"Frustrated Mexico City residents have been protesting weeks of water shortages, with officials warning of "unprecedented" low levels in a main system that supplies millions of people."
"Less than a year ago, a disastrous train derailment sent a massive plume of dangerous chemicals billowing over East Palestine, Ohio, startling the town of nearly 5,000 residents and onlookers nationwide. Now, a new report warns that more of these catastrophes may loom: At any given moment, more than an estimated 3 million people are unknowingly at risk, as toxic trains full of a highly combustible and carcinogenic chemical used to make plastic move between Texas and New Jersey."
"Global warming will cause a catastrophic rise in mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, spreading them to less affected places including Europe and the United States, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report said this month."
"A storm tapping into a so-called "pineapple express" type of atmospheric river is beginning to track into California and the Northwest, and it will be followed by another potent storm late this weekend. Flooding rain, landslides, heavy mountain snow and strong winds will accompany both of these systems."
With the world in the midst of wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, it’s time for journalists to appraise — and report on — the intersection of conflict and the environment, argues the new Backgrounder. That means considering the environment not only as a victim of war, but also as the cause of war and a means of carrying it out.
"Envision, for a moment, a multiyear period of extreme weather, including heat waves, freezes, droughts, floods, and windstorms, topped off by extreme weather during an El Niño event, leading to major crop failures in the U.S. A disruption of the global agricultural and food supply chain results, leading to panic buying and price shocks."
"The total number of accidents for the top five freight railroads increased, and Congress still hasn’t passed legislation to prevent similar disasters."
"A Brazilian federal judge ruled that miners Vale, BHP and their joint venture Samarco must pay 47.6 billion reais ($9.67 billion) in damages for a 2015 tailings dam burst, according to a legal decision on Thursday seen by Reuters."
"Climate change was the primary driver of a massive drought in the Amazon basin in 2023 and will likely cause future extreme droughts, with potentially dire consequences for global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from World Weather Attribution."
"Atomic scientists on Tuesday kept their "Doomsday Clock" set as close to midnight as ever before, citing Russia's actions on nuclear weapons amid its invasion of Ukraine, nuclear-armed Israel's Gaza war and worsening climate change as factors driving the risk of global catastrophe."
