The Planet (on, and off)

Weather records have been falling across Europe at a disconcerting rate in the last few days, say meteorologists. The warmest January day ever was recorded in at least eight European countries including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia, according to data collated by Maximiliano Herrera, Read more…

For much of the global economy, 2023 is going to be a tough year as the main engines of global growth — the US, Europe and China — all experience weakening activity, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned. The new year is going to be “tougher than Read more…

Almost four out of five new cars sold in Norway last year were battery-powered, with Tesla the top-selling brand for the second year in a row, registration data showed on Monday. Seeking to become the first nation to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, oil-producing Norway Read more…

Nearly 10,000 years ago, humans settling in the Fertile Crescent, the areas of the Middle East surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made the first switch from hunter-gatherers to farmers. They developed close bonds with the rodent-eating cats that conveniently served as ancient pest-control in society’s first civilizations. A new Read more…

If humankind detects a message from an advanced civilisation, “It would be a transformative event for humankind,” writes the Guardian, “one the world’s nations are surely prepared for. “Or are they?” “Look at the mess we made when Covid hit. We’d be like headless chickens,” says Dr John Elliott, a Read more…