Our Neighborhood

Earth

Keeping It Green

Atmospheric CO2 Levels

(Monthly Averages)

Oct 30, 2026: 427.0 ppm
10 years ago: 396 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350 ppm

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Page Updated:
Oct. 30, 2026

• The 2024 Clean 15 (Safe Foods)
• Get the Lead Out Toolkit
• Oil Spill History
• Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act

• US Emissions by Sector Chart

  
  

  Where is all that CO2 coming from? This graph breaks it down by economic sector.

• Greenest U.S. Cities
• Safe Water in Pictures
• U.S. WEA Grassroots Accelerator
• Safer Habitats

• • Arizona Becomes 3Rd State to Confirm
  Case of New World Screwworm

  Agriculture Officials On Wednesday Announced That a Case of New World Screwworm Was Discovered
  
  {UPI}

  Oct. 29, 2026 -Arizona agriculture officials have announced the state's first case of New World screwworm, making it the third U.S. state to report a case of the flesh-eating parasite amid the ongoing outbreak.

  The parasite was found in a heavily maggot-infested wound on a dog's back in Cochise County by a local veterinarian who examined the animal Monday evening, according to the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

• • Popular California Pumpkin Patch
  Closes Amid E. Coli Investigation

  Public Health Officials Urged Anyone Who Visited the Farm During That Period and Later Developed Gastrointestinal Symptoms to Contact a Health Care Provider
  
  {yahoo!news}

  Oct. 29, 2026 -Health officials in Central California have confirmed five cases of E. coli that can cause serious illness and are investigating a possible connection to a popular farm attraction and pumpkin patch in San Luis Obispo County.

  The County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Department reported that it identified five cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection. Health officials said the cases may be linked to visits to Brookshire Farms in San Luis Obispo from Oct. 16 to Oct. 26, though investigators have not yet identified the source of the infections.

• • Southwestern Colorado Flooding By the Numbers

  540 Damaged Homes, 40 Rescue Missions and Counting
  
  {THE COLORADO SUN}

  Oct. 28, 2026 -Days after historic flooding swept through southwestern Colorado, the scope of the destruction is still coming into focus. 

  Emergency responders shared early statistics at an Archuleta County community meeting Tuesday. Transportation officials are requesting millions of dollars in federal aid. As new information comes to light, it offers a glimpse into the devastating impacts of the floods. 

• • CDOT Seeks $65 Million in Federal Relief Funds
  to Repair Damaged Roads After Southwestern Colorado Floods

  State Transportation Officials Are Requesting Those Relief Funds As Part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program
  
  {DENVER7}

  Oct. 28, 2026 -State transportation officials on Wednesday asked the federal government for millions of dollars in relief funds to repair significant damage to highways across southwest Colorado following near-historic floods last week.

  Officials from the Colorado Department of Transportation said they were requesting the funds, estimated at around $65 million, as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief program so work can begin immediately to repair damaged roadways.

• • The Sunniest Place on Earth Is a Frozen Desert
  Where Sunlight Can Rival Venus

  Despite Its Freezing Temperatures, Chile's High-Altitude Altiplano Receives Roughly Twice the Solar Energy of the US East Coast.
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Oct. 28, 2026 -If you wanted to find the most intense sunlight on Earth, you’d probably look somewhere unbearably hot. The Sahara, perhaps. Or Death Valley, where summer temperatures can get hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement.

  You’d be looking in the wrong place.

  High in Chile’s Atacama Desert, more than five kilometres above sea level, lies a barren, windswept plateau where the air is thin, the nights are bitterly cold, and the sky is almost impossibly clear. It’s not exactly anyone’s idea of a tropical paradise.

• • CO2, Other Emissions Reach Record High in 2025

  The 2025 Level Shows a 13.06% Increase in Concentration Since Then
  
  {npr}

  Oct. 27, 2026 -Carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere reached a new record high in 2025, reaching 153% of pre-industrialization levels, the United Nations' Climate Agency announced Tuesday.

  The annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin showed that the average global concentration of carbon dioxide was 426.8 parts per million last year. That's up from 423.9 ppm in 2024, a 0.68% increase in one year.

• • Famed Oceanographer Calls For Ending
  Krill Catch Near Antarctica

  As Governments Debate Fishing Quota

  

  Oct. 27, 2026,-Renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle is calling for an end to krill fishing near Antarctica as officials from the U.S., China, Russia and 24 other governments negotiate a possible deal this week to dramatically expand fishing for the crustacean that’s a vital food source for whales in the international waters surrounding the ice-covered continent.

  “There is no sustainable extraction of krill in Antarctica possible, period,” Earle, who in 1990 became the first woman to serve as chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in an interview in Rome, where she was promoting her conservation work

• • How Could the Oil Spill Off the UAE
  Coast Affect Desalination Plants?

  What Are the Main Environmental Concerns?

  

  Oct. 29, 2026 -An oil spill off the United Arab Emirates that has prompted temporary restrictions on fishing and on access to several beaches has raised concerns over the risk of environmental contamination and the potential impact on desalination plants.

  The spill is from a vessel that shipping sources have identified as crude oil tanker Gem No.2, which they said an unidentified projectile struck last month 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera, in the Ras Al Khaimah emirate.

• • Six Killed in Cyclone off India's Eastern Coast

  The Official Death Toll Was Six

  

  Oct. 29, 2026 -At least six people were killed and power supply in several areas along India's eastern coast remained disrupted on Thursday, one day after Cyclone Arnab barrelled through the region, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds, officials said.

  The Times of India newspaper, citing local officials, put the death toll at nine, caused by electrocution as well as tree and house collapses.

• • King Tides Inundate Streets, Flooding
  Homes and Businesses Along Both US Coasts

  This Week's King Tides Have Been Exacerbated By Additional Factors
  
  {NORFOLK DAILY NEWS}

  Oct. 29, 2026 -King tides have inundated parts of both U.S. coasts, flooding streets and sending seawater into homes and businesses in beach communities in California, Florida and the Carolinas.

  The tides began with the full moon earlier this week and could cause flooding in some areas into the weekend, forecasters said. King tides are caused by the gravitational pull and alignments of the Earth, moon, and sun. They can occur several times a year and last several days.

• • Why Every Pumpkin on Earth Should
  Have Gone Extinct 12,000 Years Ago

  Evolved For Ice Age Giants and Toxic to Almost Everything Else, the Pumpkin Should Have Vanished 12,000 Years Ago — Until An Unlikely Ape Stepped In
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Oct. 28, 2026 -Roughly 30,000 years ago, along the soggy edge of a Florida floodplain, a hungry American mastodon lumbered through the wet grass in search of a meal. Scattered across the ground were small, mottled orbs about the size of tennis balls..

  To a squirrel, a deer, or a passing human, these fruits were off limits. Encased in a woody, near-impenetrable rind, their flesh was saturated with cucurbitacins — some of the most intensely bitter and toxic compounds in the natural world. A few bites could sicken or even kill a small mammal.

• • At Least 68 People Killed When 2 Trains Crash in Spain

  Dozens of Others Were Injured in the Accident, Spain’s Second Train Disaster This Year

  

  Oct. 28, 2026 -Two trains crashed on a high-speed railway in central Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said Wednesday.

  The crash of the trains — one operated by Spain’s public rail operator, Renfe, and the other by the private rail company Iryo — took place early Wednesday near Mora, Orgaz and Urda, the country’s Railway Infrastructure Administrator (Adif) said. All trains on the route had been stopped, it added.

• • Why Drought-Proof Farming Must Also Protect India’s Diets

  India’s Drought Response is Increasingly a Nutrition Question, Not Just a Farm One
  
  {ET Climate}

  Oct. 28, 2026 -India’s weakening monsoon is usually discussed through the lens of crop losses and farm income. But the deeper damage from a dry spell is often hidden in household kitchens, where fewer vegetables, pulses and iron-rich foods can quietly worsen malnutrition.

  Hindustan Times reported that this year’s southwest monsoon left 17 of India’s 36 meteorological subdivisions deficient in rainfall, covering 42 per cent of the country’s area. Several states have already declared drought across large stretches, underscoring how quickly weather stress can become a nutrition crisis as well as an agricultural one.

• • Most Wells Around the Grand Canyon
  With High Arsenic Levels Are at Uranium Mine

  Pinyon Plain Mine Representatives Argue That the Toxic Metal is Naturally Occurring, Not Contamination From the Mining Operation

  

  Oct. 28, 2026 -Three of four wells across the Grand Canyon region that have average arsenic levels above the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for safe drinking water are at the site of a controversial uranium mine, a new analysis of groundwater sampling shows.

  The analysis from the Grand Canyon Trust, a nonprofit advocating for protection of the canyon and the Colorado Plateau, relied on 32 years of groundwater sampling across 40 sites from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The Pinyon Plain Mine, where the contaminated wells are located, lies within a national monument just nine miles away from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

• • Anger in Finland As Google Illegally
  Fells 250,000 Trees For Datacentre

  Company Ordered to Stop Work At Two Sites in Country, Which Has Found Itself At Forefront of Tech Firms’ Latest Push

  

  Oct. 27, 2026 -Behind a wire fence lies a vast gaping wound of earth. Before Google’s arrival a few months ago, an estimated quarter of a million trees occupied the 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest near the town of Muhos in rural northern Finland. Now they are all gone.

  After the tech company illegally stripped the entire area to build a datacentre – taking even the top soil with it – all that remains is a vast expanse of mud indented with the trail marks of machinery, puddles and mounds of earth, roots and branches. Residents say that brown water flowing off the site is going into a stream that feeds the Oulujoki River.

• • Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Tops 10,000 Cases

  Authorities Race to Slow the Spread in African Countries
  
  {NBC NEWS}

  Oct. 27, 2026 -The fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached 10,000 confirmed cases, government data showed Tuesday, as health authorities race to slow the spread of the disease in multiple African countries.

  It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, and nearly half of the 10,060 confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from Congo’s Ministry of Health. That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history.

• • Witnesses Describe Avalanche On Colorado 14Er

  That Buried Skier
  
  {CBS NEWS}

  Oct. 27, 2026 -Witnesses said an avalanche was triggered on one of Colorado's 14ers over the weekend, burying one skier who had to be rescued. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the slide was triggered at 14,092 feet on Mt. Bross on Sunday.

  Mt. Bross is a 14,178-foot peak in the Mosquito Range located south of Breckenridge. Snow started falling in that region earlier this month as temperatures dropped and the much-anticipated Super El Niño started to arrive.

• • How Climate Finance Could Turn Green
  Bonds Into Green Jobs in India

  India’s Green Bond Market is Increasingly Being Judged Not Just By How Much Money It Raises, But By How Effectively It Channels Capital Into Jobs, Manufacturing and Resilient Infrastructure
  
  {ET Climate}

  Oct. 27, 2026 -India’s climate finance debate is shifting from how much capital can be raised to what the capital actually changes on the ground. That distinction matters because the country’s growth ambitions, energy security goals and net-zero target for 2070 now sit in the same policy frame, and the next phase of expansion will be judged as much by quality of investment as by volume.

• • Indonesia Sends Oxygen Bus to Aid
  Residents Choking On Forest Fire Haze

  As Respiratory Illnesses Increased in the Central ?Kalimantan City of Palangka Raya, the Local Government Provided an 'Oxygen Bus' Replete With Oxygen Tanks and More

  

  Oct. 27, 2026 -A bus fitted out with oxygen tanks is providing a sanctuary in a city on Indonesia's Borneo island where people are choking from forest-fire-induced haze and the blazes show no sign of letting up.

  Indonesia regularly battles seasonal forest fires, predominantly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, but this year the infernos are the most intense in more than a decade. An intense El Niño weather phenomenon has driven up temperatures, leaving the country's vast forests and peatlands more vulnerable to fires that have turned ?skies orange across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

• • Thousands Evacuate India's Eastern
  Coast Ahead of Cyclone Arnab

  Arnab, Which Formed Over the Bay of Bengal, Has Intensified Since Monday, I

  

  Oct. 27, 2026 -Thousands of people were evacuated along India's eastern coast, and some train services cancelled, authorities said on Tuesday, one day before a severe cyclone was scheduled to make landfall, bringing gusting winds and heavy rain.

  In neighbouring Nepal, authorities cautioned tourists against venturing into high altitude areas as they feared Cyclone Arnab could trigger torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayan region from Thursday night through Saturday.

• • Mass. National Guard Activated to Help Fight
  Wildfire That Crossed NY Border

  The National Guard Will Use Aircraft to Drop Water On the Fire in Remote, Rocky Areas
  
  {WCVB5}

  Oct. 27, 2026 -Massachusetts is sending resources, including the National Guard, to a town in the far western part of the state where a wildfire that began in New York has grown and crossed the border.

  The fire, which began Sunday in Berlin, New York, crossed into Williamstown, Massachusetts, as it grew to cover an estimated 200 acres, officials said. Residents and visitors to the area were encouraged to avoid the fire and give responders plenty of room to work.

• • Greenhouse Gas Levels Set Records in 2025

  U.N. Says, Expressing Alarm
  
  {CBS NEWS}

  Oct. 27, 2026 -Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere rose to record highs in 2025, locking in climate impacts that will persist for centuries, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

  Levels of the three main greenhouse gases -- the climate-warming carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide -- all rose to unprecedented figures in 2025, the U.N.'s weather and climate agency said.

• • Trump to Loosen Rules For Oil Firms on Methane

  A Potent Warming Gas

  

  Oct. 27, 2026 -The Trump administration is set to loosen rules designed to force oil and gas companies to cut their emissions of methane, a gas considered a “super pollutant” because it traps so much heat in the atmosphere.

  President Trump is expected to announce the plan at a Tuesday campaign rally in Texas with Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, according to two administration officials who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

• • Oil Spill Off UAE Widens, Satellite Images Show

  Prompting More Beach Closures

  

  Oct. 26, 2026 -An oil spill from a damaged tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has widened, satellite images showed, triggering more beach closures and raising environmental concerns.

  Images from the European Union's Copernicus Satellite Observation Network dated October 24 show the oil spill has widened over the last few days and is reaching close to the shores of the northern Umm Al Quwain emirate, with dark layers of oil spreading at sea and along its coastline.

• • How AI is Transforming Hurricane Forecasts

  The Technology is Rapidly Transforming the Field
  
  {npr}

  Oct. 26, 2026 -When the first hurricane of the Atlantic season formed this month, an AI model beat out traditional models at predicting where it would go.

  In early October, Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Fla., as a Category 2 storm. Conventional forecasting models initially predicted it would head further west, toward southeastern Louisiana.

• • India’s Blue Economy Needs Cleaner Coasts

  Not Just Bigger Ports
  
  {ET Climate}

  Oct. 26, 2026 -India’s blue economy is often sold as a story of ports, shipping, fisheries and new investment. But a growing body of research suggests the real test is less glamorous: whether the country can expand coastal commerce without turning its estuaries, beaches and fishing grounds into sinks for waste and ecological damage.

  According to India Water Portal, a review published in Marine Pollution Bulletin in February 2026 by Mallika Roy and Delwar Akbar brings that tension into sharp focus. Drawing on 3,261 Scopus-indexed studies published between 1990 and 2025, the paper maps how marine pollution, circular economy thinking and ocean policy are increasingly intertwined, and why they cannot be treated as separate policy silos.

• • China Says No Secondary Disasters,
  Casualties From Tibet Earthquake

  No Secondary Geological Disasters and No Further Casualties From a Magnitude-7 Earthquake That Struck China's Southwestern Region of Tibet

  

  Oct. 26, 2026 -The country's Ministry of Natural Resources said that the "impact of this earthquake on glacier lakes and glaciers within the affected area was generally minimal."

  Since the earthquake there have been a total of 2,054 aftershocks, including two of at least 5.0 magnitude.

  Authorities completed inspections of secondary geological disasters within a 31 miles radius of the epicentre.

• • A Fire At a Seafood Plant in Oregon Forces Evacuations

  Amid Fear of Ammonia Exposure

  

  Oct. 25, 2026 -Residents and visitors in a small coastal city in Oregon were evacuated Sunday when a fire erupted at a seafood production plant and it was feared ammonia tanks could rupture and send dangerous amounts of the chemical into the air.

  The fire at Pacific Seafood closed off the popular Bayport section of Newport. Firefighters swarmed the plant and were able to keep flames from the tanks, but continued to battle the fire Sunday evening.

• • Yellowstone’s Thermal Pools Are
  Being Destroyed by Visitors’ Trash

  Including AirPods, Rubber Ducks and Dental Retainers
  
  {yahoo!news}

  Oct. 25, 2026 -Yellowstone National Park's thermal pools are at risk of being destroyed due to the trash left behind by millions of guests.

  The Yellowstone Geology Team removed more than 20,100 pieces of trash from the park's hydrothermal areas this year.

  Some of these items included over 280 hats, five AirPods, three Delta flight pins, an inhaler, three golf tees and an Uno card

• • Four Corners Region Faces More Flood
  Threats Following Days of Heavy Rain

  Repeated Torrential Rain and Storms Could Flood More Roads, Small Streams, Narrow Canyons and Burn Scars
  
  {CBS NEWS}

  Oct. 25, 2026 -A rain-soaked swath of the Southwest U.S. braced Sunday for another round of potentially heavy showers and thunderstorms after days of rain forced evacuations and water rescues.

  The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of the Four Corners — the meeting point of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The area has experienced unusually heavy rain since Wednesday that caused rivers to surge, flooding homes and forcing water rescues.

• • Everyday Tape Stops 99% of Floodwater

  Offering New Hope for Homeowners
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 25, 2026 -New research from the University of Hull< shows that widely available tape can block up to 99 percent of floodwater, giving families a practical way to protect their homes without heavy lifting.

  The study was conducted at the university’s Property Flood Resilience lab, where scientists tested simple, low-cost materials against traditional sandbags. Results showed that tape provided strong protection while being much easier for homeowners to handle in an emergency.

• • Scientists Were Unsure of How Microplastics
  Harmed the Body — Until Now

  A New Study Demolishes a Long-Running Assumption About Plastic

  

  Oct. 25, 2026 -For decades, scientists believed that plastics were some of the safest materials around. Their long chemical chains, companies and researchers believed, wouldn’t react with food, water or — perhaps most importantly — the human body.

  Now, a new study in the journal Nature shows just how flawed that assumption was.

• • ‘Cheap Water Is Over’: A $500 Bill
  Shows a Southwest Suburb’s Dilemma

  City Leaders in Arizona’s Queen Creek Say Water Fee Hikes Are Necessary to Secure Their Water Supply For The Next 100 Years As the Colorado River Continues to Shrink

  

  Oct. 25, 2026 -Ron Rios treasures his backyard pool that makes Arizona’s triple-digit summer heat more tolerable. So he was furious to learn that his Phoenix suburb might hike his water bill: from $130 to, eventually, more than $500 a month.

  City leaders said it was necessary to fund sweeping investments that would secure their water supply for the next 100 years. The Colorado River was shrinking, they said, and they had to adapt.

• • Record Rivers, a Dozen Colorado Counties Under
  Emergency and Thousands of Homes Hit in New Mexico

  The Four Corners Flood
  
  {Kiowa County Press}

  Oct. 25, 2026 -Three weeks after the drought map still had the Rio Grande headwaters in extreme drought and the San Juan basin in severe drought, the remnants of a Pacific hurricane dropped four inches of rain on the San Juan Mountains in two days and sent every river draining them over its banks. By Sunday, Colorado had a disaster emergency in 12 counties, New Mexico had hundreds of water rescues behind it and a federal disaster request in front of it, and the San Juan River had run higher at Farmington than at any time in the National Weather Service's records.

  No deaths had been reported in either state as of Saturday.

• • Eritrean-American Hero Leaps Onto Runaway
  School Bus in Minnesota to Rescue 18 Children

  Selfless Act Restores Faith in Everyday Heroes
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 24, 2026 -One young man’s split-second decision turned a frightening Monday morning into a story of courage and quick thinking. While stepping out for a break at Ya Bricks Snacks and Tobacco in St. Paul’s Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood, Ebro Ahmed noticed a school bus rolling away with no driver at the wheel.

  The 27-year-old Eritrean-American ran toward the moving bus, grabbed the open door, and swung himself inside. Within moments he brought the vehicle safely to a stop, protecting the eighteen students and their driver who had suffered a seizure.

• • Governor Jared Polis Expands Flood Disaster
  Emergency to 12 Southwest Colorado Counties

  Polis Thanked First Responders and Urged Residents to Follow Emergency Orders
  
  {DENVER7}

  Oct. 24, 2026 -Gov. Jared Polis has added Conejos County to a disaster emergency declaration for flooding in southwest Colorado, bringing the order to 12 counties, as about 100 people have evacuated and many others are stranded in their homes by floodwaters, his office said.

  Polis first declared the disaster emergency verbally in 11 counties: La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, Dolores, Hinsdale, San Miguel, Ouray, San Juan, Mineral, Alamosa and Rio Grande. He then amended the verbal order to include Conejos County, according to a news release from his office.

• • How Trump Gave the Worst Polluters a Free Pass

  The President Temporarily Waived Clean-Air Rules For Industrial Facilities That Spew Cancer-Causing Gases

  

  Oct. 24, 2026 -Within sight of a southeast Texas middle school stands a chemical plant that President Trump excused from new federal rules intended to curb its cancer-causing pollution.

  About a 30-minute drive from Pittsburgh, a steel-making facility has spewed carcinogenic chemicals near homes for years. Mr. Trump gave it a similar waiver from recent clean-air rules.

• • A Potent Climate Super-Pollutant Is Surging in Beijing

  The Region’s Expanding Electric Grid and Semiconductor Industry Are Driving Increased Emissions of the World’s Most Potent Greenhouse Gas

  

  Oct. 24, 2026 -Climate pollutant concentrations in the Beijing region of northern China have plateaued or begun to decline—except for the world’s most potent greenhouse gas, new research concludes.

  The findings, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, suggest a decades-long effort to clean Beijing’s air is beginning to pay off. But while it cites progress, the research also highlights a growing climate challenge, driven by the region’s surging electricity demand and the explosive growth of semiconductor manufacturing amid the AI boom.

• • How Trump Gave the Worst Polluters a Free Pass

  The President Temporarily Waived Clean-Air Rules For Industrial Facilities That Spew Cancer-Causing Gases

  

  Oct. 24, 2026 -Within sight of a southeast Texas middle school stands a chemical plant that President Trump excused from new federal rules intended to curb its cancer-causing pollution.

  About a 30-minute drive from Pittsburgh, a steel-making facility has spewed carcinogenic chemicals near homes for years. Mr. Trump gave it a similar waiver from recent clean-air rules.

• • Fracking and Data Centers

  In Pennsylvania, Data Center Development is Growing In Part Because of the State’s Large Supply of Natural Gas
  
  {LOE.ORG}

  Oct. 23, 2026 -One of the states where data centers to power AI are growing is Pennsylvania, which also has a large supply of natural gas. In Upper Burrell, a town just east of Pittsburgh, a data center expansion could be fed by fracking rigs already pumping gas out of the ground. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports the town is trying to keep pace with these two big industries in its backyard.

• • A Fossil Fuel Treaty Beyond the UNFCCC

  The 2025 Level Shows a 13.06% Increase in Concentration Since Then
  
  {LOE.ORG}

  Oct. 23, 2026 -Thirty years of UN climate sessions and the persistent wide gap between discussion and action to slow the climate crisis have left some countries and NGOs frustrated as they face a dire future. So even as COP31 begins in November in Turkey, an alternate path already began in April in Colombia when roughly 60 countries met for the first Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. Tzeporah Berman, founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss her hopes for the process as she looks ahead to the second conference next year.

• • Supersonic Aircraft Maker Boom Will Build
  Turbines to Power Data Centers at New Factory in Centennial

  Boom Hopes to Deliver Planes in 2030, But Will Apply Its Engine Tech to Propel AI Data Centers — Without Consuming Electricity Or Water
  
  {THE COLORADO SUN}

  Oct. 23, 2026 -Aircraft manufacturer Boom Supersonic announced plans Thursday to hire 500 people and open a new manufacturing plant near Centennial Airport. But the factory isn’t for its supersonic jets, which are expected to be used in commercial flights in 2030.

  Rather, the engine is the star. The engine technology developed for supersonic aircraft has found an alternative use as a natural gas turbine engine to power data centers without relying on the electrical grid — or water. Boom calls it Superpower.

• • CPW Investigating Reported Bear Attack
  in Clear Creek County Thursday Morning

  Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Says It is Investigating the Attack
  
  {KRDO}

  Oct. 23, 2026 -According to CPW, a homeowner on Castlewood Drive told CPW around 1 a.m. that he heard noises on the deck and found a bear outside near the trash cans. The man says he tried to scare the bear away by yelling but it ran towards him.

  CWP says the man then pushed the bear away, and it retreated and charged at him again. The man says he then kicked the bear in self-defense and it ran away from the property. CPW says the man then sought medical treatment.

• • Drinking Water May Have Much More
  ‘Forever Chemicals’ Than EPA Reports

  The Level of These Hazardous Chemicals Could Be Twice As High As Reported

  

  Oct. 23, 2026 -The amount of “forever chemicals” in drinking water in the United States could be twice as high as levels reported in federal monitoring data, a new study has found.

  PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, earned their nickname because they resist breaking down in the environment. The hazardous chemicals are found in many everyday products, including cosmetics, kitchen cookware and food packaging. From there they make their way into soil and into drinking water.

• • More Rain is Expected After Bad Flooding In
  the Four Corners Region Led to Rescues and Evacuations

  About 1,500 People Were Without Power, Local Utilities Reported

  

  Oct. 24, 2026 -Hundreds of people lost power and were told to evacuate in the Four Corners area, emergency crews staged overnight rescues, and roads and bridges remained closed Saturday because of severe flooding in Colorado and New Mexico.

  Authorities expected more rain Saturday in the region where the borders of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Two months of heavy rains in the area ended a summer drought, and from Wednesday through Friday, a total of 4 inches (10 centimeters) fell on saturated ground, with another 1 inch (2.5 centimete

• • Air Pollution and Human Reproduction

  The Health Consequences Of Burning Fossil Fuels Go Beyond What You Might Expect, As Ashanti Mclean Reports in This Week’s Note On Emerging Science
  
  {LOE.ORG}

  Oct. 23, 2026 -Fine particulate air pollution, or PM2.5, has been linked to many health consequences such as cancer, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular damage. Now researchers are finding connections between exposure to this air pollution and longer menstrual cycles. Ashanti McLean reports in this note on Emerging Science how period tracker app data helped make the link.

• • Floodwaters Recede in Southwest Colorado

  But Evacuation Warnings Remain
  
  {KTV11ALERT}

  Oct. 23, 2026 -Fast-moving floodwaters have rushed through the San Juan River as communities across southwestern Colorado deal with flooding and road closures.

  The National Water Prediction Service reported the San Juan River peaked at about 15 feet early Friday morning before beginning to recede. Water levels had dropped to about 13 feet by midafternoon. The Animas River was also expected to crest Friday afternoon before gradually falling.

• • France Confirms First Human Infection
  of Shamonda Livestock Virus

  The Shamonda Virus Has Been Detected In a Human For the First Time, French Health Officials Said
  
  {DW}

  Oct. 22, 2026 -French health officials on Thursday confirmed that they had detected the Shamonda virus in a human — who died early this month — in what they say was the first-ever case of a human contracting the livestock disease.

  "Despite circulating in Africa and Asia for several decades, the Shamonda virus has never previously been detected in humans," said France's Ministries of Health and of Agriculture in a joint statement.

• • Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation

  Risk to the United States
  
  {CDC}

  Oct. 22, 2026,-CDC is responding to an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in remote areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

  To date, no cases of Ebola disease have been confirmed in the United States because of this outbreak.

  The overall risk to the American public and travelers remains low.

• • Indonesia Halts Massive Deforestation Project Years Early

  Protecting Millions of Rainforest Acres
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 22, 2026 -Indonesian authorities have paused, and perhaps ended, what had been described as the world’s largest deforestation project. Having achieved self-sufficiency in rice cultivation three years ahead of the government’s original schedule, around four million acres of rainforest, swamps, and peatlands across large Indonesian islands will be spared from deforestation.

  Though the ultimate destiny of these vast areas remains unclear, early indications suggest a shift in national priorities toward conservation and sustainable agriculture.

  “This decision reflects our commitment to balance food security with environmental stewardship,” an Indonesian agricultural spokesperson remarked.

• • Breakthrough Vaccine For the Deadliest
  Skin Cancer Cut Risk By Almost Half

  The Vaccine Used Against Melanoma is Based On Mrna Technology That Helped End the Coronavirus Pandemic

  

  Oct. 22, 2026 -A groundbreaking vaccine reduced the risk of death or recurrence of melanoma by almost half, an encouraging signal for a treatment seeking federal approval that has boosted the fortunes of drugmakers Moderna and Merck and could usher in a new wave of cancer treatments.

  The drug, intismeran autogene, which uses messenger RNA (mRNA) to deliver a vaccine tailored to the genetic profile of a patient’s cancer tumor, reduced the risk of recurrence or death from melanoma by 42 percent compared to a standard treatment in a Phase 3 clinical trial, Moderna and Merck announced Thursday.

• • El Niño Rains Batter Latin America From Mexico to Chile

  UN Warns of 'Wrecking Ball' El Nino

  

  Oct. 22, 2026 -An intensifying El Niño-linked storm season this week brought flooding to Paraguay, killed two farm workers in Argentina's cattle belt and damaged coastal communities in Peru and Mexico.

  Part of a luxury condominium complex on Mexico’s Pacific coast in the tourist town of San Pancho in Nayarit State collapsed on Wednesday after pounding surf ate away the sand beneath it, exposing its foundation and leaving the structure tilted dramatically toward the sea.

• • A Mutated Virus is Driving the US into an Early Flu Season

  Especially On the West Coast
  
  {CNN Health}

  Oct. 22, 2026 - Flu season is picking up months ahead of schedule with a mutated virus spreading in some parts of the United States, surprising some people who might not even be thinking about their annual flu shots yet.

  This year, the season started 2 1/2 months earlier than what’s typical and hit states on the West Coast first, which is unusual, said Dr. Alex Greninger, head of the Division of Infectious Disease Diagnostics at the University of Washington’s Department of Laboratory Medicine.

• • The Little Girl With the Radioactive Backyard

  A Young Family Thought They Had Escaped the Toxic Legacy of Love Canal With a Dream House Near a Creek in the Suburbs. Then...

  

  Oct. 22, 2026 -The first time Lexi Hawk sensed something was wrong, she was playing in her backyard with her toddler, Bailee. Ms. Hawk heard a plane that sounded as if it was right on top of them. She looked and there it was, flying super slow and right above the treetops. It passed over her house again and again.

  “I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” she remembers thinking. “‘Are we getting attacked?’”

• • How the Air Around Us Could Harm the Brain

  A Remarkable New Picture is Emerging

  

  Oct. 22, 2026 -Last year, startled scientists reported that the average human brain they studied contained roughly the weight of a plastic spoon in microplastics and nanoplastics. Now, a deeper look suggests a much broader assortment of material from the outside world — silica, metals, soot and other debris — is getting through.

  Researchers from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and other institutions examined, in extraordinary detail, brain tissue from 11 people who died at ages 80 to 91. They discovered that some particles had penetrated deep into the brain, reaching the amygdala, a region that helps shape emotion and memory.

• • European Parliament Votes to Approve
  Three-Year Delay On EU Methane Rules

  The Rules, Originally Due to Take ?Effect On January 1, 2027, Would Have Required Foreign Oil and Gas Suppliers to the EU to Monitor and Report Methane

  

  Oct. 22, 2026 -The European Parliament voted on Thursday to approve a three-year delay to the EU's methane emissions rules for oil and gas imports, marking a longer-than-expected delay after pressure from governments including France and the United States.

  Up until a few weeks ago, the EU was set for a one-year delay, but lobbying had intensified pushing for a three-year delay, including from the Czech Republic and Italy.

• • France Reports First Human Case of
  Livestock Virus Shamonda After Patient Dies

  UN's WHO, European Authorities Monitoring Incident

  

  Oct. 22, 2026 -France reported the first human case of the Shamonda virus usually found in livestock on Thursday in a hospital patient who died, though authorities said there was no risk to the general population.

  It is suspected that the victim was bitten by a midge carrying the virus in eastern France where it had circulated among animals this spring and ?summer, the government said in a statement.

• • We’re Way Closer to Protecting
  30% of the Planet Than We Knew

  But There’s a Catch

  

  Oct. 21, 2026 -First, the good news: The world might be a lot closer than we think to an international goal of protecting 30% of land by 2030.

  The bad news: It’s probably not all the right land.

  The nations of the world have placed protections on roughly 27% of the planet’s land masses, far more than the 19% previously thought, according to research recently published in Nature.

• • ETH Zurich Breakthrough Turns Everyday
  Plexiglas Waste into Fresh High-Quality Material

  Researchers Are Optimistic This Breakthrough Could Dramatically Reduce Plastic Waste Around the World
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 21, 2026 -Researchers at ETH Zurich have found a practical new method that breaks down acrylic glass—better known as Plexiglas—almost entirely into its original building blocks, making high-quality recycling realistic and affordable for the first time.

  Acrylic glass shows up in everyday products like windows, car taillights, furniture and protective barriers.

  Most of it has ended up in landfills or incinerators because previous recycling techniques were costly or produced lower-grade material.

• • Some Residents Allowed to Return Home
  After Toledo Chemical Release

  Dense Fog and Haze Hindered Visibility In the Ohio City of About 265,000 People, and...
  
  {NBC NEWS}

  Oct. 21, 2026 -A chemical release at a north Toledo, Ohio, company prompted an evacuation of nearby residents, including some who described concerning health effects and an alarming foglike haze.

  Glycol methacrylate, an industrial coating product, was released into the air Tuesday night, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz told reporters Wednesday morning. One person, a first responder, was injured and taken to the hospital, he added, but officials believe the injury is not serious.

• • In Honduras, Hard Hit By Drought,
  Authorities Hope to Make It Rain

  The Case For (or Against) Cloud Seeding

  

  Oct. 21, 2026 -Victor Torres is on the hunt for clouds as he flies over parched corn fields ravaged by months of drought in the rugged Honduran mountains.

  “We’re seeing strong cloud cover over here,” the pilot says, pointing to a map on the dashboard as he banks the small plane sharply into a patch of dark gray.

  Behind him, a technician cranks the knob of a large metal tank, which hisses as it sprays yellow silver iodide particles into the skies

• • Britain Approves Long-Stalled Gas
  Drilling Project in the North Sea

  The Project Will Lessen the Country’s Dependence On Imported Energy...

  

  Oct. 21, 2026 -More than half a century ago, massive discoveries of oil and gas reserves in the North Sea turned Britain into an energy powerhouse and reshaped its economy.

  But over the years, the politics and geology of extracting fossil fuels changed drastically. Production in the North Sea steadily dropped as the basin aged. The urgent need to tackle global warming meant drilling faced increasing political pressure, higher taxes and tougher regulations. And once-vibrant cities, particularly in northeast Scotland, faced severe decline.

• • Should Power Pros Be Worried About
  AI-Fueled Cyber Threats?

  Signs Point to Yes
  
  {energy central}

  Oct. 21, 2026 -The cause for alarm: In recent months, more than 12 states reported possible cyberattacks on water and wastewater utilities—and, as EC contributor and cybersecurity expert Richard Brooks told us, AI makes it “very easy” for hackers to exploit system vulnerabilities within minutes.

  Digging in: To better understand these risks, cybersecurity company Frenos tested how AI models plan attacks on industrial systems like the software used by water utilities. The “strongest frontier models” (all unnamed) succeeded around 90% of the time…and this tech continues to advance.

  A caveat: The company didn’t test how human intervention could halt or mitigate the attacks.

• • U.S. Gets Its First New National Park In Six Years

  Arizona’s Chiricahua, Previously a Monument, is Known For Its Rock Spires

  

  Oct. 21, 2026 -In southeastern Arizona, hundreds of rock spires rise out of a landscape where desert, grassland and forest ecosystems meet.

  Meet the United States’ newest national park: Chiricahua.

  The sacred Apache site, also called the “Wonderland of Rocks,” became the 64th national park late Tuesday when President Trump signed the Chiricahua National Park Act.

• • Six Bold Bets On the future of US Clean Power

  After Being Largely Flat For Two Decades, US Electricity Demand Has Started Climbing Sharply

  

  Oct. 21, 2026 -After two decades of flat demand, US electricity use is climbing and the race is on for generation sources that can operate around the clock and reliably deliver the power needed to run an increasingly energy-hungry US economy.

  Wind and solar are cheap but intermittent. Natural gas supplies are abundant but there are long delays for new pipelines and the turbines needed to burn it.

• • Ohio EPA: 'Error' During Transfer
  Led to Chemical Leak in Toledo

  A Chemical Tank Explosion in Toledo, Ohio, Has Caused More Than 900 Evacuations and Thousands More to Shelter In Place
  
  {UPI}

  Oct. 21, 2026 -An Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson said Wednesday that an "error" during transfer led to an incident in which a chemical tank started venting its contents in Toledo, leading to evacuations, shelter-in-place orders and concerns about an explosion.

  As of early Wednesday evening, Toledo Mayor Wayne Kapszukiewicz said that the tank was "almost done venting" and that officials don't see an explosion as "a very real possibility" at this point.

• • UK Approves Long-Delayed Jackdaw
  Gas Field On Energy Security Grounds

  Jackdaw to Start Supplying Gas By End of This Month

  

  Oct. 21, 2026 - Britain on Wednesday approved the Jackdaw North Sea gas field, ending years of legal and political wrangling as the Labour government seeks to balance its climate goals with energy security concerns.

  Energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said the project would begin supplying gas by the end of this month, helping ease energy costs that have surged during the Iran war.

• • After a Decade of Efforts to Regulate Methane,
  the Trump Administration Promises New Rules

  In Both Terms, Trump Has Rolled Back Or Blocked Attempts to Reduce Highly Warming Methane Emissions From the Oil and Gas Industry

  

  Oct. 20, 2026 -In the Permian Basin of West Texas, methane gas billows from oil wells. It blasts out of pressure valves on pipelines, wafts from sprawling gas processing plants and rises up in plumes when companies air out systems during routine maintenance in the nation’s largest oilfield.

  More than a decade of efforts to bring these practices under control has yielded slim results. The Obama administration proposed methane standards in 2015, but the first Trump administration rolled them back. The Biden administration developed a detailed set of rules, which the second Trump administration blocked.

• • Towards Governance of Climate Cooling Approaches

  Scenarios and Policy Planning Tool
  
  {center for future generations}

  Oct. 20, 2026 -Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) is a form of solar radiation modification (SRM) that would reflect a portion of sunlight back into space to reduce global temperatures. It is not a solution to climate change. It would not reduce atmospheric carbon concentrations, or reverse ocean acidification, but it could lower global temperatures within months while mitigation and carbon removal take effect over decades. Its consequences would be global, imperfect, and unevenly distributed. Decisions about SAI research, deployment, and governance are contested.

• • Fecal Waste Contaminates Sinkholes,
  Drinking Wells In Mexico's Yucatan

  Greenpeace Says All 17 Tested Sites Show Contamination Likely Linked to Fecal Waste

  

  Oct. 20, 2026 - Water from wells and sinkholes in Mexico's Yucatan state that residents use for drinking is contaminated with fecal bacteria, according to a Greenpeace report published on Tuesday, which said nearby pig farms and municipal wastewater were likely sources.

  Greenpeace called for an immediate moratorium on new industrial livestock operations and farm expansions in the state, home to the ancient Maya civilization.

• • The Overlapping Plagues Quietly Devastating American Forests

  The Trees Are Sick

  

  Oct. 19, 2026 -Epidemics are escalating, across numerous species, as more and more pests and pathogens invade forests. Their entryway is global trade — in live plants, and in the countless products that are shipped in wooden pallets, crates and other packaging. As trade has boomed, so have the opportunities for tiny stowaways to wreak havoc.

  “We’re moving insects and microbes around the world through trade very rapidly, and basically running an experiment” to see which ones will take hold, said Bernard Slippers, a forest pathologist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

• • Four Years Ago Countries Made a
  Historic Deal to Save Nature

  Is It Dead In the Water?

  

  Oct. 19, 2026 -Passersby could smell the dead fish before they saw them. In August, more than 3,000 pike, roach, carp and rudd were found lifeless along the River Wensum in Norwich. Some gasped for air in their final moments, desperate for the oxygen that heatwave conditions had depleted in the water. Investigators believe that the die-off was triggered by heavy rainfall that flushed through high concentrations of pollution at a time when wildlife were already struggling.

• • Trump Admin Tees Up First Ocean Mineral Lease Sale

  The Marine Minerals Administration Sale Would Authorize Exploratory Activities Off the Coast of American Samoa
  
  {POLITICO}

  Oct. 19, 2026 -The Trump administration will hold the first-ever lease sale for ocean mining exploration off the coast of American Samoa this fall, pushing forward with allowing deep-sea mining activities despite the objections of the U.S. territory's elected leaders.

  What happened: The Marine Minerals Administration on Monday announced its final notice to hold the sale in south Pacific Ocean waters on Nov. 19. The agency also released findings that issuing commercial leases to conduct exploratory activities offshore in American Samoa would not significantly affect the environment in 31 million acres of ocean.

• • Typhoon Champi Strengthens to Category 5

  But Moves Away From Land; Trudy Weakens

  

  Oct. 19, 2026 - Typhoon Champi has moved from the western Pacific into the Philippine Sea and has become a Category 5 super typhoon, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

  It had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (258 kph) by late Monday Asia time, and was not near land.

• • Abandoned Oil Well Spreads Toxic Fumes

  Dread Across San Antonio Subdivision

  

  Oct. 18, 2026 -In Texas, suburbs have sprung up where oil pump jacks once bobbed.

  At the Preserve at Medina, a subdivision of brick-and-siding starter homes in southwest San Antonio, students filed off a school bus on a hot afternoon. One child turned down Vesper Branch, a street with a plugged oil well ringed by a heavy black metal fence:

  “CAUTION flammable gas,” a sign on the fence warned.

• • More Tornadoes Are Popping Up In Eastern Cities

  Here’s How to Stay Safe

  

  Oct. 18, 2026 -On Oct. 10, rotating supercell thunderstorms spawned five tornadoes across eastern Georgia and southern South Carolina as remnants of Hurricane Isaias pushed tropical air across the southeastern United States. One day later, tornadoes downed trees across central and eastern North Carolina.

  The outbreaks were associated with a tropical cyclone, but they also come amid what meteorologists call a “second season” of severe weather — when the cooler months from October through February can bring stronger wind shear, one of the conditions necessary for tornado formation.

• • 4 Service Members Killed and Dozens
  Injured in Fire At Alberta Military Base

  Carney Said the Families of Those Killed Had Been Notified and That the Situation Was Still Evolving
  
  {npr}

  Oct. 18, 2026 -Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that four service members were killed and dozens more seriously injured in a fire at a military base in Alberta, describing it as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada's military on domestic soil.

  Fire crews scrambled late Saturday as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area. The Canadian military said Sunday there were no indications that the incident was the result of terrorism, but the cause remained under investigation.

• • Stanford Scientists Restore Ghost-White
  Corals to Vibrant Life in Seven Weeks

  Stanford Lab Achieves the Fastest Documented Recovery Ever Recorded
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 17, 2026 -Coral bleaching has been reversed at record speed using a new method developed at Stanford University. Corals that were ghostly white returned to full health in their lab in a mere seven weeks—the fastest documented recovery to date.

  It is the first time scientists have observed bleached corals on the brink of death fully recover.

  The breakthrough offers a glimmer of hope for threatened reefs around the world.

• • Stampede at a Popular Hindu Festival In Eastern India Kills 19

  A Stampede During a Major Hindu Festival Has left at least 19 People Dead

  

  Oct. 17, 2026 -The stampede in the state capital of Kolkata happened Saturday night when a crowd near a pavilion ran for cover as it began raining during Durga Puja, an annual Hindu festival celebrating the goddess Durga. According to police, some worshippers fell on the road, triggering the stampede.

  Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited Kolkata Medical College and Hospital where victims were taken, said 19 people had died and 25 were receiving treatment. He announced an investigation by a Special Investigation Team to be headed by a judge of the state’s High Court.

• • Santa Barbara Airport Seeks Public
  Feedback on Climate Adaptation Plan

  Time to Put On Your CAP
  
  {Santa Barbara Independent}

  Oct. 17, 2026 -The City of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) are seeking public feedback on the Airport Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP).

  The CAP outlines a proactive approach to protect the Airport and surrounding coastal resources from increasing climate change hazards, including sea level rise and severe flooding. The plan prioritizes multi-benefit solutions that not only safeguard critical aviation infrastructure but also protect and enhance the valuable wetland habitats of the Goleta Slough.

  Santa Barbara Airport is highly vulnerable to flooding due to its low-lying location near the Goleta Slough. Without action, the current 20% annual risk of a flood-related airport closure is projected to rise to 60% by 2076. Last winter alone, SBA faced three separate airport closures due to severe flooding.

• • Frightening Moment Cyclists Run Into Wall
  of Flames From Socal Wildfire

  One Cyclist is Seen In the Distance At the Crest of the Hill as Flames and Billowing Black Suddenly Appear
  
  {NEW YORK POST}

  Oct. 17, 2026 -A group of mountain bikers encountered terrifying flames from a destructive wildfire as the dangerous blaze swept across communities in Orange County.

  Video footage from a group biking in the area of the Norte Fire showed a towering fireball approaching a hill along the Las Ramblas trail in San Juan Capistrano.

• • Seattle’s Floating Homes Evolve

  Storied, Small and Sometimes Sinking

  

  Oct. 17, 2026 -TURN OFF THE MAIN STREETS in the neighborhoods framing Lake Union and Portage Bay, and the urban din gives way to the buzz of seaplanes and boat motors. Kayaks and paddleboards take the place of Lime bikes and scooters, and pavement and sidewalks transition to creaky wooden docks that stretch over the water. Peering through the trees along the shore, views of colorful homes of every style come into focus, floating side by side on the calm lake waters.

  Here history and modern living collide.

• • Brazil Says Amazon Deforestation Fell
  to the Lowest Level Since 1988

  How the Government Curbed Deforestation

  

  Oct. 16, 2026 -Brazil’s government announced Friday that annual deforestation in the Amazon fell to its lowest level since records began in 1988. Official satellite data showed the rainforest lost 3,335 square kilometers (1,300 square miles) from Aug. 2025 through July 2026, the period used to calculate the annual rate.

  The data released Friday underscore the success of Brazil’s renewed efforts under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to curb Amazon deforestation, reversing a surge under his predecessor, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

• • Nations Meet in Armenia as Goal to
  Protect Nature Remains Out of Reach

  The U.N. is Convening Delegates From Nearly 200 Countries to Try to Make Progress On Pledges to the Environment

  

  Oct. 16, 2026 -Representatives from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Armenia to grapple with a pressing problem: halfway to a looming deadline, the world is off track to fulfill global pledges to protect wildlife and ecosystems.

  Under the auspices of the United Nations, delegates are expected over the next two weeks to discuss how countries are falling short of a 2022 landmark global agreement and what can be done to correct the course.

• • Trump Rule Lets Alaska Hunters Lure
  Bears With Bacon-Greased Doughnuts

  The National Park Service is Reviving a Practice That Was Banned By the Biden Administration and Condemned By Conservationists?

  

  Oct. 16, 2026 -Hunters on some public lands in Alaska will be allowed to bait bears with doughnuts soaked in bacon grease before shooting them at close range, under a rule the Trump administration released Friday.

  The final rule from the National Park Service revived a hunting method that the Biden administration banned in 2024 across millions of acres of Alaska wilderness. It also rekindled a long-running debate between hunters and conservationists.

• • Plant Armor Fabric Triples Strawberry Harvests

  While Cutting Pesticides
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 16, 2026 -Farmers in North Carolina just discovered a fabric so effective it more than triples strawberry yields while easing the burden on the environment. The innovation is called Plant Armor, a specially engineered textile that can be draped right over a strawberry patch like a gentle blanket. Early field tests show the material protects fruit and foliage without any negative impact on plant health.

  The 3-dimensional structure of Plant Armor creates a unique micro-climate that deters pests naturally. Because fewer insects reach the berries, growers can dramatically reduce pesticide sprays. The fabric also shades the soil, helping it retain moisture so irrigation needs drop as well.

• • Wildlife Overpass Proves Its Worth as
  Collisions Plummet on Colorado Highway

  Bears, Elk, Moose, and Countless Smaller Creatures Safely Cross Busy Lanes
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 16, 2026 -Ten months ago, a sweeping 200-foot bridge spanning six lanes of Interstate 25 near Larkspur, Colorado, opened to the public. Since then, state wildlife officials have watched the numbers with quiet delight.

  Today those numbers speak volumes: collisions between vehicles and wildlife have plunged an astonishing 91 percent. Drivers along this once-troublesome stretch now enjoy calmer commutes, while elk, bears, and moose move freely to feeding grounds and winter ranges.

• • How One Global Climate Deal Worked
  ‘Perfectly’ as Others Faltered

  Ten Years Later, It’s Clear That the ?Agreement is Succeeding?

  

  Oct. 15, 2026 -Over the past decade, the nations of the world have struggled to aggressively fight global warming. With a notable exception.

  In 2016, more than 170 countries agreed to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, super-polluting chemicals widely used in air-conditioners and refrigerators. Known as HFCs, they are an extremely potent greenhouse gas and trap much more heat than carbon dioxide.

• • Climate Activists Launch Floating Gardens in British Harbor

  We Built a Wildlife Corridor in a City'
  
  {GOODGOODGOOD}

  Oct. 14, 2026 -“What if we can make our towns resilient against floods, heat waves, and droughts, whilst boosting biodiversity and mental health?” asks documentary filmmaker Cameron in a YouTube video. “Right now, all around the world, people are finding incredible ways to bring nature back into our cities. And we’re here in Bristol to do exactly that.

  Nicoll is the creative director at Planet Wild, a nature protection organization. It regularly releases YouTube videos about new environmental projects, and their short doc on “floating wetlands” currently has over 1.5 million views.

• • New Study Reveals Clues About the
  Origins of Nepal’s Deadly Flood

  Using Seismic Data From Nepal and China, Researchers Identified Dozens of Small Seismic Events in the Weeks Before the August Rock-And-Ice Collapse and Ensuing Flood

  

  Oct. 14, 2026 -A new study in the journal Seismica presents the first comprehensive seismic analysis of what happened during the disastrous flood in Nepal on Aug. 26. But exactly what triggered the mountainside to give way remains unclear.

  A massive section of a Himalayan mountainside collapsed near the Nepal-China border, sending millions of cubic meters of rock and ice crashing downhill. The collapse unleashed a devastating flash flood that tore through valleys and communities along Nepal’s Trishuli River. At least 1,455 people were reported dead, and 5,285 remained missing as of Oct.7, according to the Associated Press.

• • Singapore Pollution Spikes, East Timor Shuts
  Schools as Indonesia Wildfire Haze Intensifies

  Pollution Readings In Singapore Reached Their Highest Level This Year on Wednesday

  

  Oct. 14, 2026 -Pollution readings in Singapore reached their highest level this year on Wednesday while East Timor shut its schools for three days in response to intensifying smoke and haze from Indonesia's wildfires.

  Singapore's 1-hour PM2.5 reading hit a high of 284 micrograms per cubic metre in the western part of the island state, entering the National Environmental Agency's "very high" band for the first time during the current haze period.

• • Lake Powell Dries Up

  Mud Threatens Its Future

  

  Oct. 14, 2026 -“Don’t stand behind me,” says Cari Johnson, as she digs a small gardening hoe into a steep slope above the Colorado River in Utah’s remote Cataract Canyon in an attempt to climb. “This is all loose.”

  Her warning is well-founded. As the University of Utah geology professor places one foot on her newly carved step, it gives way underneath her. “This one’s coming down,” she shouts as a basketball-sized clay boulder begins to tumble, sending up plumes of fine dust.

• • To Heal These Bleached Corals, All It Took Was a Little Touch

  After Sick Corals Were Placed In Direct Contact With Healthy Ones of the Same Genetic Makeup, They Recovered At “Incredible” Speed?

  

  Oct. 14, 2026 -Danny Collins looked into his microscope and could scarcely believe his eyes: A piece of healthy coral was healing a sick one just by touching it.

  These were tiny coral nubbins, not a whole colony. And they were in a lab in California, not on an actual reef. Still, the transformation was striking: The ghostly, heat-shocked coral was regaining its color in a matter of weeks, not the months it might take in the wild.

• • Biomethane Plant Powers 3,000 Homes

  Italy’s Newest Green Energy Win
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 13, 2026 -A European energy developer has switched on a major biomethane plant in southern Italy that will save some 9,000 tons of CO2 annually by producing a natural gas substitute with agricultural waste.

  Located in Grottole, in the ‘instep’ of the Italian Peninsula, the plant will ultimately produce 45 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy a year for local families and businesses.

• • Fewer Buyers for Timber on Federal
  Land Raises Risk of Wildfires

  Loggers Are Finding It Impossible to Profitably Harvest Some Federal Forests, Leaving More Fuel For Fires to Accumulate.

  

  Oct. 13, 2026 -When the U.S. Forest Service opened 947 acres in a remote section of western Colorado to commercial logging in July, officials expected at least a few companies to jump at the opportunity.

  Not one did. None had bid a year earlier, either. Surging fuel costs and plummeting prices for Ponderosa pine made it impossible for them to turn a profit from the sale, so they all skipped it.

• • Congo’s Confirmed Ebola Cases Exceed 9,000

  As Containment Efforts Falter

  

  Oct. 13, 2026 -Confirmed cases in Congo’s Ebola outbreak have surpassed 9,000, with more than 4,300 deaths, as health authorities struggle to contain an outbreak spreading across seven provinces, according to government figures released Tuesday.

  The Health Ministry reported 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths, with the death toll approaching half the number of confirmed cases.

• • Tourist Trash Has Done Weird Things
  to Yellowstone's Thermal Pools

  Sometimes, the Litter Leaves a Lasting Impact

  

  Oct. 13, 2026 -In the 1880s, a visitor to Yellowstone National Park described how the churning waters of a pool not far from Old Faithful would suck a handkerchief down and return it “nice and clean” in a few minutes. Hundreds of visitors dropped their hankies into the warm waters of the Handkerchief Pool as it was known. The pool’s trick stopped working around 1927, and in 1929, a ranger removed kerchiefs, over 100 hair pins, a horseshoe and more from the pool.

  Handkerchief Pool is no longer accessible by boardwalk, and tossing objects into hot springs is now illegal. But the problem of trash and debris in Yellowstone’s features persists, as does the park’s efforts to clean it up.

• • When an Elephant Dies, Its Body
  Marks the Landscape For a Decade

  The Massive Bodies Contain So Many Nutrients That Their Effects Linger Long After a Carcass Seems to Disappear

  

  Oct. 13, 2026 -In the circle of life, nothing merely disappears — especially not something as massive as an elephant, which can weigh up to seven tons during its 70-year lifespan.

  Research published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details how elephant carcasses shaped the savanna up to almost a decade after their deaths, finding that they triggered bare spots on the landscape before transforming into nutrient-rich hubs of vegetative growth and feeding.

• • Wildlife Artist’s Brushstrokes Inspire a Greener Britain

  His Paintings Are Helping Local Communities Embrace Nature Restoration
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 13, 2026 -From his countryside studio, a passionate painter is turning the vision of a wilder Britain into vivid scenes that celebrate native flora and fauna.

  Each canvas tells the story of rivers returning to their natural flow and meadows blooming once more with wildflowers.

  “I want people to feel the same sense of wonder I experience when I stand among these rewilded spaces,” the artist shares.

• • Cyberattack Hits Hundreds of
  Supermarket Refrigeration Systems in France

  The Attackers Have Not Been Identified

  

  Oct. 13, 2026 -A cyberattack hit refrigeration systems in more than 400 supermarkets in France this week, according to several major food retailers.

  Some 300 shops from the Intermarché and Netto chains were affected, as well as 80 from Coopérative U and 30 from Monoprix. The attack targeted systems made by three refrigeration companies that remotely control refrigerators, according to France’s National Cybersecurity Agency.

• • Jeffco Resident Could Have Exposed Thousands
  to Measles at DIA Earlier This Month

  This,According to State Health Officials
  
  {KKTV11 ALERT}

  Oct. 12, 2026 -A Jefferson County resident infected with measles could have exposed thousands of people after flying in and out of Denver International Airport earlier this month, state health officials said Friday.

  The individual — an adult with unknown vaccination status against the highly transmissible virus — traveled in and out of the airport at least three times during the first week of October, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. State health officials say it’s likely the patient was exposed during travel outside of Colorado.

• • The Denver Area Didn’t Conserve Enough Water This Summer

  Now It’s Taking More From the Western Slope
  
  {THE COLORADO SUN}

  Oct. 12, 2026 -Denver Water is pulling more water from rivers, creeks and communities in Grand County to refill its reservoirs after a record-hot summer, sparking pushback from some western Coloradans.

  Denver Water’s reservoirs — the water storage for 1.5 million people — are far lower than normal for this time of the year. The utility has issued mandatory restrictions, which means it can also increase the amount of water it pulls from certain streams and rivers on the Western Slope for the Denver area.

• • Tears and Shock As Fire Destroys
  Paris’s Oldest Covered Food Market

  A Devastating Blaze Destroyed the French Capital’s Oldest Covered Food Market
  
  {FRANCE24}

  Oct. 12, 2026 -New Yorkers Lorrie and Ricky so enjoyed discovering the Marché des Enfants Rouges (Red children’s market) a few days ago, that they decided to pay another visit to its celebrated food stalls before leaving the French capital.

  But when they approached the centuries-old venue on Monday morning, they were greeted by police cordons, fire trucks and a foul, acrid smell hanging over this picturesque neighbourhood in central Paris.

• • Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to
  Halt Work For a Day On Historic DC Golf Course

  Reyes Said the 24-Hour Temporary Order Could Be Extended to 14 Days If Necessary

  

  Oct. 12, 2026 -U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree-cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course, a historic D.C. course that has been part of President Donald Trump’s plans to remake the city.

  Reyes issued the order following a tense three-hour hearing in which she harshly criticized the government for having deceived her with its actions over the holiday weekend.

• • How a Bid to Beat Drought Drove Corpus
  Christi to the Brink of Disaster

  What Started As a Novel Plan to Build a Desalination Plant Supplying Plentiful Water to the Oil And Gas Industry Has Landed the Texas City In a Financial and Political Quagmire

  

  Oct. 12, 2026 -Eight years ago, at the height of the shale-oil boom, a committee of industry giants and public officials unveiled a bold plan to make Corpus Christi “drought proof.”

  With this plan, a consultant explained to city officials at the time, their semi-arid stretch of coastline in South Texas could finally overcome the economic limitations of its scarce water supply.

• • The Race for Lithium Is Becoming a Race for Water

  In the Arid American West, Expanded Mining Intensifies Battles In Vulnerable Communities Over One of the Region’s Scarcest Resources

  

  Oct. 11, 2026 -On a border-town road surrounded by alfalfa and grain fields, William Cooper stopped before a dusty, vacant lot. Its owner, he said, is one of many investors drawn to the arid Imperial Valley by a critical mineral propelling the green energy transition.

  “They buy it up and leave it, just waiting for the opportunity,” Cooper said of the land investors.

  Now, with each gust of desert wind, dust drifts from the lot into the yards of two adjacent schools. Often, the buildings disappear behind a haze and the schoolchildren gasp for air, said Cooper, who moved here from San Diego years ago.

• • Powerful Panama Quake Aftershocks Rattle Communities

  Panama Declares a State of Emergency

  

  Oct. 11 2026 -The government of Panama declared a state of emergency Saturday as the aftershocks of two powerful earthquakes that roiled the country shook communities for hours. Officials did not attribute any deaths to the quakes but reported damages in all 10 of Panama’s provinces and two Indigenous territories.

  The 7.7- and 6.6-magnitude earthquakes on Friday toppled buildings near the epicenter and prompted evacuations across the Central American country. Seismologists recorded more than 100 aftershocks, including ones measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2.

• • Thousands Are Still Without Power After the First
  Hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic Season Made Landfall

  Posted in Energy & Grid Management
  
  {energy central}

  Oct. 11, 2026 -Storm update: More than 200K customers in FL and AL were still without power on Sunday night, after Hurricane Isais barreled through this weekend. Another 15K in CA also had no power.

  FPL said it aims to have 95% of customer power restored by the end of the day. Alabama Power had restored 90% of impacted customers as of Sunday morning. The remaining outages there are in “some of the hardest hit areas” of the state, the utility wrote.

• • The Greek National Park Suffocated by Fish Farming

  Greece’s $900 Million Aquaculture Industry is Sacrificing Sea Life As It Slowly Strangles One of Europe’s Most Important Marine Sanctuaries

  

  Oct. 11, 2026 -For two thousand years, the Ambracian Gulf in western Greece provided life to its Mediterranean neighbors. Today, it’s an industrial graveyard.

  Trace the Gulf’s northern coast, and you’ll uncover beaches of Styrofoam, not sand. Descend into its murky depths, and you’ll find waters depleted of the oxygen essential for marine life. Scour the nets of local boats, and you’ll encounter few fish.

• • PVC Pipes Swept Away By Hurricane Helene
  Dominate Cleanup of North Carolina River

  They're Piled On River Banks, Lodged In Uprooted Trees, Embedded In Sediment and Jammed Under Logs...
  
  {WCVB5}

  Oct. 11, 2026 -Two years after Hurricane Helene leveled forests, bulldozed houses and filled western North Carolina rivers with everything from cars to refrigerators, the work of cleaning up the debris goes on. And along the iconic French Broad River, known for its whitewater rapids, one item stands out among the rest: massive numbers of PVC pipes that washed away from a factory north of Asheville.

• • Isaias’s Remnants Spawn Tornadoes As They Move Inland

  The deadly Storm Knocked Out Power to Hundreds of Thousands of People

  

  Oct. 11, 2026 -Two days after Isaias made landfall in Florida as a Category 2 hurricane, downing trees, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people and leaving at least four dead, the storm’s remnants are still creating risky conditions, spawning tornadoes as what’s left of the system sweeps inland.

  A few tornadoes were likely Sunday, with the greatest risk near the North Carolina-Virginia border, including near the Tidewater and Rappahannock region.

• • Flash Flood From Budhi Gandaki River Hits Northern Nepal

  Villages Evacuated

  

  Oct. 11 2026 -Residents along the Budhi Gandaki River in north central Nepal evacuated on Sunday as flash flooding destroyed homes and other structures in the area.

  The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority evacuated villagers and warned others to move to safer areas while remaining on alert until late Sunday.

• • The US Is Desperate for More Electricity

  But a Simple Fix Could Free Up Gigawatts of Power Without Building New Plants
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Oct. 10, 2026 -In 2015, engineers at Toyota’s sprawling auto factory in Georgetown, Kentucky, found a way to save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on electricity. They didn’t install solar panels or replace the factory’s machinery. Instead, they installed a device that allowed the ventilation fans to slow down when demand was low.

  The company fitted 211 electric motors with electronic controllers that automatically adjusted their speed when the factory needed less airflow. The $1.25 million upgrade ultimately saved Toyota more than $700,000 annually in electricity costs. A U.S. Department of Energy case study estimated that the system would reduce the plant’s total electricity consumption by 2.6 percent.

• • Greece’s Seafood Problem Starts Elsewhere

  One of Europe’s Biggest Aquaculture Industries is Linked to Overfishing, Pollution, and More

  

  Oct. 10, 2026 -In May, the Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization gathered in Athens to promote the industry as the future of sustainable food security. Flanked by industry titans, the European commissioner for fisheries and oceans, Costas Kadis, framed aquaculture as a solution to the pressures of climate change, pollution and overfishing. “In the European Union, aquaculture is at the epicenter of our priorities,” he said.

• • Isaias Brings Threat of Floods Across the Southeast

  4 Dead From Storm

  

  Oct. 10 2026 -Isaias peeled off hotel and condominium rooftops and facades along the Florida Panhandle before charging north Saturday, dishing out torrential rains and the threat of flash floods and tornadoes across the Southeast.

  At least four deaths were linked to the storm, including two people killed when trees fell onto homes in Florida and Alabama. Forecasters warned that flooding could stretch into the Appalachians.

• • New Trump Rules Will Make It Harder For
  Farmers to Access US Funds For Energy Projects

  Critics Say Overhaul Could Price Out Many Who Relied On Grants to Help Finance Cost-Saving Projects

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -Trump's looming changes to a rural energy program that has distributed billions of dollars in recent years will make it harder for many farmers to access funds for such things as solar arrays and energy efficiency projects, farmers, energy companies and analysts said.

  It is Trump's latest move to slash government support for renewable energy. While working on the changes, the administration had halted applications this year for the Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP.

• • Looking for Oil in Alaska, No Environmental Strings Attached

  A Bureau of Land Management Decision Will Accelerate Permitting in the Nation’s Largest Single Tract of Public Land...

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -Oil companies will no longer be required to conduct environmental reviews before exploring for fossil fuel reservoirs in the Western Arctic, the largest tract of federally managed public land in the United States.

  The Bureau of Land Management announced a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act for winter oil and gas exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, also known as the Western Arctic. Published Friday in the Federal Register, the exemption comes as the Trump administration moves to accelerate oil and gas drilling in Alaska.

• • One of the World’s Wealthiest Cities is
  Enduring the World’s Most Polluted Air

  Here’s Why
  
  {CNN World}

  Oct. 9, 2026 - Singapore, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, has become the most polluted on the planet as it chokes under a blanket of thick, toxic smog caused by fires in neighboring Indonesia.

  Pollution has cast a pall on the city-state as it gets ready to host a packed weekend of marquee events ranging from international conferences to the glitzy Formula One Grand Prix night race.

• • Earthquake Strikes Panama At Magnitude 7.7

  Tsunami Threat Issued
  
  {USA TODAY}

  Oct. 9, 2026 -A major earthquake jolted the country of Panama on Oct. 9, the United States Geological Survey (USGS)reported.

  The quake measured a preliminary magnitude 7.7, the USGS said, with the epicenter just under nine miles southwest of Pitaloza Arriba.

  The temblor struck just before 1:56 p.m. ET, and it was not immediately clear whether the quake caused any injuries or damage.

• • Colorado Adopts Emergency Rule For New World Screwworm

  Screwworm Will Not Be a National Infestation, USDA Sec. Rollins Says
  
  {FOX21}

  Oct. 9, 2026 - Colorado has adopted a new emergency rule to control the spread of New World Screwworm (NWS) after a positive detection in Texas and New Mexico, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA).

  “With ongoing NWS outbreaks in neighboring regions and increased international livestock transport, updating our emergency rule is essential to protect the health and safety of Colorado’s animals and livestock industry,” said State Veterinarian Dr. Maggie Baldwin.

• • The 100-Year-Old Math Miscalculation
  That Broke the Colorado River

  Watch how century-old mistake and continuing drought have pushed Western water supply to the brink...
  
  {THE WALL STREET JOURNAL}

  Oct. 9, 2026 -About 40 million people rely on the Colorado River. But an extended drought and a century-old legal framework have pushed the system to a breaking point. Now, a federal plan threatening deep cuts has ignited a political and legal war across the Southwest.

  Watch Arizona State University water law professor Rhett Larson break down where the government’s framework falls short, why easy fixes won’t solve the issue, and what structural overhauls are needed to protect a crucial regional economy.

• • Hurricane Simon Crawls Along Mexico's Pacific Coast

  Bringing Floods and Evacuations

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -Hurricane Simon crept northwest just ?off Mexico's Pacific coast on Monday, lashing western states with dangerous winds, heavy rain and flooding that put riverside communities on alert for possible evacuations.

  The US National Hurricane Center said Simon was about 55 miles (90 km) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco state at 8 a.m. (1400 GMT), packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), making it a Category 2 hurricane.

• • 2 Dead, Hundreds of Thousands Without
  Power As Hurricane Isaias Sweeps Inland

  The Category 2 Hurricane Made Landfall In Florida Late Friday, Packing Wind Gusts Over 100 Mph and a Storm Surge of Up to 6 Feet

  

  Oct. 10, 2026 -Two people were killed by falling trees, and nearly 900,000 customers were without power after Hurricane Isaias roared ashore near Destin, Florida, late Friday night as a Category 2 hurricane, packing wind gusts over 100 mph and a storm surge of up to 6 feet.

  A wind gust to 117 mph was recorded in Pensacola Beach, Florida, while nearby Santa Rosa Beach gusted to 116 mph. The town of Milton gusted to 115 mph in the Florida Panhandle, and several other gusts to 105 mph were clocked nearby — ferocious winds driving power outages across Florida, Alabama and Georgia as of early Saturday, according to poweroutage.us.

• • Michigan Spill Prompts Federal Probe
  of Energy Transfer Pipelines’ Safety

  The Spill Just North of Detroit, Similar to a Jet Fuel Leak Last Year In Pennsylvania, Comes as Republicans Face Political Peril in Michigan

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -A crude oil pipeline spill last month in the Detroit suburbs has prompted federal authorities to open an investigation into the safety of all 20,000 miles of hazardous liquids pipelines operated by Energy Transfer.The 600-gallon spill at a commercial intersection in Sterling Heights, Michigan, has received little media coverage. Local news reports at the time, based on a statement from the city, described a much smaller spill and stressed that no residents or homes were in danger.

• • Heavy Rain Batters Chile’s Capital

  Sweeping Away Cars and Flooding Homes

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -Heavy rains drenched Chile’s capital and the surrounding region Thursday, triggering mudslides that swept cars through streets, flooded homes, forced residents to evacuate and injured at least six people, authorities said.

  President José Antonio Kast declared a state of emergency for Las Condes, a wealthy suburb east of Santiago, giving government agencies more power to respond as torrential rains turned key roads into impassable waterways. The district’s mayor, Catalina San Martín, said 14.4 centimeters (5.7 inches) of rain had fallen in recent days — about nine times the average October rainfall — leaving the area “totally saturated.”

• • South Baltimore Residents Grapple
  With Contradictory Incinerator Decisions

  Residents Expressed Confusion and Frustration As Regulators Shut Down One Incinerator and Considered Extending the Lifespan of Another

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -Around 100 Baltimore residents packed a community hall in the Curtis Bay neighborhood on the evening of Oct. 1. One after another, they implored the Maryland Department of the Environment not to renew the air permit for the city’s largest trash incinerator.

  The speakers—young residents and retirees, longtime neighbors, doctors, students and environmental advocates—described the daily ordeal of living with asthma and other respiratory illnesses amid the industrial pollution that surrounds Curtis Bay.

• • Hurricane Simon Rapidly Strengths Off
  Mexico's Pacific Coast, Threatens Tourist Region

  Jalisco State Has Started Preventive Evacuations

  

  Oct. 9, 2026 -Hurricane Simon is rapidly intensifying off Mexico's Pacific coast, packing sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph) as it churns toward a stretch of coastline dotted with beach resorts and fishing towns, the US National Hurricane Center said on Friday.

  Simon, currently a Category 1 hurricane, is forecast to become a dangerous Category 4 by Saturday as it nears Mexico's southwestern and west-central Pacific coast, one of the country's most popular tourist regions, the NHC said.

• • How is Community-Led Rehabilitation
  Restoring Mangroves In the Dominican Republic?

  Mangroves Are Returning to Montecristi, Where an SEI-Led Living Lab is Piloting a Comprehensive Restoration Approach
  
  {SEI}

  Oct. 8, 2026 -“This is really working,” says Robinson Jiménez from the local NGO Agrofrontera as he inspects the coastline where mangroves are again thriving.

  The living lab in Montecristi is part of SEI’s Resilient Coasts Caribbean Sea?? project, which helps local communities test solutions to restore coastal ecosystems in decline. In Montecristi, the main challenge was hypersalinity. The disastrous 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc in the area and damaged its natural system for seawater exchange, causing salinity levels to spike and mangroves to die off.

• • Despite Flood Risks, Nepal Has
  Rapidly Built in Vulnerable Areas

  The Total Footprint of Buildings Along Flood-Prone Riverbanks In the Himalayas Grew By Half In Recent Years

  

  Oct. 8, 2026 -Rapid warming in the Himalayas is increasing the threat of catastrophic floods like the ones that killed thousands in Nepal and Tibet this summer. Yet in recent years, people have continued to build in flood-prone areas, putting more lives and property at risk, according to a new analysis of satellite data.

  The total footprint of buildings along vulnerable river corridors in Nepal and the adjoining areas of India and China increased by nearly half between 2016 and 2023, scientists reported in a study published Thursday.

• • Encroaching Energy, Mine Concessions
  Threaten Protected Ecosystems

  Oil and Gas Blocks Encroach On More Than 61 Million Hectares of Protected Zones, Earth Insight Says

  

  Oct. 8, 2026 - Millions of hectares of protected tropical ecosystems are at risk from overlapping mining concessions and oil and gas blocks, researchers said on Thursday, potentially weakening a global treaty aimed at conserving 30% of the world's land, freshwater and oceans by the end of the decade.

  The research, opens new tab, led by US environment group Earth Insight, was released ahead of a new round of UN biodiversity talks scheduled to get underway in Yerevan, Armenia on October 18.

• • Hurricane Isaias Strengthens As US
  Gulf Coast Prepares For Landfall

  Florida Orders Evacuations; Alabama Declares Emergency

  

  Oct. 8, 2026 -Hurricane Isaias strengthened on Thursday as it barreled toward the US Gulf Coast, prompting mandatory evacuations in parts of Florida and emergency declarations in Alabama as forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surges, tornadoes and flooding.

  Isaias has already disrupted oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing energy companies to evacuate offshore platforms and shut down operations.

• • After a Storm, Rotting Food and a Foul
  Stench Haunt a Honolulu Restaurant

  Rain From Hurricane Lala Collapsed the Roof of the Happy Days Eatery in August, But the Cleanup Still Isn’t Done

  

  Oct. 7, 2026 -Rotting food that was left in dim sum carts, on dining tables and in unpowered freezers has been stinking up a Honolulu neighborhood more than a month after heavy rain from Hurricane Lala caused part of the roof of a seafood restaurant to collapse.

  It was the peak of the afternoon dim sum service on Aug. 18 when diners at the Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant heard a cracking noise above them and “just got up and left,” some with food still in their hands, said Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting for the city and county of Honolulu, which oversees building safety across the island of Oahu.

• • The American Livestock Industry’s Main Lobbying
  Group Treated Climate Change as a PR Problem

  New Research Reveales More Examples of the National Cattlemen’s Association’s Efforts to Downplay and Deny the Industry’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  

  Oct. 7, 2026 -In 1991, Random House published a picture book called “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: ABC’s for a Better Planet,” in which the masked cartoon turtles trade in their signature nunchucks for signs bearing environmental slogans.

  For “A,” the turtles explain the sources of acid rain. Under “B,” the concept of biodegradability.

• • What to Know About the Fears of Pneumonic Plague in Russia

  Russian Plague Case Raises Concern, But Experts Say U.S. Spread Risk is Low

  

  Oct. 7, 2026 - The death of a pathogen researcher in Siberia has raised concerns about the pneumonic plague, as Russian authorities provide little information publicly.

  The severe disease is less common than the better-known bubonic plague linked to the Black Death in the Middle Ages. Pneumonic plague spreads from person to person, causing a severe form of pneumonia, but recovery rates are high if it is detected and treated in time.

• • A Deadly Fungus That Attacks the Brain
  With a 70% Fatality Rate Is Turning
  Up More Often Across the US

  The Deadly Mold Can Infect Healthy People, and Scientists Don’t Know Why Detections Are Rising
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Oct. 7, 2026 -A fungus with a disturbing preference for the human brain appears to be turning up more often across the United States.

  Cladophialophora bantiana is exceptionally rare but exceptionally dangerous. It most often causes brain abscesses — pockets of infected material that can damage surrounding tissue and dangerously raise pressure inside the skull. Even with aggressive treatment, 60 to 70 percent of patients have historically died. Stranger still, roughly half of those infected have no known condition weakening their immune system.

• • Rainmakers: The Drones Used to Seed Clouds
  {yahoo!news}

  Oct. 7, 2026 -On 23 August, Cooper Freeman had no idea clouds above his head were being filled with a silver compound in order to cause rainfall.

  Neither did thousands of other residents in Homer, Alaska, who later discovered San Francisco start-up Rainmaker conducted an experiment in that region using cloud-seeding technology.

• • Scientists Urge Consumers to Stop Buying
  Products Made From Antarctic Krill

  A New Global Boycott Comes As Major Retailers Withdraw Krill Products From Their Shelves to Protect Whales and Other Marine Life

  

  Oct. 7, 2026 -In the Southern Ocean, whales, penguins, seals and seabirds feast on massive swarms of krill that underpin much of the region’s marine food web. Meanwhile, a growing fishing industry in Antarctica is also targeting the tiny crustaceans, used to make Omega-3 supplements, pet food and feed for farm-raised salmon. Now, a coalition of more than 30 scientists and ocean advocates, who call themselves the Antarctic Avengers, are asking shoppers to boycott these products to protect marine life.

• • WA Paper Mill Reported Minor Spill, But...

  Fired Worker Warns It Was Far Worse

  

  Oct. 7, 2026 -A company report, accepted by state regulators, said that in late November a hole opened within the bowels of a pulp and paper mill and, briefly, poured a small stream of untreated wastewater into the city’s bay.

  Within a few minutes of its discovery, crews slowed the spill to a trickle and four hours later sealed the hole, the Port Townsend Paper Co.’s environmental manager wrote. In all, he figured about 150 gallons of waste and pulp spilled into Puget Sound.

  Washington’s Department of Ecology didn’t investigate.

• • Tropical Storm Isaias Forms in Gulf,
  Could Reach U.S. As Hurricane This Weekend

  See Maps, Possible Path
  
  {CBS NEWS}

  Oct. 7, 2026 -Tropical Storm Isaias has formed in the Gulf and is expected to approach the U.S. northern Gulf Coast on Friday after becoming a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

  Isaias would be the Atlantic Basin's first hurricane of the season and is its ninth named storm. El Niño continues to bring a more active season in the Pacific. The storm formed with less than two months remaining in the 2026 hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30.

• • Renewables Help US Power System Survive Summer Stress Test

  Across the Country's Largest Power Markets, Temperatures Soared, Air-Conditioning Demand Surged and Utilities Grappled With Rapidly Expanding Electricity Use From Data Centers

  

  Oct. 6, 2026 -Surging demand from data centers and air conditioners put the US power system through a tough test this summer. But instead of triggering a jump in fossil-fuel use, record renewables output carried much of the extra load and helped keep the lights on.

  Critics of renewable energy have long argued that grid reliability ultimately depends on fossil fuels. Wind and solar can reduce emissions when conditions are right, they contend, but can't shoulder the burden during periods of peak demand.

• • U.S. Escalates Pressure on Russia Over Siberia Lab Death

  State Department Urges Moscow to Carry Out Its International Health Reporting Obligations
  
  {THE WALL STREET JOURNAL}

  Oct. 6, 2026 -The U.S. has warned Moscow that its failure to disclose details about the death of a lab worker from a plague research center in Siberia runs counter to its international health obligations, U.S. officials said.

  Russia has provided the U.S. with little information about the mysterious episode, which has stirred fears that an infectious disease might spread inside Russia and beyond the country’s borders, American officials say.

• • Rubio Calls On Russia to Disclose
  More About Potential Plague Case

  U.S. Agencies Have Been Trying to Determine If the Death of a Russian Laboratory Worker is Related to Pneumonic Plague

  

  Oct. 6, 2026 -Secretary of State Marco Rubio implored Russia on Tuesday to share more about the death of a Russian laboratory worker that was potentially related to pneumonic plague.

  “It’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio told reporters during a news conference in Iceland, using the most forceful language so far by President Donald Trump’s administration over the emerging health concern.

• • EU to Delay Methane Emissions Rules
  For One Year and No More

  According to the Energy Chief

  

  Oct. 6, 2026 -The European Union plans to delay methane emissions rules for oil and gas imports by one year, but no longer than that despite calls from some member states for a bigger reprieve, EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said on Tuesday.

  The rules, due to take effect on January 1, 2027, would require foreign oil and gas suppliers to the EU to monitor and report methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. Jorgensen said the European Commission was ?considering a one-year delay.

• • New York Governor Declares State of
  Emergency After Spike In Measles Cases

  The Deadly Outbreak In Pennsylvania is Its Largest In More Than Three Decades, and Confirmed Cases in New York Are Up

  

  Oct. 6, 2026 -The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency on Monday in response to a dramatic spike in measles cases in the state.

  Hochul’s administration said the emergency declaration was in response to a “growing number of measles cases across rural areas of New York and neighboring states”, including Pennsylvania, which has been grappling with a deadly outbreak that is its largest in more than three decades.

• • Trump Rescued These Fossil Fuel
  Power Plants. Americans Are Paying For It

  The Must-Run Orders Have Kept Alive Aging Generators That Are Costly to Run — and Produce Plenty of Pollution
  
  {POLITICOPRO}

  Oct. 6, 2026 -The Trump administration’s orders requiring six aging fossil fuel power plants to stay online have cost utilities and consumers hundreds of millions of dollars and released millions of tons of planet-warming gases even though most of the plants have barely run, a POLITICO analysis found.

  The Energy Department edicts issued since May 2025 to keep running the plants are part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to buoy coal and protect against potential power outages, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. But they carry environmental and financial consequences by raising electricity rates and exacerbating air pollution in battleground states ahead of midterm elections in November.

• • The Norwegian Gas Plant That Could
  Safeguard Europe From Trump

  Europe's Newfound Focus On Energy Security Has Sparked Interest In Ramping Up Gas Production On the Norwegian Continental Shelf
  
  {POLITICO}

  Oct. 5, 2026 -Europe was supposed to leave gas facilities like Kårstø behind.

  Instead, the giant processing plant is at the center of a wider continental shift. Emission reductions are out. Energy security is in.

• • New York Is Running Out of Room for Its Trash

  Upstate Have Had Enough of Being Dumped On

  

  Oct. 5, 2026 -New York City is running out of places to dump its trash.

  In the latest draft of the city’s once-a-decade solid waste management plan, the sanitation department warns that the landfills receiving much of the city’s garbage are filling up fast.

  More than two-thirds of the city’s municipal waste is transported to landfills hundreds of miles away. Yet, under current permits, the state is projected to run out of landfill capacity for that garbage within 16 to 25 years.

• • Medford High School Evacuated Due to Sewage Smell

  The School Said a Company Located and Unclogged The Backup
  
  {WCVB5}

  Oct. 5, 2026 -Medford High School will reopen Tuesday after a sewage backup forced an evacuation and early dismissal on Monday morning.

  Students and staff were evacuated this morning and sent home for the day due to the issue.

• • New York Public Service Comission
  Approves Meter Socket Adapter Pilot

  Have You Ever Used One?
  
  {energy central}

  Oct. 5, 2026 -Meter socket adapters might not sound exciting—but these small gadgets have big potential. They’re making it easier (and cheaper) to install home solar, batteries, and EV chargers. Now, New York is getting in on the adapter action with a two-year pilot, which launches next June.

• • Scientists Created a Computer Inside a Water Drop
  Using Billions of DNA Molecules and It Worked

  DNA Molecules Can Turn Even a Tiny Drop of Water Into a Computer
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Oct. 5, 2026 -To you or me, a tiny drop of water looks ordinary. There seems to be nothing special about it. However, some researchers see a whole computing device inside a drop. There is no silicon processor inside, but they claim that the billions of DNA molecules in a water drop can interact, process information, and produce an answer.

  The researchers at Maynooth University have turned these interactions into a programmable Scaffolded DNA Computer (SDC) that can perform calculations, including 100-bit computations.

• • Colorado’s Bears Are Feasting On Porch Pumpkins This Fall

  Keep Jack-O’-Lanterns Inside This Year to Avoid Bear Encounters During Colorado’s Historic Drought Year...
  
  {THE DENVER POST}

  Oct. 5, 2026 -As Coloradans decorate for Halloween this year, they should leave jack-o’-lanterns inside, state wildlife officials say. To humans, they’re a fun decoration and a mark of the season, but to Colorado’s hungry bears? A big, orange, high-calorie snack.

  Pumpkins left in yards or displayed on porches can attract wildlife, and that is more likely this year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said.

• • Heavy Rains Lead to Senegal Floods

  Government Reports Several Deaths

  

  Oct. 5, 2026 -Flash floods in the capital Dakar and elsewhere disrupted traffic, testing the West African country's infrastructure weeks before it hosts the 2026 Summer ?Youth Olympics, starting on October 31.

  Local media reported that a mother and her child had been killed in the Parcelles Assainies area of Dakar after their home was flooded.

  The Interior Ministry reported deaths and injuries in Dakar and the northeastern town of Matam. It said a building had collapsed in the southern ?town of Kaolack.

• • Westport Breaks Ground On 1,000-
  Person Tsunami Evacuation Tower

  In the Event of a Tsunami Warning, Nearby Residents Will Be Able to Reach the Tower Within 15 Minutes

  

  Oct. 5, 2026 -The town of Westport has broken ground on an evacuation tower capable of holding more than 1,000 people in the event of a devastating tsunami.

  Officials in the small coastal town in Grays Harbor County have worked for years to secure funding for the tower, but the project was thrown into doubt in 2025 after the Trump administration abruptly cut a key federal grant.

• • Well Reopening Near Red Hill Stirs Up
  Lingering Concerns In Hawaii Over Poisoned Plume

  The Navy Must Continue to Meet the State’s Standard Rules For Drinking Water Quality and Notify the Department of Any Additional Potential Contamination.

  

  Oct. 5, 2026 -In the coming weeks, the Navy plans to reopen a well closed since an estimated 20,000 gallons of jet fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility spilled, seeped into the aquifer and contaminated drinking water for thousands of homes.

  Following a March report by the Environmental Protection Agency that declared the drinking water in the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system “free of fuel contamination since 2022,” the state Department of Health notified the U.S. Navy earlier this month it would grant conditional approval to reopen the ?Aiea-H?lawa Shaft.

• • Gang of Eight Sperm Whales Sink Yacht
  After Ramming Boat in South Pacific

  Crew Described Terrifying Encounter As They Were Woken Up By “Loud Thud” As the 52ft Vessel Was Struck
  
  {INDEPENDENT}

  Oct. 5, 2026 -A pod of sperm whales cracked the hull of a yacht in the remote South Pacific forcing the crew to abandon ship.

  The crew onboard the 52ft boat have described the terrifying encounter, which happened 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island.

  “There was sort of a loud thud. The whole boat was pushed sideways,” said Australian Jemma Cooper, who was flung from the steering wheel by the force of the blow.

• • How a Farmer Ended Up With 1,600 Tons of Unwanted Grapes

  Falling Demand For Juice Has Left Lake Erie Grape Growers With Fruit They Can’t Sell

  

  Oct. 4, 2026 -Mark Terrell knows when it’s time to harvest because the air starts to smell like a freshly opened jar of grape jelly.

  That’s usually when Terrell drives his harvesting tractor through his 200-acre vineyard on the shores of Lake Erie, shaking millions of concord grapes from the vines to be processed into juice.

  But after a juice company abruptly canceled its contract with Terrell and about 125 other grape farmers in northwest Pennsylvania and western New York, Terrell’s farm vehicles remain parked.

• • U.S. Shipwreck, Laden With World War II
  Munitions, is a Time Bomb Near London

  A Salvage Crew Has Been Working to Stabilize the SS Richard Montgomery, Which Sank a Few Months After D-Day In 1944 With 1,500 Tons of Explosives in Its Holds

  

  Oct. 4, 2026 -In the mouth of the River Thames, just downstream from London, a team of elite marine salvors has been busy trying to stabilize one of the world’s most dangerous shipwrecks.

  The SS Richard Montgomery, a U.S. military cargo ship, dragged anchor, broke its back on a sandbar, flooded and sank in late summer 1944, a few months after D-Day, with 1,500 tons of explosives still in the holds.

• • Colorado Officials Want to Require
  Utilities to File Wildfire Mitigation Plans

  But, With Just Three Months Remaining Until the Deadline, Only Eight Out of 161 Utilities Have Done Their Homework
  
  {energy central}

  Oct. 4, 2026 - New requirements? Under proposed rules from the Colorado PUC, Black Hills Energy and the Public Service Company of Colorado would have to file wildfire mitigation and public safety power shutoff plans every three years. Why? This would help the state 1) Assess the risks of wildfires sparking from utility equipment 2) ensure prevention efforts are effective and 3) communicate progress with the public.

  The background: These two orgs have already voluntarily rolled out WMPs. PSCo has filed plans with the state since 2020, and Black Hills last updated its plan in June (but hasn’t submitted it directly to the commission). Now, these new rules would create uniform requirements for the IOUs—and Colorado would join the nine states that order utilities to file these plans.

• • If King County Needs Mines to Build

  Who Gets Them ‘In Their Backyard’?

  

  Oct. 4, 2026 -Less than an hour away from Seattle’s skyline — tucked between state parks and snaked by the Green River — sits a tiny, unincorporated community in South King County.

  Cumberland is green, blue and wild, home to sprawling forests, a gorge with a waterfall fed by a crystalline mountain spring and a few hundred people with a fierce love for the land.

• • Two dead In Flooding in Spain's Catalonia Region

  Two People Have Died and Another Was Missing After Heavy Rains and Flooding In Spain's Catalonia Region

  

  Oct. 4, 2026 -Catalan leader Salvador Illa confirmed the death of a man after a wall collapsed in Tordera, a town to the north of Barcelona, in a message on his social media account on Sunday.

  Another person died in Montornès del Vallès, firefighters said on ?Sunday, while emergency services were searching for a missing person in Pineda de Mar, a town 52 km (32 miles) to the north of Barcelona.

• • Devon Community Tracks River Dart Sewage Spills

  Citizen Environmentalists Create Online Platform That Flags Spills In Real Time and Highlights Repeatedly Polluted Spots

  

  Oct. 3, 2026 -The easy thing for the people who live on the banks of the River Dart in Devon might have been to grumble and groan about the sewage spills that blight their beloved waterway.

  Instead, citizen environmentalists in the area have created a unique online platform that flags up spills in real time, highlights spots that are repeatedly polluted, and sets out where improvement work is planned – and where it isn’t.

• • Decades of Dedicated Reclamation Transform
  Former Copper Mine into Environmental Triumph

  Community Celebrates Environmental Stewardship and Long-Term Commitment
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -In the serene landscapes of British Columbia, an inspiring story of environmental stewardship unfolds where former mining operations have blossomed into a remarkable example of nature’s recovery. For thirty years, dedicated professionals have poured their hearts into transforming a once-industrial site into a thriving ecosystem that now stands as a testament to what thoughtful reclamation can achieve.

  The commitment to ongoing monitoring and substantial investment in environmental restoration has not gone unnoticed by industry leaders and environmental advocates alike. This dedication showcases how traditional industries can embrace their responsibility to future generations while maintaining the values of hard work and stewardship that have defined Canadian communities for generations.

• • Interior Department Mourns Loss of Iconic American Landmark

  A 90-Foot Sea Arch That Stood For More Than Five Centuries On Hawai’i’s Big Island Has Toppled Into the Pacific Ocean.
  
  {DAILY CALLER}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -The H?lei Sea Arch stood intact on Sept. 23, according to a news release from Hawai?i Volcanoes National Park. By the night of Sept. 27 it was gone. The exact time of the collapse remains unknown.

  The U.S. Department of the Interior acknowledged the loss on X with a short message that read “Yes, it’s true. RIP H?lei Sea Arch,” according to the agency’s post.

• • Ebola Death Toll In Congo Tops 4,000 In
  Fastest-Growing Outbreak of the Disease On Record

  Congo Announced an Outbreak on May 15, Caused By the Rare Bundibugyo Virus, Which Has No Known Treatment Or Vaccine
  
  {CBS NEWS}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -Congo's Ebola outbreak has now recorded more than 4,000 deaths, authorities said as they struggle to contain the spread of the virus.

  The latest figures were released by the health ministry on Thursday. They show that 4,018 people have died from among 8,300 confirmed cases in what has become the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.

• • Long-Awaited Senate Deal to Speed
  Permitting Faces Familiar Hurdles

  Amid Skepticism From Some Environmentalists, Clean Energy Advocates See the Reforms As Crucial For a Transition From Fossil Fuels

  

  Oct. 2, 2026 -The so-called “lame duck” session of Congress after November’s midterm elections could be momentous for clean energy as lawmakers are set to consider a long-sought bipartisan deal to speed permitting of large energy and infrastructure projects.

  Clean energy advocates and policy experts view the bill as a rare opportunity to deal with a major clean energy roadblock—long queues for interconnection to the grid. But division emerged immediately among environmental advocates, with some arguing the measure would weaken state and tribal government authority and allow pipelines and other fossil fuel projects to take advantage of a streamlined process.

• • Tiny Island Emerges From Sea

  In Joyful Reminder of Nature’s Creative Power
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -Six decades ago, the sea itself became an artist. Off the coast of Faial in the Azores, a submerged volcano named Capelinhos stirred to life and began building land where only water had been.

  The eruption lasted thirteen months, yet every human life was protected. Families watched from a safe distance as lava and ash slowly sculpted a brand-new shoreline they later named Ilha Novo.

• • Dangerous Heat Wave Reaches Los Angeles

  Here’s How Long It Will Last
  
  {Los Angeles Times}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -Southern California is about to experience at least a week of extreme heat, according to the National Weather Service.

  An extreme heat advisory is in effect for many areas from 10 a.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Thursday and may be extended. People are advised to remain hydrated, avoid the sun, stay in an air-conditioned room and check on loved ones.

• • Jordan’s Mega-Plan For Water Security
  Risks Locking In Fossil Gas Demand

  A Giant Desalination Plant Will Help Jordan Confront Water Scarcity, But...
  
  {CLIMATE HOME NEWS}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -On the desert shores of the Red Sea, Jordan plans to build a vast desalination plant to send drinking water hundreds of kilometres across its arid interior to the capital, Amman - bolstering climate resilience and reducing reliance on Israel for the vital resource.

  As climate change exacerbates water scarcity in Jordan, a deterioration in the country’s already prickly ties with Israel since the start of the Gaza war has underscored the strategic importance of the roughly $6-billion desalination initiative, billed by its backers as a strategic climate adaptation project.

• • Robots Replacing Herbicides:The Future of Food:

  Built by Farmers. Backed byIndustry. Ready to Scale
  
  {start engine}

  Oct. 2, 2026 Founded by a third-generation Kansas farmer, Greenfield Robotics is building autonomous robots to remove chemicals in agriculture. Manufactured with Amity Technology and already deployed on farms across 16 states, Greenfield is scaling robotics assembled in America for the future of farming.

• • Nepal Plans to Drain Four
  Glacial Lakes After Deadly Floods

  Nepal to Drain Four Glacial Lakes to Reduce Flood Risk

  

  Oct. 2, 2026 -Nepal will kick off a high-stakes effort this fiscal year to drain four glacial lakes perched high in the mountains, as it scrambles to reduce flood risks, officials said, after a recent disaster that killed more than 1,400.

  Rescuers are still searching for more than 5,000 people missing in the border region with China after August's glacier collapse unleashed landslides and a flash flood that tore through valleys.

• • Colorado House Republicans Urge CPW
  to Reconsider Suspended Wolf Directive

  Major Agricultural Groups Condemn Suspension of Colorado Wolf Removals
  
  {FOX21}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -Members of the Colorado House Republican Caucus< sent a letter to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), voicing strong opposition to the decision to suspend its chronic wolf depredation directive due to the declining gray wolf population.

  Members of the Colorado House Republicans said wolf reintroduction has resulted in repeated livestock losses, disrupted operations, and a lack of trust in government procedures. Recognizing that one action will not eliminate all conflict, the members oppose the removal of lethal measures when non-lethal measures have failed to stop depredations.

• • Federal Disaster Funds Approved For Aspen
  Acres Fire, Flood Recovery Effort

  Federal Disaster Funds Are Coming to Help Colorado Communities Ravaged By Summer Wildfires and Floods
  
  {KKTV11}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -In a release sent out Friday morning, the governor’s office announced President Trump approved Public Assistance for Colorado’s Major Disaster Declaration (MDD) request to support communities recovering from the Aspen Acres Fire and Gold Mountain Fire.

  According to the governor’s office, the Aspen Acres Fire destroyed 324 homes in Pueblo and Custer Counties, making it the most destructive wildfire in the state since the 2021 Marshall Fire. Almost 12,000 people had to evacuate because of the flames. At last update on August 27, the fire had grown to 102,004 acres and was 82 percent contained.

• • Can a Web Browser Help Clean the Ocean?

  Inside Wave Browser’s Eco Mission
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Oct. 2, 2026 -Most people open a web browser many times a day without considering whether that routine can support work beyond the screen.

  Wave Browser links this ordinary digital activity to documented removal of plastic and trash from our ocean, rivers, and coastlines through its role as a 4ocean Certified Cleanup Partner.

• • When Data Centers Cluster Together, How Dirty Are They?

  One County Wants Answers

  

  Oct. 1, 2026 -Across the United States, thousands of data centers are seeking to break ground — sometimes forming clusters when several are planned near one another. How much pollution might big groups of data centers like these create?

  Typically, local zoning boards or planning commissions consider each data-center proposal individually, not as a group. But in one corner of Pennsylvania — where more than a dozen data centers and power plants are being proposed — officials are trying to change that by studying the total air-quality and health effects of all the proposed projects together, before approving them.

• • ‘Mega-Industrial’ Trawlers Threaten Europe’s Ocean Health

  They Cause the Majority of Environmental Damage

  

  Oct. 1, 2026 -For Europe’s fishing industry, it turns out size does matter.

  Of 60,000 European-flagged fishing boats, just 638 are responsible for most of the harm, according to a new report by French non-profit BLOOM. The largest in the fleet, at 108 feet or longer, pose the greatest threat to food security, cost taxpayers the most and cause unparalleled environmental harms.

  As the European Union decides how to spend its almost $8 billion fisheries budget for 2028-2034, environmentalists are calling for the dismantling of these “mega-industrial” ships.

• • Water Contamination and Cancer Concerns

  An Unexpected Campaign Issue

  

  Oct. 1, 2026 -We’ll look at how Iowa's soaring cancer rates have become a campaign issue ahead of November’s midterm elections. Many voters fear that the state's worsening water pollution from nitrates and other chemicals may be to blame for a spike in cases.

  Then we’ll unpack a legal showdown pitting more than 6,500 people in Madagascar against mining group Rio Tinto. The islanders have filed a claim in London’s High Court, alleging that contamination from the company's mineral sands operation exposed them to dangerous levels of lead and uranium.

• • What El Niño 2026-27 Could Mean
  For Utilities and the Power System

  El Niño’s Value Lies Not In Predicting Specific Storms, Droughts, Or Grid Events, But In Helping Energy Planners Ask Better Questions Earlier
  
  {FACTOR THIS}

  Oct. 1, 2026 -As climate scientists continue to track a strengthening El Niño into late 2026, familiar headlines are surfacing in the United States: wetter winters in some regions, fewer Atlantic hurricanes, and renewed drought concerns in parts of the West. Internationally, as Europe endures record-breaking summer heatwaves, the United Kingdom’s national meteorological service predicts this El Niño could be the strongest in living memory.

  For the power sector, the question is not whether El Niño will produce a single, predictable outcome. It will not. A strong El Niño does not guarantee extreme weather, nor does it affect every region in the same way. Instead, it shifts the odds of certain weather patterns, providing a seasonal climate signal that utilities can incorporate into planning alongside other risks.

• • ‘Explosion of Melt Rates’:
  20% of Swiss Glaciers Lost in Five Years

  Alpine Regions in Europe Experiencing Extreme Glacier Collapse Due to Heat-Trapping Effects of Fossil Fuel Pollution

  

  Oct. 1, 2026 -Switzerland has lost almost one-fifth of its ice in just five years, research has found, in a dramatic reshaping of the Alpine country whose big white glaciers have been reduced to moonlike rock deserts, scientists say.

  Swiss glaciers shrank by 5.5% in the first eight months of 2026, according to an annual monitoring report, after a summer of scorching heatwaves that followed a winter with little snow. The reduction in ice volume falls just shy of the record set in 2022 and brings the total loss of glacier ice since 2021 to 19.4%.

• • Kelvin Wave May Bring Sustained
  High Sea Levels on WA Coast

  What's Next For Puget Sound?

  

  Oct. 1, 2026 -A giant pulse of warm water is surging toward the West Coast, and it’s expected to hit California in days, lifting sea levels by a half-foot or more and lingering for months.

  Known as a Kelvin wave, it doesn’t present a severe threat to Washington yet, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be monitoring it with caution in October.