Wildfires in Canada have caused significant air quality alerts across the US Midwest. Thick smoke from Saskatchewan and Manitoba is drifting southward, impacting Wisconsin, parts of Michigan and Minnesota, and potentially Chicago. The Weather Channel app provides air quality updates. Meanwhile, 17,000 Manitobans remain under evacuation orders...
The Supreme Court sided with a Utah oil railroad expansion, scaling back the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 8-0 decision, challenged by environmental groups, allows a project to quadruple oil production in the Uinta Basin. While the court acknowledged the project's approval, it emphasized that regulators...
A new UN report predicts a record-breaking hot year by 2029, exceeding the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C warming limit. The next five years are projected to see average warming exceeding 2.7°F (1.5°C) above pre-industrial levels. This increased warming will likely exacerbate natural disasters, including droughts, heatwaves, and intense wildfires,...
Nepali mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa achieved a record-breaking 31st ascent of Mount Everest on Tuesday. The 55-year-old Sherpa, guiding climbers for over three decades, reflected on his career in an interview, discussing the increasing popularity of luxury Everest expeditions, the use of xenon gas in climbing, and the...
A Peruvian farmer, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, lost a landmark climate lawsuit against German energy giant RWE. Lliuya sued RWE for its contribution to glacial lake swelling, threatening his home. A German court ruled the flood risk was too low to hold RWE liable, rejecting his claim for flood mitigation...
A German court dismissed a landmark climate lawsuit filed by a Peruvian farmer, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, against RWE, a German energy company, for contributing to glacial melting near his home. While the court rejected Lliuya's claim, it also ruled that distance alone wasn't sufficient to dismiss the case, setting...
A northward surge in New World screwworm (NWS) parasite cases, exploding from 25 to over 6,500 in Panama in 2023, has prompted the USDA to take emergency measures. The parasitic fly larvae infests livestock and humans, causing severe damage. To prevent a US outbreak, the USDA temporarily suspended...
NPR correspondent Jackie Lay shares her fascination with the blue-footed booby during a recent trip to the Galápagos Islands. Lay describes the birds' unique gait and diving skills, noting their prominent presence in Galápagos culture. The correspondent's awe is echoed by colleague Aya Batrawy, highlighting the birds' seemingly...
The World Meteorological Organization and the U.K. Meteorological Office forecast an 80% chance of breaking another annual temperature record in the next five years. There's a significant probability of exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold set by the Paris Agreement, and even a slight chance of reaching the more...
The third UN Ocean Conference, convening in Nice, France from June 7-13, aims to address the global ocean crisis. Over 10,000 participants, including world leaders and representatives from various sectors, will collaborate to tackle rising temperatures, plastic pollution, and overfishing. The conference seeks to secure $100 billion in...
