"The Western monarch butterfly is disappearing before our eyes. The number of graceful, black-and-orange winged insects overwintering in coastal California this year dropped to under 2,000, compared with more than 29,000 the year before. And that was already a fraction of its previous population."

"A former Florida Department of Health employee has received whistleblower status a year after being fired for repeatedly violating the agency’s policy about communicating with the media."

"Sewage sludge that wastewater treatment districts across America package and sell as home fertilizer contain alarming levels of toxic PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, a new report has revealed. Sludge, which is lightly treated and marketed as “biosolids”, is used by consumers to fertilize home gardens, and the PFAS levels raise concerns that the chemicals are contaminating vegetables and harming those who eat them."

"China plans to strengthen controls in industries such as steel and aluminium which involve high energy use and produce high emissions, in an effort to promote low-carbon developments, the environment ministry said on Monday."

"President Joe Biden is calling for $1.2 billion next fiscal year for the international Green Climate Fund, resurrecting climate and clean energy funding for developing nations cut off during the Trump administration."

"More than one-third of the world’s heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming, according to the latest study to calculate the human cost of climate change."

"This March, as Mongolian herder Batsaikhan Enkhee tended to his sheep, the sky suddenly darkened. The wind picked up, filling his shoes and shirt with coarse, heavy sand. A massive sandstorm had engulfed the Mongolian grasslands."

"For years, the people of Mead, Nebraska, have worried about the ethanol plant that moved into their small rural community a little over a decade ago. They feared the terrible smells and odd illnesses in the area might be connected to the plant and its use of pesticide-coated seed corn in its biofuel production process."

"NEW YORK -- Gasoline prices are at a seven-year high, just in time for travelers to hit the road for Memorial Day.

A gallon of regular gas costs just under $3.05 on average across the United States, according to AAA. That's up from $2.89 a month ago and $1.97 a year ago.

But some Americans are feeling more pain at the pump than others.

California has by far America's highest gas prices -- $4.20 a gallon. Hawaii's the only other state in the same ballpark, with regular gas prices averaging $3.93 a gallon."