"Strong Santa Ana winds that fueled a rash of wildfires in Southern California have abated, and crews were turning a corner Sunday on the blazes that closed highways, damaged a military base and destroyed multimillion-dollar homes. But an incoming storm system could pose new risks for the region as crews continue to brace for more wild weather this fall."
"The high court reversed a California man's victory against Monsanto over the agricultural giant's failure to warn of Roundup's cancerous risks, dooming similar cases in the future."
"Tens of thousands of people in California were without electricity Thursday as utilities tried to reduce the risks of hot, windy weather that could blow over power lines and spark wildfires."
"Team works to restore the sunflower sea star as 95% of these key underwater ecosystems have been decimated along the Pacific coast in past decade"
"The drumbeat of monster hurricanes in the Pacific has broken a record for nasty long-lasting storms east of the international date line, turbocharged by nature’s supersized El Niño, scientists said."
"California regulators said Friday they intend to designate the widely used weed killer atrazine as a known carcinogen, a move that contrasts with the opinion of federal regulators."
"Residents of a small San Francisco Bay Area town plagued by refinery accidents came to a community meeting to call for stronger enforcement and transparency about risks."
TV journalist Jacob Soboroff grew up in Pacific Palisades, so when the Los Angeles neighborhood was swept by wildfires in 2024, he reported from familiar sites as they burned. He writes about the experience in “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster,” whose strength BookShelf contributor Jennifer Weeks says is its street-level descriptions of chasing the fast-developing story. Read her review.
"At SA Recycling Terminal Island, a worker using a crane builds a 20-foot-high mountain of crushed trucks, buses and cars. ... The shredded steel and upholstery release toxic material such as lead, zinc and copper.
"Two members of Congress are ramping up efforts to investigate the consequences of DDT pollution off the Southern California coast — an issue that has horrified scientists and policymakers since they learned that as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been dumped into the ocean after World War II."
