Jamaica Surveys Damage; Israel Strikes Gaza Again

 

Jamaica is counting the cost after Hurricane Melissa made landfall, flooding western Jamaica, with St. Elizabeth underwater, leaving more than half a million without power, and trapping families as rescue teams work to reach them. Kingston avoided the worst, and the airport may reopen for relief flights tomorrow, while the...

Geometric Fish Nest Neighborhood Found Beneath Weddell Sea

 

While tracing Shackleton’s Endurance route, researchers in Antarctica’s Western Weddell Sea found more than 1,000 circular fish nests forming a striking geometric neighborhood. Built by yellowfin notie rockcod on seabed once buried beneath a 200-meter ice shelf, the nests were spotless and arranged solo or in sweeping clusters. The layout...

Gates urges climate pivot toward human well-being

 

Bill Gates urged a "strategic pivot" in climate policy, saying the world should prioritize reducing suffering in poor countries, fighting poverty and disease, over near-term emissions targets. In a memo ahead of next month's U.N. climate summit in Brazil, he said innovation will curb warming and called for rigorous, impact-driven...

Bill Gates Tempers Climate Alarm, Refocuses Priorities

 

Bill Gates is recasting his climate message, urging an end to “doomsday” rhetoric in a memo released Tuesday. The Microsoft co-founder, who has spent billions on climate efforts, argues that while warming will bring serious harm—especially to the poorest countries—it won’t spell humanity’s demise, and attention should shift to improving...

Report Warns Uncontacted Peoples Face Mounting Threats

 

Far from public view, a new Survival International report warns that at least 196 uncontacted Indigenous groups in 10 countries—most in the Amazon—are under intensifying pressure from logging, mining, agribusiness and organized crime. Nearly 65% face logging threats, 40% mining, and 20% agribusiness; half could be wiped out within a...

Flash Floods Slam Central Florida Cities

 

Relentless rain hammered Central Florida into Monday, unleashing flash floods that stranded drivers, swamped roads and flooded homes. The National Weather Service called it a “particularly dangerous situation,” reporting up to 18 inches in Lake County and 13 in Brevard. Flash flood emergencies covered Eustis and Mount Dora, with warnings...

Category 4 Melissa Menaces Jamaica and Hispaniola

 

Hurricane Melissa intensified to a Category 4 on Sunday, churning slowly south of Jamaica with 140 mph winds and the threat of catastrophic rain across the northern Caribbean. Jamaica activated more than 650 shelters and closed Kingston’s airport, yet some Port Royal residents refused to evacuate, citing past safety concerns...

Melissa Forecast as Multi-Day Major Hurricane Near Jamaica

 

Tropical Storm Melissa is forecast to become a Category 4 hurricane by Sunday, bringing catastrophic flash flooding and landslides to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. Hurricane conditions are expected in southern Haiti Saturday, reaching Jamaica Saturday night or Sunday morning, with a slow-moving, multi-day major hurricane lingering near or...

Trump Administration Eyes New Offshore Drilling Leases

 

Internal Interior Department drafts obtained by CBS News show the Trump administration is moving to auction offshore drilling leases in new areas as soon as 2026, including waters off New England, the Carolinas and California. The push follows a formal move to reopen 1.56 million acres in the Arctic National...

Report ties Brazil coffee boom to deforestation

 

Coffee farming in Brazil is fueling deforestation that ultimately undermines the crop itself, a new Coffee Watch report warns. Using satellite imagery and government data, the group found more than 1,200 square miles of forest cleared for coffee between 2001 and 2023, and over 42,000 square miles lost in coffee-dense...