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In the recent Advisory Opinion on States’ Obligations in respect of Climate Change (AO, 2025) various remarks by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) lean into an increasingly “administrative” law turn in international law. Administrative law, particularly in the common law, often focuses on the acceptability of the procedures through which government decisions are made. […]
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Beyond the filter: what’s happening in industrial air pollution management?
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A UK Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) waste-to-energy plant (image credit: Lührfilter). In many industries, it’s simply no longer practical to tackle air pollution management with “bolt-on” solutions, and you can’t address regulatory requirements such as BREFs by simply adding an appropriate filter or catalyst to a process. Envirotec explored the latest thinking in industrial air […]
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DoE selects MIT to establish a Center for the Exascale Simulation of Coupled High-Enthalpy Fluid–Solid Interactions
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DoE/NNSA) recently announced that it has selected MIT to establish a new research center dedicated to advancing the predictive simulation of extreme environments, such as those encountered in hypersonic flight and atmospheric re-entry. The center will be part of the fourth phase of NNSA’s Predictive Science Academic Alliance […]
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Cropped 10 September 2025: Flooded ‘food baskets’; Brazil eyes forest finance; Resilient rice
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight. This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here. Key developments Flooded food baskets AG EMERGENCY: Flash flooding has destroyed thousands of acres of crops in Punjab, a […]
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Study links world’s top oil and gas firms to 200 ‘more intense’ heatwaves
Global warming linked to the world’s biggest oil and gas companies made all “major” 21st century heatwaves more intense and frequent. This is according to new research, published in Nature, which uses “extreme event attribution” to assess the impact of climate change on all 21st-century heatwaves that were classified as “major disasters”. The authors find […]
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Mussels-and-sensors solution anticipates appearance of toxic algal blooms
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Spyvalve sensors on mussels (image credit: Murdoch University) Australian researchers say they have come up with a technology-based solution to detecting the onset of water quality decline in its earliest stages. This would allow action to be taken long before the appearance of toxic algal blooms or mass fish deaths. Spyvalve, created by Dr Alan […]
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Decades-old barrels of industrial waste still impacting ocean floor off Los Angeles
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A discarded barrel on the seafloor off the coast of Los Angeles. The image was taken during a survey in July 2021 by remotely operated vehicle SuBastian (image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute). Initially thought to contain the pesticide DDT, a new study reveals some barrels contained caustic alkaline waste (words: University of California – San […]
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Londoners’ air pollution drops by a quarter at weekends, say new data
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Image credit: Lorna Roberts / Shutterstock.com Londoners breathe significantly cleaner air when exercising at weekends, according to new research showing nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) exposure falling by almost 25% compared with weekdays. The study, based on over 50,000 outdoor runs, rides and walks logged across the capital between March 2024 and August 2025 – appears to […]
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Honey bees can be used to monitor PFAS levels in the environment, says study
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Monthly samples were collected from bee colonies (image credit: James Hutton Institute). Honey bees can be used to monitor levels of PFAS in the environment, a new study from The James Hutton Institute and the University of Graz appears to have shown. PFAS, sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals”, are a group of more than […]
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ROC AUC vs Precision-Recall for Imbalanced Data
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When building machine learning models to classify imbalanced data — i.
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Multi-Agent Systems: The Next Frontier in AI-Driven Cyber Defense
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The increasing sophistication of cyber threats calls for a systemic change in the way we defend ourselves against them.
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Guest post: How adaptation has cut flood deaths and losses in Europe
When flooding strikes, it can devastate vast areas, taking lives, homes and possessions with it. Multiple factors affect the scale of the social and economic damage that flooding causes, such as climate change, land-use change and the flood protection measures in place. In a new study, published in Science Advances, my colleagues and I attempt […]
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A Right to Defend the Environment: Legal Protection for Environmental Advocacy in the IACtHR’s Climate Advisory Opinion
As the world faces an escalating triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – those who step forward to defend the environment are increasingly stigmatized, criminalized, and subjected to violence. Nowhere is this threat more acute than in Latin America, which accounts for nearly 80% of all documented killings of human rights […]
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Results are in for the Big Butterfly Count 2025
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Brimstone (image credit: Matt Berry, Greenwings, Butterfly Conservation). The results of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count are in, and while the numbers are a vast improvement on 2024’s record lows, the charity has warned that urgent measures are still needed to reverse long-term decline. What’s said to be the sunniest spring and hottest summer ever […]
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Missoula Water advances leak detection after rigorous competition
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The city of Missoula. An acoustic pipe monitoring leak detection technology that uses fire hydrants to host multi-sensor devices, has already found more than a dozen leaks for Missoula Water, says Lou Rossetti senior vice president of sales North America at water technology firm Orbis Intelligent Systems. Non-revenue water loss in Missoula, Montana, is being […]
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Epistemic Authority and the Right to Science in AO-32/25: Legal Foundations for the Integration of Traditional Knowledge in the Inter-American System
Among the various legal instruments aimed at protecting human rights in the face of the climate emergency, few require as much interpretative effort as the right to science. Traditionally situated within the realm of programmatic obligations and often associated with promoting technical progress and disseminating scientific information, this right has occupied a marginal place within the contentious […]
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Guest post: How the role of carbon storage has been hugely overestimated
Removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is widely expected to play a key role in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. But this will only be effective for slowing climate change if the CO2 can be stored securely and indefinitely. This requires “geological carbon storage”, where captured CO2 is injected deep underground, where […]
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Tentacle-like underwater robot will make offshore inspections safer and more precise, say creators
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The soft robotic tentacle, pictured on display at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, will be showcased at the UK Robotics Expo on 18 September. A tentacle-like underwater robot that its creators say can safely interact with offshore structures is being primed for a role in the inspection and maintenance of subsea infrastructure. Developed through […]
Carbon Neutral Regulation in AI Training