"The dangerous heat wave shattering March records all over the U.S. Southwest is more than just another extreme weather blip. It’s the latest next-level weather wildness that is occurring ever more frequently as Earth’s warming builds."
The capacity to visualize Earth’s ecosystems in detail is an invaluable aid to reporting on the environment. That’s now being bolstered with an ongoing upgrade to NASA’s Earthdata program, fueled by its ranks of satellites. Reporter’s Toolbox says the refurbishment offers treasures for journalists ranging from oceans, groundwater and land surfaces to the biosphere and atmosphere.
Bugs may get a bad rap, but a serious possible global decline in their populations is making clearer what may be lost for ecosystems and human societies. Issue Backgrounder peers beneath the detritus to find what insects do, how we try to kill them and how they survive, and why it’s so hard to pin down the data around their shifting numbers.
"On Friday, March 20, eight states set an all-time March heat record, and the U.S. national March heat record was set or tied for the third consecutive day"
"Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will be the opening speaker at a conference next month sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a group that rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, the organization has announced."
"More than 10,700 staffers left EPA and the Interior and Energy departments under a Trump program that incentivized resignations."
"A federal court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit alleging US regulators failed to prevent widespread contamination of farmland with toxic PFAS chemicals was based on a “flawed interpretation” of the Clean Water Act, creating “dangerous real-world consequences for public health,” a watchdog group argued in a new court filing."
"A coalition of 24 states, along with a dozen cities and counties, sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its decision to relinquish the government’s legal authority to fight climate change."
"Hardly anyone in the natural wine world is talking about environmental justice for those who pick the grapes, labor advocates say. The Guardian Vital label aims to change that."
"The Trump administration says one of the world’s biggest natural gas–fired power plants will come to Ohio. But financial risks, permitting hurdles, and uncertainties about the project’s access to equipment have critics doubting when — and if — the plant will come online."
