Climate and environment updates: Global sea ice drops to lowest level on record

It's not uncommon for the type of animals and plants in a particular area to change over time. It's called species turnover and happens naturally in ecosystems across the planet. However, a new study in Nature finds that climate change is accelerating the destabilization of animal populations worldwide.

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Rutgers University and across Europe studied more than 42,000 species living on land and in ocean and freshwater environments. They found species turnover was faster in locations experiencing more rapid temperature changes, including warming and cooling.

"It's like shuffling a deck of cards, and temperature change now is shuffling that deck faster and faster," said lead author Malin Pinsky, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, in a statement. "The worry is that eventually you start to lose some cards."

According to the study, nearly half of all species could be replaced per decade, and ecosystems could break down if the climate change trends continue.

The study also found that animals living in more diverse environments, with access to various habitats, are more likely to survive extreme temperature swings. For example, if an animal can walk from an open field to a forest to cool down, they are less susceptible to turnover. But not every species has that option.

The research team said human activities may also be impacting turnover. They believe land use changes, pollution and the introduction of invasive species intensify the effects of temperature changes on species replacement and theorize that these human actions are diminishing landscape diversity and increasing stress on species that are already close to their temperature limits.

-ABC News climate unit's Matthew Glasser

Last year, 2024, was the warmest year on record for the planet, easily breaking the previous record set just a year earlier.

Scientists say the unfolding El Niño event superimposed on long-term global warming is a primary driver of this huge spike in global surface temperatures since mid-2023. But the magnitude of the increase shocked many experts, leaving them somewhat puzzled about what else could be behind the remarkable rise.

NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem), is expected to provide new data to help scientists understand how changing levels of different atmospheric aerosols impact Earth's energy balance.

Read more here.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

A new analysis from UNICEF finds that nearly a quarter of a billion children worldwide had their education disrupted by extreme weather events in 2024 — exacerbating what the organization calls an "existing learning crisis."

The report found that at least 242 million students across 85 countries experienced schooling disruptions last year because of extreme weather like heat waves, storms, floods, droughts and tropical cyclones.

"Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of weather-related crises, including stronger and more frequent heatwaves, storms, droughts and flooding," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. "Last year, severe weather kept one in seven students out of class, threatening their health and safety, and impacting their long-term education."

Heat waves were the most common weather disruptor for education. UNICEF found that over 118 million students were impacted by extreme heat in April alone, with South Asia seeing some of the most widespread impacts.

The report also found that September had the most frequent weather-related disruptions, with at least 16 countries suspending classes for a time due to extreme weather events like Typhoon Yagi in East Asia.

While the analysis found that almost three-quarters of the students impacted were in low and lower-middle income countries, UNICEF says no region was free from these effects.

"Education is one of the services most frequently disrupted due to climate hazards. Yet it is often overlooked in policy discussions, despite its role in preparing children for climate adaptation," Russell said. "Children's futures must be at the forefront of all climate related plans and actions."

-ABC News climate unit's Kelly Livingston

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the U.N.-backed international climate treaty. Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Thursday that they, along with a coalition of climate charities, would step up and ensure that the U.S. meets its obligations under the Paris Agreement, including any financial and reporting requirements.

"While government funding remains essential to our mission, contributions like this are vital in enabling the UN Climate Change secretariat to support countries in fulfilling their commitments under the Paris Agreement and a low-emission, resilient, and safer future for everyone," said Simon Stiell, United Nations climate change executive secretary, in a press statement.

This is the second time Trump has withdrawn the country from the Paris Agreement. During his first term, Trump justified backing out of the treaty by claiming that participating in the agreement would result in the loss of jobs and cost the U.S. trillions of dollars. In reality, in 2023, clean energy jobs grew at more than twice the rate of the overall U.S. labor market and accounted for more than 8.35 million positions, according to a Department of Energy report. In terms of spending, the U.S. has committed several billion dollars to the effort, not trillions.

Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire businessman, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and a U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said he also plans to continue supporting a coalition of states, cities and businesses that are working to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035.

"More and more Americans have had their lives torn apart by climate-fueled disasters, like the destructive fires raging in California. At the same time, the United States is experiencing the economic benefits of clean energy, as costs have fallen and jobs have grown in both red and blue states. The American people remain determined to continue the fight against the devastating effects of climate change," Bloomberg said.