"It could launch a bioweapon attack, or a global drone war. It could set off a nuclear bomb. Or it could destroy human society more gradually, by hoarding all the world’s economic resources and depriving us of food, housing or medicine."

"The intensifying super El Niño, combined with global warming, is favored to make 2026 the hottest year on record, with 2027 expected to be even hotter."

"The towering maple trees and native hazelnut bushes on Salvatierra Farms break up the surrounding corn and soybean fields that sprawl across southern Minnesota."

"Indonesian authorities are working to repatriate five baby orang utans found motherless in India, suspected to be trafficked from Sumatra. The infants are critically endangered, healthy, and under care at a zoo while DNA tests confirm their origin."

"An ambitious bill to keep toxic “forever chemicals” off California produce lost its teeth after the chemical and agricultural industry spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying against it."

"Rabies cases in the United States from July to August increased 17 percent compared to the same period last year, following several “high-profile rabies outbreaks” and exposure events, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday."

"Florida’s wildlife agency has proposed new rules to strengthen protections for sloths imported into the state, four months after an Inside Climate News investigation revealed dozens of wild sloths from South America died at a planned Orlando tourism attraction."

"The company will pay the sum over the next 15 years for contamination caused by its plant on the border of Cumberland and Bladen counties."

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s push for minerals and militarization raises fears about the violence more mining could inflict on local communities and critical ecosystems."

"The world is set to burn record amounts of coal this year, in large part because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday."