A multistate coalition of environmental, labor and health groups urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency today to unlock crucial disaster relief funding for extreme heat and wildfire smoke, both of which are not recognized by FEMA as major disasters. By Center for Biological Diversity “It’s urgent that FEMA treats intensifying heat waves and wildfire smoke as the […]
After meeting in closed session for five hours on June 13, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California immediately placed General Manager Adel Hagekhalil on paid administrative leave for up to 90 days to investigate ‘’various allegations.’’ By Dan Bacher The board also named Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan’s assistant general manager and […]
For three decades, the goal of international climate negotiations has been to avoid “dangerous” warming above 1.5℃. With warming to date standing at around 1.2℃, we haven’t quite reached the zone we labelled dangerous and pledged to avoid. But recent scientific assessments suggest we’re on the brink of passing that milestone. Within this decade, global […]
This year’s string of record-breaking disasters – from Hurricane Lee to deadly wildfires and catastrophic floods to record-high ocean temperatures and record-low sea ice in Antarctica – seems like an acceleration of human-induced climate change. And it is. But not only because greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. What we are also observing is the […]
Summer 2023 has been the hottest on record by a huge margin. Hundreds of millions of people suffered as heat waves cooked Europe, Japan, Texas and the Southwestern U.S. Phoenix hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) for a record 54 days, including a 31-day streak in July. Large parts of Canada were on fire. […]
Canada’s seemingly endless wildfires in 2023 introduced millions of people across North America to the health hazards of wildfire smoke. While Western states have contended with smoky fire seasons for years, the air quality alerts across the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this summer reached levels never seen there before. Charles O. Stanier, University of Iowa; […]
Dow Chemicals plastered Singapore with ads for its sneaker recycling program, promising to turn old shoes into playground tracks. But the shoes it collected in its “recycling” bins were illegally dumped in Indonesia. This isn’t an aberration: it’s how nearly all plastic recycling has always worked. By Cory Doctorow Pluralistic Plastic recycling’s origin story starts in 1973, when Exxon’s […]
A train derailment earlier this month in East Palestine, Ohio has recently received a great deal of attention across the country. The crash resulted in the derailment of 50 cars, including 11 carrying highly toxic chemicals. In all, thousands of gallons of toxic matter spilled and burned at the site of the crash. These toxins – used in […]
The Russian invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 has sent economic, social and political shock waves around the world. In a newly published policy brief, we and other researchers and conservation scientists describe how these effects extend to biodiversity conservation efforts far beyond Ukraine. Eduardo Gallo-Cajiao, University of Washington; Duan Biggs, Northern Arizona University; […]
Headaches and lingering chemical smells from a fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have left residents worried about their air and water – and misinformation on social media hasn’t helped. Andrew J. Whelton, Purdue University The Conversation State officials offered more details of the cleanup process and a timeline of the environmental disaster during […]
In a Nutshell: Global temperatures are now rising at an accelerating rate, which began in the 1800s. This is entirely due to greenhouse gas buildup from human activity, mainly the burning of fossil fuels. By Rick Knight Citizens’ Climate Lobby Deeper dive: Public appreciation of the dangers associated with climate change has grown since it first crashed […]
As Christians, we value our children’s safety first and foremost. We want to defend our children, both unborn and born, from dangerous pollutants that can harm them—even inside of our very own homes. Unfortunately, nearly 2-in-5 American homes may be filled with unsafe air. Nitrogen dioxide (NOx), a prevalent indoor pollutant, has been correlated with severe asthma, […]
Rivers of muddy water from heavy rainfall raced through city streets as thousands of people evacuated homes downhill from California’s wildfire burn scars amid atmospheric river storms drenching the state in early January 2023. The evacuations at one point included all of Montecito, home to around 8,000 people – and the site of the state’s […]
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) squeaked through Congress last summer on a strictly partisan vote, clearing the Senate with a bare one-vote majority. Yet one of its most profound long-term impacts may be bringing more Republicans around to supporting clean technology. If so, its reorientation of our national political debate may prove as important for […]
Climate change often conjures up images of heat, drought and hurricanes. But according to the latest U.S. National Climate Assessment, released on Nov. 23, 2018, winters have warmed three times faster than summers in the Northeast in recent years. These changes are also producing significant effects. Historically, over 50 percent of the northern hemisphere has had […]