California’s Wildfires Show No Signs of Slowing Down

On Tuesday, Santa Ana winds swept seaward through Southern California, scattering embers and then fanning flames of a growing wildfire. By nighttime, residents received urgent text alerts warning of potential 100 mph gusts—a terrifying escalation that transformed a precarious situation into a full-blown crisis. As the winds howled, more embers took flight, sparking new fires […]

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Humans Will Continue to Live in an Age of Incredible Food Waste

Let me start with the following principle: “Energy is the only universal currency: One of its many forms must be transformed to get anything done.” Economies are just intricate systems set up to do those transformations, and all economically significant energy conversions have (often highly undesirable) environmental impacts. Consequently, as far as the biosphere is […]

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Climate Change Is Destroying Monarch Butterflies’ Winter Habitat

every year, at the beginning of November, one of the most impressive natural spectacles in the world takes place in Michoacán, Mexico. Hundreds of millions of migrating monarch butterflies settle in the forested massifs of the country’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, roughly 100 kilometers west of Mexico City. Having flown south for eight months, beginning […]

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These 3 Things Are Standing in the Way of a Global Plastics Treaty

There is significant disagreement over whether to create a dedicated plastics fund, paid into by developed donor countries, or use existing mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility. The draft treaty text mentions fees or taxes on plastic production, which many delegates felt was essential for raising enough money to implement the global treaty. This […]

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A Uranium-Mining Boom Is Sweeping Through Texas

Michaelsen thought he had won. But when the TCEQ commissioners took up the question several months later, again they rejected all of the judge’s findings. In a 19-page order issued in September, the commission concluded that “faults within 2.5 miles of its proposed disposal wells are not sufficiently transmissive or vertically extensive to allow migration […]

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Environmental Sensing Is Here, Tracking Everything from Forest Fires to Threatened Species

You are in a lush forest. Sunlight filters through the bright green canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Towering trees rise over delicate ferns, wildflowers, and colorful mushrooms. A deer slinks behind a shrub. But there are subtle signs of human intervention: small electronic devices gathering vital data on potential threats such as drought […]

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A Parasite That Eats Cattle Alive Is Creeping North Toward the US

On November 22, the United States Department of Agriculture temporarily halted the import of cattle from Mexico after a flesh-eating parasite was detected in animals in southern Mexico. Before the discovery of cattle screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) at an inspection point in the state of Chiapas, the species had previously been eliminated in North America since […]

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Can Artificial Rain, Drones, or Satellites Clean Toxic Air?

Amid all of these concerns, the city has been turning to drones to monitor pollution hotspots, in addition to those spraying water to suppress PM2.5. “Drones are useful for accessing areas that are hard to monitor manually, like crowded urban zones or industrial regions,” says R Subramanian, air quality head at the Center for Study […]

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Returning the Amazon Rainforest to Its True Caretakers

In 2025, a small, indigenous nation that calls itself the “people of many colors” will go home for the first time in 80 years. Their return will drive a movement of indigenous peoples across the Amazon rainforest fighting for legal titles to their ancestral territories, and winning. These victories will have global significance. The Siekopai […]

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How the World Can Cope Better With Extreme Rainfall and Flooding

According to Bodoque, we need to improve flood-risk mapping too. There is a need to characterize vulnerability holistically, which implies considering the social, economic, physical, institutional, and cultural dimensions of what makes a community vulnerable to the weather. It is necessary to understand all components of what heightens people’s risk: not just their exposure to […]

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The Fossil Fuels Conversation Needs a Hard Reset

In 2025, we will see a fundamental transformation in the language of climate politics. We’re going to hear a lot less about “reducing emissions” from scientists and policymakers and a lot more about “phasing out fossil fuels” or “ending coal, oil, and methane gas.” This is a good thing. Although it is scientifically accurate, the […]

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COP29 Agreement Says Someone Should Pay to Help Developing Countries, but Not Who

At around 3 am on Sunday morning, in a drained plenary, the gavel slammed to bring COP29 to a close. Coming at the end of a convulsive final day in Baku, Azerbaijan, the conclusion of the Conference of the Parties was greeted by applause. It gave way, immediately, to discontent. The conference, whose primary focus […]

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How Trump Could Actually Increase Fossil Fuel Production

This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. During his campaign, president-elect Donald Trump had a pointed tagline for his energy policy: “Drill, baby, drill.” That statement is emblematic of where Trump is poised to focus his efforts in a second term: He’s pledged US “energy dominance” and everything […]

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What Lee Zeldin’s Nomination Means for the EPA

Zeldin, a 44-year-old attorney and former Army lieutenant, does not have a background in environmental policy. He made his foray into politics through the New York State Senate in 2011, serving until 2014. That year, he was elected to be the US representative for the state’s 1st Congressional District, which encompasses much of Long Island. […]

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COP29 Begins With Climate Finance, Absent Leaders, and Trump Looming Large

And then, the main dilemma: Who has to take responsibility for what? The so-called global south is pressing for money to tread a path from developed countries to those left behind, who have not played a historical role in the climate crisis. The industrialized world, on the other hand, demands commitments on decarbonization from developing […]

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Microplastics Could Be Making the Weather Worse

THIS ARTICLE IS republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Clouds form when water vapor—an invisible gas in the atmosphere—sticks to tiny floating particles, such as dust, and turns into liquid water droplets or ice crystals. In a newly published study, we show that microplastic particles can have the same effects, producing ice […]

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Invasive Species Are Threatening the Quality of New York’s Tap Water

“You can see an ecosystem change overnight—specifically with hydrilla. You’ll see a normal pond, and then at the end of the growing season, it’s completely full of hydrilla,” said Nicole White, founder of Little Bear Environmental Consulting, which often works with city and state departments to combat invasive species. “Nothing else can survive there. It’s […]

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How a PhD Student Discovered a Lost Mayan City From Hundreds of Miles Away

A new Mayan city, lost in the dense jungle of southern Mexico for centuries, has been discovered from the computer of a PhD student hundreds of miles away. This is the story of how he did it. The settlement, named Valeriana after a nearby freshwater lagoon, has all the characteristics of a classic Maya political […]

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