Drought-stricken Spain says last month was the hottest and driest April since records began in 1961.

The State Meteorological Agency, known by the Spanish acronym AEMET, said Monday the average daily temperature in April was 14.9 degrees Celsius (58.8 Fahrenheit), that is 3 degrees Celsius above the average.

Major financial firms that publicly support efforts to limit global warming have billions invested in the world's largest oil and gas companies -- including in some of their products marketed as green -- a new report said Friday.

The analysis found that 25 members of the Net Zero Asset Managers' initiative have a combined $417 billion in holdings in 15 oil and gas firms, including ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies.

With sea surface temperatures swelling to new highs in recent weeks, scientists warn that humanity's carbon pollution has the potential to turn oceans into a global warming "time bomb".

Oceans absorb most of the heat caused by planet-warming gases, causing heatwaves that harm aquatic life, altering weather patterns and disrupting crucial planet-regulating systems.

Global energy firms should help fill a $29-million gap in funding to safely remove oil from an abandoned tanker off Yemen's coast, the war-ravaged country's largest private company said Thursday.

If you're reading this, chances are you've heard about the #NoMowMay movement that's been gaining steam on social media and in eco-conscious circles these past few years.

Started in 2019 by citizen scientists in the United Kingdom, the call for homeowners to abstain from mowing their lawns during the month has spread to other countries, including the U.S.

Senior officials from dozens of nations meeting in Berlin remained divided Wednesday on how to meet international climate goals, with some pushing for a phaseout of fossil fuels and others insisting that oil and gas can continue to play a role in the future — provided their emissions are somehow contained.

The two-day Petersberg Climate Dialogue hosted by Germany heard calls for a new target on ramping up renewable energy to be negotiated and agreed on at this year's U.N. climate summit in December.

New York state is banning natural gas stoves and furnaces in most new buildings, a policy that's part of a national movement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The law negotiated by Gov. Kathy Hochul and her fellow Democrats in the Legislature is part of the state budget and puts New York in the forefront of states targeting emissions from buildings. When the phase-in starts in 2026, newly constructed buildings will have to forego fossil fuel equipment in favor of devices like induction ranges and heat pumps that run on electricity.

A rare and powerful tornado sent residents of a coastal city in Virginia fleeing for cover over the weekend as it peeled roofs from buildings and pushed homes from their foundations.

It was the most powerful tornado ever to hit Virginia Beach, Virginia, officials confirmed Monday. No one was reported injured, despite few residents being prepared for tornadoes. Several people described taking cover under stairwells; most lack basements because the water table is so high.

Germany called Tuesday for governments around the world to work on setting an ambitious target for renewable energy that would "ring in the end of the fossil fuel age" and help prevent dangerous global warming.

Speaking at the start of a two-day meeting in Berlin attended by dozens of top climate envoys, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock noted that the world needs to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Dutch government plans to drastically cut emissions of nitrogen pollution cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when the European Union's executive arm gave the green light to farm buyout schemes worth nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion).

The plans to reduce nitrogen deposits — mainly by livestock farms — on EU-designated areas of vulnerable nature have sparked heated debate and widespread protests by angry farmers in this small nation that is a major producer and exporter of farm products. Dutch agricultural exports were worth 122.3 billion euros last year, according to the national statistics office.