Record heat and wildfires across North America. Deadly monsoon rains in Pakistan, India and Japan. A heat dome across southern Europe. Rising sea temperatures in the north Atlantic. Just another week on climate crisis planet Earth?
“The climate crisis is a topic an illustrator must tackle with regretful regularity,” says Pete Reynolds. “Rather like climate scientists tearing out their hair at repeating themselves, you need to find new ways to depict a subject interpreted so many times before.”
Scientists are hoping the arrival of the cyclical El Niño effect is the primary cause of a series of alarming recent ocean temperature spikes and ice melts, and Pete’s artwork of a bursting thermometer as a besieged lighthouse for this week’s cover provides an appropriately fresh take on the topic.
But, as the UN reported the beginning of July as the hottest week on record for the planet, some scientists fear a dangerous tipping point may have been reached. Global environment editor Jonathan Watts speaks to the experts and looks at the data, while Fatima Bhutto reveals how extreme weather is now a key driver of deadly human migration patterns.
Last month’s Wagner group rebellion almost plunged Russia into civil war, yet the country’s ruling elites seem strangely keen to bury the whole episode and reintegrate some of its key players. One reason may be Wagner’s extensive business interests in Africa, which are a major source of income and resources for the Kremlin, reports Africa correspondent Jason Burke.
Extreme hoarding is often depicted as a problem solved by throwing out some stuff. But in her long read this week, Samira Shackle finds people suffering from a distressing and dangerous psychological condition that requires careful, targeted intervention.
Bruce Springsteen gets a lot of love in this week’s edition. In Opinion, Jonathan Freedland writes poignantly on how ageing rockers teach us about more than music, while in Culture, Herpreet Kaur Grewal explores the Boss’s complex resonance with his female fans.
