Urgent cuts to global greenhouse gas emissions needed to avoid worst sea-level rise flooding in the UK, study shows
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Oct-2026 23:16 ET (23-Oct-2026 03:16 GMT/UTC)
A pioneering study has revealed that by the turn of the next century at least half a million more people in the UK will be exposed to risk of coastal flooding – a 25% increase compared to now. The research, led by the Met Office and the University of Bristol, quantifies for the first time the scale of the UK population at threat from coastal flooding under future sea-level rise projections.
New analysis shows that a ‘pause’ in Arctic winter sea ice decline seen in the early 2020s has ended following record lows in 2025 and early 2026.
Climate change isn't just changing how much rain falls, it is also changing when it falls, and that timing can dramatically reshape entire plant communities. A new study shows that droughts occurring at different points in the growing season have very different effects on when plants flower and how they compete with one another, revealing that the timing of rainfall may be a better predictor of ecosystem change than total rainfall alone.
Researchers analyzed snow droughts in Xinjiang from 1980 to 2021 and classified them into warm-only, dry-only, and warm-dry types. The study identifies strong spatial heterogeneity, highlights the Kunlun Mountains as a major hotspot, and shows that warm-dry snow droughts increased markedly after 2000.
Extreme heat is not only making cities less liveable; it is also reshaping who can afford to live where. The highest levels of vulnerability to climate gentrification are no longer found in the urban core, but in the metropolitan periphery. To help anticipate this process, researchers at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) have developed the first metropolitan climate and housing vulnerability index for Barcelona, with data that can be explored street by street across 36 municipalities.
MIT researchers have found that when salt levels rise, aquatic microbial populations maintain their overall growth rate, but they lose diversity as faster-growing strains tend to take over the community.
Glaciers are key indicators of climate change, but their movement is difficult to measure in remote and harsh environments. A review in Geodesy and Geodynamics examines how synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging geodesy helps scientists monitor glacier velocity from space. The article explains major SAR-based methods, with particular attention to pixel offset tracking, which is well suited to fast and large glacier movements. The review also highlights future needs for greater efficiency, accuracy, three-dimensional monitoring, and broader capability worldwide.