Climate change

Independent -   Wildfires caused more financial damage in 2025 than in any other year, with catastrophic fires in the US, South Korea and Europe killing about 90 people and forcing roughly 300,000 to evacuate, a new study found.  Wildfires accounted for 38 per cent of all insured natural hazard losses globally in 2025 – more than hurricanes, earthquakes and floods combined – even as the total area burned was the second lowest since records began in 2002 and 16 per cent below the long-term average.  Researchers say the pattern reflects a shift in how wildfires cause harm: there are fewer fires overall but they are hitting populated areas with greater intensity and speed than before.

“2025 shows that a 'quiet' fire year globally can still be devastating," Dr Matthew Jones of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, who led the study, said. "We are seeing a growing disconnect between total area burned and real-world impacts, with risk increasingly determined by fire location, intensity and exposure."

Time -   Two major incidents at chemical plants within the past week sent tens of thousands fleeing from their homes in California and left 11 people dead in Washington. But despite a spate of similar incidents over the last year, the Trump Administration is planning to roll back federal regulations designed to prevent similar disasters. Experts and environmental groups have warned that such a move would make chemical accidents far more common. Mass evacuations were ordered and a state of emergency declared when a tank containing nearly 7,000 gallons of highly toxic chemical methyl methacrylate became unstable at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove, California, causing it to heat up and risk explosion.