Updated through 30 Aug, 12:01 pm; newest verified stories stay first.
Front pageAtlasHour Section
Climate & Energy
Energy systems, climate policy, resources, resilience, and adaptation.
Source names, wires, official desks, and publisher posts are grouped for fast scanning.
Each visible module carries a story image or AtlasHour editorial visual fallback.
The section highlights what changed, why it matters, and what to watch next.
Section Lead
Lead Climate & Energy story
The main story shaping this section right now.
Climate & EnergyThe Guardian1 min read
South West Water has worst environmental record in England, analysis shows
Exclusive: Friends of the Earth finds greatest sewage discharge in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset ‘Tiny bit of rain and the sewage comes’: Brighton swimmers vent fury at sea pollution South West Water is doing more harm to the environment than any other water company in England, according to new analysis, with more sewage discharged in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset than anywhere else. Friends of the Earth analysed water companies’ environmental performance in six categories: sewage spills, water quality at bathing sites, pollution incidents or warnings at bathing sites, severity of sewage pollution at bathing sites, the percentage of rivers rated below the standard for good ecological health, and the affordability of bills...
Why this mattersAtlasHour tracks the confirmed facts, who is affected, and what changes next.
Read Brief AtlasHour Desk
Micro Details
Climate & Energy desk briefing
A compact reader map for what happened, why it matters, source context, and the next watch point.
What happened?
Exclusive: Friends of the Earth finds greatest sewage discharge in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset ‘Tiny bit of rain and the sewage comes’: Brighton swimmers vent fury at sea pollution South West Water is doing more harm to the environment than any other water company in England, according to new analysis, with more sewage discharged in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset than anywhere else. Friends of the Earth analysed water companies’ environmental performance in six categories: sewage spills, water quality at bathing sites, pollution incidents or warnings at bathing sites, severity of sewage pollution at bathing sites, the percentage of rivers rated below the standard for good ecological health, and the affordability of bills...
Why it mattersAtlasHour context: this story may affect public policy, global affairs, business confidence, technology direction, energy security, or civic life.
Who is affected?Global Markets
Image Desk
Climate & Energy visual briefing
Current stories presented with source images or AtlasHour editorial visuals, tuned for mobile scanning and desktop newspaper reading.
Can “super coral” and cooling the sea, save reefs from climate change?
101 East investigates whether Palau may hold the key to saving the world’s coral reefs from climate-driven destruction.
Al Jazeera
A Melting Glacier in Nepal Was a Time Bomb. There Are More to Come.
A geologist reflects on the disaster and explains why rapid warming will make deadly glacial floods far more common.
NY Times
See the Moment a Himalayan Glacier Collapsed, Causing a Deadly Flood
Exclusive videos verified by The New York Times show the clearest view yet of the avalanche in northern Nepal near Tibet that sent a wall of water and mud coursing through river valleys below.
NY Times
Oil Giant Chevron Is Said to Be in Talks to Expand in Venezuela
Chevron, the second largest U.S. oil company, is building on its wager to remain in Venezuela, where it already accounts for about a quarter of the country’s oil production.
NY Times
Indonesia sets up shelters for babies, children affected by wildfire smoke
Indonesia sets up shelters for babies, children affected by wildfire smoke
Al Jazeera
Is the environmental impact of datacentres finally cutting through?
In this week’s newsletter: Anti-datacentre sentiment is growing across the political spectrum in the US – and the public is only just finding out about the potential effects on their energy bills • Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? More than a dozen states have considered moratoria on datacentres. New York became the first US state to enact a temporary ban last month. Progressive stalwarts Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a national moratorium. And even Greg Abbott, the far-right governor of Texas, called for a ban on datacentre development in rural swaths of his state. ‘Our new normal’: how marine heatwaves affect life in British seas Iraq’s ghost villages: Islamic State drove people away – now a new enemy is preventing their return Destroyed crops, riverbed cyclists and a ‘Rock of Starvation’: how drought has devastated the Danube..
The Guardian
Latest
Latest in Climate & Energy
Trump’s Venezuelan Oil Deal Relies on a Powerful and Divisive Partner
The administration will work with a private Venezuelan oil company that has close ties to the country’s government.
NY Times
Missing toll from Nepal, China flood nears 3,000 as race for survivors continues
Rescuers in Nepal and China on Saturday continued to search for the nearly 3,000 people missing after devastating flooding along the border with China engulfed entire villages earlier this week. At least 682 bodies were recovered in both countries, including 675 in Nepal and seven in China.
France 24
Getting help to Nepal's flood survivors is proving difficult
Blocked roads and monsoon weather are complicating efforts to get food, shelter and emergency hygeine to survivors of Nepal's catastrophic floods. World Vision's Dhruba Gurmachhan explains what survivors need the most.
NPR
‘The world needs to pay attention’: Nepalis and Tibetans in New York respond to the Himalayan disaster
Half the world away, a Himalayan diaspora reacts in sorrow and pitches in to help victims in their home countries Geeta Tamang was getting ready for bed when her aunts shared news that upended her world. “My aunts came into my room and told me what had happened,” said Tamang, a 24-year-old computer science student at Queens College. She lives in Jackson Heights, home to one of the largest Nepali and Tibetan communities in New York City...
The Guardian
Nepal: A newly formed lake is sparking fears of more flooding along the Chinese border
Rescue operations are continuing after the devastating Nepal-China floods, but authorities have ordered emergency teams to stay on high alert as a newly formed upstream lake threatens to burst and trigger fresh flooding. Satellite imagery suggests the lake formed in the same area where a glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed the deadly chain of events. FRANCE 24's Navodita Kumari has the latest from India.
France 24
Nepali army uses helicopters to rescue flood survivors
With roads damaged by the deadly floods, the Nepali army is using helicopters to carry out rescue operations and transport survivors to safety. Meanwhile, skies remain overcast, with more rain expected in the coming hours, raising concerns about further flooding. FRANCE 24's Shahzaib Wahlah reports.
France 24
Must Read
Must-read stories
Sudan’s date palm trees under threat from drought and wildfires
In Sudan, date palm trees are an economic lifeline for residents of Northern State.
Al Jazeera
Catastrophic Flood Exposes the Risks of Nepal’s Hydropower Bet
The loss of power-generating capacity has raised questions about an ambitious expansion of renewable energy in one of the world’s most hazard-prone mountain regions.
NY Times
In the Age of Global Warming, Some Fear ‘the Entire Himalayas Are Melting’
A glacier unleashed a deadly flood earlier this week. For local trekking guides and climbers, the mountains were already changing.
NY Times
‘Immense’ Devastation as Nepal Continues Search for 2,400 Missing in Floods
As rescue efforts entered their fourth day, the scale of destruction came into focus, signaling a daunting recovery for the vulnerable nation.
NY Times
Nepal-Tibet flood: this is the cost of not acting in the face of the climate crisis | Sunil Acharya
Nepalis and Tibetans must not pay the price – with their lives, livelihoods and money meant for education and health – for global heating caused by wealthy states Sunil Acharya is an international climate policy and just transition specialist based in Kathmandu, Nepal As a Nepali citizen working on international climate policy for more than a decade, it is difficult to look at the harrowing images coming out of the catastrophic flash flood that thundered down valleys in Nepal, sweeping down the Lhende Khola, Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, and not feel angry. Not just because of the destruction, but because it comes after years of warnings from scientists and civil society that a rapidly warming planet would make disasters more frequent, more intense and harder to predict. This is what the cost of delaying global climate action looks like. Sunil Acharya is an international climate policy and just transition specialist based in Kathmandu, Nepal..
The Guardian
The race to stop England running out of water
Who is to blame for the summer drought, and can England future-proof its water supplies?
BBC Science
Explainers
Read the full storySouth West Water has worst environmental record in England, analysis shows
One story, explained in layers.
What happened?
Exclusive: Friends of the Earth finds greatest sewage discharge in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset ‘Tiny bit of rain and the sewage comes’: Brighton swimmers vent fury at sea pollution South West Water is doing more harm to the environment than any other water company in England, according to new analysis, with more sewage discharged in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset than anywhere else. Friends of the Earth analysed water companies’ environmental performance in six categories: sewage spills, water quality at bathing sites, pollution incidents or warnings at bathing sites, severity of sewage pollution at bathing sites, the percentage of rivers rated below the standard for good ecological health, and the affordability of bills...
Why it mattersAtlasHour context: this story may affect public policy, global affairs, business confidence, technology direction, energy security, or civic life.
Who is affected?Global Markets
The Hour Timeline
Latest, updated, and what to watch next
Chronological context from the AtlasHour desk, built for fast mobile reading and desktop scanning.
Climate & Energy
Tropical Storm Dolly speeding across Atlantic toward the Caribbean
Weather system is forecast to approach the Leeward Islands this weekend and may produce flash flooding Tropical Storm Dolly is moving quickly across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Leeward Islands and is expected to bring significant rainfall to parts of the Caribbean this weekend, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday morning. Dolly, which formed on Thursday, had maximum sustained winds of near 40mph (65km/h) with higher gusts as of Friday...
Climate & Energy
El Niño, paired with climate change, 'just makes everything so much more dangerous'
Annette Young is pleased to welcome Gareth Redmond-King, Head of the International Programme at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. He warns we are entering a period in which climate change is not only intensifying extreme weather but adding greater instability to the climate system itself. Natural phenomena such as El Niño will then amplify, and intensify, that disruption, effectively “fanning the flames of climate change” and making already dangerous extremes even more severe. For Europe, this means that the extreme heat, drought, water shortages, storms and flash flooding we are experiencing should no longer be regarded as exceptional. They are increasingly part of a new normal for which governments remain inadequately prepared.
Climate & Energy
Live Updates: New Flood Warning Complicates Desperate Himalayan Search
Rescuers are racing to find survivors of a torrent that swept through valleys along the China-Nepal border. The Nepali police on Friday warned people to head for safety, citing a new risk of flooding.
Climate & Energy
How Britain’s railways are struggling in the heat – and can they be fixed?
Problems including derailments have hit network during one of the hottest and driest summers on record Britain’s railways have faced a string of heat-related problems this summer, including a derailment near Lewes in East Sussex two weeks ago that injured 30 people, and another the next day when the rear carriages of a Greater Anglia train derailed “in an upright position” at Wickford railway station in Essex, with no reported injuries. The problems came during one of the hottest and driest summers on record, with a series of heatwaves, and drought declared across large parts of England and Wales. Britain’s railways, built for a cooler, wetter climate, have been put under pressure. Network Rail said the summer had “presented exceptional challenges to the railway”...
Climate & Energy
No special carve-out for states using fossil fuel to power datacentres, Chris Bowen insists, despite new conditions
Energy minister says states can apply to use coal and gas supply to power datacentres but must prove it is cheaper than renewables Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Chris Bowen insists federal Labor’s new national laws on datacentre power supply will not include carve-outs for Queensland and the Northern Territory, with states that are eager to use coal and gas required to make their case to the national regulator. The energy minister told Guardian Australia on Friday the only concession agreed at Wednesday’s meeting of national cabinet was that existing coal and gas supply could be used on the condition it could be shown to be cheaper than renewables...
Climate & Energy
Scientists collaborated with narwhals to study warming waters in the Arctic
Scientists collaborated with narwhals for a new study to understand human-caused climate change in the Arctic and rising sea levels around the world.
Climate & Energy
What lessons can be learned from the Nepal-Tibet flood disaster?
Scientists are looking into cause and possible link to climate change.
Climate & Energy
A melting glacier contributed to the deadly Nepal floods. We can expect more like this
As the climate continues to warm, scientists warn that the frequency of disasters like the floods in Nepal will increase.