"ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. — In April, the latest glimmer of hope appeared here in the only spot on Earth where endangered red wolves remain in the wild. Five pups were born to a pair of wolves — a female known as 2413, and a male known as 2444 — marking the third year in a row that at least one new litter began life in this corner of coastal North Carolina."

"The World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency on Wednesday, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent."

"Wind turbines generated more electricity than coal-burning power plants across the United States in March and April, outstripping the dirtiest fuel for two consecutive months for the first time, according to the Energy Information Administration."

"Mississippi’s state health department did not adequately enforce the Safe Drinking Water Act in Jackson, contributing to the 2022 crisis that left 150,000 residents without drinking water, according to a report released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG)."

"The agency recently said that it had reached 101% of its firefighter hiring goal for 2024, but those on the front lines say the agency is understating how badly depleted their ranks are, especially for experienced firefighters."

"Companies whose futures depend on plastic production are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on plastic shopping bags and other items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators."

"On a humid summer afternoon in July, about 40 minutes from Houston, children are running up and down the Texas coastline of Sylvan Beach. Families make camps for the day with coolers filled with drinks and snacks. It doesn’t take more than a few steps near the shore to realize plastics have overtaken the beach."

"Parts of the Arctic are enduring exceptionally high temperatures — up 30 to 40 degrees above normal — because of multiple intense heat domes."

"California has sharply cut its enforcement of heat-protection laws for outdoor laborers while extreme heat has intensified in recent years — endangering farmworkers, construction workers and others who toil in scorching temperatures — an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and Capital & Main has found."