"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"
"Oklahoma took on an ambitious project to catalog all of the state’s injection wells, which shoot toxic waste generated by oil drilling back into the ground. Despite records showing risk of drinking water pollution, the state chose not to act."
"As the Trump administration prepares to convene the Endangered Species Committee, also known as... the “God Squad,” conservation groups are expressing anger over what they call an “illegal end-run around” that doesn’t seem to be following clear procedures set forth in the law. The committee is planning to discuss exemptions for Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act."
"The U.S. Forest Service said it plans to approve South32’s Hermosa project in Patagonia, Arizona, despite the water problems the mine is already causing."
Communities surrounded by forest can be a beautiful place to live … or a wildfire trap. Environmental journalists can readily map and identify these so-called wildland urban interfaces through a federal government resource, writes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. More on this data mapping tool and how to use it to track your area’s risk, explore historical trends and layer other data.
"When scientists recently analyzed hundreds of studies of ecosystems, they were surprised to see a marked slowing in the rate of species turnover. If new species don’t replace old ones, they say, ecosystems may have less flexibility to respond to habitat loss and climate change."
"A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all."
"The EPA lost more than 4,000 employees in the first year of Trump’s second term, bringing its staffing down to a total of 12,849—a level not seen since the Reagan administration. That represents a reduction of 24 percent, more than double the rate of losses across the entire federal workforce."
"Climate change’s rising seas may threaten tens of millions more people than scientists and government planners originally thought because of mistaken research assumptions on how high coastal waters already are, a new study said."
