Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look at how the struggle to adapt to a dangerously warming world has become a test of global justice
The record-breaking 252mph winds of Hurricane Melissa that devastated Caribbean islands at the end of October were made five times more likely by the climate crisis. Scorching wildfire weather in Spain and Portugal during the summer was made 40 times more likely, while June’s heatwave in England was made 100 times more likely.
Attribution science has made one thing clear: global heating is behind today’s extreme weather. That greenhouse gas emissions warmed the planet was understood. What can now be shown is that this warming produces record heatwaves and more violent storms with increasing frequency.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/26/2025 - 12:30
12/26/2025 - 12:00
These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close
Inside a large greenhouse at the University of Kansas, Professor Liz Koziol and Dr Terra Lubin tend rows of sudan grass in individual plastic pots. The roots of each straggly plant harbor a specific strain of invisible soil fungus. The shelves of a nearby cold room are stacked high with thousands of plastic bags and vials containing fungal spores harvested from these plants, then carefully preserved by the researchers.
The samples in this seemingly unremarkable room are part of the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM), the world’s largest living library of soil fungi. Four decades in the making, it could cease to exist within a year due to federal budget cuts.
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12/26/2025 - 07:30
New polling shows 65% of registered US voters believe global heating is affecting cost of living
Most Americans now connect the worsening climate crisis with their cost of living pressures, with clear majorities also disagreeing with moves by the Trump administration to gut climate research and halt windfarms, new polling has found.
About 65% of registered voters in the US think that global heating is affecting the cost of living, according to the polling by Yale University.
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12/26/2025 - 05:00
As part of the Guardian’s Against the tide series, readers aged 18 to 30 share what they love about living in their coastal town, the challenges and why they often choose to leave
Megan, a 24-year-old from the Isle of Wight, is very familiar with saying goodbye. She decided university wasn’t for her and remembers how, one by one, she waved off her friends who left the island to study. Many never came back.
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12/26/2025 - 03:00
We look back over the year’s wildlife photographs, and hand out some much-deserved gongs to brilliant and beautiful creatures around the world
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12/26/2025 - 02:00
Mersey Valley Way takes in Manchester and Stockport on its 13-mile route with other walks to be identified in 2026
A new river walk has been announced by the government as ministers try to improve access to nature in England.
The 13-mile (21km) walk will go through Greater Manchester and the north-west of England. There will be a river walk in each region of the country by the end of parliament, the government has pledged.
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12/26/2025 - 01:00
Provisional figures in government mandate’s first year show 20% shortfall in levels of SAF supplied for UK flights
The take-up of sustainable aviation fuels is on course to fall short of the UK government’s first annual mandate, official figures suggest.
Production data published by the Department for Transport (DfT) covering most of 2025 shows that sustainable fuels (SAF) only accounted for 1.6% of fuel supplied for UK flights – 20% less fuel in volume than the 2% needed to fulfil the requirement.
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12/25/2025 - 20:00
Now is the time to think of new beginnings
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12/25/2025 - 16:41
In order to be less scared, I imagine the huge Australian huntsman as a girlie, just chilling and listening to us yap. It sounds dumb, but it worked (a little bit)
Read more summer essentials
I am someone who believes it is never too late to change. I think you can in fact teach an old dog new tricks, as long as the old dog is open-minded and willing to learn. As long as the old dog is willing to admit when it was wrong, and work to become a better dog.
OK yes, I am the old dog. And the trick I am trying to learn, even though I am decrepit? It is an important one, something I have struggled with, frequently, for my entire life. I have been trying … to become less scared of huntsman spiders. Apologies to all the other spiders that exist; I have to be realistic about my possible growth as a human. It also has to be the huntsman because it is large, in charge, and the one I encounter most often. Including three times in the last week. Inside my home. You can’t see me but I’m shaking my head and grimacing as I type.
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12/25/2025 - 11:03
Deep ocean hot spots packed with heat are making the strongest hurricanes and typhoons more likely—and more dangerous. These regions, especially near the Philippines and the Caribbean, are expanding as climate change warms ocean waters far below the surface. As a result, storms powerful enough to exceed Category 5 are appearing more often, with over half occurring in just the past decade. Researchers say recognizing a new “Category 6” could improve public awareness and disaster planning.
