Our World in Data

New data reported by BBC News indicates the current El Niño is the strongest ever recorded, accompanied by a major shift in global weather patterns. The findings point to intensified ocean warming with wide-reaching consequences for rainfall, drought and temperature extremes across different regions of the world.

A new analysis by Our World in Data compares current immigration levels to the United States against historical rates, putting recent inflows into long-term context. The piece looks at how today's foreign-born share and arrival numbers stack up against past migration waves, offering data-driven perspective on a politically charged debate.

New data on global electricity generation shows coal remained the world's largest single source in 2024, producing about 34% of all power. Wind and solar together supplied 15%, a sharp rise from just 4% a decade earlier. The figures, presented in charts drawn directly onto an interactive map, are drawing attention for how clearly they show both coal's persistence and renewables' rapid growth.

Share indexes around the world are showing mixed results in Monday trading, even though Wall Street closed last week with a strong rally. US stocks ended Friday higher, but that momentum has not carried evenly into other regions, with Asian and European benchmarks split between gains and losses as investors weigh rate expectations and economic data.

A new report confirms that China continues to hold its position as the world's largest market for industrial robots, maintaining its lead over other major economies in industrial automation. The finding underscores the country's sustained investment in robotics across manufacturing sectors, reinforcing its central role in the global robotics industry.

Railway operators in Tokyo have reported online security breaches, according to NHK. The incidents affect companies running parts of the Japanese capital's extensive commuter rail network, raising concerns about the vulnerability of critical transport infrastructure to cyberattacks. Further details on the scale of the breaches, whether passenger data or operations were affected, and who may be behind the intrusions have not been disclosed.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains below its 10-day average following the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28. Before the conflict, the strait typically handled around 125 large commercial vessels a day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container ships. The continued shortfall points to lingering disruption and caution among shipowners in one of the world's most important oil transit routes.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have seized a US submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the operation was carried out for data recovery, according to NDTV. The incident marks a new flashpoint between Tehran and Washington in the strategic waterway, through which a large share of the world's oil passes, and comes amid ongoing tensions over naval activity in the Gulf.

Researchers at the University of Arizona used satellite data to show that the world's drylands are growing greener, but in an increasingly volatile pattern of sharp booms and busts rather than steady vegetation growth. The findings suggest that while rising carbon dioxide and shifting rainfall are boosting plant life in arid regions, the gains come with escalating instability, complicating assumptions about how dryland ecosystems will respond to climate change.

A newly announced AI tool can combine different types of biological data into a single integrated analysis, according to a report by Labroots. The tool is aimed at helping researchers draw connections across datasets such as genomics and other biological measurements. Details about its developers, capabilities, and real-world applications remain limited in early coverage.

A British startup is turning video game controller inputs into training data for AI models designed to navigate the physical world. The idea is that human gameplay, including mistakes and clumsy manoeuvring, offers rich examples of how people learn to control complex systems, which could help robots and other embodied AI improve. The approach is drawing attention as a cheaper alternative to real-world data collection.

A new commentary argues that while satellites now give the world a near-real-time view of forests being cleared, detection alone does not save them. Monitoring technology can flag deforestation as it happens, but enforcing protections still depends on governments, rangers, funding and political will on the ground, a gap that continues to hinder conservation efforts worldwide.