As the world barrels toward the end of 2025, the debate over climate change’s impact is as heated as ever—both literally and figuratively. From the rain-soaked streets of Western Washington to the bustling corridors of the Philippine Resilience Awards, and even the quiet laboratories of Swedish scientists poring over decades-old air samples, the story of climate change is being written in real time, with every storm, protest, and scientific breakthrough.
On December 20, 2025, Extinction Rebellion activists made their presence felt in the heart of London. Gathering outside 55 Tufton Street in Westminster, the protesters hoisted signs declaring “1.5 is dead” and “tell the truth,” a stark warning about the world’s failure to meet global warming targets. Their demonstration targeted the headquarters of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a think tank known for its skepticism toward climate policies. The group, some dressed in theatrical black gowns and white face paint, also marched near the Ministry of Defence and the Houses of Parliament, demanding urgent action.
Their timing was no accident. The UK’s Met Office had just announced that 2026 is likely to mark the fourth consecutive year with global temperatures more than 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels, inching ever closer to the critical 1.5°C threshold that scientists warn could unleash irreversible changes. According to DonegalLive.ie, the protesters’ message was clear: world leaders are not doing enough, and the consequences are already being felt.
In the United States, those consequences have been devastatingly tangible. Just days before, Western Washington was battered by historic flooding. Hundreds of thousands of Puget Sound Energy customers lost power as winds at the Alpental ski area near Snoqualmie Pass reached a staggering 112 mph, with gusts of 82 mph at the pass itself. Rivers, swollen by back-to-back atmospheric rivers—those massive flows of moisture-laden air from the Pacific—burst their banks, flooding communities and threatening critical infrastructure. Governor Bob Ferguson announced that Highway 2 would be closed for months due to flood damage. In neighboring Oregon, more than 48,000 homes lost electricity, especially in and around Salem.
As reported by The Seattle Times, the deluge was not just a freak event. Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue told The Associated Press, “The atmospheric rivers, the ARs, are continually reloading. The amount of rainfall in the three-week period could be, you know, 20 to 30 inches. That’s quite extreme … I wouldn’t want to live there. Not right now.” He estimated that the water pouring down was enough to fill more than 18,000 Empire State Buildings or Oregon’s Crater Lake.
Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University, explained the science behind the chaos: “If you guessed climate change was playing a role in this, you’d be right. Climate change isn’t just making storms ‘wetter’ in a simple sense; it is fundamentally breaking the region’s natural plumbing system.” As the atmosphere warms, it can hold about 7% more water vapor for every degree Celsius of warming. That means more rain, less snow, and a greater risk of catastrophic floods. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that “human influence has contributed to the intensification of heavy precipitation” across North America, Europe, and Asia.
But the impacts go far beyond the Pacific Northwest. The World Economic Forum estimates the global cost of climate change at $1.7 trillion to $3.1 trillion per year by 2050. Last year was the hottest on record, with extreme weather and searing heat killing thousands and displacing millions worldwide. In Europe alone, heat contributed to at least 47,000 deaths in 2023, according to The New York Times. Former Vice President Al Gore, a longtime climate advocate, summed up the mood: “These climate-related extreme events are increasing, both in frequency and intensity, quite rapidly.”
Amid this backdrop of urgency and alarm, a different kind of story unfolded in the Philippines. The 2025 Philippine Resilience Awards (PRA) celebrated the unsung heroes—women and youth—who are building resilience from the ground up. Launched in 2023 by Senator Loren Legarda and supported by organizations like the Climate Change Commission and the Philippine Commission on Women, the PRA recognizes those whose initiatives create real change in their communities.
This year’s honorees included Edren Llanillo for the Go Bike Project, Renebelita and Victor Fuentebella for their work with Damit Dignidad Pilipinas, and Jenelyn Salimbagat for expanding the National Service Training Program to include family disaster preparedness. On a national scale, Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe was recognized for the Buong Bansa Handa Program. Five youth champions were also honored for projects ranging from environmental storytelling to the development of local weather monitoring stations. As reported in The Manila Times, these individuals embody the theme “Kababaihan at Kabataan: Katuwang sa Paghahabi ng Isang Matatag na Bayan”—women and youth as partners in weaving a resilient nation.
Meanwhile, in Sweden, scientists at Lund University uncovered a remarkable record of ecological change hidden in plain sight. By analyzing decades-old air samples originally collected by the Swedish Armed Forces to monitor radioactive fallout, researchers discovered that mosses in northern Sweden now release their spores about four weeks earlier than they did in 1990. The peak of spore dispersal arrives roughly six weeks sooner. “It’s a considerable difference, especially considering that summer is so short in the north,” said Nils Cronberg, a botany researcher at Lund University. The main driver? Warmer autumns, which give mosses more time to develop before winter. Even more surprisingly, the climate conditions of the previous year—not the current spring—had the biggest influence on spore timing.
This DNA-based method opens up new possibilities for tracking long-term ecological shifts. As Fia Bengtsson, one of the study’s authors, noted, “We had expected that snow thaw or air temperature in the same year as spore dispersal would be crucial, but climate conditions the year before were shown to be the most important factor.” The results are expected to inform the next IPCC report, providing concrete evidence of how ecosystems are adapting—sometimes rapidly—to a warming world.
Yet, not everyone is convinced by the mounting evidence. On December 14, 2025, The New Republic published an article warning that climate change is threatening beloved holiday foods like chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and cinnamon. But a counterpoint quickly emerged from PJ Media and the Heartland Institute, citing United Nations data: global coffee production has actually increased by 82% since 1990, reaching a record high in 2023. Cocoa, vanilla, and cinnamon production have also surged, with cocoa up more than 157%, vanilla more than doubling, and cinnamon production soaring by over 289%. “Even the United Nations acknowledges that the various crops she bemoaned as vanishing have actually been increasing over the last 35 years,” wrote H. Sterling Burnett of the Heartland Institute, challenging the narrative of scarcity.
So, where does this leave us? The world stands at a crossroads, caught between the visible, costly impacts of climate change and ongoing debates over its effects. Whether on the flooded streets of Washington, in the impassioned protests of London, or in the quiet triumphs of Filipino climate champions, the story is the same: the climate is changing, and so too must our response.
