"A new study is part of an emerging field of tree-ring science that found the West’s two-decade drought is inextricably linked to rising temperatures".
"Canada’s tar sands have gained infamy for being one of the world’s most polluting sources of oil, thanks to the large amounts of energy and water use required for their extraction. A new study says the operations are also emitting far higher levels of a range of air pollutants than previously known, with implications for communities living nearby and far downwind."
"The largest combined solar and energy-storage project in the U.S. is now online and operating in California’s Mojave Desert." "The new California installation has nearly 2 million solar panels, more than 120,000 batteries, and an enormous amount of clean energy capacity."
"On Wednesday, LanzaJet marked the opening of its Freedom Pines Fuels facility, which uses novel technology to convert ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. The $200 million biorefinery is the first in the world to deploy an “alcohol-to-jet” process, one that the company claims can curb greenhouse gas emissions by over 70 percent compared to conventional jet fuel."
"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."
"The average life expectancy in predominantly nonwhite communities along the Houston Ship Channel, the site of largely unregulated petrochemical production, is up to 20 years less than nearby predominantly white communities, according to a report released Thursday by Amnesty International"
"Scientists have made history by successfully transferring a rhinoceros embryo for the first time, conservationists announced Wednesday, an achievement that could help save the embattled species from the growing threat of poachers."
"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."
"The trial of three Indigenous land defenders arrested at a pipeline construction site on unceded Wet’suwet’en First Nation land was adjourned until spring on Friday, as the court looks into potential abuses by Canadian police."
"An investigation into nearly 1,700 aquifers across more than 40 countries found that groundwater levels in almost half have fallen since 2000. Only about 7 percent of the aquifers surveyed had groundwater levels that rose over that same time period."
