Utah coal bid rejected amid faltering sales

 

Federal officials rejected the lone bid for more than 6 million tons of coal under Utah’s Manti-La Sal National Forest, the third Western public-lands coal sale to collapse this month. The Interior Department said the offer, covering two tracts near the Skyline Mine and requested by a Wolverine Fuels subsidiary,...

After Palisades Fire, Spencer Pratt Demands Accountability

 

Months after the January Palisades Fire leveled his Pacific Palisades home, Spencer Pratt has recast himself as an unrelenting watchdog, arguing the catastrophe was preventable and suing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Tending the hummingbirds that survived his scorched hillside, he channels grief into public broadsides over...

Study: Australia's rainforests now emit more carbon

 

Australia's tropical rainforests have flipped from carbon sinks to sources, the first known worldwide, according to a Nature study of 49 years of data from 20 Queensland forests. Extreme heat, atmospheric dryness, drought and more intense cyclones have killed trees faster than new ones grow, turning woody biomass into a...

G2 storm watch may boost northern lights

 

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for Oct. 16 as Earth is set to be hit by the first of several CMEs, with the strongest effects late Thursday into early Friday. The Kp index is forecast to peak between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. EDT...

Polar Bears Occupy Abandoned Arctic Weather Station

 

Polar bears on Kolyuchin Island, off Russia's far eastern coast, have taken over the ruins of a Soviet-era weather station, drone footage by photographer Vadim Makhorov shows. He counted about 20 bears near the abandoned site, some peering from windows, lounging on porches, and even swiping at his drone, with...

Record CO2 Surge Signals Weakening Carbon Sinks

 

Global CO2 concentrations jumped by a record 3.5 ppm to 424 ppm in 2024, the largest annual rise since measurements began in 1957, the World Meteorological Organization reports. Scientists warn that relentless fossil fuel burning, historic wildfire emissions in the Americas during the hottest year on record, and a weakening...

Ten-year quest captures award-winning hyena image

 

In the ghost town of Kolmanskop, South African photographer Wim van den Heever finally captured a brown hyena — a shot that won the grand title at this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year. After a decade of 2–3 a.m. setups, trashed cameras and fog-thick nights, his trap fired as...

Winter-like storm targets Southern California, flood risk

 

An unusual, winter-like storm will hit Southern California late Monday through Wednesday, the National Weather Service warned, bringing rain, damaging winds and flash-flood risk. A flood watch runs Monday evening through Tuesday, with recent burn scars, including the Eaton and Palisades fires, most vulnerable. Coastal and valley areas could see...

Rescuers Search After Record Surge in Alaska

 

Ferocious winds and record storm surge from a system that once was Typhoon Halong battered western Alaska, ripping homes from foundations and flooding remote villages. Three people are missing in Kwigillingok; at least 18 were rescued there and 16 in Kipnuk, with more missing reports under review, officials said. Gusts...

Nor’easter, Alaska Storms Spur Emergencies, Flooding

 

A slow-moving nor’easter triggered states of emergency in New Jersey and parts of New York City while a separate storm battered western Alaska, where remnants of Typhoon Halong tore homes from foundations and up to 20 people were possibly unaccounted for near Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. Alaska’s governor extended a disaster...