Decline in species’ genetic diversity, and other nature and climate stories to read this week

Genetic diversity in animals and plants has declined across the globe over the past 30 years, a new report has found.

The research into more than 600 species across over 140 countries showed decreases in two-thirds of the populations studied. Urgent conservation efforts could halt or reverse the losses, the researchers said.

When characteristics that help certain individuals in a species tolerate a change in their environment are passed to the next generation, it helps populations of that species survive, the study’s lead researcher said in The Guardian. Such changes include events like a new disease or heat waves.

Factors such as habitat loss, the climate crisis and invasive species are causing a fall in genetic diversity. But the researchers noted that this happened even when no such disturbances were reported – representing the more general biodiversity crisis facing the planet.

There has been an average 73% decline in wildlife populations since 1970, according to WWF statistics.

President Donald Trump started his new term in office with a host of executive actions that could affect the climate. These included removing incentives for electric vehicles, ramping up domestic fossil fuel production and taking the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The withdrawal from Paris – which has a goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C and reducing greenhouse gas emissions – will have a “huge impact” on efforts to curb global warming, according to André Corrêa do Lago, the Brazilian diplomat who will head the United Nations COP30 climate summit later this year.

Reuters reports the move will “hit harder” than in 2017, the last time the US withdrew from the Agreement.

Its impact could be to “increase the chance of global warming escalating, to slow US climate funding internationally, and leave investors struggling to navigate the divergence between European and US green rules”.

But leaders including from Europe said they were committed to the treaty. And some climate writers say that corporate priorities, market forces and state and local government plans may all mean that the climate and energy landscape in the US is unlikely to change quickly.

Particles from vehicle tyres are the biggest source of nanoplastic pollution in the high Alps, researchers say.

Climate change is set to cause a $1.47 trillion fall in US home values over the next three decades, the Wall Street Journal reports, with rising insurance costs and homeowners moving from ‘risky’ areas driving the declines. Climate change was a factor behind the hot, dry weather that gave rise to the recent Los Angeles fires, scientists have said.

A new study finds that increasing temperatures due to climate change are allowing rat populations to flourish in cities across the globe, from Amsterdam to Washington, San Francisco and Toronto.

The Doomsday Clock – which symbolizes how close humanity is to destruction – has been moved a second forward, to 89 seconds to midnight.

Dangerous temperatures could kill 50% more people in Europe by the end of the century, a new study finds.

Climate warming may be causing trees to prioritize reproduction overgrowth, according to a new long-term study of European beech trees.

At Davos, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced the creation of a tropical nature reserve the size of France – set to be the largest protected community reserve on Earth. Read more about this and other nature initiatives launched at the Annual Meeting.

With human-induced climate change, from wildfires to hurricanes and flooding, causing chaos around the world, here’s what experts at Davos said about what’s needed to bring the climate crisis under control.

A nature-first approach to urban planning is helping cities like Singapore incorporate biodiversity into their infrastructure. Find out about the public-private collaboration vital to making it happen.

The Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), a Forum initiative, is now the the world’s largest multistakeholder plastic pollution initiative globally. GPAP has developed 25 partnerships with 25 governments, a fact recognized at this year's Annual Meeting. Each of these governments have set key targets – most for 2025 or 2030 – to tackle their local plastic pollution problems.