Through the analysis of satellite imagery and on-the-ground reporting, Bloomberg reports on the devastating situation in Gaza for its people and environment, and for any future life in and around the region. The article is a sweeping indictment of all the consequences: “In the towns and cities, collapsing buildings have left at least 55 million metric tons of rubble […] and released toxic dust and smoke into the air.” “[W]aste water flows through streets and farmland. That mixes with heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, which have leaked from unexploded ordnance and other war remnants.” “[D]rug-resistant pathogens emerge from the polluted soil and unsanitary conditions, and toxic chemicals spread on the wind, in water, by migrating wildlife and the movement of people and vehicles.” The consequences are not confined to the region, with “about 84,000 cubic meters of sewage […] ending up in the Mediterranean Sea each day in July [2025].”

Last year, China installed more wind turbines and solar panels than the rest of the world combined. In his photojournalistic newsletter, Alan Taylor shared a catalogue of photos showcasing the staggering scale of China’s solar panel installation.

Unlike Attenborough’s other films, which mostly celebrate the wonders of life’s diversity, Ocean (2025, 1 h 35 min) focuses on the devastating destruction of our world’s vital marine ecosystems. The film rightly addresses the main problem: overfishing and the fishing industry’s destructive techniques. The film advocates marine protected areas (MPAs), fishing techniques that do not involve discarding three-quarters of the catch, and highlights the importance of the ocean in binding carbon dioxide.

Sound artist Ludwig Berger (based in the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve, Germany) wants us to listen to our surroundings: to the insects, the trees and the mud volcanoes. In his latest film, Crying Glacier (2023, 14 min), film director Lutz Stautner (from Cologne, Germany) documented Berger. Like so many others, the Morteratsch glacier in the Swiss Alps is dying. Berger’s sound recordings of the creaking, cracking and rippling are his way of preserving sounds that could soon disappear from this world forever. The shortfilm can watched in the Op-Docs section of the New York Times.

Former US president Jimmy Carter placed 32 solar pannels, a novel technology at that time, on the rooftop of The White House. Seven years later they were removed by Ronald Reagan. With Donald Trump now withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, many historic parallels can be seen.

After many years of devastating wildfires in California, the latest blazes hit Altadena and Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, the first to hit a major city, causing thousands to flee. In the wildfire-prone landscape, it was only a matter of time before one reached the city, echoeing @PerthshireMagsce’s description in the (now deleted) 2022 viral tweet. The term pyrocene, proposed in 2015 to describe an epoch “characterised by the influence of human-caused fire activity on Earth”, is becoming increasingly apt. The widely shared photos by Ethan Swope (Instagram) show the terrifying scenes of burning landscapes and cityscapes, but at the same time have a beauty that calls into question the adequacy of these photos.

An often overlooked fact is the disastrous environmental impact of Russia's war on Ukraine. So far it has caused more than 180 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions. The displacement of more than 6 million Ukrainian citizens has added another 3.3 million tonnes.  
Ukraine’s long agricultural tradition and its famous fertile Chernozem soil, which feeds people in 100 countries, has also been severely affected by Russian aggression. With the devastation of Ukrainian territory, 30% of which is now covered with deadly mines, the war can be described as ecocide.

The quote is from Greta Thunberg, during a magnificent speech in the House of Parliament, United Kingdom, in April 2019.