It’s not a race, but if it were, the climate emergency wouldn’t just be winning—it would be doing so with one feat after another. “It’s as if every year a new runner appeared and broke a record, and did so by a wide margin, and the following year it was broken again—that wouldn’t be normal,” says Francisco Doblas, head of the Earth Sciences Department at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), in a vivid analogy. The paradox is that, in this case, record highs are not achievements to applaud, let alone celebrate.

At any traffic light in Paris at 8 a.m., a crowd of bicycles gathers in the front row. On some streets, like Rue Rivoli, in front of the Tuileries Garden, the enormous number of bikes at any time of day is surprising. They far exceed the number of cars. The fight against private vehicles and the promotion of sustainable transport methods have been one of the pillars – and, surely, the most visible one – of the twelve years of socialist Anne Hidalgo as mayor of Paris, the first woman to hold the position. "It is essential to transform the city to adapt it to climate change," she argued in the early years of her mandate.

Traditional Catalan is most evident in Lleida. It has almost never rained so much. The region has experienced an unusual winter. According to Aemet, the accumulated rainfall in Lleida since December 1st reached almost 200 mm, an amount four times the historical average. Almost the entire ground in Ponent is saturated with water, and all the reservoirs in the Ebro basin are technically full. The Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE) has estimated a total of 280 hm³ for this year.³ More water will come from snowmelt, an absolutely enormous amount compared to the amount recorded in 2023, which, due to high temperatures and evaporation, was reduced to only 20 hm³.³The water situation is not only good, but even exceeds what is desirable. Many recently planted cereal fields have been damaged by excessive moisture, and most farmers in the Pla de Lleida region do not plan to irrigate in the short term, despite the need to release water from the reservoirs for safety reasons. The water flows downstream, benefiting the sediments of the Ebro Delta. On March 8, the Urgell Canal irrigation community will hold a meeting to plan the next season and establish initial irrigation schedules, although the exact start date remains uncertain. "We are always dependent on the weather, whether it rains or not," admit technical sources from the community.

There is no doubt that the arrival of 2026 will be remembered for a long time as a period of worry and unrest. It goes without saying that in recent weeks we have experienced, both here and around the world, a series of events that have created significant difficulties: infrastructure damage, unexpected political clashes and actions, serious military incidents, unusual natural phenomena, public service strikes, and more. In this article, I don't want to discuss any of these, as they have already been sufficiently covered, but rather analyze a recent news story centered on the United States that I believe is very worrying for the future development of all humanity. It concerns the decision by the current US administration—that is, Mr. Trump—to eliminate the regulations established by the Obama administration regarding public policies on climate change. I believe this is one of Donald Trump's most serious and least understandable decisions, and one that deserves strong opposition from everyone.

Did you know that the world's wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests? And that although they only cover 6% of the Earth's land surface, they harbor 40% of the world's biodiversity? This and much more is what is highlighted every February 2nd, World Wetlands Day. This date also reminds us of the urgent need to protect these fragile and often overlooked ecosystems. "People are guided by aesthetics, and a forest is more attractive than a wetland, which is often considered just a source of mosquitoes and bad smells," warns Margarita Menéndez, professor of ecology at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona. This lack of "attractive" animals in our country—unlike the hippos we might find on a safari in Kenya—means we ignore a hidden biodiversity of amphibians, reptiles, and macroinvertebrates that are the true driving force of the global food web.

The Prima Foundation (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), based in Barcelona, ​​leads the largest scientific cooperation program in the Mediterranean. This program, which promotes scientific collaboration between northern and southern countries, now faces an uncertain future due to discussions surrounding the European Union's new budget framework for the 2027-2034 period. In the previous budget, this program received €700 million in funding, but new EU priorities, such as rearmament, raise concerns about the loss of these resources. "Without this money, the program cannot continue," explains Octavi Quintana, director of the foundation. The creation of Prima was an EU initiative to support science and local talent following the surge of migration from south to north in 2015. The program is based on what is known as science diplomacy, that is, collaboration between the south and the north to find solutions to problems affecting both sides of the Atlantic, such as food security. In this struggle to secure EU resources, Prima is calling on the northern European countries, including Spain, but also France, Italy, and Greece, to express their "firm commitment" to moving the project forward. "Without EU support, it is very difficult for the southern European countries to participate" in the various ongoing projects, explains Quintana, because for these countries, the investments made "represent a very significant effort." In this regard, he emphasizes that the overall difference in per capita income between the south and the north is sevenfold.

A landslide triggered by torrential rains has caused several houses and buildings to tumble down a large ravine. The incident occurred in the Sicilian town of Niscemi, a municipality of approximately 25,000 inhabitants located in the south of the island. One of the town's neighborhoods is literally suspended over the abyss. Local authorities are on high alert, as further landslides are still occurring. The situation is critical and could worsen in the coming hours. Although the landslide has not caused any casualties, it has forced the evacuation of some 1,500 residents.

A massive ice and snow storm has swept across two-thirds of the United States and parts of Canada, causing widespread power outages. From New York and Massachusetts in the Northeast to Texas and North Carolina in the South, the storm dumped more than a foot of snow, damaged infrastructure, and forced residents to endure the coldest temperatures in decades. At least 12 people have died from the cold and storm-related incidents. The storm was expected to move away from the East Coast and into the Atlantic on Monday, but the National Weather Service reported that a blast of Arctic air from Canada will prolong the frigid temperatures for several more days. "The overall picture is extreme cold, which will last into early February," warned Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center. Weather services warn that nearly 200 million Americans are under some type of extreme cold alert. More than 800,000 homes and businesses in the southeastern United States are facing a cold snap without power, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us, which reports that Tennessee is the state hardest hit by power outages. The storm has forced the cancellation of more than 19,000 flights across the United States, the highest number for any single day since the start of the pandemic. In Toronto, Canada, hundreds of flights were canceled after the city's airport experienced a record 46 centimeters of snowfall on Sunday. Meanwhile, schools in major cities have suspended classes or switched to online learning to avoid unnecessary travel. The same has occurred at most universities in Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, New York, and Ohio.

Fatal accidents. Landslides. Sinking structures. Questionable maintenance. Lack of investment. Mutinous train drivers. These are just some of the issues that have characterized this tragic week on the Catalan rail network, which ends with a fatal accident in Gelida (preceded by another in Córdoba), three landslides, the collapse of two retaining walls (in Gelida and Pineda), and dozens of minor breakdowns. This unfortunate series of events has led the Generalitat – the body responsible for the service – to announce another shutdown of the entire system this Saturday morning. This has left Catalonia without rail service.More than 1,400 kilometers of track, but no trains.

2025 was the third warmest year on record globally. This data reinforces the advance of global warming, as the last eleven years have been the warmest in history. But above all, it is noteworthy that the last three years (2023, 2024, and 2025) were the first to exceed the 1.5°C limit above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). Never before had the combined figure for a three-year period surpassed this limit set in the Paris Agreement. This is the conclusion of the annual climate report published today by the climate change service of the European Copernicus program. Specifically, the average global temperature last year was 14.97°C, 0.59°C above the reference average (1991-2020) and 1.47°C above pre-industrial levels. In fact, 2025 is only 0.01°C below 2023—the second warmest year on record—and 0.13°C below 2024, which currently holds the record for the warmest year. It's worth remembering that 2024 was the first year to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, specifically reaching 1.6°C.

They say all young people want to be civil servants. Well, Maria Serra is proof to the contrary. An activist since before she was 17, she has mobilized against the climate crisis, for feminism, for Palestine, for housing. She was a spokesperson for Fridays for Future (FFF) in Spain and an ambassador for the European Climate Pact, until she decided she didn't want to represent a militarized EU and resigned. At just 23, she has been in international forums to defend ideas that many might see as radical and typical of youth, but which she defends with conviction, arguments, and a clarity that many politicians would envy.

In the midst of an open battle—currently a war of words—with his European and NATO allies over Greenland, Donald Trump took another step toward international isolation on Thursday, ordering the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations and treaties, 31 of which are UN agencies. The list of entities in which Washington will cease to participate and contribute financially includes the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and UN Energy. The country is also withdrawing from the International Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the scientific platform of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and from organizations such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the International Energy Forum, the Atlantic Partnership for Cooperation, and the UN Science and Technology Centre. The White House announced this early this morning in a statement regarding the "withdrawal of the United States from organizations, conventions, and treaties that are contrary to the interests of the United States." After having already left UNESCO, the WHO, the UN Human Rights Council, and the Paris AgreementThis new step culminates the process of retreating from and dismantling multilateralism that he has championed since his first term. He breaks off dialogue with the international community at a moment of maximum confrontation, after launching a military operation against Venezuela to seize its oil and when he threatens to do the same to annex Greenland and its minerals.

The transformation project for the Three Chimneys of Sant Adrià de Besòs continues to take shape. Following the initial major presentation last March of what the interior of the iconic turbine hall of the former thermal power plant should look like – the future Catalonia Media City Now, its surroundings are also beginning to take shape. The Catalan government (Generalitat) announced this Saturday the winning proposal in the competition to design the future Three Chimneys Coastal Park, a green space of nearly 90,000 square meters in the Besòs Delta. One of its key features is its flood-proof design.

It had been expected for some time, but as a Christmas present, it's unfortunate: the European Commission has decided to indefinitely eliminate the ban on selling combustion engine cars, which was scheduled to end in 2035. In other words, environmental measures facing significant economic pressure are once again the big losers.spirit Christmas is fading away, and in the European Union, it seems like they're asking for coal for Three Kings' Day. There's still the signing to be done, and so on and so forth, but the right and far right, which together hold a majority, are already clear that there must be a reduction in environmental measures—in other words, a kick in the teeth—because it makes no sense to stop polluting when it's already been shown that the planet can only withstand so much. And humanity votes only as much as necessary to avoid reversing the system. That said, we no longer have plastic straws for drinks. A great advance that has changed our lives, improved them qualitatively, especially when we consider that with the amount of plastic blister packs that are still allowed, we could drink with grimaces for centuries to come. It's clear that significant changes aren't easy to implement, but it's also clear that without firm policies, change will never happen. Meanwhile, the polar ice caps continue to melt, and diseases continue to thrive on all the toxins that help them survive. And if not, windmills destroy the landscape and the farming community, and replacing peach orchards with seas of solar panels isn't the brightest idea, but if you love glitter, go ahead and become a magpie. And above all, let's not talk about lowering energy costs or what AI will need to feed itself; it'll take a heart attack.

"It's a historic mistake." With these words, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the European Commission's proposal to lift the total ban on the sale of combustion engine vehicles starting in 2035, thus weakening one of the key principles of the European Green Deal. "It's a historic mistake for Europe because competitiveness is guaranteed through sustainability, not by weakening our climate commitments," Sánchez stated this Wednesday during his speech at the presentation of the State Pact for the Climate Emergency in Madrid. Now, the proposal must be negotiated between the Council and the European Parliament for final adoption. In the Spanish government's opinion, the argument of the automotive industry's competitiveness, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used this Tuesday to defend the proposal, is not robust enough to justify reversing the progress toward the energy transition and the fight against climate change.

The loss of glaciers worldwide is usually calculated in terms of square kilometers or ice volume. But each individual glacier, however small, is unique. "It might be a historical and cultural site, a tourist attraction, or a symbol of regional identity. Its loss might not impact sea levels or water resources, but it can have a very significant local impact," says researcher Lander Van Tricht of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). Some studies suggest that We have already lost 10% of the world's glaciers due to the climate crisisNow Van Tricht is leading a study, published this Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, which predicts the number of glaciers that will be lost this century based on various degrees of global warming.

As meteorological winter approaches, ski resort managers and residents of the highest tourist towns in the Catalan Pyrenees are scanning the skies and the forecasts, and despite the November precipitation, they are praying for snow. This year, their longing grows stronger, as climate change has transformed the coveted white blanket into the unpredictable outcome of a dice game. Is this the end of an era?

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP, can be described, with each edition, as both a failure and a success. Each year brings small advances and minor victories against the resistance of CO2-emitting countries.₂...or oil producers, or—as in our case—dependent on tourism, which is one of the most polluting economic activities due to its high consumption of fossil fuels. Some victories are also usually achieved against the denialist rhetoric emerging worldwide, fully aligned with the populism of the far right, which extracts natural resources and public funds. However, these victories, conquests, and advances are timid, sometimes Pyrrhic, compared to the major points of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda that remain pending, postponed, or excluded from a consensus declaration, year after year.

Eighty-two countries are calling for a global roadmap to phase out oil, gas, and coal. Representatives from all these governments have joined forces to lobby at the UN Climate Summit. COP30, which is being held these days in the Brazilian Amazonand have demanded that the final text of the meeting include this commitment. A first draft of the summit's final text, called Mutirão (what does it mean community effort (in Portuguese), which includes a possible commitment to the phase-out of fossil fuels, but is still too open-ended.

Deforestation is a striking image when seen from the air. The continuous green of the forest ends abruptly, severed by a cruelly straight cut, leaving only barren land. From a bird's-eye view, the visual impact is devastating and helps to capture the tragedy of the destruction of tropical forests. Drones used by Reuters photographers Adriano Machado and Ueslei Marcelino have revealed this deforestation in a southern region. from the AmazonIn the Brazilian state of Rondônia, the destruction even affects part of a protected indigenous territory, that of the Kaxarari people.