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Columnist and Environment

After another dire year for the environment, here's to better times

Red lights continued to flash on the climate dashboard as many aspects of the natural world declined in 2024, although there were a few green shoots of hope to cling to, says Graham Lawton

By Graham Lawton

11 December 2024

2KEFP4Y London, England, UK. 12th Nov, 2022. A protester outside Shell HQ holds a sign referencing the film 'Don't Look Up'. Thousands of people gathered outside Shell Headquarters in London and marched to Trafalgar Square as part of the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice as world leaders meet in Egypt for COP27. (Credit Image: ?? Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire) Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News

A climate protestor with a sign referencing the film Don’t Look Up

Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy

Writing about the environment can be depressing and repetitive, and I am relieved that I have been able to take a break from it this year to focus my attention on biomedicine and health stories. But I have still kept an eye on progress, or lack of it, and can say with confidence that it is still depressing and repetitive. This has been another terrible year for the planet.

The litany of woes is wearily familiar: record temperatures, extreme weather, the continued collapse of…

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