Environment

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new roadmap to accelerate efforts to protect Americans from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of toxic chemicals found in food packaging and other common commercial products that can cause severe health... Read More

LONDON (AP) — The world needs to cut by more than half its production of coal, oil and gas in the coming decade to maintain a chance of keeping global warming from reaching dangerous levels, according to a U.N.-backed study... Read More

Scott Breneman told a congressional subcommittee Monday about how his fishing business was upended by the Orange County oil spill discovered off California’s coast on October 1. After a day of fishing 90 miles off the coast, “We were coming... Read More

This article is by Prachi Patel and was originally published by Anthropocene magazine. The world was already drowning in plastic when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The use of protective equipment and surge in takeout and home delivery more than doubled the world’s plastic... Read More

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California beach that was closed more than a week ago because of a leak of crude oil from an undersea pipeline reopened on Monday, far sooner than many expected, Huntington Beach's city and... Read More

WASHINGTON -- More than 20 federal agencies released their plans Thursday to adapt to climate change in response to an order from President Joe Biden. The plans explain how they will maintain the continuity of government service despite rising temperatures... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The White House Council on Environmental Quality is restoring provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act set aside by the Trump administration to bolster the environmental review process for a wide range of projects. The former president, a... Read More

DETROIT - General Motors and GE Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of the General Electric Co., have signed an agreement to develop supply chains supporting the manufacturing of electric vehicles and renewable energy equipment. What both companies are calling a “non-binding... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has been a leader in restricting offshore oil drilling since the infamous 1969 Santa Barbara spill that sparked the modern environmental movement, and the latest spill off Huntington Beach is prompting fresh calls for an... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An anchored cargo ship in the Pacific is not a fixed point — it's different than parking a car. Even then, with a multi-ton anchor and brawny steel chains resting on the seabed, the massive vessels... Read More

BENICIA, Calif. (AP) — The machine Ted Bowman helped design can make water out of the air, and in parched California, some homeowners are already buying the pricey devices. The air-to-water systems work like air conditioners by using coils to... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Forestry industry executives told a congressional panel Wednesday many of the solutions to climate change lie in the woodlands but public policy sometimes puts an environmental fix out of reach. Part of the answer could be as easy... Read More

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Death's come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct. It's a rare move for wildlife officials to give up... Read More

This article is by Emma Bryce and was originally published by Anthropocene magazine. A single car pumps out 4.5 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. That’s environmentally destructive, never mind the enormous health impacts. But, it’s also a waste of... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — In what officials call a key step to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is sharply limiting domestic production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The new... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Extreme heat has played a role in worsening health outcomes, especially for minority communities and for construction and farm workers at risk of heat stroke.  In response to rising temperatures due to climate change, the Occupational Safety and... Read More

The grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Area could potentially, for a third time, be delisted from the federal Endangered Species List — following a petition from Republican Gov. Mark Gordon. The petition, which cites the species as “fully-recovered”... Read More

A pair of petitions seeking a determination that gray wolves are a threatened or endangered species in the western U.S. have convinced federal officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a closer look at the situation. “The... Read More

This article is by Warren Cornwall and was originally published by Anthropocene magazine. When tallying up the myriad things sending planet-warming gases into the atmosphere, don’t overlook bugs. While humans drive up the overall levels of greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels, a... Read More

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden will promote his administration's use of the Defense Production Act to aid in wildfire preparedness during a western swing in which he'll survey wildfire damage in Idaho and California. The administration activated the... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The nation’s capital would need to plant 626,557 trees annually to be a carbon neutral city, a new study finds. The analysis, by comparethemarket.com, pegs Washington, D.C.’s annual carbon emissions at 3,132,786 pounds. It then calculated the number... Read More

There have always been periods of extreme heat in the U.S., but now researchers estimate that climate change could make these periods more frequent, widespread, and severe over the next 30 years.  A recent report from the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden declared climate change has become "everybody's crisis" on Tuesday as he toured neighborhoods flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, warning it's time for America to get serious about the "code red" danger... Read More

This article is by Prachi Patel and was originally published by Anthropocene magazine. In what could be an important tool to clean up our lakes and oceans, researchers have made ‘nanojars’ that can capture carbon dioxide and toxins from water. The simple chemical... Read More

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. (AP) — President Joe Biden approved major disaster declarations Monday greenlighting federal aid for people in six New Jersey counties and five New York counties affected by devastating flooding last week from the remnants of Hurricane Ida. At... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The harm to health and finances caused by global warming will fall disproportionately on the U.S. minority population, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report released Thursday. Hotter weather will lead to more severe hurricanes, flooding and poorer... Read More

Wildfires are an increasingly big and increasingly costly reality.  The "severity and overall size" of wildfires has expanded considerably in recent decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. California's 2018 fire season, in particular, broke several dubious records, including... Read More

SITES, Calif. (AP) — In 2014, in the middle of a severe drought that would test California's complex water storage system like never before, voters told the state to borrow $7.5 billion and use part of it to build projects... Read More

This article is by Emma Bryce and was originally published by Anthropocene magazine. Increasing land cover diversity in agricultural landscapes is about more than protecting nature: it could also increase crop yields across large areas of the United States by up to 20%,... Read More

This article is by Warren Cornwall and was originally published by Anthropocene magazine. At a time when the word “microbiome” has made it into the popular lexicon and people extol the benefits of yogurt, kombucha and other fermented foods, there could be another... Read More