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Tipping elements within the Earth system are increasingly well understood. Scientists have identified more than 25 parts of the Earth’s climate system that are likely to have “tipping points” – thresholds where a small additional change in global warming will cause them to irreversibly shift into a new state. The “tipping” of these systems – which include the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the Amazon rainforest and the Greenland ice sheet – would have profound consequences for both the biosphere and people. More recent research suggests that triggering one tipping element could cause subsequent changes in other tipping elements, potentially leading to a “tipping cascade”. For example, a collapsed AMOC could lead to dieback of the Amazon rainforest and hasten the melt of the Greenland ice sheet.

Clean-energy sectors drove a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2024 and have overtaken real-estate sales in value. The new sector-by-sector analysis for Carbon Brief, based on official figures, industry data and analyst reports, shows the growing role of clean technology in China’s economy – particularly the so-called “new three” industries, namely, solar, electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries.

Carbon Brief provides an updated analysis of when the world will likely exceed the Paris 1.5C limit

China’s CO2 emissions fell by 3% in March 2024, ending a 14-month surge that began when the economy reopened after the nation’s “zero-Covid”

Over the past year, there has been a vigorous debate among scientists – and more broadly – about whether global warming is “accelerating”.

Carbon Brief explores which countries are or have targets to be net-negative, and the moral and scientific arguments for such a milestone.

Historical responsibility for climate change is radically shifted when colonial rule is taken into account, Carbon Brief analysis reveals.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from energy use and industry could peak as soon as this year, according to Carbon Brief analysis of figures from the IEA.

Hopes of the UK government meeting its domestic and international climate targets have “worsened” over the past year, according to the CCC.

Almost every country in the world has signed up to the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping warming well-below 2C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5C.

From deadly floods in Nigeria to devastating drought in Somalia, Africa has faced a run of severe – and sometimes unprecedented – extreme weather events since the start of 2022. But while the US hurricane season and 40C heat in the UK have captured headlines, many of Africa’s most extreme and life-changing weather events went largely unreported in global-north media.

A wildfire racing across a hillside has become emblematic of climate change. And for good reason: a quarter of the world’s natural landscapes now face longer fire seasons as a result of warming and shifts to rainfall, according to a recent landmark climate report.

le profil carbone de la France: In this country profile, Carbon Brief examines the state of climate and energy policies in France, a major emitter that nevertheless relies on fossil fuels less than any other industrialised nation.

The Keeling Curve is an iconic graph showing how levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been building up in the atmosphere, driving an increase in global temperatures.

People born in 2020 will have to face between two and seven times more extreme climate-related events over their lifetimes than people born in 1960, according to estimates from a new study.