All Environment
- Biden and oil: What does responsibility mean in a new energy era?
The Biden administration’s recent leasing and permitting actions raise questions about the prudence of new oil development during a global push toward cleaner energy.
- First LookWorld Water Day: 2 billion people lack drinking water, UN reports
More than a quarter of the world’s population lacks safe drinking water, and 46% lacks basic sanitation, says a new UN report. This week marks the first major United Nations conference on water in more than 45 years.
- Points of ProgressFrom bird hunting in EU to poaching of pangolins, curbs on harm
Progress roundup: Lead shot is banned near EU wetlands, a broad new program to save pangolins, and women's firsts in Bolivia and the Navajo Nation.
- UN report urges all-out climate push – now
A new report sums up the known science on climate change – and walks a fine line between desperation and hope in an effort to spur global action.
- First LookLast opportunity to stop worst of climate change, says UN report
“Humanity is on thin ice” but could still prevent the worst effects of climate change, says the top U.N. panel on climate change. Its new report says the world is warming even faster and must cut two-thirds of carbon emissions and fossil fuel use by 2035.
- Renewables surge, yet carbon emissions hit record. What gives?
How can the world be massively shifting toward renewables and boosting its overall carbon emissions at the same time? We parse the progress in a global transition that’s far from finished.
- Points of ProgressLaws with teeth: Slowing shark loss and new coal mines
Progress roundup: Quotas boost ranks of female legislators, more shark protections in Costa Rica, and how a law averted a new coal mine in Australia.
- Points of ProgressBurn to preserve, and other forest practices, from Ecuador to California
Progress roundup: Indigenous peoples and governments are working together to preserve forests with controlled burns, protection from logging, and more.
- First LookHistoric UN treaty expands safety for dolphins, whales, turtles
The United Nations has created a treaty that protects marine life in nearly two-thirds of Earth’s oceans. The treaty establishes a new group to manage conservation, and it outlines rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial work.
- Make do and mend: As landfills grow, people opt for needle and thread
How are people responding to measures like one in Massachusetts that bans putting textiles in the trash? For some, it’s an opportunity to learn a new skill – while also helping the environment.
- Citrus crisis: As an iconic Florida crop fades, another tree rises
With disease threatening their crops, farmers in Florida aim to meet adversity with ingenuity – even if that may mean leaving a storied tradition behind.
- Points of ProgressLibrary thrives in a Pakistan gun town; and the olfactory superpower of AI
Progress roundup: Books inspire readers in a village known for black-market guns, AI and a desert bug combine for a powerful nose, and more.
- Test in Ohio: How to repair derailed trust
What can restore public trust in the wake of a hazardous spill? In Ohio, the answer may include facts, aid, cleanup actions – and even modest steps to build personal relationships.
- Growing winter food – and community spirit – in a geothermal greenhouse
A child’s question prompted this urban farm to seek a greenhouse for winter growing – and for strengthening a community.
- Points of ProgressGaming as serious work for students, and trees that celebrate girls
Progress roundup: Gaming sparks kids’ civic interest, an Indian village that greened spaces to honor girls, Sierra Leone’s new laws elevate women.
- ‘We’re trying to protect our kids’: Ohio town seeks answers after spill
After a train accident caused hazardous chemicals to spill and burn in their community, residents of East Palestine, Ohio, await answers on their long-term safety.
- Points of ProgressCargo ships’ new age of sail, and rats trained to find bombs
Progress roundup: Animals learn to detect bombs, shipping companies turn to wind energy, and Bolivians cooperate to protect their water, upstream and down.
- First LookCarbon credits in Alaska: A new strategy to fight climate change?
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed to leverage the state’s expertise in oil and gas to tap into carbon storage. Environmentalists are skeptical about the plan and say the state should be investing in renewable energy instead.
- First LookCoal-reliant Indonesia receives $20 billion to boost green energy
Indonesia, one of the largest coal-producing countries, agreed to drastically reduce its reliance on fossil fuels with the aid of a $20 billion energy transition deal, the largest of its kind. But more energy innovation is still needed, regional experts say.
- FocusTapped out: An Arizona community symbolizes West’s water woes
The Southwest confronts growing water scarcity, from states wrangling over the Colorado River to one Arizona community where a key source just dried up.