The UNESCO 2025 World Water Development Report states that glaciers in mountainous regions worldwide are retreating at a rate of 0.8 meters per year. Meltwater from glaciers in the Himalayan-Karakoram region, Asia’s “water tower,” could decrease by 30% after 2040, directly threatening the drinking water security of 2 billion people. The report calls for the…

The Chinese Arctic Research Expedition discovered significantly elevated concentrations of black carbon (BC) and magnetic particulate matter (MPM) in the soil of the Svalbard Archipelago, with black carbon levels in areas with dense scientific facilities being five times higher than in remote mountainous regions. These pollutants primarily originate from shipping emissions and diesel combustion, not…

The United Nations held a new round of negotiations in Geneva aimed at establishing a legally binding international agreement to tackle plastic pollution. Global plastic consumption exceeded 500 million tons in 2024, with 399 million tons ending up as waste. New EU regulations require that 30% of plastic packaging be recycled by 2030 and restrict…

In mid-August, multiple countries including Italy, France, and Spain issued heatwave red alerts. In Spain, wildfires spread across dozens of locations, resulting in the death of a volunteer during firefighting efforts. In France, temperatures in 14 provinces in the southwest and central-east regions exceeded 42.9°C. Experts from the University of Reading in the UK noted…

On August 13, the 2025 Green and Low Carbon Innovation Conference, organized by the China International Science and Technology Exchange Center (CISTEC), opened in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. The conference released the “Building a Green Future” initiative, calling on the global scientific and technological community to strengthen collaboration on green technologies and promote mutual recognition of…

As of August 13, heat alerts continued to be issued in the southwestern United States, the Gulf Coast and Florida, with temperatures reaching 53.3 degrees Celsius in California’s Death Valley and a record 17 consecutive days of over 43 degrees Celsius in Phoenix, Arizona.

On August 10, Slovakia’s Ministry of the Environment accused a chemical plant in Hungary’s Pest region of discharging mercury-containing wastewater into the Danube River, killing fish in a cross-border stretch of the river. The environmental authorities of the two countries are jointly investigating, but the lack of real-time monitoring data has led to an impasse…

According to the report, as of August 10, China has established forest sustainable management cooperation mechanisms with 32 countries, and promoted the “forest, grass and pasture compound management” model in Africa and Latin America. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) commented that China’s experience “provides a technical paradigm for forest restoration…

On August 7, a wildfire broke out in southern California, quickly expanding to 21.7 square kilometers and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. Not only did the fires cause a severe deterioration in air quality, but the smoke from the fires caused mysterious yellow clouds to appear in the Pacific Ocean. Harmful substances in…

In the summer of 2025, Norway, Finland, Sweden and other Arctic Circle countries suffered persistent high temperatures, the Norwegian Arctic Circle for 13 consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 30 ℃, the Finnish Arctic region for three consecutive weeks exceeded 25 ℃, breaking the longest heat wave record since 1961. High temperatures led to the paralysis…