"Mandatory water restrictions are being lifted for nearly 7 million people across Southern California following winter storms that have boosted reservoirs and eased the severe shortage that emerged during the state’s driest three-year period on record."

"Nike said it will stop using kangaroo skins for its shoes this year, weeks after a similar step from German rival Puma, which would end a highly controversial practice that has drawn ire from consumers and animal rights activists."

"EPA is taking aim at six notorious “forever chemicals” with aggressive standards likely to usher in a new hard-line approach to the compounds."

"In the face of melting permafrost, Iñupiat communities in Alaska find new solutions to keeping traditional ice cellars cold."

"Farmers like Marcella Warner Holman and the companies that deal in beef are experiencing a mix of defensiveness, anger and guarded optimism as they chart a course for survival in a world that’s often telling people to eat less meat or none at all. So far, they say, the messaging war hasn’t shaken Americans’ appetite for steak and burgers — but it’s frustrating nonetheless."

"President Joe Biden wants to limit the risks firefighters face from exposure to toxic chemicals in their gear and from wildfires fueled by climate change, he said Monday."

"For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch."

"It’s an arcane system of water law that dates back to the birth of California — an era when 49ers used sluice boxes and water cannons to scour gold from Sierra Nevada foothills and when the state government promoted the extermination of Native people to make way for white settlers."

"For many, living in a city means facing tedious traffic, packed subways and imposing buildings amid the sprawl. But the increasingly popular urban planning concept known as the “15-minute city” has revived the abiding idea that they should operate at human scale, envisioning a city where every resident can reach essential resources by foot, bicycle or public transport within a quarter of an hour."

"The Biden administration on Friday said it would require states to report on cybersecurity threats in their audits of public water systems, a day after it released a broader plan to protect critical infrastructure against cyberattacks."