Dangerous heat levels could put Paris Olympics athletes at risk, and other nature and climate stories you need to read this week

Athletes competing at this summer’s Paris Olympics could face dangerous heat levels, according to a new report.

Rings of Fire: Heat Risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics also says that continued increases in global temperatures could threaten the future of the Games.

The report, by the British Association for Sustainable Sport and Frontrunners (BASIS) – an organization helping athletes engage in environmental issues – found average July and August temperatures had increased by 2.4°C and 2.7°C, respectively, over the 100 years since the Olympics was last held in France in 1924.

Temperatures are forecast to soar again in Europe this summer, after setting records in 2023.

"The next Olympics in Paris is now upon us, and notable cases of extreme heat undermining the health and enjoyment of sporting spectacles have only increased in the intervening years [since the Tokyo Olympics]," said the report’s researchers who spoke to both scientists and athletes.

"The fact that the Olympics will take place during high summer means that the threat of a devastating hot spell is a very real one," the report added.

In a foreword to the report, Lord Sebastien Coe, President of World Athletics, wrote: “For athletes, from smaller performance-impacting issues like sleep disruption and last minute changes to event timings, to exacerbated health impacts and heat-related stress and injury, the consequences can be varied and wide-ranging.

“While global temperatures continue to rise, climate change should increasingly be viewed as an existential threat to sport.”

Air pollution killed more than 700,000 children under five years old in a single year, a new report has found.

The State of Global Air 2024, says air pollution accounted for 8.1 million deaths worldwide in 2021, including 15% of all global deaths in children under the age of five.

Air pollution is the second biggest death risk globally, behind high blood pressure – while, for children, it was second only to malnutrition, according to the study.

The report, by the Health Effects Institute in partnership with Unicef, found that people in South Asia and Africa suffer the most health issues as a result of air pollution.

“Beyond the deaths, many more millions of people are living with debilitating chronic diseases, putting tremendous strains on health care systems, economies, and societies,” said a spokesperson for the report.

“A staggering 500,000 of the child deaths were linked to household air pollution due to cooking indoors with polluting fuels, mostly in Africa and Asia.”

Prolonged power outages are being predicted in northern India due to an intense heatwave.

Electricity demand has spiked as fans and air conditioners run continuously, placing a strain on the grid. Power consumption has risen 43% in the northern state of Punjab so far in June, compared with the same period last year, The Guardian reports.

The first-ever nuclear-based steam generation project has begun production in China, as part of the nation’s efforts to decarbonize heavy industry. The Heqi No. 1 project at the Tianwan nuclear plant in Jiangsu produces steam for a petrochemical operation in Lianyungang.

There has been a 44% annual rise in companies saying they have a climate transition plan in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Around one in four businesses surveyed in 2023 by CDP, an independent environmental disclosure platform, claimed to have an emissions-reducing strategy.

Agricultural land can no longer sustain crops due to repeated droughts and flooding in some of the world’s most poverty-stricken areas, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). Martin Frick, Director of the WFP’s global office, told the BBC that some of the poorest places had now reached a tipping point of having “zero” harvests left.

The World Bank has announced it will issue a new bond to raise around $200 million for sustainability projects and reforestation in Brazil's Amazon. The principal-protected bond will provide financing for reforestation projects chosen by Brazilian startup Mombak through the foregone coupon payments.

Around 600 million additional housing units need to be constructed to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Here’s how low-carbon cement can help achieve this goal.

To ensure a safe water future for all, more investment in water is needed globally, but long buying cycles, risk-averse institutions and complex regulations are putting potential investors off. Now, the World Economic Forum has co-published a guide designed to demystify water investment.

There are 'positive tipping points' that could help the world accelerate out of climate disaster, according to Professor Tim Lenton. Find out what they are.