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"A new groundbreaking survey highlights the human toll from pollution and other quality of life impacts connected to those living near the forest biomass industry’s wood pellet mills in the U.S Southeast. Door-to-door interviews were conducted by a coalition of NGOs, with 312 households surveyed in five mostly poor, rural and minority communities located near pellet mills"
The displacement of populations by climate impacts, while not a new phenomenon in human history, is worsening in the face of global warming’s extreme weather patterns. Yet the extensive international regime to aid refugees doesn’t cover those migrating due to flooding, drought, natural disasters or climate change. Backgrounder considers the implications and how nations will respond to the new realities.
"The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday."
Susceptibility to landslides is more on the minds of environmental reporters, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which caused hundreds of them. To get a better read on local landslide risk for local stories, Reporter’s Toolbox recommends an enhanced resource from the U.S. Geological Survey, which layers the risk data into easily readable map form.
"A federal agency proposed an expansion of the Okefenokee Swamp’s vast wildlife refuge on Friday, which could lead to a buyout offer for land intended for a private company’s mining project that conservationists have fought for years."
"Hurricane Oscar made landfall in eastern Cuba Sunday evening amid a power blackout, adding to fears that the storm may prove to be especially dangerous."
"The federal government has just finalized a $861 million loan guarantee to fund what will be Puerto Rico’s largest utility-scale solar and battery storage installations."
"Alabama’s largest electric utility reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resolving two of three alleged violations stemming from one of its largest coal ash ponds. But the larger question—whether the 21.7 million cubic yards of coal ash in the pond will have to be excavated and moved to a lined landfill—remains unanswered."
"The federal government’s flood maps, which are used nationwide to signal areas vulnerable to inundation, vastly underestimated the flood risk faced by properties in the parts of North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene, according to data analyzed by The Washington Post."
"Weeks after being swept away in floodwaters, a North Carolina grandmother is among an untold number of victims who remain unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene."
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