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"Vital Arctic sea ice shrank to tie its lowest measured level for the winter, the season when ice grows, as a warming Earth shattered records across the continents."
"The United States has spent nearly a year pursuing deep sea mining without cooperation from the rest of the world. Now, Japan has said it will help out." "The arrangement could signal a fracture in the decades-long effort among nations to reach consensus on how to mine the ocean floor while protecting ecosystems."
"Rare footage of a sperm whale giving birth has offered scientists a window into the behavior of these large, elusive mammals."
"It’s finally peak bloom for the airy pink cherry blossoms in Washington, a welcome sign of spring in a city of concrete and granite continuously weighed down by the necessary heft of the nation’s decision-making."
"The Pentagon is behind the first-ever request to convene the “God Squad” to exempt all oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act due to national security reasons, the Justice Department said in a Wednesday court filing."
"As the deadly war in Iran triggers what the International Energy Agency has described as the worst oil crisis in history, climate advocates are calling for a faster shift away from fossil fuels, but the conflict may also hamper that transition."
"The US has caused an eye-watering $10tn in global damages to the world over the past three decades through its vast planet-heating emissions, with a quarter of this economic pain inflicted upon itself, new research has found."
"It’s the best of times in recent memory for Chesapeake Bay oysters. It’s just the opposite, though, for the Maryland and Virginia watermen who make a living harvesting them."
"U.S. President Donald Trump today unveiled a set of scientific advisers heavily skewed toward artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, topics his administration has emphasized. The roster, unlike previous iterations of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), features some of the world’s wealthiest people and several of Trump’s biggest political supporters from high-tech industry—but only one academic scientist."
"Home insurance is buckling under climate risk and construction trends. Find out how your state fares."
"Over the past two summers, a pair of remote and treeless volcanic islands in the eastern Bering Sea broadcast signals of climate change danger in the marine ecosystem that feeds Alaska residents and supports much of the state’s economy."
"Fungi create soil, sequester vast amounts of carbon, and contribute $55 trillion to the global economy, but knowledge about them is scarce. Now, mycologists are pushing to get the international scientific community to recognize fungi on the same level as plants and animals."
"In a letter sent Thursday morning, Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley press the Energy Information Agency to mandate annual electricity disclosure for data centers."
"Medicinal and aromatic plants in the Appalachian Mountains, which have stood for hundreds of millions of years and contributed to biodiversity across the region, are facing threats from poaching, climate change, and more. The multiple national parks dotting the region are often havens for these plants, though even the protections afforded by the parks cannot prevent all threats."
"Iowa is among a few states where cancer diagnoses are on the rise. A new analysis from the Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement and the Iowa Environmental Council says that environmental exposures are partially to blame."
