Forecasters say up to 40 million people in multiple US states could be affected by the early season northeasterly storm

High winds and heavy rain were beginning to batter New England on Friday as a “significant” nor’easter, the first such storm of the fall, threatened to disrupt weekend plans for millions.

In the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, three separate hurricanes, one threatening “catastrophic flooding”, including life-threatening flash floods, in Hawaii, were churning as a record-setting El Niño continued to amplify severe weather events on a global scale.

There is hope in solar power. As the UN meets, we are urging leaders to pursue a clear goal: clean energy for all by 2030

• Our message to global leaders: we need solar power everywhere by the decade’s end

As climate experts from around the world gather in New York for their annual week of talking through the world’s deepest dilemma, the vibes are mostly bad.

Though 2026 seems likely to set a new global temperature record (and 2027, as El Niño gathers steam, is almost certain to break it), and though the planet has careened from one climate disaster to another (European heatwaves that killed tens of thousands, a Nepali flood that wiped out entire communities), and though scientists warn that we’re reaching precisely the global tipping points they’ve long feared (the new research on the faltering great currents of the Atlantic should send a literal chill up your spine), there’s a distinct lack of political momentum.

The path forward is difficult, but the way is clear. We want solar for everyone, everywhere, before the decade is out.

We know that standing up to the powerful can be scary. But if there is one thing that unites us, it is that we live beneath the same sun. That unity is our strength, and we must use it to act now.

Bill McKibben is the Schumann distinguished scholar at Middlebury College. He is the founder of Third Act, organizing people over 60 for progressive change