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Svalbard polar bears getting fatter despite ice loss

Adult polar bears around Norway's Svalbard archipelago have become fatter on average over the past two decades even as Arctic sea ice has shrunk, according to a new study.

News Lens • 9 hrs

Irish Rail workers clear debris from the line in Enniscorthy

Rainfall accumulation caused Chandra flooding - study

A rapid study of Storm Chandra by climate scientists has found it was the accumulation of rainfall over seven days, including on the day of the storm, rather than the amount of rainfall during the storm, that caused the flooding to be so devastating.

Climate Change • 21 hrs

German Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche welcomes Darragh O'Brien at North Sea Summit on January 26, 2026 in Hamburg

Ireland signs up to clean energy pact at North Sea Summit

Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien was one of nine European energy ministers to sign the Hamburg Declaration of Energy Ministers at the North Sea Summit.

Environment • 26 Jan

A strong cold front brings heavy snow and wave action along the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Rochester, New York

Arctic blast to hit America - is climate change to blame?

An unusually brutal winter storm is set to pummel more than 160 million Americans, as a stretched "polar vortex" sends a devastating blast of Arctic air, bringing heavy snows and freezing rains.

Climate Change • 23 Jan

Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in EU power supply

Wind and solar power produced more electricity than fossil fuels in the EU for the first time last year.

Environment • 23 Jan

Kim McNaughton in flood-hit Limpopo, South Africa

Watch: Irish woman rescued in deadly South Africa floods

A Co Monaghan woman has described how she was dramatically rescued from deadly floods in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

Ireland • 21 Jan

The Wind Energy Ireland roadmap is set out in a new strategy document

Roadmap to Irish 'electrostate' set to be launched

Wind Energy Ireland will launch what it describes as a roadmap to an Irish 'electrostate' at its 2026 Annual Conference in Dublin.

Environment • 21 Jan

Waves crashing into the coast at Bantry Bay in Cork during Storm Éowyn last year

Ireland to experience more extreme weather - expert

Ireland will experience more flooding events and extreme weather events unless it transitions away from fossil fuels, Met Éireann climatologist Paul Moore has said.

Ireland • 14 Jan

Global warming, Global boiling, from the climate crisis and the catastrophic heatwave, Climate change, the sun and burning Heatwave hot sun

Climate report says 2025 was third hottest year on record

The EU Copernicus Climate Change Service has confirmed that 2025 was the third warmest year on record and that global temperatures from the past three years averaged more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial levels.

Climate Change • 14 Jan

This handout photo from the CFA Wandong Fire Brigade posted on their Facebook page taken on January 7, 2026

Australia declares state of disaster as bushfires rage

Australian authorities have declared a state of disaster after bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in the country's southeast.

World • 10 Jan

US withdrawal from UN climate treaty 'regrettable' - EU

The EU's climate chief has said that Europe would keep working with other nations to confront global warming despite the United States announcing its withdrawal from a bedrock UN climate treaty.

Climate Change • 08 Jan

A firefighter monitors the spread of a wildfire near Los Angeles, California last January

Ambition to tackle climate change weakened by Trump

Many environment and climate-related stories hit the headlines in 2025, writes George Lee.

2025 in Review • 04 Jan

A person uses an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun in Zocalo, Mexico City, Mexico, on April 4, 2025, after temperatures of 29 and 30 degrees Celsius (84 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit) are recorded, prompting several people to mitigate the heat in va

Climate extremes disproportionately hit poor communities

Extreme weather events driven by human-induced climate change continued to disproportionately hit poorer communities in 2025, a group of international scientists found.

Climate Change • 03 Jan

Two cars with a person looking in the boot of one car

China's BYD poised to overtake Tesla in 2025 EV sales

Growing Chinese auto giant BYD stands poised to officially surpass Tesla as the world's biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales.

Business • 02 Jan

Govt to examine climate watchdog critique of weather plan

The Government has said it will examine the independent climate watchdog's critique of its plans to handle extreme weather and climate change.

Ireland • 29 Dec 25

Met Éireann climatologist Paul Moore said as Ireland warms, extreme weather events will become more frequent

Extreme weather events to become more frequent in Ireland

2025 was the year climate scientists agreed it would be impossible to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Ireland • 29 Dec 25

Elderly members of the public walk past a billboard celebrating the year 2025 on Piccadilly, on 12th August 2025, in London, England

Forecasters say UK 'likely' had warmest year on record

The UK could be set to have had its warmest year on record, the Met Office has said.

UK • 23 Dec 25

Dhaka - the frontline of the climate migration crisis

Intensified monsoon floods, riverbank erosion and rising sea levels displace 700,000 Bangladeshis each year.

World • 17 Dec 25

The SEAI says more progress is needed to achieve 2030 emissions targets

Ireland needs to break link with fossil fuels, says SEAI

A new report from the SEAI says that although energy related emissions in Ireland have fallen by 16% since 2018, the country has not broken the link between economic growth and fossil fuel use in a meaningful way.

Climate Change • 17 Dec 25

Overhead view of a car park full of new cars

EU may rethink its 2035 combustion car ban

The European Commission is expected tomorrow to reverse the EU's effective ban on sales of new combustion-engine cars from 2035, bowing to intense pressure from Germany, Italy and European automakers struggling against Chinese and US rivals.

Business • 16 Dec 25

Residents call for emergency measures to save homes

Residents in Portrane, north county Dublin have renewed their calls for emergency measures to be put in place to prevent their homes from being lost to the sea.

Ireland • 12 Dec 25

EU members to cut emissions by 90% by 2040 from 1990 mark

The EU has reached a legally binding climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 from 1990 levels, involving the purchase of foreign carbon credits to cover 5% of the cuts, the European Parliament said.

Business • 10 Dec 25

2025 on track to tie second hottest year on record

The planet is on track to log its second hottest year on record in 2025, tied with 2023 after a historic high in 2024, Europe's global warming monitor has said.

Climate Change • 09 Dec 25

Children from Thomond Primary School wearing Christmas jumpers

School recycles over 700 Christmas jumpers in four years

School children in Limerick are getting into the festive spirit and helping to protect the environment by swapping their Christmas jumpers.

Munster • 03 Dec 25

Militaries assist Asia flood victims as toll nears 1,000

Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed nearly 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days.

World • 01 Dec 25