Environmental News
Breaking environmental news, policy updates, and ecosystem changes worldwide
The datacenter fight could permanently transform US politics. Which party will seize advantage?
The movement against datacenters are uniting Americans because they perfectly illustrate how a few individuals hold all the power to control decisions that impact our livesBryce Gustafson has been knocking...
West Point's only climate scientist fired after continuing to teach human causes of climate change
The only climate scientist teaching at West Point, the U.S. Army’s military academy, was fired after he resisted an order to stop teaching about the human causes of the climate...
Flooding devastated swathes of Indiana but response is hampered by politics
Record inundations wrecked homes and took seven lives but Trump has not approved emergency aid and the state has cut funds for environmental agenciesIt’s been 10 days since the floodwater...
How North Carolina Wasted the Chance To Fix Hog Pollution
A pact between the state and Smithfield Foods ‘failed miserably.’ Those who worked on the agreement explain why.By Lisa SorgFeeding the Beast: Second in a series about lax regulation, corporate...
Trying to Get Away From Gas Turbines, Data Centers Place Their Hopes on Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
But some experts question whether the technology, yet to be commercially deployed in the U.S., can actually break through or if it is mostly benefitting from a PR push.By Gabriel...
'The world needs to pay attention': Nepalis and Tibetans in New York respond to the Himalayan disaster
Half the world away, a Himalayan diaspora reacts in sorrow and pitches in to help victims in their home countriesGeeta Tamang was getting ready for bed when her aunts shared...
How rising temperatures likely contributed to Nepal's deadly flood
Roughly 160 people are dead and hundreds more — including dozens of international tourists — are missing after flash floods hit a region on the mountainous border of Nepal and...
The Grid Has Eyes
How Alabama Power became Flock’s longest-standing middleman.By Lee HedgepethWired for Profit: Fifth in a series about Alabama Power’s influence over electric rates, renewable energy, pollution and politics in the Yellowhammer...
Super PAC Targeting Conservatives Against Clean Energy Touts Fifth Republican Primary Win
A coalition of solar entrepreneurs and VCs mounted a pugilistic ‘Revenge Tour’ to show candidates eager to hobble their industry that they’ll fight back. So far, it’s working.By Gabriel Matias...
California Dairy Farm's New Biogas Project Makes History and Raises Eyebrows
A Kerman business is reusing cow manure to create electricity and hydrogen. California calls the venture ‘groundbreaking,’ but environmentalists worry credits that prop up the biogas industry end up harming...
While Renewables Languish, Pennsylvania Pays Millions to Coal Waste Companies
More than 20 years after passing a landmark clean energy law, the state gets more of its power from burning coal waste than from solar.By Kyle BagenstoseWINDBER, Pa.—Standing on the...
Flood-Ravaged Nepal on Alert as Scientists Warn of Additional Risk
Earth scientists are in the early stages of analyzing the devastating debris flow but say it fits a pattern fueled by global warming.By Bob Berwyn, Nicholas KusnetzResidents and rescue workers...
Nevada preached peace on the Colorado River. Now it's suing to protect its water.
Nevada officials have long presented themselves as a voice for compromise and conservation in debates over the Colorado River. The Las Vegas area, home to two-thirds of the state’s population...
Trump Administration Speeds Up Environmental Review for 800-Mile Alaska Oil Pipeline
The public has just 15 days to comment on the pipeline’s reauthorization, which could lock in oil production in the state for 30 more years.By Lisa SorgThe Trump administration is...
Despite African walkout, fractious land COP ends without drought deal
The African continent’s hopes for a legally binding agreement to combat drought have been dashed again, as UN land restoration talks in Mongolia passed the issue onto the next set...
Is the environmental impact of datacentres finally cutting through?
In this week’s newsletter: Anti-datacentre sentiment is growing across the political spectrum in the US – and the public is only just finding out about the potential effects on their...
Nepal-Tibet flood: this is the cost of not acting in the face of the climate crisis | Sunil Acharya
Nepalis and Tibetans must not pay the price – with their lives, livelihoods and money meant for education and health – for global heating caused by wealthy statesSunil Acharya is...
Pacific islands seek backing for new regional fund ahead of COP31
Burdened by rising fuel import costs and an ‘ocean crisis’ of record-breaking heat, Pacific island nations are seeking to build support for a new regional fund ahead of COP31, intended...
Can California Farmers Break Free From Plastic?
Microplastics in waterways and soil are fueling calls to reduce the pervasiveness of plastic in agriculture.By Liza GrossFarmers have relied on plastic since the 1960s, when the mass production of...
A Montana Community Rallies to Save Its Beloved Ski Hill
After the Sand Creek Fire damaged Maverick Mountain’s only chairlift, a community shaped by generations of skiing is coming together to bring its beloved mountain back.By Mosabber HossainWhen the Sand...
The rush to power data centers is weakening the Clean Air Act
Across the country, the electricity needs of data centers have been a major driver of the widespread resistance to the speedy developments. The rapid buildouts of data centers have raised...
How to deal with burnout on a burning planet
In this month’s Ask a Climate Therapist column, we’re tackling two questions at once — each examining similar themes of burnout and paralysis from two very different vantage points. Wherever...
How to deal with burnout on a burning planet
In this month’s Ask a Climate Therapist column, we’re tackling two questions at once — each examining similar themes of burnout and paralysis from two very different vantage points. Wherever...
In the American West, wildfire comes for the suburbs
Somersett, a short drive from downtown Reno, Nevada, is a peaceful place where homes with sweeping, high-desert views line cul-de-sacs and roads meander through shrubland, trailheads, and golf courses. But...
In the American West, wildfire comes for the suburbs
Somersett, a short drive from downtown Reno, Nevada, is a peaceful place where homes with sweeping, high-desert views line cul-de-sacs, and roads meander through shrubland, trailheads, and golf courses. But...
New research shows the world isn't doing nearly enough to fix its food problem
A new report finds that, across the globe, progress toward developing more sustainable, resilient food systems is not advancing fast enough to meet internationally agreed upon deadlines. The research builds...
20,000 Salmon Return to the Klamath—but Challenging Conditions for Recovery Remain
In the two years since dam removal on the Klamath River in California and Oregon, fall-run chinook salmon have come back in full force, but water allotments, remaining dams and...
Empoderando a las comunidades guatemaltecas afectadas por el plástico
Integrantes de las comunidades xincas queman plástico para deshacerse de él y avivar el fuego para cocinar, sin saber que así exponen a sus familias y al medioambiente a contaminantes...
As Oceans Warm, Children Face Growing Malnutrition Risk
In low- and middle-income countries, marine heat waves threaten children’s growth rates and lives, new research shows.By Teresa TomassoniWhen ocean temperatures soar, the consequences reverberate beyond the water. In coastal...
Global Warming Intensifies El Niño, Galápagos Coral Fossils Show
More damaging extremes are looming, as the Pacific Ocean’s climate cauldron sets off a chain reaction of heatwaves, floods and droughts across the globe.By Bob BerwynResearchers analyzing modern and fossil...
Climate crisis could be destabilising mountain areas like Nepal, experts warn
Unusual heat this year may have melted ice and thawed bonds that hold glaciers in place – leading to catastropheNepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updatesWhat caused the flash flood in...
El Niño climate patterns supercharged by burning of fossil fuels, study finds
‘Godzilla’ event currently brewing could push 50 million people into acute hunger before the end of next yearA series of strong El Niño climatic patterns in recent decades, such as...
The Guardian view on the Nepal-Tibet floods: prepare for more climate-linked disasters | Editorial
Medicine, food and other supplies are the urgent priority. But the rising risks from shrinking glaciers must be faced tooThousands of people in Nepal and Tibet are in desperate need...
One of east coast's largest datacenters accused of 'violating federal law'
Thermal drone footage shows a Microsoft-backed AI datacenter powering its operations with dozens of unpermitted generatorsThe largest planned AI datacenter in New Jersey is being accused of violating federal law...
West Point's only climate scientist fired after continuing to teach human causes of climate change
Adam Kalkstein compared administration’s order to ‘trying to teach the law’ without mentioning ‘the constitution’The only climate scientist teaching at West Point, the US army’s military academy, was fired after...
Hiker reunited with backpack 60 years after he fell into a glacier in Austria
Bag, camera and pipe belonging to 86-year-old are latest relics uncovered as glaciers melt due to global heatingAn 86-year-old mountaineer has been reunited with his backpack and climbing equipment after...
Rooftop Solar Is Having a Rough One
New tariffs and expired tax credits have put a dent in U.S. panel sales, but there’s reason for optimism.By Dan GearinoRooftop solar installers feel like a dog that’s been repeatedly...
A Britain of wildfires and flood risks: be sure, the climate crisis is real, and we will deal with it | Angela Eagle
Reform and the Conservatives are willing to mislead the public, but as environment secretary, I believe we must be honest – and act boldlyThis long, hot summer has brought our...
Corpus Christi Withholds Water to Wetlands While Lifting Restrictions on Lawns
Reservoirs have rebounded from critical levels, but an emergency order absolves the city of requirements to resume releasing water for the Nueces River Delta.By Dylan BaddourEnvironmental regulators in Texas issued...
As Water Pollution Concerns Grow in Iowa, So Do Fertilizer Industry Profits
The net earnings of North America’s top fertilizer producers raise questions about who benefits most from fertilizer use, an advocacy group says.By Anika Jane BeamerAs farmers balk at skyrocketing fertilizer...
'Starwashing': The new space race has an environmental problem
As artificial intelligence devours more land and electricity, a new breed of tech companies promises that outer space holds the solutions to our problems on Earth. If data centers are...
On Louisiana's disappearing coast, a natural gas terminal is poised to become the largest in the US
Less than two years after opening, a liquefied natural gas terminal near New Orleans is seeking a multi-billion-dollar expansion under the Trump administration’s new ‘emergency’ permitting process that cuts regulatory...
On Louisiana's disappearing coast, a natural gas terminal is poised to become the largest in the US
Less than two years after opening, a liquefied natural gas terminal near New Orleans is seeking a multibillion-dollar expansion under the Trump administration’s new ‘emergency’ permitting process that cuts regulatory...
The fossil fuel industry is spending record amounts to keep California from regulating it
The fossil fuel industry isn’t just raking in record profits amid the war with Iran. In California, it’s also spending big to oppose climate and worker-safety legislation. According to analyses...
What caused the catastrophic flash flood in Nepal and Tibet – and how does a glacier collapse?
Did a massive glacial collapse in the Himalayas trigger the disaster and is climate change involved?Flash floods that swept through the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday have left scores dead...
Weatherwatch: how to protect our railways in hotter summers
Steel rails warping and signalling equipment failing in metal cabinets are among the problems to be solvedTarmac softens in the summer heat, which may cause problems on the roads, but...