Weather events ‘causing food price spikes’, and other nature and climate news

Countries across the globe are seeing food price shocks from climate extremes, a new study finds.

Researchers from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the European Central Bank traced price jumps to extreme weather linked to the climate crisis. They looked at 16 examples across 18 countries between 2022 and 2024 where price spikes were associated with extreme heat, drought or heavy rain events, including:

The findings come just ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake, where world leaders will discuss threats to the global food system.

Heavy rainfall is continuing to affect many parts of Asia and the Pacific.

In South Korea, torrential rain has led to landslides and floods that have killed at least 18 people and displaced many more. Some areas received up to 800mm of rain in less than five days and a number of places saw a record amount of rain in a single day.

Viet Nam has been bracing for Typhoon Wipha, which brought powerful winds and heavy rainfall, increasing the risk of flash floods and landslides.

The storm previously intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, where it killed at least three people and forced the evacuation of thousands, and battered Hong Kong. Storms also drenched southern parts of the Chinese mainland, triggering warnings of flash floods and landslides, in Wipha’s wake.

In Pakistan, meanwhile, at least 178 people have been killed in recent weeks amid relentless monsoon rains.

Many places across Asia are no stranger to tropical storms and heavy rains during monsoon seasons. But scientists say such events are becoming more variable with extremes that could be more damaging.

Scientists in the UK are set to analyze cylindrical tubes of ancient ice retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 metres in Antarctica. The ice could be more than 1.5 million years old, and it is hoped it will contain vital information about Earth’s climate.

Greece has revealed the boundaries for two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas that it wants to establish to protect seabirds, sea mammals and turtles.

The Global Environment Facility – the world’s oldest climate fund – is planning to create wildlife conservation bonds for every country in Africa to save endangered species and ecosystems. Such bonds provide low-cost funding in return for cutting poaching or other measures.

Environmental groups have voiced concerns over the European Commission's proposal for a new long-term European Union (EU) budget, which would merge existing climate and biodiversity budgets, risking a decrease in overall funding for these areas. The Commission says its redesign of the budget will enhance the EU's capacity to address challenges in numerous areas, including the climate.

Governments should consider taxing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies to create funds to help address the climate crisis, Laurence Tubiana, one of the architects of the Paris agreement, has said.

Artificial intelligence can be used to create convincing fake video and audio content, and this could affect climate action monitoring if deepfake greenwashing is used to falsify sustainability achievements. Strong, forward-looking AI regulations will help to limit the threat.

The methane-tracking satellite MethaneSAT was launched in 2024 to measure climate pollution, track progress and hold countries and companies accountable for cutting it. The project took years to develop and required a huge investment to build and launch, but the satellite recently went dark, permanently losing communication with controllers. Was it worth it? “Emphatically, yes”, says the president of the organization that developed it.

The shipping sector is shifting to sustainable fuels, but it’s a slow process. These two start-ups are developing alternative solutions for slashing emissions using simple chemistry and low-cost materials.