French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne warned that France is facing the "most severe drought" ever recorded in the country and announced the activation of a government crisis unit.

Borne said in a written statement on Friday that many areas in France are going through a "historic situation" as the country endures its third heatwave this summer.

As much of Europe bakes in a third heatwave since June, fears are growing that extreme drought driven by climate change in the continent's breadbasket nations will dent stable crop yields and deepen the cost-of-living crisis. 

The United Nations chief sharply criticized the "grotesque greed" of oil and gas companies on Wednesday for making record profits from the energy crisis on the back of the world's poorest people, "while destroying our only home."

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was "immoral" that the largest energy companies in the first quarter of the year made combined profits of close to $100 billion.

Little snow cover and glaciers melting at an alarming rate amid Europe's sweltering heatwaves have put some of the most classic Alpine hiking routes off-limits.

The world must prepare for a "climate endgame" to better understand and plan for the potentially catastrophic impacts of global heating that governments have yet to consider, scientists warned Tuesday. 

Climate models that can predict the extent of global warming depending on greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly sophisticated and provide policymakers with an accurate trajectory of global temperature rises. 

When ash began to fall and his throat was burning from the smoke, Franklin Thom decided it was time to leave the city where he grew up on the edge of the national forest in California.

He made it to a shelter with his daughter and just his medicine, some clothes and his shower shoes. Unlike some others, he was told that he had escaped California's largest fire of the year with his home still standing.

Drought and unusually hot weather have raised the salinity in Italy's largest delta, where the mighty Po River feeds into the Adriatic Sea south of Venice, and it's killing rice fields along with the shellfish that are a key ingredient in one of Italy's culinary specialties: spaghetti with clams.

At least one-third of the stock of prized double-valve clams raised in the Po Delta have died off. Plants along the banks of the Po River are wilting as they drink in water from increasingly salty aquifers and secondary waterways have dried up, shrinking amphibians and birds' wetland homes.

Seattle and Portland, Oregon, have set records for most consecutive days of high temperatures and authorities in Oregon investigated more possible heat-related deaths.

In Seattle, the temperature rose to 91 Fahrenheit (32.8 Celsius) by early afternoon, the record sixth straight day the mercury rose above 90 F (32.2 C). In Portland, Oregon, on Sunday temperatures rose above 95 F (35 C) for the seventh day in a row, a record for the city for consecutive days above that mark.

The Mona Lisa may maintain her famously enigmatic smile because she benefits from one of Paris' best-kept secrets: An underground cooling system that's helped the Louvre cope with the sweltering heat that has broken temperature records across Europe.

The little-known "urban cold" network snakes unsuspecting beneath Parisians' feet at a depth of up to 30 meters (98 feet), pumping out icy water through 89 kilometers (55 miles) of labyrinthine pipes, which is used to chill the air in over 700 sites. The system, which uses electricity generated by renewable sources, is the largest in Europe — and chugs on around the clock with a deafening noise totally inaudible above ground.

Richer countries failed to keep a $100 billion-a-year pledge to developing nations to help them achieve their climate goals, according to an analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.

$83.3 billion in climate financing was given to poorer countries in 2020, a 4% increase from the previous year, but still short of the proposed goal. The United Nations-backed payment plan was first agreed in 2009 to help poorer nations adapt to the effects of climate change and reduce emissions.