Cities swallowed by dust.
Human history drowned by the sea.
Economies devastated, lives ruined.
These 193 stories show the
reality of climate change. In every
country in the world.
Opinion
Postcards
Postcards
From a World
on Fire
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planet is changing. Tap the green
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Postcards
From a World
on Fire
From a World
on Fire
A Way Forward
intro
A
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
B
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Britain
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
C
Cape Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
D
D.R. Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
F
Fiji
Finland
France
G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
H
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
I
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
J
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
K
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
L
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
M
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
N
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
O
Oman
P
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Q
Qatar
R
Republic of Congo
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
S
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
T
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
U
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Y
Yemen
Z
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Credits:
Globe animation by Scott Gelber
Animations by Daniel Barreto
Illustrations by Dominic Kesterton
Albania: Gent Shkullaku/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images (photo); Angola: UnbelievableEv1, via Twitter (video); Argentina: Newsflare (video); Austria: Maigrit Susi Bowlen, via Storyful (video); Bahamas: Daan Verhoeven (photo), Claire Paris (audio); Bahrain: Mohammed Al-Shaikh/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images (photo); Belarus: Li Chao, via Storyful (video); Belize: Fragments of Hope Belize (video); Bhutan: Wasanajai/Adobe Stock (photo), Samten Dolkar (reporting); Botswana: Will Burrard-Lucas, via Storyful (video); Britain: Robert Harding Video, via Getty Images (video); Burkina Faso: Maximuslk, via Twitter (video); Burundi: Triffin Ntore/International Organization for Migration (photo); Cambodia: U.N.D.P. Cambodia (video); Cameroon: Patrick Meinhardt (photo), Suley Yusufu (audio); Canada: Damon Winter/The New York Times (photo); Cape Verde: Maria Medina (video); Central African Republic: Marco Longari/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images (photo); China: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Aly Song/Reuters (photos); Colombia: Joaquin Sarmiento/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photos); Comoros: Tommy Trenchard/The New York Times (photo); Costa Rica: Juan Carlos Vindas/Getty Images (photos), Voshadhi, via Getty Images (video); Cyprus: Iliana Magra (reporting); Czech Republic: Lucie Rossy Polaskova, via Storyful, Police of the Czech Republic, via Storyful (videos); D.R. Congo: Sky News/Film Image Partner, via Getty Images (video), Sven Loeffler, via iStockphoto (video); Denmark: Mario Tama/Getty Images (photo), Jacob Kirkegaard (audio); Djibouti: IdylMoussaIye, via Twitter (video); Dominica: Office of the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, via Storyful (Video); East Timor: Spectee, via Reuters (video); Ecuador: BBC Creative/Getty Images (video); Egypt: Alistair Taylor-Young (photo); El Salvador: Anadolu Agency, via Reuters (video); Equatorial Guinea: Bioko Marine Turtle Program (video); Estonia: Gints Ivuskans/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Ethiopia: Mekonnen Teshome (reporting), Maheder Haileselassie/Reuters, Petterik Wiggers/Panos Pictures (photos); Fiji: Victor Bonito/Agence France-Presse, via Reef Explorer Fiji/Getty Images (photo), Susanna Piovano and Maurizio Cirrincione (audio); Gabon: Malcolm Starkey (photo), Elephant Listening Project (audio); Gambia: Daniel Rodrigues/The New York Times (photo); Germany: Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH/Shutterstock (photo), Sandra Mueller (audio); Ghana: StringersHub, via The Associated Press (video); Greece: Iliana Magra (reporting); Haiti: Benjamin Hebblethwaite (translation); Honduras: Fire Department of Honduras, via Storyful (video); Hungary: Janos Illesi/Getty Images (photo); Indonesia: Maxime Aubert/Agence France-Presse, via Griffith University/Getty Images (photo); Iran: MahdiMotagh, via Twitter (video); Iraq: Moises Saman/Magnum Photos (photo); Ireland: RDFilms, via Getty Images (video); Israel: Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Italy: Lucia Magi (reporting); Ivory Coast: DrNoumory, via Twitter (video); Japan: NHK, via Getty Images, Kyodo News Video, via Getty Images (videos); Kenya: Aldo Pavan, via Getty Images (video); Kiribati: Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images (photo); Kyrgyzstan: Igor Kovalenko/EPA, via Shutterstock (photo); Laos: Newsflare, via Reuters (video); Lebanon: Diego Ibarra Sanchez/The New York Times (photo), Ali Shehadeh (audio); Lesotho: Sumaya Hisham/Reuters (photo); Liberia: Andreas Herzau/Laif/Redux (photo), Tecee Boley (reporting); Libya: Rafik Karkab, via Storyful (video); Luxembourg: Mike McQuaide (video); Madagascar: Martin Harvey, via Getty Images (photo); Malawi: Raphael Mweninguwe (reporting); Mali: Michele Cattani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Annie Risemberg/Redux (photos); Malta: Jürgen Scicluna, via Facebook (video); Monaco: Jaguar Racing, via Getty Images (photo); Mongolia: Eugenia Maximova/Anzenberger (photo), Jennifer C. Post (audio); Montenegro: DoregamaViral, via Twitter (video); Mozambique: Reuters (video); Myanmar: Viral Press, via AP (video); Namibia: Martin Harvey/Getty Images (video); Nauru: John Freidah, MIT MechE, Bettmann/Getty Images, Craig Smith, Diva Amon (photos); Nepal: Imv, via Getty Images, AFPTV (video); Netherlands: Geertje Odink, via Storyful (video); Nicaragua: Patrick Tombola/laif/Redux (photo); Niger: Michele Cattani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Nigeria: Olumide Idowu (reporting); North Macedonia: Anadolu Agency, via Reuters (video); Norway: Ricardo Foto, via Voll Arkitekter (photo); Oman: Shehab Alshandoudi, via Storyful (video); Pakistan: Matthieu Paley (photo); Palau: Kinziro Kloulubak, Office of the Governor, Koror State (photo); Panama: Gianfranco Vivi, via Getty Images (video); Philippines: jennnierosity, via Storyful (video); Portugal: Ceri Breeze/Getty Images, Pedro Nunes/Reuters (photos); Qatar: Md Owasim Uddin Bhuyan and Salman Saeed (audio), Nandini Lal (translation); Romania: Marc Roscoe Loustau (audio), Mark Leaver (photo); Russia: Reuters (photo); Rwanda: Art Wolfe/Mint Images, via Getty Images (photo), Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (audio); St. Lucia: Tak Wind/TripHash (photo); Samoa: Timon Peskin/Shutterstock (video); Saudi Arabia: Shabib Abdulrahman Alherbish, via Storyful (video); Senegal: Reuters (video); Sierra Leone: Tommy Trenchard/Panos Pictures (photo); Singapore: Wallace Woon/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (photo); Somalia: Associated Press (video); South Korea: Heidi Shin (audio); South Sudan: W.F.P., via Storyful (video); Spain: Salvideo, via Getty Images (video); Sudan: Associated Press (video); Suriname: Marcel Bakker/Shutterstock (photo); Switzerland: Filip Makowski/Getty Images (photo); Tajikistan: Michal Knitl/Shutterstock (photo); Tanzania: Blick_Oyinbo, via Twitter (video); Thailand: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP (photo); Togo: Luc Gnago/Reuters (photo); Trinidad and Tobago: Spectee, via Reuters (video); Turkey: Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency — Getty Images (photo); Tuvalu: Mario Tama/Getty Images (photo); Uganda: Protus Onyango (reporting); United Arab Emirates: National Center of Meteorology, United Arab Emirates (video); United States: Colleen Keene, via Storyful, St. Bernard Parish, via Storyful, Jason Tomlinson, via Storyful, Justin Sullivan, via Getty Images, Chad Ducote, via Storyful, Reuters, I_Said_Dat, via Storyful, Facebook/Louis Dee Velazquez, via Storyful, Eugene Water & Electric Board, via Storyful, HellenKeller Fale, via Storyful, shayna_apopofcolour, via Storyful, Instagram/Jeremy Pulido, via Storyful, Ryan John, via Storyful, Zachary Lane, via Storyful, Rafael Fire Information, via Storyful, Carrie Kulak, via Storyful, Fellsmere Police Department, via Storyful, Ari Soffer, via Storyful (videos); Uruguay: FPS Medias Inc., via Getty Images (videos); Uzbekistan: Hassan Kurbanbaev (photo); Venezuela: Jose Manuel Romero/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Vietnam: Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Yemen: Essa Ahmed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Zambia: Miyoba Buumba (audio); Zimbabwe: Locadia Mavhudzi (reporting), Aaron Ufumeli/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (photo). Specials thanks to Internews’s Earth Journalism Network.
Globe animation by Scott Gelber
Animations by Daniel Barreto
Illustrations by Dominic Kesterton
Albania: Gent Shkullaku/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images (photo); Angola: UnbelievableEv1, via Twitter (video); Argentina: Newsflare (video); Austria: Maigrit Susi Bowlen, via Storyful (video); Bahamas: Daan Verhoeven (photo), Claire Paris (audio); Bahrain: Mohammed Al-Shaikh/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images (photo); Belarus: Li Chao, via Storyful (video); Belize: Fragments of Hope Belize (video); Bhutan: Wasanajai/Adobe Stock (photo), Samten Dolkar (reporting); Botswana: Will Burrard-Lucas, via Storyful (video); Britain: Robert Harding Video, via Getty Images (video); Burkina Faso: Maximuslk, via Twitter (video); Burundi: Triffin Ntore/International Organization for Migration (photo); Cambodia: U.N.D.P. Cambodia (video); Cameroon: Patrick Meinhardt (photo), Suley Yusufu (audio); Canada: Damon Winter/The New York Times (photo); Cape Verde: Maria Medina (video); Central African Republic: Marco Longari/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images (photo); China: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Aly Song/Reuters (photos); Colombia: Joaquin Sarmiento/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photos); Comoros: Tommy Trenchard/The New York Times (photo); Costa Rica: Juan Carlos Vindas/Getty Images (photos), Voshadhi, via Getty Images (video); Cyprus: Iliana Magra (reporting); Czech Republic: Lucie Rossy Polaskova, via Storyful, Police of the Czech Republic, via Storyful (videos); D.R. Congo: Sky News/Film Image Partner, via Getty Images (video), Sven Loeffler, via iStockphoto (video); Denmark: Mario Tama/Getty Images (photo), Jacob Kirkegaard (audio); Djibouti: IdylMoussaIye, via Twitter (video); Dominica: Office of the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, via Storyful (Video); East Timor: Spectee, via Reuters (video); Ecuador: BBC Creative/Getty Images (video); Egypt: Alistair Taylor-Young (photo); El Salvador: Anadolu Agency, via Reuters (video); Equatorial Guinea: Bioko Marine Turtle Program (video); Estonia: Gints Ivuskans/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Ethiopia: Mekonnen Teshome (reporting), Maheder Haileselassie/Reuters, Petterik Wiggers/Panos Pictures (photos); Fiji: Victor Bonito/Agence France-Presse, via Reef Explorer Fiji/Getty Images (photo), Susanna Piovano and Maurizio Cirrincione (audio); Gabon: Malcolm Starkey (photo), Elephant Listening Project (audio); Gambia: Daniel Rodrigues/The New York Times (photo); Germany: Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH/Shutterstock (photo), Sandra Mueller (audio); Ghana: StringersHub, via The Associated Press (video); Greece: Iliana Magra (reporting); Haiti: Benjamin Hebblethwaite (translation); Honduras: Fire Department of Honduras, via Storyful (video); Hungary: Janos Illesi/Getty Images (photo); Indonesia: Maxime Aubert/Agence France-Presse, via Griffith University/Getty Images (photo); Iran: MahdiMotagh, via Twitter (video); Iraq: Moises Saman/Magnum Photos (photo); Ireland: RDFilms, via Getty Images (video); Israel: Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Italy: Lucia Magi (reporting); Ivory Coast: DrNoumory, via Twitter (video); Japan: NHK, via Getty Images, Kyodo News Video, via Getty Images (videos); Kenya: Aldo Pavan, via Getty Images (video); Kiribati: Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images (photo); Kyrgyzstan: Igor Kovalenko/EPA, via Shutterstock (photo); Laos: Newsflare, via Reuters (video); Lebanon: Diego Ibarra Sanchez/The New York Times (photo), Ali Shehadeh (audio); Lesotho: Sumaya Hisham/Reuters (photo); Liberia: Andreas Herzau/Laif/Redux (photo), Tecee Boley (reporting); Libya: Rafik Karkab, via Storyful (video); Luxembourg: Mike McQuaide (video); Madagascar: Martin Harvey, via Getty Images (photo); Malawi: Raphael Mweninguwe (reporting); Mali: Michele Cattani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Annie Risemberg/Redux (photos); Malta: Jürgen Scicluna, via Facebook (video); Monaco: Jaguar Racing, via Getty Images (photo); Mongolia: Eugenia Maximova/Anzenberger (photo), Jennifer C. Post (audio); Montenegro: DoregamaViral, via Twitter (video); Mozambique: Reuters (video); Myanmar: Viral Press, via AP (video); Namibia: Martin Harvey/Getty Images (video); Nauru: John Freidah, MIT MechE, Bettmann/Getty Images, Craig Smith, Diva Amon (photos); Nepal: Imv, via Getty Images, AFPTV (video); Netherlands: Geertje Odink, via Storyful (video); Nicaragua: Patrick Tombola/laif/Redux (photo); Niger: Michele Cattani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Nigeria: Olumide Idowu (reporting); North Macedonia: Anadolu Agency, via Reuters (video); Norway: Ricardo Foto, via Voll Arkitekter (photo); Oman: Shehab Alshandoudi, via Storyful (video); Pakistan: Matthieu Paley (photo); Palau: Kinziro Kloulubak, Office of the Governor, Koror State (photo); Panama: Gianfranco Vivi, via Getty Images (video); Philippines: jennnierosity, via Storyful (video); Portugal: Ceri Breeze/Getty Images, Pedro Nunes/Reuters (photos); Qatar: Md Owasim Uddin Bhuyan and Salman Saeed (audio), Nandini Lal (translation); Romania: Marc Roscoe Loustau (audio), Mark Leaver (photo); Russia: Reuters (photo); Rwanda: Art Wolfe/Mint Images, via Getty Images (photo), Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (audio); St. Lucia: Tak Wind/TripHash (photo); Samoa: Timon Peskin/Shutterstock (video); Saudi Arabia: Shabib Abdulrahman Alherbish, via Storyful (video); Senegal: Reuters (video); Sierra Leone: Tommy Trenchard/Panos Pictures (photo); Singapore: Wallace Woon/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (photo); Somalia: Associated Press (video); South Korea: Heidi Shin (audio); South Sudan: W.F.P., via Storyful (video); Spain: Salvideo, via Getty Images (video); Sudan: Associated Press (video); Suriname: Marcel Bakker/Shutterstock (photo); Switzerland: Filip Makowski/Getty Images (photo); Tajikistan: Michal Knitl/Shutterstock (photo); Tanzania: Blick_Oyinbo, via Twitter (video); Thailand: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP (photo); Togo: Luc Gnago/Reuters (photo); Trinidad and Tobago: Spectee, via Reuters (video); Turkey: Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency — Getty Images (photo); Tuvalu: Mario Tama/Getty Images (photo); Uganda: Protus Onyango (reporting); United Arab Emirates: National Center of Meteorology, United Arab Emirates (video); United States: Colleen Keene, via Storyful, St. Bernard Parish, via Storyful, Jason Tomlinson, via Storyful, Justin Sullivan, via Getty Images, Chad Ducote, via Storyful, Reuters, I_Said_Dat, via Storyful, Facebook/Louis Dee Velazquez, via Storyful, Eugene Water & Electric Board, via Storyful, HellenKeller Fale, via Storyful, shayna_apopofcolour, via Storyful, Instagram/Jeremy Pulido, via Storyful, Ryan John, via Storyful, Zachary Lane, via Storyful, Rafael Fire Information, via Storyful, Carrie Kulak, via Storyful, Fellsmere Police Department, via Storyful, Ari Soffer, via Storyful (videos); Uruguay: FPS Medias Inc., via Getty Images (videos); Uzbekistan: Hassan Kurbanbaev (photo); Venezuela: Jose Manuel Romero/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Vietnam: Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Yemen: Essa Ahmed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo); Zambia: Miyoba Buumba (audio); Zimbabwe: Locadia Mavhudzi (reporting), Aaron Ufumeli/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (photo). Specials thanks to Internews’s Earth Journalism Network.
Sea snot (more formally known as marine mucilage) is a slimy mess of organic matter that loves warming waters. Turkey collected 94,784 cubic feet of it from the Sea of Marmara in one week in June.
In June the temperature in Jacobabad was over 126 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity. Being outdoors in that kind of heat can cause organ failure or even death within a few hours.
Patricia Cihela Kalipa, 56,on the tradition of Kuomboka
Skating on the Netherlands’ many canals has long been a favorite winter activity. But in the past decade, Amsterdam’s canals have frozen only three times. When canals do freeze, as they did in February, skaters can find themselves on dangerously thin ice.
Press play for the editorial
board video.
board video.
You’ve just seen
how climate change
is transforming
life in five countries.
It’s not too late
to limit the damage.
how climate change
is transforming
life in five countries.
It’s not too late
to limit the damage.
Two-thirds of Morocco’s oases have disappeared in the past century.
Source: Sentinel-2.
The average yearly temperature in Andorra increased by 5.2°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Three months’ worth of rain fell on a single day in September 2020, filling parts of Dakar with algae-covered water.
In January, France’s wine regulator approved six new grape varieties, which can adapt to warming temperatures, to be grown in ultratraditional Bordeaux.
Southern Africa’s oldest baobab trees — some of them 2,500 years old — are suddenly dying. Researchers blame climate change. The years 2005 to 2017 saw the demise of nine of the continent’s 13 oldest.
Dia Mirza actress
Several wildfires broke out on Mount Kilimanjaro in October 2020.
In April 2020, Vanuatu was hit by Cyclone Harold. It was the South Pacific islands’ second Category 5 storm in five years.
Source: Himawari 8.
Ice loss in Greenland, a Danish territory, has accelerated by a factor of five over the past 30 years. Which means sounds like these — the whistling and creaking of melting ice and the deep booms of calving glaciers — are becoming far more common.
Thanks to this man, Ioane Teitiota, the U.N. ruled in 2020 that “climate refugees” exist: people who warrant asylum because climate change puts their lives in danger. Mr. Teitiota just doesn’t count as one. Kiribati, the U.N. said, is not dangerous enough — yet.
127.7°F
That was the temperature in Nuwaiseeb in July — one of the highest recorded on Earth in 2021.
Back-to-back hurricanes — Eta and Iota, two of the most destructive on record — left at least 94 people dead in November 2020.
The average yearly temperature in São Tomé and Príncipe increased by 1.7°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Some architects are choosing wood to avoid concrete’s huge carbon footprint. At 18 stories, the Mjostarnet building in Brumunddal is one of the world’s tallest wooden skyscrapers.
Christos Zerefos, 77, on the threats to ancient Olympia
Maria Marshall climate activist
flygskam
Swedes have added two words to their vocabulary: “Flygskam,” or “flight shame,” reflects the feeling that can accompany flying and its carbon emissions. “Tagskryt,” or “train brag,” refers to the act of bragging, often on social media, about making the more climate-friendly travel choice.
First, listen to a healthy coral reef sizzling and popping with life. Then hear a dying one. Corals that are bleached and battered by warmer and more acidic seas fall quiet.
This is the sound of spruce needles raining down on the forest floor. After droughts in 2018 and 2019, spruce trees died off across the country.
A country’s maritime territory is usually determined in relation to coastlines. But in August, 18 Pacific countries, including Samoa, declared their intention to keep their maritime borders as they are, even if rising sea levels mean smaller islands.
The average yearly temperature in Grenada increased by 1.7°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
An icy flash flood swept through an area of Ha’il Province on April 16.
Can cricket — a summer sport that is played outdoors — survive an era of increasingly stormy weather? A 2018 report found that rain has already reduced playing time: One club based in Cardiff, Wales, has lost the equivalent of 217 days of cricket since 2000.
Panama’s famous canal is a crucial route for global trade. It ran so low on water in 2019 that many ships could no longer traverse it fully loaded.
BélO, 42, on writing climate change into his music
Sandstorms have become more severe as a result of deforestation and drought. Residents of some villages in the country’s desert can wake up to so much sand that they have to dig their way out of their homes’ front doors.
$1.2 billion
That’s at least how much flooding and drought have cost Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, over the past decade.
A house can’t flood if it never gets built. Cuba has banned construction of new homes in coastal areas threatened by flooding as part of its national climate change plan.
Anitta singer
The average yearly temperature in Liechtenstein increased by 5.7°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
In October, Freetown became the first city in Africa — and the third in the world — to appoint a chief heat officer. Eugenia Kargbo’s job is to prepare her city of one million people for a hotter future.
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board video.
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Now you know how a
warming planet is changing
50 countries. So what
should we do about it?
warming planet is changing
50 countries. So what
should we do about it?
Afghanistan is suffering its second severe drought in four years, at a time when the economy is collapsing and millions of people are displaced. The U.N. warns that more than 22 million people are in danger of food insecurity.
Source: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
An unusually large waterspout appeared off the coast of Port of Spain in December 2020.
What’s the quickest way to get a good rainstorm in the deserts of the U.A.E.? Cloud seeding. The National Center of Meteorology and Seismology in Dubai says it conducts about two operations a week, with plans for more.
During a record year of wildfires in Ukraine’s Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, thousands of acres burned, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.
Source: Sentinel-2.
Firefighters battled a forest fire that blazed for 16 days in August.
The average yearly temperature in Mauritania increased by 2.2°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
The population of the beloved Galápagos sea lion fell by 23.8 percent after 2015’s El Niño. Stronger and more frequent El Niños mean more danger for the sea lions.
More than 1,000 glaciers have disappeared over the past 40 years.
Ireland is famous for its damp days and green grass. Now it’s getting even wetter: Rainfall from 1989 to 2018 increased 6 percent from the previous three decades.
Ned Kapira, 63, father of four
“I was born in Lupembe village 63 years ago. When I was growing up, fish was our main source of food and income. I could sell some of it at Karonga main market. The river is now completely dry. I have hung up my fishing gear. I now get solace in the making of wooden handles for hoes and axes, but I don’t make as much money as I used to when I was fishing.”
The average yearly temperature in Jamaica increased by 2.7°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
As Spain faced severe desertification, the country’s almond farms were drying up. Some farmers turned to preindustrial methods, such as allowing grassy plants to grow and die between their trees and cutting back on tilling. The soil rejuvenated, and the almonds began thriving again.
Abdus Sattar, 35, on leaving Bangladesh to work in the extreme heat in Qatar, conditions that have raised concerns about human rights for workers
The average yearly temperature in Croatia increased by 4.7°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Islands like Pohnpei, the country’s largest, rely on mangrove forests for protection against the dangers of storm surges, even more as oceans rise. But some three-quarters of mangrove forests on the leeward side of the island are at risk if seas rise by at least 2.2 feet by 2100.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Sentinel-2.
This pig is believed to be the world’s oldest painting of an animal. But after more than 45,000 years, the image, on a cave wall in Sulawesi, may finally disappear, as the effects of hotter temperatures and extreme weather cause it to flake off.
Who will notice when Venezuela’s last glacier disappears? The Humboldt Glacier could melt within 10 years — but scientists have struggled to keep tabs on it because of Venezuela’s political and economic chaos.
This is the sound of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains. As sub-Saharan Africa gets hotter, heat stress and changes in food availability could add to the many threats facing this endangered population.
161,000
That’s how many people were left homeless by flooding as of early October in the province of Tandjilé.
Genesis Whitlock climate activist
Skiing is rare in southern Africa, but the slopes at Afriski Mountain Resort are still open... for now. The resort is promoting activities like rappelling and fly-fishing — activities that could keep the tourists coming even if the snow stops.
The Meuse River overflowed its banks this summer, causing severe flooding. Scientists say extreme rainfall is up to nine times as likely now as a century ago.
Source: Landsat-8.
Lake Poopó used to be about the size of Luxembourg and an important spot for Bolivian fishermen. Today it hardly exists.
Source: Sentinel-2.
The gray seals of the Baltic Sea breed on ice. So what happened during the ice-free winter of 2019-20? Pups were born on overcrowded islands, and researchers estimated that as many as 50 percent may have died.
In this song, a herder named Oktyabr recalls the landscape of his youth and laments, “Yet it doesn’t turn green, and our resources are gone.” The verse ends with, “Oh, what will happen over time?”
The average yearly temperature in Guinea-Bissau increased by 2.1°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
The sounds of snapping shrimp and growling fish usually echo through Dean’s Blue Hole, a marine cavern. But stronger winds and currents brought on by fiercer hurricanes create more noise, sand and sediment, drowning out the symphony of ocean life.
Tropical Cyclone Eloise flooded the port city of Beira in late January.
There are still a few hundred Bahraini farmers making an unlikely living in this arid country better known for its oil wealth. But rising sea levels and disappearing groundwater may put an end to Bahraini farming for good.
Food has always been scarce on the islands of Tuvalu, but rising sea levels are making subsistence farming more difficult than ever. Meanwhile, an acidifying ocean is killing off the corals that feed the fish that feed Tuvaluans. The staples of the local diet are now imports like sugar, rice, biscuits and flour.
After heavy rains, rivers in northern Austria broke their banks on July 17.
The average yearly temperature in the Dominican Republic increased by 2°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
$6 billion
That’s how much extreme weather has cost Serbia’s economy since 2000. That number could tick up to $11 billion by 2030.
Amid record high temperatures and a drought this summer, Armenian lawmakers proposed lifting a cap on the amount of Lake Sevan’s water that can be used for irrigation.
Source: Climate Engine.
By planting fragments of living coral among reefs ravaged by warming waters and ocean acidification, Belize has engaged in one of the world’s most successful coral restoration projects.
In August, at least 90 people died in wildfires outside Algiers. Villagers used buckets and branches to try to put out the flames.
Sources: NASA, NOAA.
The Swiss Alps are crumbling. Warming temperatures are melting the ice that holds the mountains together. The frequency of rockfalls and landslides has increased — and it looks set to continue.
The average yearly temperature in Mauritius increased by 1.6°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Kyoung Ja-hong, 71, on how free diving as a haenyeo has changed
Tropical Cyclone Gati, the strongest storm on record to hit the nation, caused widespread flooding in northern Somalia in November 2020.
In an age of increasingly erratic weather, good data can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why Cambodia is installing dozens of automatic weather stations in disaster-prone areas.
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Flooding came in through a canyon in Kaleybar, taking down trees, on Aug. 8.
Most countries are struggling to become carbon neutral. Suriname, 93 percent of which is covered by forest, is one of three carbon negative countries in the world.
Sogomou, a small reef island, has lost more than half of its land since 1947 as seas rise and eat away at its shoreline.
Sources: Simon Albert, University of Queensland.
Maja Morgan, 30, on hiking Mount Triglav
Can the world learn from Uruguay? Over the past 15 years or so, the country has made a drastic shift toward clean energy. More than 97 percent of its electricity now comes from renewable sources.
The average yearly temperature in Latvia increased by 4.7°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
The Paraguay River fell
to its lowest level in at least 117 years in 2021. Source: Sentinel-2.
to its lowest level in at least 117 years in 2021. Source: Sentinel-2.
A waterspout appeared off the coast of Zuwara in November 2020.
Five Polish citizens are suing their government — the only one in the E.U. that refused to commit to net zero emissions by 2050 after the Paris Climate Conference — for its inaction on climate change, arguing that Warsaw’s policies threaten their rights.
Rima Rahmani climate activist
For millenniums, Egypt’s low humidity and dry weather have kept its pharaonic temples and tombs in good condition. But experts fear erratic weather and rising seas are chipping away at the ancient granite and mud bricks.
Much of Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, is vulnerable to sea-level rise and floods.
Source: Atlas of the Invisible (James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti).
Luxembourg City flooded after heavy rains in mid-July.
Kim Allen, 27, on the seas washing away his memories
Cape Verde is home to one of the largest nesting populations of loggerhead turtles in the world — and almost all the recent hatchlings are female. A 2019 study found that because of warmer sand during the incubation period, females made up an estimated 84 percent of hatchlings.
The average yearly temperature in St. Vincent increased by 1.6°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Thirteen million Bangladeshis could be displaced by 2050 primarily because of rising seas and erosion. The annual flood level could reach far beyond Dhaka by 2150.
Source: Climate Central.
This is the cry of hungry, thirsty cows. In the northwestern region of Cameroon, a longer dry season is taking a toll on the local cattle — and on the communities that depend on them.
Stopping fossil fuels may be a key to stopping climate change, but in Kazakhstan, climate change may be stopping fossil fuels. As the Caspian Sea dries up, it could threaten offshore drilling. The company that manages the Kashagan oil field has said that low sea levels pose “a threat to the safe operation of offshore production facilities.”
The three strongest tropical cyclones to make landfall in world history hit the Philippines, all within the past decade.
Chile has been in a drought for the past 10 years. Fields are parched and thousands of livestock animals have died.
Note: Using the Enhanced Vegetation Index for July through September. Sources: NASA, U.S. Geological Survey.
In the Bekaa Valley, a gene bank houses tens of thousands of seeds. You can hear these legumes and cereals — painstakingly collected and conserved for their resistance to harsher and drier conditions — being counted, processed and preserved.
More than 10,000 homes in the village of Gatumba were swept away overnight in the spring of 2020 after heavy rains caused their clay structures to fall apart.
Cattle are still a status symbol in Zimbabwe — but not a very hardy one. More than 4,500 died in Matabeleland South Province in 2019 because of drought. Farmers have switched to raising less prestigious — but more drought-resistant — goats.
Finns love cross-country skiing. But there wasn’t a single day during the winter of 2019-20 that the area around Helsinki saw enough natural snow for skiing.
The average yearly temperature in Azerbaijan increased by 1.2°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Smoke from a grass fire billowed over the beach on Ramla Bay in June.
More than 600,000 people were affected by flooding along the White Nile River from July to September 2020.
While the blue crab is native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas, warming waters have helped it spread far beyond. It is now an invasive species in the Balkans, where fishermen say the crabs clog up nets and disrupt the ecosystem.
That deep, throaty rumble is the sound of elephants bellowing. But droughts are depleting their food supply in Lopé National Park, leaving the animals weakened.
In the summer of 2017, fires swept through the Kresna Gorge in southwestern Bulgaria, destroying nearly 4,000 acres of forest. It’s expected to take 50 years to recover.
Sources: Sentinel-2, Geopolymorphic Cloud.
The Seychelles’ economy has been suffering under crushing foreign debt — but climate change may actually help. A few years ago, a group of conservationist investors (including a foundation set up by Leonardo DiCaprio) paid off about $21 million of the country’s debt in exchange for guarantees to protect 81,000 square miles of its endangered ocean.
North Macedonia was hit by a severe heat wave that caused several wildfires across the country in August.
The Congo River, which runs along the country's eastern border, is a vital resource for the region. But more extreme rainfall means the river is also a hazard, with larger and more persistent floods.
Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
San Marino depends on Italy for more than 90 percent of its water. For now, that’s not much of a problem for the third-smallest country in Europe. But when Italy faces a drought, will San Marino’s taps run dry?
Sources: Microsoft, Earthstar Geographics.
Maher Mouasher, 54,on his family fig farm
The average yearly temperature in Tonga increased by 1.6°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Tropical Storm Amanda damaged thousands of homes and killed at least 27 people in May 2020.
Much of Guyana’s farmland is concentrated in low-lying coastal plains at or below sea level. This makes harvests of sugar cane and rice highly susceptible to sea-level rise and flooding.
Sources: Climate Central, Sentinel-2.
In February 2020, swarms of locusts descended on eastern Africa. The infestation was so severe that Eritrea mobilized its military to fight the insects. Scientists say climate change has created exceptionally good breeding conditions for locusts.
Slovakia faced months of extreme drought across the country in 2020, including its mountainous regions to the north, threatening the country’s agricultural sector.
Note: Soil saturation deviation of average from 1961 to 2010. Source: InterSucho.
St. Lucia has been at war with the toxic sargassum seaweed for a decade. When it washes up on beaches, it stinks like rotten eggs. Unfortunately, it thrives in warming waters, and blooms have been steadily growing larger.
Thunderstorms brought rare hail and rain to Oman’s north on July 6.
In 2018, after a three-year drought, Cape Town narrowly managed to avert Day Zero, when it was projected to run out of water, through strict rationing and timely rainfall. A dodged bullet — or a preview of the future?
The eastern Mediterranean is warming faster than most places on the planet. Scientists believe the hotter sea has killed off around 90 percent of the mollusks on Israel’s coast.
A tornado swept through the South Moravia region in June.
Nearly three in four people in Benin depend on employment in the agricultural sector, making the country particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures and water stress.
Note: For May-Sept. Source: Climate Engine.
A bridge collapsed during flash flooding after Tropical Storm Sinlaku in August 2020.
St. Kitts and Nevis is staring down a thirsty future. Already, rainfall isn’t replenishing the island’s aquifers. The country is building water cisterns and installing water storage tanks across the islands. Will that be enough when droughts get worse?
The average yearly temperature in Georgia increased by 1.8°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
Abidjan flooded in June 2020 after several feet of rain fell within a few hours.
Rivers usually pour fresh water into the ocean. But the river that gives Gambia its name is so inundated by rising sea levels that salt water is being pushed upstream.
The sounds of farmers harvesting potatoes with horse-drawn plows have been heard across Transylvania for generations. But heavy, intense rainfall has caused rivers to overflow, destroying thousands of acres of potato fields.
North Korea suffered a punishing famine in the 1990s. There are fears that the next one is on the horizon. While the country’s economy is shrouded in secrecy, Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, warned in June of a “tense” food situation and laid part of the blame on recent flooding.
An intense storm passed near the city of Polatsk on Aug. 2.
Rising temperatures are making lower-altitude areas in Nicaragua less suitable for growing coffee. What thrives in warm, wet weather? Cocoa, which is now a growth industry for the country.
Marius Karlonas, 32, on all the mixed-up birds
In Anbar and Nineveh Provinces, years of droughts became an ally for the Islamic State. The terrorist group lured desperate farmers into its ranks with promises of food and water at a time when people were struggling to feed their families.
$92 million
That’s how much Sri Lanka’s government — with support from the World Bank — plans to spend to improve early warning systems for extreme weather. The country has been hit by floods and landslides that have killed at least 17 people this year alone.
Two years’ worth of rain fell in a single day in November 2019.
Rising seas are creating ghost towns. After the ocean began to eat away at the village of Doevikope, three-quarters of its population has left.
After a heat wave in June, the temperature of Lake Velence increased 18 degrees Fahrenheit, and the water dropped to dangerously low levels. An activist said that volunteers removed more than four tons of dead fish from the water.
Severe flooding after heavy rains in Luanda left at least 24 people dead and more than 2,000 homes flooded in April.
Can potatoes be climate-change-proofed? The Lima-based International Potato Center is working to create potato varieties that can thrive on a hotter planet. Promising new spuds include the heat-tolerant Kufri Lima and the drought-resistant Unica.
The average yearly temperature in Brunei increased by 1.3°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
The dust storm that engulfed Tashkent in early November was the worst to hit the country in 150 years of recordkeeping. Scientists say desertification is making Uzbekistan’s storms increasingly severe.
In October and November last year, seven tropical storms ravaged central Vietnam, killing at least 192 people and displacing some 325,000 others.
A massive dust storm blew through Ouagadougou in June 2020.
Bosnia’s civil war left tens of thousands of land mines strewn across the country. Climate change is making them even more dangerous: During huge floods in 2014, many were washed to new, unknown locations. The worst part? More flooding is expected in the country’s future.
Palau is officially outside the Pacific typhoon belt. That may not mean much anymore: Three typhoons have hit the country since 2012. In April, Typhoon Surigae damaged 20 percent of the country’s homes and destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of crops.
Eswatini has the highest prevalence of H.I.V./AIDS in the world. Public health experts say that climate change will only make the problem worse: Food insecurity weakens immune systems, and drought-induced migration causes the virus to spread. The country has made progress in fighting the disease in recent years, but warmer temperatures could be a setback.
Scientists estimate that climate change could reduce the suitable habitat for Madagascar’s critically endangered ruffed lemurs by 38 to 83 percent by 2070.
After a decade of war, Syria is facing its worst drought in 70 years. Millions of people — many of them already displaced — could run out of drinking water and lose access to electricity as rivers and dams dry up.
Cyclone Seroja caused flooding and landslides in early April, displacing thousands of people and killing at least 40.
The forests of Guinea may contain good news for coffee lovers who rightly worry that climate change will doom their favorite drink. Researchers recently found a narrow-leaf coffee that grows in the wild in Guinea and two other West African countries and hadn’t been spotted since the 1950s: Coffea stenophylla thrives at warmer temperatures than more popular beans — and tastes similar to arabica.
Flash flooding destroyed farmland in the province of Luang Namtha on July 21.
Okjokull has thinned so much that scientists no longer consider it a glacier.
Sources: NASA, U.S. Geological Survey.
The average yearly temperature in Turkmenistan increased by 0.9°F between 1901 and 2020.
Note: Mean yearly temperatures, five-year average. Source: World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.
The moths on Mount Kinabalu on the island of Borneo are shrinking. Scientists have found that as the moths move up the mountain to escape rising temperatures, their bodies are getting smaller.
At least half of Comoros’s once-permanent rivers now disappear during the dry season because of climate change and deforestation.
A nesting habitat for leatherback and green sea turtles is under threat from rising seas on Bioko Island, off the coast of Equatorial Guinea. Some 62 percent could be lost by 2065.
Source: Baiko Marine Turtle Program
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You’ve reached
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We hope what you’ve
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the end of our postcards.
We hope what you’ve
read, heard and seen about
these 193 countries has
shown you how climate
change is already reshaping
daily life around the
globe. But the world doesn’t
have to keep burning.