Climate

A massive snow drought across the Western United States this winter is threatening water supplies and resulting in one of the worst ski seasons in decades.

The city’s meteorological observatory also issued a red alert for rainstorms – the highest in a four-tier system, warning of intensifying rain during the night and “extremely high risk” of flash floods, mudslides and landslides in mountainous areas.

Residents and their livelihoods have become increasingly vulnerable to worsening summer storms and floods, as well as scorching heatwaves and drought.

Days of torrential rain have killed at least 30 people in the northern outskirts of Beijing.

China grapples with yet another deadly rainy season marked by extreme downpours, devastating floods and landslides.

The environment is changing rapidly around the melting Thwaites Glacier.

Last year, the amount of electricity produced by coal increased 13 percent, which in turn led to an uptick in America’s planet-warming emissions.

The species has never been a migrant to the UK, and is yet to have been recorded breeding here, which is what a resident species would do.

But whether the species stays long term is yet to be seen, he says, as its food source is a garden species called Candytuft that is not as widely planted here.

"There are species that are rare in the UK and periodically over the years they have turned up in ones and twos... but it's not really indicating any significant shift in our fauna," he said.

Dr Dan Hoare, Director of Nature Recovery at Butterfly Conservation, said the species had made an "ecological leap".

Whilst it is thought a warming climate has played a role in its spread, modelling from a 2008 Climatic Risk Atlas of European Butterflies showed that even under the most extreme warming scenarios the species was not expected in the Low Countries until after 2050.

Until recently, the range of the Southern Small White was limited to Southern Europe, in particular south-east Europe.

It is not yet clear what has driven the species' expansion, though a warming climate is thought to be part of the answer.

The first UK sighting was confirmed at Landguard Bird Observatory in Suffolk, after a volunteer managed to snap a photo.

A species of butterfly previously only found in Southern Europe has been seen in the UK for the first time, according to charity Butterfly Conservation.

The area is also prone to regular droughts and is at high risk for wildfires.

Northern lights may be visible in these 18 states tonight

In Peru, climate change is worsening flood risk including due to glacial retreat and in 2023, devastating floods left over 800,000 people in need of assistance.

In the US, the National Weather Service (NWS) issues six different types of flood warnings, from "flash flood watch" to "flood warning".