ECMWF’s Council, representing 35 Member and Co-operating States, has announced the appointment of Dr Florian Pappenberger as the Centre’s next Director-General from 1 January 2026. He will take over the post from Dr Florence Rabier.

Ship traffic in shallow areas, such as ports, can trigger large methane emissions by just moving through the water. The researchers in a study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, observed twenty times higher methane emissions in the shipping lane compared to nearby undisturbed areas. Despite the fact that methane is a greenhouse gas that is 27 times as powerful as carbon dioxide, these emissions are often overlooked with today's measurement methods.

"Our measurements show that ship passages trigger clear pulses of high methane fluxes from the water to the atmosphere. This is caused by pressure changes and mixing of the water mass. Even if the pulses are short, the total amount during a day is significant," says Amanda Nylund, researcher at Chalmers University of Technology and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI.

Fuelled by climate change and relentless pressure on land and water resources, some of the most widespread and damaging drought events in recorded history have taken place since 2023, according to a UN-backed report launched today.  The report provides a comprehensive account of how droughts compound poverty, hunger, energy insecurity, and ecosystem collapse.