Odds are 2-1 of temporary breach to Paris treaty's lower limit in 5 years
The annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will likely be more than 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.
Climate & Health
Melting glaciers. Rising sea levels. Wildfires. Food shortages. Mass coral reef deaths and widespread species extinctions. Global pandemics. Every other issue is secondary. In a world of climate change, direct impacts on humanity are evident where we live and work and on the health and well-being of many populations. Climate change is a truly global issue; fighting it demands global cooperation and financing through summits, known as COPs, and landmark treaties like the Paris Agreement.
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Progress in reducing deaths during pregnancy and birth has 'flatlined'
More than 4.5 million pregnant women and babies die each year during pregnancy, childbirth or the first few weeks of life – one death every seven seconds.
U.N. health agency declares COVID-19 no longer a global emergency
Though the emergency phase is over, the World Health Organization's pandemic designation still holds.
El Niño could push temperatures even higher: climate agencies
The onset of a possible El Niño climate event later this year combined with rising greenhouse gases could push global temperatures to a new warming record.
Human-induced climate change worsened Horn of Africa drought
Low rainfall and high evaporation rates 'would not have led to drought at all in a 1.2° C. cooler world,' scientists concluded.
'Continuous advance' of climate crisis pushes 1.15° C. warming
Droughts, floods and heatwaves drove food insecurity and mass migration as communities on every continent were hit by massive costs, the World Meteorological Organization said.
UNICEF raises alert over lagging confidence in childhood vaccines
Public perception of the importance of vaccines for children fell during the pandemic in 52 of 55 countries studied.
At 75, U.N. health agency is lightning rod for equity and cooperation
As WHO celebrated its 75th anniversary – commemorating World Health Day and the day its constitution took effect – the COVID-19 pandemic's lessons were inescapable.
Rapprochement could help address the Middle East's climate problem
The Middle East and North African region is among the most vulnerable to climate change, but the public health impacts are relatively unknown.
European court hears first citizen complaints over climate inaction
The European Court of Human Rights heard two climate cases brought by citizens against Swiss and French authorities.
Vanuatu's 'epic' win lets top U.N. court set climate obligations
The ICJ is being asked for a legal opinion on nations' legal obligations to fight global warming – and the consequences if they don't.
New IPCC report urges 'hope' and climate justice for most vulnerable
Almost half the world’s population lives in regions highly vulnerable to climate change, where deaths were 15 times higher in the past decade.
WHO chief calls 3-year pandemic 'a chaotic patchwork of responses'
WHO's chief offered three lessons the world must learn to be able to effectively cope with future global health crises.
U.N. panel prepares last report of series to shape climate policy
The head of the U.N. panel of climate experts called for quick action because 'inaction and delays are not listed as options.'
In the Greater Horn of Africa, tens of millions hungry and driven to flee
Some 129,000 people are 'facing starvation and staring death in the eyes,' while 11.9 million children under five could face acute malnutrition.
U.N. agrees to buy $55M crude carrier to prevent oil spill in Red Sea
A stranded supertanker, moored off the coast of Yemen near a pipeline to oil and gas fields, nearly sank in 2020.