Drought

‘A biodiversity catastrophe’: how the world could look in 2050 – unless we act now

The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutions

Patrick Greenfield, Phoebe Weston and Ajit Niranjan

29, Nov, 2023 @5:00 AM

‘Everything is dry and very sad’: Lake Titicaca gripped by drought crisis

The waters of South America’s largest freshwater lake have severely receded leaving the Indigenous people around its shores struggling to maintain their livelihoods

Words and photographs by Magda Gibelli in Puno

22, Nov, 2023 @11:00 AM

At risk: 10 ways the changing climate is creating a health emergency

Diseases will spread faster and further, and kill more people, as the effects of record heat, floods, drought and storms escalates

Joan van Dyk

16, Nov, 2023 @6:00 AM

Extreme drought in northern Italy mirrors climate in Ethiopia

Research shows global heating creates ‘whiplash effect’ of erratic extremes – often in poorest countries

Sandra Laville

14, Nov, 2023 @5:00 AM

Food, soil, water: how the extinction of insects would transform our planet

A new study doubles the number of species at risk of extinction to 2m, driven by the latest data on insects. Losing these tiny creatures would have huge implications for life on Earth

Phoebe Weston

10, Nov, 2023 @8:30 AM

Human-caused heating behind extreme droughts in Syria, Iraq and Iran, study finds

Millions of people’s lives wrecked by droughts that used to happen once every 250 years but now expected once a decade

Damian Carrington Environment editor

08, Nov, 2023 @1:00 PM

Flash droughts are likely to become increasingly common, say researchers

Scientists have been studying the increasingly common phenomenon, which can intensify wildfires and affect crop yields

Kate Ravilious

02, Nov, 2023 @6:00 AM

‘For us, the Amazon isn’t a cause, it’s our home’: the riverside communities stranded by the climate crisis

The historic drought in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has reduced the Rio Negro to a trickle and put at risk the livelihoods of remote Indigenous and riverside communities

Constance Malleretin Saracá and Santa Helena do Inglês

31, Oct, 2023 @6:00 AM

Sydney turns over a new leaf and says goodbye to much-maligned plane trees

Trees once described as ‘about as much use to our wildlife as concrete posts’ to gradually be phased out in favour of more drought-tolerant plants

Lisa Cox and Patrick Keneally

27, Oct, 2023 @11:00 PM

Drought turns Amazonian capital into climate dystopia

Forest fires leave Manaus with second worst air quality in the world, while low river levels cut off communities

Jonathan Watts in Manaus

18, Oct, 2023 @11:00 AM

Climate crisis costing $16m an hour in extreme weather damage, study estimates

Analysis shows at least $2.8tn in damage from 2000 to 2019 through worsened storms, floods and heatwaves

Damian Carrington Environment editor

09, Oct, 2023 @11:05 AM

Dead lawns, dry wells: Texas drought persists after summer heat dome

More than 30% of the continental US is experiencing drought after roasting this summer, but in the heart of Texas hill country, the conditions feel worse

Catherine Dorrough

06, Oct, 2023 @11:00 AM