"The natural disaster has deepened the precarious situation in the eastern part of the island. Those who lost everything are unsure how to rebuild their lives amid the various crises affecting them"

"Fifteen days after Tropical Storm Helene sent debris, runoff and a cocktail of toxins — including raw sewage and pharmaceuticals — pouring into the French Broad River in the fall of 2024, Shea Tuberty set out to investigate the damage."

"Despite the efforts of more than half of all countries worldwide to curb a key climate super-pollutant, a report released this week by the United Nations Environment Programme at the U.N. climate summit shows that global methane emissions continue to climb at a troubling pace."

"The Trump administration is eliminating Energy Department offices focused on clean energy and renewables and, instead, creating units dedicated to hydrocarbons and fusion energy."

"For the past eight years, one of the primary objectives of the annual negotiations has been to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to the temperatures in the late 1800s. ... But that goal is no longer plausible, scientists say. Humanity has not cut planet-warming pollution quickly enough, and the planet will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, likely in the next decade, according to a recent United Nations report."

"A Washington resident who was the first human case of bird flu in the U.S. since February died on Friday, state health officials said. The person was an older adult with underlying conditions and had been hospitalized since early November with a strain that was previously reported in animals but never before in humans."

"Journalists who report on the harms caused by China’s overseas infrastructure buildout in Africa face intimidation, surveillance and police pressure."

"Global climate negotiations ended on Saturday in Brazil with a watered-down resolution that made no direct mention of fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming."

"New data is adding to regulatory concerns about potential human health risks from the weed killer paraquat, leading the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to seek more information from manufacturers of the pesticide."

"A draft of a much-anticipated report on reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been whittled down in size, with recommendations compiled by a council appointed by the president slashed and amended by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s office, according to three people familiar with the developments."