Environment and ecosystems

As climate change increases flood risks across the UK, water management must shift towards a catchment-scale approach to address emerging challenges.

‘Green’ infrastructure can help control stormwater and prevent polluted wastewater from overflowing into rivers and streams.

Healthy ecosystems may give some of the world’s most vulnerable islands a better shot at survival, new research shows.

Between 2010 and 2025 floods in Indonesia claimed more than 1,700 lives and caused an estimated USD 5.8 billion in losses. ADB-backed forecasting systems now warn communities up to nine hours ahead, alongside livelihood support for affected households.

New modelling suggests the tropical Pacific could stay in an El Niño-like state for centuries even after net zero is reached, with a larger share of El Niño events turning extreme. The longer emissions take to fall, the more of them.

The Netherlands can prepare more effectively for the impacts of climate change by working with nature alongside technical measures.

An international study reveals that the unprecedented heat stress of 2023–2024 will likely recur in the coming decades unless emissions are reduced. The Amazon is the most vulnerable region.

Forest expansion and thickening after British colonization has created landscapes more prone to burning, amplifying the influence of climate change and propelling Australia’s bushfire crisis, a new study has found.

This report assesses 45 nature-based infrastructure projects in 29 countries, finding a median benefit-cost ratio of 3.21 and 38% IRR, and recommends reforms to planning, finance, and policy to elevate NBI alongside traditional infrastructure options.

This study aims to systematically reveal the nexus among urban heat resilience, urban-scale expansion, and land-cover transformation in 70 rapidly urbanizing Chinese cities

Wetlands restoration and wildfire prevention can drive down insurers’ costs and skyrocketing premiums, a new study shows.

Intense heatwaves from May to September, combined with a winter with little snow, led to another devastating year for the glaciers.

Certain invasive species from climate regions comparable to Portugal could be incorporated into a biodiverse planting plan that includes their removal once the other species are established.

A decade after the idea took shape, Forest Resilience Bonds are helping partners finance and fund projects across the western U.S., reducing wildfire risk while enhancing the water supply and supporting local jobs.

Some forests have evolved over time to expect regular wildfires of particular strength. Black spruces & lodgepole pines depend on fires to open serotinous cones and release seeds, and ponderosa pines have a thick bark that helps them survive surface fires

Scientists at the Australian National University are developing what could be Australia's first national satellite mission for Earth observation, with world-first technology to monitor the flammability of eucalypt forests from space.

Human Nature spotlights solutions protecting water and strengthening local economies, from Arkansas Delta wetlands to Iowa farm fields and Mexican fishing communities.

Traditional transhumance and extensive grazing can reduce wildfire risk in southern Europe by removing dry vegetation, creating natural firebreaks and maintaining biodiversity, but declining pastoralism and weak incentives threaten the practice.

British Columbia’s droughts are becoming more severe and persistent. Researchers say the province must move beyond reactive water management and strengthen drought resilience through governance reform, water conservation and watershed planning.

This brief identifies key policy implications based on a systematic review of 49 studies covering 53 nature-based interventions across 26 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) worldwide.

Small, nimble cows are being deployed in Galicia to lower wildfire risk by doing what they do best: eating.

The issue with how America deals with wildfires is thinking there is one primary strategy to end the wildfire crisis. But effective wildfire strategy in worsening fire seasons demands a system of actions – interconnected pieces that reinforce one another.

The nature‑based solutions for urban heat are specifically designed for neighborhoods and communities because the standard will provide users with tools and techniques to identify areas where nature‑based solutions can be most effectively implemented.

This study shows how nature-based solutions help residents of an informal settlement in Fiji adapt to growing climate risks. Located in a coastal area, the community faces recurring flooding, sea-level rise, extreme heat, and variable rainfall.

This study examines nine case studies across the Mediterranean to analyse different mechanisms that contribute to institutional mainstreaming of nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate resilience in urban and peri-urban areas.

The central north Amazon, with extensive areas of high forest cover, natural savannas and vast and important indigenous territories, was not previously considered as being the most affected by climate change.

As what could be the strongest El Niño on record develops, families, communities and economies need to prepare for the worst. Local areas may see more intense effects than expected, or they may see different effects than in past El Niños.

A study suggests that isotopes can provide an early warning of prolonged droughts. This study is one of the first in over 30 years to utilize isotopic techniques in Amazonian hydroclimatic research.

This study explores how forests resist and recover from compound heat and moisture extremes and how tree diversity mediates these responses, using U.S. forest inventory data along with satellite-based stability estimates.

As droughts intensify and groundwater warms, contaminants can move into underground aquifers – threatening drinking water and agriculture.

Beavers are often called ecosystem engineers. They fell small trees, build dams and dig channels. Water backs up behind their dams, spills across the valley bottom and soaks into the surrounding soil.

Study finds that rapid root-zone soil moisture depletion during flash droughts is more strongly linked to accelerated wildfire spread than conventional drought conditions across the United States.

Flash flood in Grand Canyon was probably due to a confluence of climate factors, including drought, wildfire scarring and warming temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that can supercharge storms. Scientists warn of stronger extremes due to climate crisis.

Study finds extreme high ocean temperatures and low productivity, when combined, significantly increase the risk of fisheries declines worldwide. Risks are projected to intensify by mid-century, highlighting the need for adaptive fisheries management.

For past 50 years in B.C., clear-cut logging has been the primary method of timber extraction. Floods are frequent and more expensive now, and unlike the storms that help trigger them, clear cutting and the associated cumulative impacts are manageable.

A study finds that weak sea-surface temperature gradients reduce ocean cooling beneath tropical cyclones, allowing storms to intensify. Researchers say incorporating these small-scale ocean features into forecasting models could improve cyclone warnings.

Currently, water samples must be transported to a laboratory to reveal pollution. But new sensor technology is enabling researchers to measure pesticides in the water on site – and get the results right away.

As storms happen more often and with more intensity, considering the full life cycle of a building and its costs over time becomes increasingly important to get an accurate picture of how sustainable that building really is.

New research is dismantling the long-standing myth of the "pristine" Amazon. A reconstruction of 10,000 years of Amazonian pyrogeography shows that fire in the rainforest is almost exclusively a human-driven phenomenon, not a natural one.

As droughts become more frequent and severe, it is a timely opportunity to shift from crisis response to prevention and recognise land restoration as a cornerstone of water security, food systems, biodiversity, climate resilience and community well-being.

Soil degradation is continuing to worsen in many parts of the world, while proven practices to protect and restore soils are still not being adopted at the pace and scale required

Green and blue spaces, such as woodlands and riversides, could provide a vital line of defence for cities facing increasingly hot summers, according to new research from the University of Surrey.

Proper tree maintenance can help trees withstand hurricanes. The audio explores how pruning, planting the right species and managing tree health can reduce storm damage and help communities build resilience.

Climate change can extend mosquito activity and, speed up their development and reproduction. Scientists are controlling mosquito populations using Wolbachia carrying male mosquitoes which produce eggs that don't hatch and sterilize female mosquitoes.

The IDB is advancing regenerative roads in Latin America and the Caribbean by integrating nature-based solutions to reduce risks and costs due to poor logistics performance, growing exposure to natural hazards, and accelerating loss of natural capital.

Polish researcher warned putting out every forest fire could paradoxically increase the risk of catastrophic wildfires by allowing combustible vegetation to build up, arguing that controlled burning should be considered as part of fire protection.