Disasters

"Its growth driven to epic levels by climate change and fertilizer runoff, sargassum puts dozens of species — and people — at risk."

"The oil and gas industry has reaped profits without ensuring there will be money to plug and clean up their wells. In Oklahoma, that work could cost more than $7 billion if it falls to the state."

"For several years now, one question has held the key to understanding just how much we should worry about the hundreds of tons of DDT that had been dumped off the coast of Los Angeles." "Now, in a highly anticipated study, researchers have identified tiny zooplankton and mid-to-deep-water fish as potential links between the contaminated sediment and the greater ecosystem."

"The bird flu virus sweeping across dairy farms in multiple states has acquired dozens of new mutations, including some that may make it more adept at spreading between species and less susceptible to antiviral drugs, according to a new study."

"After major providers quit California, Florida, and Louisiana, insurers are starting to pull back in other U.S. states, leaving homeowners struggling to find affordable cover for the risk of being hit by floods, wildfires or hurricanes."

"Arizona’s new heat officer said Friday that he is working with local governments and nonprofit groups to open more cooling centers and ensure homes have working air conditioners this summer in a more unified effort to prevent another ghastly toll of heat-related deaths, which topped 900 statewide last year."

"Over the past several years, the temperature of the Earth’s oceans have been spiking high enough to trigger numerous die-offs of marine species, killing millions of corals, fish, mammals, birds and plants. Those mass die-offs also have sent a wave of emotional trauma washing over some researchers watching their life’s work vanish before their eyes."

"Hena Khan, a grade nine student in Dhaka, has struggled to focus on her studies this week as temperatures surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the capital city." "There is no real education in schools in this punishing heat," she said. "Teachers can't teach, students can't concentrate. Rather, our lives are at risk."

"One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found."

"Climate experts fear Donald Trump will follow a blueprint created by his allies to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), disbanding its work on climate science and tailoring its operations to business interests."