CONSERVATION NEWS

After weeks of negotiations, the United Nations climate talks, known as COP27, wrapped up nearly two days past deadline — striking a last-minute, historic agreement on this session’s most anticipated issue: payments for climate change damages to developing countries.

From “blue carbon” to “ecosystem services,” environmental jargon is everywhere these days. Conservation International looks to make sense of it in an occasional explainer series. In this installment, we explore “climate adaptation.”

Climate risks are growing, but global efforts to adapt to them are not keeping pace. That’s the big-picture takeaway from a new United Nations report, which underscores the funding needed by developing nations to reduce their exposure to climate disasters.

More methane is being pumped into the atmosphere than ever before, according to a new study from the World Meteorological Organization. The rapid acceleration is threatening to hamper efforts to curb climate change.

In case you missed it: Spruce trees are creeping northward into the arctic tundra — a barren terrain where frigid temperatures have long prevented them from growing. The changing landscape could have huge implications for life on Earth, scientists say.