Mexico’s new president is a climate scientist. Here’s what that could mean for the country’s emissions

Claudia Sheinbaum has a PhD in energy engineering and worked on international climate reports. Now she’s the leader of one of the world’s largest oil countries.

Climate change has never been more obvious in Mexico. A brutal heat wave over the past several weeks killed dozens of people. Howler monkeys fell out of trees, dead from heatstroke. Nearly two-thirds of the country is experiencing drought; Mexico City might be weeks away from running out of water. In a fishing village called El Bosque, rising sea levels have forced residents to abandon their homes. Last fall, when the country’s strongest-ever hurricane hit Acapulco, it caused billions of dollars of damages.