There is widespread coverage of the annual assessment of the Earth’s climate by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The Independent reports that average temperatures from both the last five years and the last 10 years are set to be the highest on record. The report also shows that 2019 is on course to be the second or third-hottest year ever, Sky News reports. BBC News considers the heat extremes that have struck around the world, including two major heat waves hit Europe in June and July this year, and Australia hitting its highest mean summer temperatures on record by almost a degree.

Reports from Australia hammer this point home, with ABC News reporting that Perth on the country’s west coast has “smashed” its December heat record “just weeks after” its November record. The Guardian notes that Australia has experienced its driest spring on record, as well as its second-hottest in terms of maximum temperatures. Another Guardian piece carries a warning from a government agency that climate change is now “the most significant threat” to Australia’s wet tropics world heritage area.

Meanwhile, Reuters covers a report by the European Environmental Agency (EEA), which suggest climate change is set to cause extreme heat waves in Europe every year. It notes the report comes after a summer in which France and Spain experienced their highest temperatures since records began. According to the Guardian, the EEA also says economic growth should not be pursued at the expense of the environment.

Yet another report, this time from the World Health Organisation, finds that most nations around the world are not prepared to deal with the health impacts of climate change, according to the Daily Telegraph. The report concludes that only half of the countries surveyed have a health and climate change strategy, and only 38% have any kind of finance in place.

Separately, the Independent reports on a warning from the Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, that Victoria Falls, “one of world’s natural wonders”, is at risk of drying up due to climate change. This comes after water levels at the falls – which border Zambia and Zimbabwe – have been reduced to their lowest in 25 years due to drought. The Guardian reports that New Zealand will now consider climate change in all major decisions made by the government, following a period of floods and bushfires across the country.

The world has “lost another year” in its mission to reduce emissions and tackle climate change, according to the Washington Post, which along with many other publications has covered the latest findings from the Global Carbon Project. This year, the group’s annual estimate of global emissions shows a 0.6% increase, marking the third consecutive year of rising CO2 levels. The New York Times says the record highs put countries “farther off course” from their target of stopping global warming. Reuters offers a more positive headline for its coverage of the paper, focusing on the fact that growth in emissions has slowed in 2019. However, the Financial Times notes that while the slowdown in emissions growth reflects falling coal use in the US and EU – as well as lower demand in China and India –emissions are still set to be 4% higher than they were in 2015 when the Paris Agreement was developed. The paper quotes co-author Glen Peters from the Center for International Climate Research in Oslo, who predicts emissions would grow a further 1% next year barring a significant change in climate policy or an unexpected event. The Guardian lists “investment in renewable energy, low-carbon infrastructure, and plans to make buildings more energy efficient” among the structural changes the researchers say are required to guarantee a long-term decline in emissions. The Atlantic considers “five big trends” that increased the planet’s carbon pollution this year, including slow growth in renewables and the fact cheap gas is not displacing coal in many places.

Several publications have reported on the arrival of youth activist Greta Thunberg on European shores after her yacht touched down in Lisbon, following an initial attempt to attend COP25 in Chile that was thwarted by its last-minute transfer to Spain. Reuters reports that after her “21-day catamaran dash” across the Atlantic the young Swede “will invoke the fury of global youth at politicians’ foot-dragging over climate change”. Upon arrival, Thunberg told reporters “people are underestimating the force of angry kids”, according to BBC News.

Meanwhile, as negotiations continue at the summit in Madrid, Climate Home News examines one of the key issues being discussed – the “common timeframes” on which climate pledges are made, which must be aligned from 2031 onwards. A comment piece in the same publication by Tom Burke, chairman and founding director of green thinktank E3G, explains why it is up to the UK to close the “expectations gap” between the demands for climate action from the public and political will.

With the date of his nation’s departure from the Paris Agreement edging closer, the Hill reports that US president Donald Trump told reporters he thinks about climate change “all the time”, following a question comparing his stance to other foreign leaders. According to the website, he supported his claim with references to “very, very crystal clear, clean water and clean air” and the many “environmental impact statements” he has completed. BusinessGreen reports on a public statement signed by the CEOs of 75 “corporate giants” including Apple, L’Oreal and Mastercard, which calls for the US to remain in the Paris Agreement.

As climate talks rumble on, BBC News reports that WWF and Madrid’s Prado Museum have selected four masterpieces from the gallery’s collection to highlight the consequences of climate change, adapting famous artworks to show its effects.

University College London climate scientist Simon Lewis writes in the Conversation that when it comes to climate change “only a Labour government can really turn things around, not just in the UK, but globally”. He says that finally, after decades of scientists explaining these issues, “a major political party of a major economy has a serious plan” to help halve global emissions by 2030. Lewis cites the investment promised by the Labour manifesto for energy, transport and housing. “Labour are calling it a Green Industrial Revolution. And it would be. It is a far-reaching set of policies and investments befitting the scale of the problem,” Lewis writes. The Conservative manifesto, by comparison, “lacks ambition”, he says.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that Labour’s plan to take water, energy companies, the Royal Mail and railways under state control would delay the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy, according to the Guardian.

DeSmog UK has a piece comparing the green credentials of the main UK parties. For an in-depth comparison of climate and energy policies across the country’s political parties ahead of next week’s election, Carbon Brief has also produced a piece comparing and analysing the different commitments.

Finally, following its decision to replace Boris Johnson with an ice sculpture during a leaders’ debate on climate change, Channel 4 has been cleared by regulator Ofcom after a complaint from the Conservative Party, according to the Press Association.

A comment piece by Washington Post national correspondent Philip Bump examines some of US president Donald Trump’s recent statements about climate change in the context of previous remarks he has made on the matter. While emphasising that he climate change is important to him, the president explained that he had done many environmental impact statements and that clean air and water are important, explaining: “That’s a big part of climate change”. “As we’ve noted before, Trump instead conflates ‘climate change’ with ‘environmentalism’ broadly and embraces a distinctly 1970s-era argument for what environmentalism entails,” writes Bump, noting that clean air and water were once the key focal points of the US environmental movement, leading to some important legislation. “But over the past 50 years — in part because of that success — the threat posed by increasing temperatures has become a much more urgent concern.” Bump says Trump’s statements are accurate only with a “remarkably generous interpretation of his comments”. When viewed alongside past speeches the president has made in which he has mentioned the topic, Bump conclude there is considerable “uncertainty that Trump knows what climate change is, what it constitutes and what powers it”.

The impact of marine heatwaves (MHWs) on ecosystems is expected to be “widespread, significant and persistent through the 21st century”, a new study says. Using CMIP5 global climate model projections, the researchers estimate that “significant increases in MHW intensity and count of annual MHW days are projected to accelerate, with many parts of the ocean reaching a near-permanent MHW state by the late 21st century”. Comparing these estimates for emissions scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, the researchers show that the level of future emissions “strongly affect the projected intensity of MHW events, the proportion of the globe exposed to permanent MHW states, and the occurrence of the most extreme MHW events”.

Climatic changes – including increasing maximum temperatures and drought risk – are one of the direct drivers of farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) in Australia deciding to leave farming, a new study suggests. The researchers apply “spatial regression modelling” to assess the impact of weather, economic, and water factors on net farmer number changes over 1991-2011. The results suggest that changes in climate and socioeconomic conditions (lower commodity prices, increased urbanisation and higher unemployment) were the primary drivers, rather than “irrigation water diversions and water trade movements”.

A new study examines the global impact of electric power generation on biodiversity. The researchers assess the effect on nearly 4,000 threatened amphibian, bird, and mammal species from the supply chain of power generation for 140 countries and country groupings. The findings show that coal has the greatest threat for a given level of economic activity, while nuclear, solar, and wind are among the lowest. The study concludes that “a shift to non-fossil sources, such as solar and wind, could reduce pressures on biodiversity”.