60-of-members-350-org-is-suspended/ By Jo Nova The phase change in the Climate Apocalypse Trade rolls on, and the US leads the way Already some US ‘grassroots’ organizations are having an existential crisis. Actually, the Sierra Club has been struggling for three years, but no one wanted to mention that. Francis Menton at the Manhattan Contrarian points out the extraordinary collapse of the largest US environmental group, the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is in the middle of what might well be called an implosion. The New York Times reported the story on November 7. Excerpt: The Sierra Club calls itself the “largest and most influential grass roots environmental organization in the country. ” But it is in the middle of an implosion — left weakened, distracted and divided just as environmental protections are under assault by the Trump administration. The group has lost 60 percent of the four million members and supporters it counted in 2019. It has held three rounds of employee layoffs since 2022, trying to climb out of a $40 million projected budget deficit. [T]his year, as the Trump administration returned better organized and better prepared than in its first term, the Sierra Club was the opposite. Trump boosted coal power, canceled wind farms and rolled back pollution limits, the club was consumed by internal chaos, culminating when the board fired its executive director, Ben Jealous, a former president of the N. No doubt some of the pain is due to Donald Trump, and the DOGE effect, but a lot of this was an inside job with help from the cheer-squad-media. The Sierra Club forgot it was supposed to care about the environment and jumped into all the crazy lefty bandwagons they could find. As they ran off the road, the media cheered them on, and censored anyone who tried to tell them how the real world works. Thus and verily, they went double or nothing over Lemming cliff. Proving even the Green left can “Go Woke, Get Broke”: By David A. Fahrenthold and Claire Brown, The New York Times During Mr. Trump’s first term, when the Sierra Club was flush with donations, its leaders sought to expand far beyond environmentalism, embracing other progressive causes. Those included racial justice, labor rights, gay rights, immigrant rights and more. They stand by that shift today. By 2022, the club had exhausted its finances and splintered its coalition. It drove away longtime volunteers who loved the club’s single-minded defense of the environment, by asking them to fully embrace its pivot to the left. Some even felt they were investigated by the club for failing to go along. Many hard-core supporters felt the Sierra Club was casting aside the key to its success: It was an eclectic group of activists who had one, and sometimes only one, cause in common. Jealous, its first Black executive director, that year to stop that slide, but his tenure accelerated it as accusations of sexual harassment, bullying, and overspending piled up. Another casualty is 350. org which has lost revenue and suspended operations And then there is 350. This organization is the baby of uber-climate-activist Bill McKibben, with the “350” supposedly designating some limit of ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere that must never be exceeded, or else. something may happen that they think is really, really scary. (The current level of CO2 in the atmosphere is approximately 424 ppm. On November 13, even as COP 30 was going on, 350. org “suspended operations. ” From Politico, November 13: Environmental group 350. org, which spearheaded the movement to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline, will “temporarily suspend programming” in the U. and other countries amid funding woes, according to a letter obtained on Thursday by POLITICO. The letter to outside organizations from Executive Director Anne Jellema said 350. org had suffered a 25 percent drop in income for its 2025 and 2026 fiscal years, compelling it to halt operations. The group will keep three U. staff members in hopes of reviving operations in the future. In the US, the giant UN climate event in Brazil wasn’t even on the news. “…were you even aware that this year’s COP 30 happened? In a piece today for the Civitas Institute, Steven Hayward notes that not one of the American television networks sent reporters to this year’s event. Coverage in the American print and online media was also dramatically reduced. Hayward writes, “A few reporters at the conference filed stories wondering whether this would be the last COP meeting. ” It appears that since Donald Trump didn’t go, the US TV networks didn’t bother sending camera teams. I can’t remember a COP meeting ever, where anyone discussed how it might be the last…

Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threat 17 November 2025 Share Save Justin Rowlatt , Climate editor and Jessica Cruz , South America producer Share Save BBC / Tony Jolliffe The Amazon rainforest could face a renewed surge of deforestation as efforts grow to overturn a long-standing ban that has protected it. The ban - which prohibits the sale of soya grown on land cleared after 2008 - is widely credited with curbing deforestation and has been held up as a global environmental success story. But powerful farming interests in Brazil, backed by a group of Brazilian politicians, are pushing to lift the restrictions as the COP30 UN climate conference enters its second week. Critics of the ban say it is an unfair "cartel" which allows a small group of powerful companies to dominate the Amazon's soya trade. Environmental groups have warned removing the ban would be "disaster", opening the way for a new wave of land grabbing to plant more soya in the world's largest rainforest. Scientists say ongoing deforestation, combined with the effects of climate change, is already driving the Amazon towards a potential "tipping point" – a threshold beyond which the rainforest can no longer sustain itself. Getty Images Soya beans imported to the UK are an important animal feed Brazil is the world's largest producer of soya beans, a staple crop grown for its protein and an important animal feed. Much of the meat consumed in the UK – including chicken, beef, pork and farmed fish - is raised using feeds that include soya beans, about 10% of which are sourced from the Brazilian Amazon. Many major UK food companies, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, McDonald's, Greggs and KFC, are members of a coalition called the UK Soy Manifesto which represents around 60% of the soy imported into the UK. The group supports the ban, which is known officially as the Amazon Soy Moratorium, because they argue it helps ensure UK soy supply chains remain free from deforestation. In a statement earlier this year the signatories said: "We urge all actors within the soy supply chain, including governments, financial institutions and agribusinesses to reinforce their commitment to the [ban] and ensure its continuation. " Public opinion in the UK also appears to be firmly behind protecting the Amazon. A World Wildlife Fund survey conducted earlier this year found that 70% of respondents supported government action to eliminate illegal deforestation from UK supply chains. BBC / Tony Jolliffe This soya port on the Amazon River in Santarém helped spark the campaign that led to the soya moratorium But Brazilian opponents of the agreement last week demanded the Supreme Court - the highest court in the country – reopen an investigation into whether the moratorium amounts to anti-competitive behaviour. "Our state has lots of room to grow and the soy moratorium is working against this development," Vanderlei Ataídes told the BBC. He is president of the Soya Farmers Association of Pará state, one of Brazil's main soya producing areas. "I don't understand how [the ban] helps the environment," he added. "I can't plant soya beans, but I can use the same land to plant corn, rice, cotton or other crops. Why can't I plant soya?" The challenge has even divided the Brazilian government. While the Justice Ministry says there may be evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, both the Ministry of the Environment and the Federal Public Prosecutors Office have publicly defended the moratorium. The voluntary agreement was first signed almost two decades ago by farmers, environmental organisations and major global food companies, including commodities giants such as Cargill and Bunge. It followed a campaign by the environmental pressure group Greenpeace that exposed how soya grown on deforested land was being used in animal feed, including for chicken sold by McDonald's. The fast-food chain became a champion of the moratorium, whose signatories pledged not to buy soya grown on land deforested after 2008. Before the moratorium, forest clearance for soya expansion and the growth of cattle ranching were the main drivers of Amazonian deforestation. After the agreement was introduced forest clearance fell sharply, reaching an historic low in 2012 during President Lula's second term in office. Deforestation increased under subsequent administrations – notably under Jair Bolsonaro, who promoted opening the forest to economic development - but has fallen again during Lula's current presidency. Bel Lyon, chief advisor for Latin America at the World Wildlife Fund - one of the agreement's original signatories – warned that suspending the moratorium "would be a disaster for the Amazon, its people, and the world, because it could open up an area the size of Portugal to deforestation". Small farmers whose plots are close to soy plantations say they disrupt local weather patterns and make it harder to grow their crops. BBC / Tony Jolliffe Raimundo Barbosa farms cassava and fruit Raimundo Barbosa, who farms cassava and fruit near the town of Boa Esperança outside Santarém in the southeastern Amazon, says when the forest is cleared "the environment is destroyed". "Where there is forest, it is normal, but when it is gone it just gets hotter and hotter and there is less rain and less water in the rivers," he told me as we sat in the shade beside the machines he uses to turn his cassava into flour. The pressure to lift the moratorium comes as Brazil prepares to open a major new railway stretching from its agricultural heartland in the south up into the rainforest. The railway is expected to significantly cut transport costs for soya and other agricultural products, adding yet another incentive to clear more land. BBC / Tony Jolliffe Scientists have been monitoring detailed changes in the Amazon for decades Scientists say deforestation is already reshaping the rainforest in profound ways. Among them is Amazon specialist Bruce Fosberg, who has spent half a century studying the forest. He climbs 15 stories up a narrow tower that rises 45 metres above a pristine rainforest reserve in the heart of the Amazon. From a small platform at the top, he looks out over a sea of green stretching to the horizon. The tower is bristling with high-tech instruments - sensors that track almost everything happening between the forest and the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon dioxide, sunlight, and essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. The tower was built 27 years ago and is part of a project - the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment (LBA) - that aims to understand how the Amazon is changing, and how close it is to a critical threshold. Data from the LBA together with other scientific studies show parts of the rainforest may be nearing a "tipping point", after which the ecosystem can no longer maintain its own functions. "The living forest is closing down," he says, "and not producing water vapour and therefore rainfall". As trees are lost to deforestation, fire, and heat stress, the forest releases less moisture into the atmosphere, he explains, reducing rainfall and intensifying drought. That, in turn, creates a feedback loop that kills even more trees. The fear is that, if this continues, vast areas of rainforest could die away and become a savannah or dry grassland ecosystem. Such a collapse would release huge amounts of carbon, disrupt weather patterns across continents, and threaten the millions of people – as well as the countless plant, insect and animal species – whose lives depend on the Amazon for survival

UN climate talks fail to secure new fossil fuel promises 22 November 2025 Share Save Georgina Rannard Climate and science correspondent, Belém, Brazil Share Save EPA Following bitter rows, the UN climate summit COP30 in Belém, Brazil has ended with a deal that contains no direct reference to the fossil fuels that are heating up the planet. It is a frustrating end for more than 80 countries including the UK and EU that wanted the meeting to commit the world to stop using using oil, coal and gas at a faster pace. But oil-producing nations held the line that they should be allowed to use their fossil fuel resources to grow their economies. The meeting takes place as the UN says it fears global efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1. 5C above pre-industrial levels have failed. A representative for Colombia furiously criticised the COP presidency for not allowing countries to object to the deal in the final meeting on Saturday, known as a plenary. "Colombia believes that we have sufficient scientific evidence saying that more than 75% of the global greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuels," Daniela Durán González, Colombian Climate Delegate, told BBC News. "So we do believe it's time that the Convention on Climate Change starts talking about that reality," she added. The final deal, called the Mutirão, calls on countries to "voluntarily" accelerate their action to reduce their use of fossil fuels. For the first time, the US did not send a delegation after President Donald Trump said the country will leave the landmark Paris treaty that committed countries to act on climate change in 2015. He has branded climate change "a con". Veteran negotiator and former Germany climate envoy Jennifer Morgan told the BBC that the US absence was a "hole" in the negotiations. Often the US has supported blocs like the EU and UK. "In a 12-hour negotiation overnight, when you have oil-producing countries pushing back hard, to not have someone counteracting on that, it certainly was hard," she said But for many countries, the fact that the talks did not collapse or roll back on past climate agreements is a relief. Antigua and Barbuda Climate Ambassador Ruleta Thomas commented: "We are happy that there is a process that continues to function [. ] where every country can be heard. " In the final meeting, a representative for Saudi Arabia said: "Each state must be allowed to build its own path, based on its respective circumstances and economies. " Like many other leading oil-producing nations, the country has argued it should be allowed to exploit its fossil fuel reserves as others have done in the past. UNFCCC The talks over-ran by almost 24 hours with delegates working all night The two weeks of talks were at times chaotic. Toilets ran out of water, torrential thunderstorms flooded the venue, and delegates struggled to cope in hot, humid rooms. The COP's around 50,000 registered delegates were evacuated twice. A group of about 150 protestors broke into the venue, breaching security lines, and carrying placards reading "our forests are not for sale". On Thursday a large fire broke out, scorching a hole into the roof and forcing participants to rush outside. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva chose the city of Belém to put the world's attention on the Amazon rainforest and to bring a rush of finance to the city. Despite its desire for a more ambitious fossil fuel agreement, Brazil was criticised for its own plans to drill for oil at the mouth of the Amazon. Its offshore oil and gas production is on course to increase until the early 2030s, according to analysis shared with the BBC by campaign group Global Witness. Reuters Some delegations stayed on cruise ships in Belém due to a shortage of accommodation Countries at the talks have competing interests, depending on their national circumstances and how exposed they are to the effects of climate change. Some countries were happy about the outcomes. India praised the deal, calling it "meaningful". A group representing the interests of 39 small island and low-lying coastal states on Saturday called it "imperfect" but still a step towards "progress". Poorer nations have come away with a promise for more climate finance to help them adapt to the impacts of climate change. "It has moved the needle. There is a clearer recognition that those with historic responsibility [countries that emitted more planet-warming gases in the past] have specific duties on climate finance," said Sierra Leone Minister of The Environment and Climate Change Jiwoh Abdulai. Reuters A fire broke out at COP30, witnessed by the BBC climate team inside the venue But it's a sour end for more than 80 countries, who negotiated through the night to keep stronger fossil fuel language in the deal. UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband insisted the meeting is a "step forward". "I would have preferred a more ambitious agreement," he said. "We're not going to hide the fact that we would have preferred to have more, to have more ambition on everything," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told journalists. With lush trees, bird cries and intense humidity, it was hard to escape the Amazonian backdrop of the talks. Brazil launched the talks with a new fund called Tropical Forests Forever Facility that would pay countries to protect tropical forests. By the end of the meeting, it raised at least $6. 5bn from governments, although the UK has not yet contributed. Over 90 countries supported a call for a global deforestation action plan, or "roadmap". Additional reporting by Tom Ingham, BBC climate team

Mayor says too many families are 'working poor' 2 days ago Share Save Gemma Dillon , West Yorkshire political reporter and Rima Ahmed , BBC Radio Leeds Share Save BBC Tracy Brabin says the emphasis on mayors in the Budget is "revolutionary" West Yorkshire's mayor says scrapping the two-child benefit cap will help families that have jobs but still struggle to make ends meet. Labour's Tracy Brabin has been answering questions on Message the Mayor on BBC Radio Leeds. She has also been talking about when work will resume on the White Rose station in Leeds, her recent trip to Brazil and taxing tourists who visit Yorkshire. Read our takeaways from the interview below or listen to the full interview here. Scrapping the benefit cap was really important "For various circumstances, you might have three children, but just because you have three means you are poorer as a family - it is absolutely shaming. "In some communities in West Yorkshire, 50% of children are living in poverty. How on Earth are they going to take up the opportunities as we grow the economy if their start in life is so difficult?" In last week's Budget, the chancellor scrapped a rule that means parents can only claim Universal Credit or tax credits for their first two children. Investing in mayors is good for the economy "I think this Budget is actually quite revolutionary. It has empowered mayors. "Andy Burnham [Mayor of Greater Manchester] was talking last week about the growth of Greater Manchester being greater than the national average and outstripping London. Who was second? West Yorkshire. " Following the Budget, more parts of England will be given "integrated" settlements - meaning all their funding from the government goes into one big pot, and mayors will decide how it is spent. Tourist tax is fair Brabin was asked about new powers to bring in a modest charge for overnight visitors. "I think it's fair that people pay a tiny amount of money when they come. "And then that money will be invested in big events, or infrastructure support like better buses. "If you look at York and North Yorkshire, for Mayor David Skaith, it is in the tens of millions of pounds that he could spend on transport - but we have had 73 million visitors to West Yorkshire in the last year. "We have some real jewels in the crown in Ilkley, Shipley and Haworth, so a little bit of money will make it better for everyone. " Hoping work will restart on the White Rose station next year "I am desperate to sort this out. I know the longer it stays closed the more it is going to cost us. "It was an agreement before my time as mayor and, quite frankly, we'd never do this again in the way we are doing it. " Work stopped on the White Rose station in Leeds in 2024. It is a project jointly funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and private company Munroe K. The mayor hopes contractors will be back in 2026 - but she says she cannot promise. Rio climate trip was about diplomacy

First kiss dates back 21 million years, say scientists 19 November 2025 Share Save Victoria Gill Science correspondent, BBC News Share Save Getty The researchers found evidence of kissing in multiple species Humans do it, monkeys do it, even polar bears do it. And now researchers have reconstructed the evolutionary origins of kissing. Their study suggests that the mouth-on-mouth kiss evolved more than 21 million years ago, and was something that the common ancestor of humans and other great apes probably indulged in. The same research concluded that Neanderthals may have kissed too – and that humans and Neanderthals may even have smooched one another. The scientists studied kissing because it presents something of an evolutionary puzzle - it has no obvious survival or reproductive benefits, and yet it is something that is seen not just in many human societies, but across the animal kingdom. Getty The scientists defined a kiss as mouth-on-mouth contact "with some movement of lips or mouthparts and no food transfer" By finding evidence of other animals engaging in kissing, scientists were able to construct an "evolutionary family tree" to work out when it was most likely to have evolved. To ensure that they were comparing the same behaviour across different species, the researchers had to give a very precise - rather unromantic - definition to a "kiss". In their study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, they defined kissing as non aggressive, directed oral-oral contact "with some movement of lips or mouthparts and no food transfer". "Humans, chimps, and bonobos all kiss," explained lead researcher Dr Matilda Brindle, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Oxford. From that, she concluded, "it's likely that their most recent common ancestor kissed. " "We think kissing probably evolved around 21. 5 million years ago in the large apes. " Getty Images In this study, scientists found behaviour that matched their scientific definition of kissing in wolves, prairie dogs, polar bears (very sloppy - lots of tongue), and even albatrosses. They focused on primates - and apes in particular - in order to build an evolutionary picture of the origin of the human kiss. The same study also concluded that Neanderthals - our closest ancient human relatives that died out around 40,000 years ago - also kissed. One previous piece of research on Neanderthal DNA also showed that modern humans and Neanderthals shared an oral microbe - a type of bacteria found in our saliva. "That means that they must have been swapping saliva for hundreds of thousands of years after the two species split," explained Dr Brindle. Getty The scientists say this behaviour is something 'we share with our non-human relatives' While this study pinpointed when kissing evolved it was not able to answer the question of why. There are already a number of theories - that it arose from grooming behaviour in our ape ancestors or that it might provide an intimate way to assess the health and even the compatibility of a partner. Dr Brindle hopes that this will open a door to answering that question. "It's important for us to understand that this is something we share with our non-human relatives," she said. "We should be studying this behaviour, not just dismissing it as silly because it has romantic connotations in humans

COP30: Five key takeaways from a deeply divisive climate summit 23 November 2025 Share Save Justin Rowlatt , Climate Editor and Matt McGrath , Environment correspondent Share Save getty COP30 President President André Corrêa do Lago at a critical moment in the final plenary session of talks In three decades of these meetings aimed at forging global consensus on how to prevent and deal with global warming, this will go down as among the most divisive. Many countries were livid when COP30 in Belém, Brazil ended on Saturday with no mention of the fossil fuels that have heated up the atmosphere. Other nations - particularly those with most to gain from their continued production - felt vindicated. The summit was a reality check on just how much global consensus has broken down over what to do about climate change. Here are five key takeaways from what some have called the "COP of truth". Brazil - not their finest hour The most important thing to come out of COP30 is that the climate 'ship' is still afloat But many participants are unhappy that they didn't get anything close to what they wanted. And despite a great deal of warmth for Brazil and for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, there is frustration with the way they ran this meeting. Right from the off there seemed to be a gulf between what President Lula wanted this meeting to achieve, and what COP president President André Corrêa do Lago felt was possible. So Lula talked of roadmaps away from fossil fuels to the handful of world leaders that came to Belém before the official start of the COP. The idea was taken up by a number of countries including the UK, and within days there was a campaign to get this roadmap formally into the negotiations. His north star was consensus. He knew that forcing the issue of fossil fuels on the agenda would rupture that. While the initial text for agreement had some vague references to things that looked like a roadmap, within days they were gone, never to return. Colombia and the European Union and around 80 countries tried to find some language that would signal a stronger step away from coal, oil and gas. To find consensus, do Lago convened a mutirão, a kind of Brazilian group discussion. It made matters worse. Negotiators from Arab countries refused to join huddles with those who wanted a pathway away from fossil energy. The EU were given short shrift by major producers. "We make energy policy in our capital not in yours," the Saudi delegate told them in a closed-door meeting, according to one observer. Ouch! Nothing could bridge the gap - and the talks teetered on the verge of collapse. Brazil came up with a face-saving idea of roadmaps on deforestation and fossil fuels that would exist outside the COP. These were heartily applauded in the plenary halls – but their legal standing is uncertain. Tom Ingham/BBC The EU negotiating team at the COP30 plenary EU had a bad COP They are the richest group of nations still in the Paris Agreement but this COP has not been the European Union's finest hour. While they have been grandstanding on the need for a fossil fuel roadmap, they backed themselves into a corner on another aspect of the agreement that they eventually couldn't get out of. The idea of tripling money for climate adaptation was in the early text and survived into the final draft. The wording was vague so that the EU didn't object – but crucially the "tripling" word stayed in the text. So when the EU tried to press the developing world to support the idea of a fossil fuel roadmap, they didn't have anything to sweeten the deal – as the tripling concept was already baked in. "Overall we are seeing a European Union that has been cornered," said Li Shuo, from the Asia Society, a long-time observer of climate politics. "This partly reflects the power shift in the real world, the emerging power of the BASIC and BRICs countries, and the decline of the European Union. " The EU fulminated but apart from shifting the tripling of finance from 2030 to 2035, they had to go along with the deal, and they achieved very little on the fossil fuel front. Getty Images Protestors at COP30 stage a demonstration at the start of negotiations in Belém Future of COP in question The most persistent question asked here at COP30 over the two weeks was about the future of the 'process' itself. Two often heard positions: How barmy is it to fly thousands of people half-way around the world to sit in giant air-conditioned tents to argue about commas, and interpretations of convoluted words? How ridiculous that the key discussions here, on the very future of the way that we will power our world occur at 3am in the morning among sleep deprived delegates who haven't been home in weeks? The COP idea served the world well in ultimately delivering the Paris climate agreement – but that was a decade ago and many participants feel that it doesn't have a clear, powerful purpose anymore. "We can't discard it entirely," Harjeet Singh, an activist with the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, told BBC News. "But it requires retrofitting. We will need processes outside this system to help complement what we have done so far. " Energy costs and the valid questions about how countries reach net zero emissions have never been more critical – yet the COP idea seems very far removed from the day to day lives of billions of people. It is a consensus process that comes from a different era. We are not in that world anymore. Brazil recognised some of these issues and tried to make this an "implementation cop" and put a lot of focus on the "energy agenda". But no one really knows what those ideas actually meant. COP leaders are reading the room - they are trying to find a new approach that is needed or this conference will lose all relevance. Trade comes in from the cold For the first time global trade became one of the key issues at these talks. There was an "orchestrated" effort to raise it in every negotiating room, according to veteran COP-watcher Alden Meyer of the climate think-tank E3G. 'What's that got to do with climate change?' you are probably thinking. The answer is that the European Union is planning to introduce a border tax on certain high-carbon products like steel, fertiliser, cement, and aluminium and lots of its trading partners – notably China, India and Saudi Arabia aren't happy about it. They say it isn't fair for a big trading bloc to impose what they call a one-sided - "unilateral" is the technical term - measure like this because it will make the goods they sell into Europe more expensive - and therefore less competitive. The Europeans say that's wrong because the measure is not about stifling trade but about cutting planet-warming gases – tackling climate change. They already charge their own producers of these products a fee for the emissions they create and say the border tax is a way to protect them from less environmentally friendly but cheaper imports from abroad. If you don't want to pay our border tax, they say, just charge emissions fees on your polluting industries - collect the money yourselves. Economists like that idea because the more expensive it is to pollute, the more likely we all are to switch to clean energy alternatives. Although - of course - it also means we'll pay more for any goods we buy that contain polluting materials. The issue was resolved here in Brazil with a classic COP compromise - pushing the discussions into future talks. The final agreement launched an on-going dialogue on trade for future UN climate talks, involving governments as well as other actors like the World Trade Organization. Tom Ingham/BBC Huge crowds looking for souvenirs crowded into the Chinese pavilion at COP30 Trump gains by staying away - China gains by staying quiet The world's two biggest carbon emitters, China and the US, had similar impacts on this COP but achieved them in different ways. US President Donald Trump stayed away, but his stance emboldened his allies here. Russia, normally a relatively quiet participant, was to the fore in blocking efforts on roadmaps. And while Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers were predictably hostile to curbing fossil fuels, China stayed quiet and concentrated on doing deals. And ultimately, say experts, the business China is doing will outdo the US and their efforts to sell fossil fuels. "China kept a low political profile," says Li Shuo from the Asia Society. "And they focussed on making money in the real world. " "Solar is the cheapest source of energy, and the long term direction is very clear, China dominates in this sector and that puts the US in a very difficult position

Good news for wild swimmers as bathing water quality improves 25 November 2025 Share Save Mark Poynting , Climate and science reporter and Jonah Fisher , Environment correspondent Share Save PA The number of monitored bathing sites in England meeting minimum standards for water quality has risen slightly since last year, according to new figures from the Environment Agency. Out of the 449 sites regularly tested this summer, 93% met minimum standards for levels of bacteria in the water, linked to sewage spills, agricultural pollution and other factors. That is better than the 92% of 2024. Overall, 32 sites were rated "poor" - down from 37 in 2024, which was the worst year since the new measurement system began in 2015. The government said its reforms to bathing water rules will help further, but campaigners said that swimming in England's rivers was still too often risky to health. Water Minister Emma Hardy said: "These changes sit alongside our wider action to clean up our waterways so communities across the country can enjoy the places they care about most. " A spokesperson for industry body Water UK said that the quality of England's bathing water remains high and that companies have a plan to reduce sewage spills. The Environment Agency (EA) monitors levels of bacteria at bathing water sites in rivers, lakes and the sea across England between May and September each year by taking thousands of samples. Levels of bacteria are affected by pollution from sewage spills, agriculture and other sources - but can also be affected by the weather. The summer of 2025 was particularly dry. All else being equal, that should lead to less pollution, with less runoff from rainfall. The latest figures cover a four-year period from 2022 to 2025, where measurements are available. They show a rise in the percentage of sites with the top rating of "excellent" to 66%, up from 64% last year. The percentage of sites rated "poor" – failing to meet minimum standards – fell from 8% to 7%. But that is still the second highest figure over the past decade. Alan Lovell, chair of the EA, said: "Bathing water quality in England has improved significantly over recent decades, and this year's results show the continued impact of strong regulation, investment and partnership working. "But we know there is more to do, and the new bathing water reforms will strengthen the way these much-loved places are managed," he said. More bathing sites have been added in recent years, effectively requiring more places to meet the highest standards for people to be able to swim. Bathing sites in rivers performed much worse than those in the sea, where the vast majority of bathing sites are located. Of the 14 river sites, only two met the minimum standards. Many of these rivers were only added to the list of monitored bathing sites in 2024, which can complicate comparisons over time. The EA says part of the reason that water quality is poorer in rivers is because salty seawater can act as a natural disinfectant and the sea dilutes pollutants faster. Rivers are often closer to pollution sources too. James Wallace, chief executive of River Action UK, described the results for England's river bathing water sites as "deeply concerning". "Despite being our most protected river sites, the government's own data shows that swimming in our inland bathing waters carries significant health risks, underlining the failure of regulators to hold polluters to account," he said. The latest figures come after the EA gave England's water companies their worst ever combined marks last month for their environmental performance in 2024, amid a spike in serious pollution incidents. And in July a landmark review of the "failing" water sector in England and Wales recommended stronger regulation to hold water companies to account. But it warned that there would be no quick fixes to improve the state of our rivers or bring down bills. In response to today's figures, a spokesperson for Water UK said: "These results show that the quality of English bathing water remains high with 87% achieving a 'good' or 'excellent' rating. "This is a stark contrast to the 1990s when less than a third of bathing waters would have met today's standards

Cats became our companions way later than you think 6 days ago Share Save Helen Briggs Environment correspondent Share Save Getty Images All domestic cats (Felis catus) are descended from the African wild cat In true feline style, cats took their time in deciding when and where to forge bonds with humans. According to new scientific evidence, the shift from wild hunter to pampered pet happened much more recently than previously thought - and in a different place. A study of bones found at archaeological sites suggests cats began their close relationship with humans only a few thousand years ago, and in northern Africa not the Levant. "They are ubiquitous, we make TV programmes about them, and they dominate the internet," said Prof Greger Larson of the University of Oxford. "That relationship we have with cats now only gets started about 3. 5 or 4,000 years ago, rather than 10,000 years ago. " Getty Images Cats were domesticated long after dogs All modern cats are descended from the same species - the African wildcat. How, where and when they lost their wildness and developed close bonds with humans has long puzzled scientists. To solve the mystery, researchers analysed DNA from cat bones found at archaeological sites across Europe, North Africa and Anatolia. They dated the bones, analysed the DNA and compared this with the gene pool of modern cats. The new evidence shows cat domestication didn't start at the dawn of agriculture - in the Levant. Instead, it happened a few millennia later, somewhere in northern Africa. "Instead of happening in that area where people are first settling down with agriculture, it looks like it is much more of an Egyptian phenomenon," said Prof Larson. Ziyi Li and Wenquan Fan The skull of a leopard cat found in a Han-dynasty tomb in Xinzheng City, Henan Province, China This fits with our knowledge of the land of the pharaohs as a society that revered cats, immortalising them in art and preserving them as mummies. Once cats became associated with people, they were moved around the world, prized as ship cats and pest controllers. Cats only reached Europe around 2,000 years ago, much later than previously thought. They travelled around Europe and into the UK with the Romans and then started moving east along the Silk Road into China. Today, they are found in all parts of the world, except Antarctica. Getty The leopard cat is the most widespread wild cat in Asia And in a new twist, the scientists discovered that a wild cat hung out for a while with people in China long before domestic cats came on the scene. These rival kitties were leopard cats, small wild cats with leopard-like spots, that lived in human settlements in China for around 3,500 years. The early human-leopard cat relationship was essentially "commensal" where two species live alongside each other harmlessly, said Prof Shu-Jin Luo of Peking University in Beijing. "Leopard cats benefited from living near people, while humans were largely unaffected or even welcomed them as natural rodent controllers," she said. Getty The Bengal cat is a breed of hybrid cat created from crossing an Asian leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) with domestic cats

Delhi records 200,000 acute respiratory illness cases amid toxic air Some hospitals in Delhi now have clinics to treat pollution-related illnesses More than 200,000 cases of acute respiratory illnesses were recorded in six state-run hospitals in Delhi between 2022 and 2024 as the Indian capital struggled with rising pollution levels, the federal government has said. The government said in parliament that more than 30,000 people with respiratory illnesses had to be hospitalised in these three years. Toxic air is a recurring problem in Delhi and its suburbs, especially during winters. For weeks now, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) - which measures different types of pollutants, including PM2. 5, a fine particulate matter that can clog lungs - has been more than 20 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organization