Hurricane Irma has made landfall in the Caribbean with 185mph winds, sparking evacuations across the region and in the Florida Keys, the Mail Online reports. Irma has been strengthened to a Category 5 storm, the most destructive type of storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, where its “destructive power…is virtually total”, the New York Times explains. Just three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since 1924, it says. Parts of Puerto Rico could be without power for 6 months after Irma visits, the Hill reports. Billionaire businessman Richard Branson, whose home in the Caribbean could potentially be hit by Irma, wrote about the need to support the Paris agreement in his blog: “Man-made climate change is a key factor in the increasing intensity of these hurricanes, as many experts have suggested. The damage caused by Harvey all over Texas is a tragic and costly reminder that our climate is changing and that we are not doing enough to tackle this enormous challenge.” Branson was not the only celebrity to opine on climate change and hurricanes: in an interview with Channel 4 Hollywood actor Jennifer Lawrence, spoke about her fears that people were ignoring climate science, the Mirror reports. “It’s also scary to know it’s been proven through science that climate change is due to human activity and we continue to ignore it. And the only voice that we really have is through voting and we voted and it was really startling…You know you’re watching these hurricanes now and it’s hard especially while promoting this movie not to feel Mother Nature’s rage. Wrath”, Lawrence said. There are now three hurricanes in the Atlantic, Bloomberg reports, as Jose and Katia, join Hurricane Irma. Inside Climate News has published a Q&A about climate change and the hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Reuters, Ars Technica and Scientific American also have the story.

A group of hackers, known as Dragonfly, have infiltrated the operational systems of energy companies in the US and Europe, according to cyber security experts Symantec. While the hackers have not yet caused power outages, Eric Chien, a technical director at Symantec, warned that the attackers were “potentially political motivated”, and could put power grids in the US and Turkey at risk. Attacks by a different group that made whole regions in Ukraine go dark in 2015 and 2016, the Financial Times notes. Ars Technica, the Hill and the Mail Online also have the story.

A new report by the Arctic Council suggests that 20% of permafrost – ground that has been frozen for more than two years – near the surface could melt by 2040. When it melts it will release large amounts of the greenhouse gases CO2 and methane being released, and will result in a “range of other associated threats such as the release of ancient infections and the warping of roads and landscapes”, the Mail Online writes. For example in late August an anthrax-infected reindeer thawed, releasing bacteria that caused an anthrax outbreak in Siberia, Wired reports.

Coverage continues of chocolate company Mars’ pledge to invest $1bn over the next few years in renewable energy. “Most scientists are saying there’s less than a 5 per cent chance we will hit Paris agreement goals . . . which is catastrophic for the planet”, said Grant Reid, the company’s chief executive. He continued: “A billion dollars is a big number, but I think the big news is actually about us speaking out.” Mars says it will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 27 per cent by 2025 and 67 per cent by 2050, as it invests in windmills to power its operations, the Financial Times reports. The Guardian and the Hill also ran the story.

France is planning to pass legislation this year to ban all oil and gas exploration and production by 2040, according to a draft bill presented yesterday. This would make it the first country to do so. 2040 is also the year that France plans to end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles, and French president Emmanuel Macron wants to make France carbon neutral by 2050. However, Reuters highlights that the decision is “largely symbolic” because France produces only about 1% of the hydrocarbons it consumes, and will continues to import and refine oil. The Financial Times also has the story.

Jaguar Land Rover follows in the footsteps of Volvo by pledging to end petrol or diesel-only cars – despite not making any electric vehicles at present. The UK-based manufacturer promises that all new vehicles from 2020 will be hybrid or full electric. The pledge follows an announcement by the Scottish government that it will phase out the need for cars solely powered by internal combustion engines by 2032. Carbon emissions from Jaguar Land Rovers are currently well above the UK average, the Guardian notes.

Developer TuNur has applied to build a 4.5GW plant in the Sahara, with plans to pipe electricity to Malta, Italy and France using submarine cables. “60% of Europe’s primary energy is currently imported from Russia or the Middle East. Does the EU really want to be investing in infrastructure that lasts 50 years but which just enables more fossil fuel use?”, said Kevin Sara, TuNur’s chief executive. But four years ago, the €400bn Desertec initiative imploded, leaving dreams of a Saharan power battery for Europe in the dust – and a lasting regional wariness, the Guardian writes.

How did Hurricane Irma grow so strong, asks Michael Le Page in New Scientist. “Most likely because climate change is making Atlantic waters ever warmer”, he writes. “The strongest hurricanes…can only grow if warm waters extend down to depth of 50 or 100 metres – conditions normally only found in the Gulf or Caribbean.” As “tropical cyclones grow stronger they churn up the ocean and bring deeper water to the surface. Usually this deeper water is cooler, and cuts off the energy supply”, he explains.

An opinion piece by Times columnist David Aaronovitch argues that attempts to discredit evolution and deny man-made climate change “are part of a worrying trend to ignore the evidence”. “Once again the desire for the better story and the difficulties in counteracting CO2 emissions have created a powerful counter-scientific impulse”, he writes. “The desire to let go of the science in favour of the better story…was grimly illustrated by the MMR debacle. This showed what can happen when even a minority of the population, unhindered by a scientifically illiterate political class, go off on one.”

In May 2016, more than 350 researchers met at the 4th International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World in Hobart, Tasmania, to discuss the latest advances in understanding ocean acidification and its biological consequences. The nine papers in this Special Feature are from authors who attended the symposium and address cutting-edge questions and emerging topics in ocean acidification research, from plankton to top predators.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions traced back to 90 major companies contributed to 57% of the observed rise in atmospheric CO2, 42–50% of the rise in global average temperatures, and 26–32% of global sea level rise over 1880-2010, a new study says. The research builds on an earlier study, which found that nearly two-thirds of all industrial CO2 and CH4 emissions can be traced to the products of a small number of major industrial carbon producers, including Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil and BP. “The half century of failure by corporate carbon producers to reduce the harms caused by their products now gives them additional responsibility to correct the damage done by their decades of neglect,” argues an accompanying commentary article by Prof Henry Shue from the University of Oxford.

The dual impacts of climate change and wildlife loss could aid the spread of tick-borne diseases in East Africa, new research shows. Researchers in Kenya found that parts of the savannah that have experienced wildlife loss and increasing aridity as a result of climate change have higher numbers of disease-causing ticks than other areas. The ticks studied by the researchers carry pathogens that cause Q fever, a disease that can affect both cattle and humans and is fatal if left untreated, and various strains of spotted fever, which can cause serious damage to the internal organs.