"At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent."

"The United States has doubled down on its opposition to plastic production limits in global treaty talks, according to a diplomatic memo reviewed by The Washington Post, pushing to create a broad loophole to disregard the treaty on national security grounds."

"Ebola virus, hantavirus and the pathogen that causes Covid-19 likely jumped from animals to humans. So do these viruses — and scientists say climate change is speeding their spread." "By the time colleagues called Dr. Matías Lahitte, an Argentine infectious disease specialist, it was too late."

"Heat and drought have diminished harvests in some of the biggest wheat-producing countries, including the United States, which is expected to have its worst wheat harvest in a half-century, spiking prices. Poor countries that agreed to buy American wheat under the threat of Trump tariffs could be stuck paying abnormally high prices."

"August though it is, there’s still at least one good book left of summer. So this month’s post offers 12 possible choices for your final summer read: six non-fiction and six fiction."

"A legal environmental group sued the U.S. government on Tuesday to halt the Trump administration’s plans announced last month to auction off sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining."

"How marine animals are helping fill gaps in climate forecasting"

"The agency directed the nation’s regional fisheries councils to scrap certain marine protected areas, remove species from conservation lists and expand commercial fishing operations."

"A coalition of environmentalists and community advocates sued the federal government Tuesday in an effort to halt the first-ever commercial sale of deep sea mining leases in American waters."