Human-driven climate change made wildfires in parts of South America and Southern California many times larger and more destructive, according to an annual assessment by international experts.

According to climate models, the Los Angeles wildfires in January were twice as likely and 25 times larger, in terms of burned area, in the current climate than they would have been in a world with no human-caused global warming. It also made last year’s burning in the Pantanal-Chiquitano region in South America 35 times larger, while also driving record-breaking fires in the Amazon and Congo.

When starting college, many young people report adopting pro-environmental behaviors such as active travel (e.g. walking, biking) and reduced meat consumption, so targeted interventions in these transition moments could be especially effective. 

Understanding how species survive environmental upheavals is central to evolutionary and conservation science. Southeast Asia, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, has repeatedly swung between forests and grasslands over the last 150,000 years. Until now, however, little was known about how ancient mammals in these tropical landscapes adapted—or failed to adapt—to these dramatic shifts.

The trunks and branches of trees in Australia's tropical rainforests – also known as woody biomass – have become a net source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, according to a new international study.  

According to the team behind the Nature study, which includes experts from The Australian National University (ANU), Australia’s wet tropics are the first globally to show this response to climate change. The rising temperature, air dryness and droughts caused by human-driven climate change are likely the major culprits.