Prominent climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrived Tuesday at the U.N. climate meeting, where she emphasized the need to protect people and the planet over profits and power.

This year's meeting — called the Conference of the Parties, or COP31 — comes after a year of climate-induced heat waves and other disasters.

Global carbon pollution dropped this year ever so slightly, but it's more because of oil shocks reverberating from the Iran war than anything the world has done to fight climate change, scientists said in a new study.

In 2026, the world emitted 42.2 billion tons (38.2 billion metric tons) of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. It's a 0.4% decrease from last year, according to the scientists of the Global Carbon Project, which publishes its estimates in the journal Earth System Science Data Discussions.

Five countries have backed a plan to double the number of homes with rooftop solar panels worldwide by 2030, as U.N. climate talks in Turkey focus on expanding access to electricity and transitioning away from fossil fuels.

The new Global Rooftop Solar Declaration launched Tuesday on the second day of this year's climate talks, known as COP31. The aim is to double the number of homes with rooftop solar panels from about 150 million today to at least 300 million by 2030.

Countries that want to wean themselves from the fossil fuels that cause climate change will get a road map aimed at guiding them on an economy-transforming journey toward renewable energies at the U.N. climate talks Tuesday.

Brazil, which ran last year's U.N. climate talks, will launch its promised road map to "transition away from fossil fuels" during this year's talks, COP31, taking place in Turkey.

World leaders, delegates and climate activists on Monday will begin negotiations on curbing climate change, which in the last year has led to rising temperatures, deadly heat waves in Europe and beyond, and has played a role in disasters like the devastating floods in Nepal.

This U.N. climate summit, called the Conference of the Parties, or COP31, also comes as the war in Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, pushing up global prices of gasoline and oil and myriad products made with them, such as fertilizers and pesticides. The disruption has pushed governments to rethink energy policies, both in the short-term and long-term, including increased investment in renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Outdated power grids are a major hurdle in the transition to renewable energy, since older systems often can't absorb all the electricity from new, cleaner sources.

This threatens global efforts to curb climate change by reducing fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy such as solar and wind. At U.N. climate talks kicking off this week, co-hosts Turkey and Australia want more ambitious goals to slash fossil fuels, install renewables and upgrade grids.

A thick blanket of smog shrouded India's capital Monday after firecrackers lit up the skies over New Delhi during Diwali celebrations, compounding dangerously high pollution levels and intensifying the seasonal air pollution crisis that grips the city every year.

Despite restrictions on fireworks, residents in New Delhi celebrated the Hindu festival of lights with firecrackers on Sunday evening, releasing smoke and fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. The air quality index exceeded 350 in several parts of the capital on Monday morning, reaching the severe category and posing significant health risks.

The world's coral reef ecosystems almost all face a high risk of collapse in the next 50 years, mostly due to warming oceans and heat waves, according to a global assessment released Thursday.

It's the latest dose of bad news for coral reefs, which are critical sources for seafood and tourism and often serve as buffers from coastal erosion and storms. Sometimes dubbed "rainforests of the sea," they have some of the world's richest biodiversity. They support a quarter of marine species as well as coastal communities and businesses.

There are stretches of high desert in northwestern New Mexico where Mother Nature has sculpted otherworldly forms using wind, rain and the passage of time.

Hefty planks of rock defy gravity as they balance atop spindly pedestals of clay, while some columns of sandstone take on the appearance of lace, elaborately eroded by the seasons.

The world is on track for 2026 to be the second-hottest year on record, with global temperatures virtually certain to exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the EU's climate monitor said Friday.

This year also has a "20 percent chance of tying or exceeding" 2024 as the warmest ever seen, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a monthly bulletin.