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Earth

Keeping It Green

Atmospheric CO2 Levels

(Monthly Averages)

Mar. 24, 2026: 431.9 ppm
10 years ago: 396 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350 ppm

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Page Updated:
April 9, 2026

• The 2024 Clean 15 (Safe Foods)
• Get the Lead Out Toolkit
• Oil Spill History
• World Air Quality Report
• Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act

• US Emissions by Sector Chart

  
  

  Where is all that CO2 coming from? This graph breaks it down by economic sector.

• Greenest U.S. Cities
• Safe Water in Pictures
• U.S. WEA Grassroots Accelerator
• Safer Habitats

• • Baby Formula, Paint, Breast Implants: Report Highlights
  ‘Overlooked’, ‘Emerging’ Sources of Microplastic Exposure

  The Report, Which Draws On Over 350 Peer-Reviewed Studies Examining Human Exposure to Microplastics, Identifies Often Overlooked and Emerging Sources of These “Pervasive, Abundant, Invisible, Chemical-Mixture-Carrying Pollutants.”
  
  {EARTH.ORG}

  April 6, 2026 -A new major report reveals the staggering extent of daily microplastic exposure, describing an inescapable “microplastic storm” stemming from a variety of overlooked and newly identified sources.

  Microplastics – tiny plastic particles measuring less than 5 millimeters in diameter, close in size to a sesame seed, that result from the degradation of larger plastics – have been found everywhere, from bottled drinking water to mammal feces, near the summit of Mount Everest, in human blood and organs, and even the air we breathe. But the new report, released Wednesday, argues that much of it comes from less obvious or emerging sources that have so far received less attention.

• • WA Declares Unprecedented Fourth Drought Emergency in a Row

  As That Meltwater Reaches the State’s Relatively Small and Few Reservoirs Early, Much of It Will Flow Out to Sea
  

  Apr. 8, 2026 -More than two months before the start of summer, Washington officials warn the state is headed for severe drought conditions not seen since the disastrous hot and dry season of 2015.

  Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller declared a statewide drought emergency Wednesday morning.

  This is the fourth such emergency Washington has faced, an unprecedented dry spell in state history.

• • A Peculiar Polymer Paired with Sunlight Could Remove PFAS

  A New Photocatalyst Might Help Take the “Forever” Out of “Forever Chemicals” Present in Water
  
  {EOS}

  April 7, 2026 -Because they are used in everything from cosmetics to dental floss to nonstick pans, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are frustratingly abundant in our environment, including in our food, rain, and drinking water. They’re persistent, too, earning their nickname “forever chemicals,” and have been linked to health effects ranging from cancers to liver toxicity to reduced fertility.

  A new method described in RSC Advances seeks to remove PFAS from drinking water by combining a specialized polymer and a photocatalyst with a resource that is even more abundant than PFAS: sunlight.

• • Oil Slick From Bombed Iranian Ship Threatens Protected Wetland

  Shahid Bagheri Leaking Fuel Towards Hara Mangrove Forest, Home to Migrating Birds and Endangered Turtles

  
  

  April 7, 2026 -An oil slick from a stricken Iranian ship threatens to contaminate one of the Middle East’s most important wetlands, satellite image analysis suggests, making it one of a number of spills posing a risk to the livelihoods of coastal communities in the Gulf.

  The Shahid Bagheri, a drone carrier, began leaking heavy fuel oil in Iranian territorial waters near the strait of Hormuz after it was hit by a US warplane in the first few days of the US-Israel attack on Iran.

• • Achieving Energy Sovereignty in the Developing World

  The Uruguay Way
  
  {EARTH.ORG}

  April 6, 2026 -Generating 98% of its electricity from renewable sources, Uruguay’s rapid adoption and expansion of sustainable sources of energy has been lauded internationally as a model for transitioning national power systems away from fossil fuels.

  Avoiding nuclear power entirely, Uruguay first embraced wind turbines as a source of cheap, reliable power; providing 40% of the country’s capacity in less than a decade. It then expanded its solar and biomass capacity to an almost fully decarbonized mix of energy sources, joining a very short list of high-income countries producing over 90% of their energy needs with low-carbon sources – including Iceland, Sweden, and France. Once a net importer of energy, Uruguay now exports its surplus energy to neighbouring Brazil and Argentina.

• • WA Declares Unprecedented Fourth Drought Emergency in a Row

  Residents of Imperial County, Calif., Are In Dire Need of an Economic Boost. Experts Say the Answer Lies Beneath the Salton Sea, Where A Lithium Trove Sits

  
  

  April 6, 2026 -Beneath California’s Salton Sea, there is so much metal essential to rechargeable batteries that Gov. Gavin Newsom calls the vast lake “the Saudi Arabia of lithium.”

  An estimated $500 billion worth of lithium here could help power our smartphones, electric cars and electricity grids. And a so-called white gold rush could bring jobs, tax dollars and economic revitalization to one of the most impoverished places in the nation.

• • Iran War's Shock Waves Threaten
  England's Farms 6,000 Miles Away

  Workers Are Thrown Into an Unfolding Crisis
  
  {AP News}

  April 6, 2026 -Few Places Feel Farther From the Iran War Than the Potato Fields of Eastern England, Where Pastoral Landscapes and Ancient Forests have Inspired Romantic Painters and Poets for Centuries

  But this bucolic scene is not immune from the shock waves triggered by the American-Israeli assault — and it’s a story being repeated across farms all over the world.

• • Data Centers Are Straining the Grid

  Can They Be Forced to Pay For It?

  
  

  April 6, 2026 -Last month, President Trump sat alongside executives of the largest tech companies in the country as they pledged to pay a fair share of the energy costs of their data center buildout. “Data centers … they need some PR help,” Trump said at the gathering. “People think that if the data center goes in, their electricity is going to go up.”

  It’s not an entirely unfounded assumption.

  As the tech industry has funneled billions of dollars into the AI boom over the last several years, it has simultaneously been expanding its fleet of computing powerhouses, which require vast amounts of energy to run. These facilities have been cropping up all over the country, from rural communities in eastern Pennsylvania to the cities of northern Utah.

• • China Stands to Benefit Most From the War-Driven Energy Crisis

  Sales of Chinese Electric Vehicles and Solar Panels Have Surged Since the Start of the Iran War

  
  

  April 6, 2026 - As the oil and gas crisis set off by the war in Iran drives governments to accelerate their transitions to renewable energy, one country above all stands to benefit.

  China dominates renewable energy supply chains, producing a vast majority of the world’s solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. Exports of these technologies were already climbing to new heights in the first two months of 2026. Now volatility in the supply of fossil fuels is set to give sales another big boost.

• • Maine Is About to Become the First State to Ban New Data Centers

  The NRC Approved a 20-Year License Renewal For California’s Only Nuclear Plant
  
  {energy central}

  April 5, 2026 -The bill is expected to pass soon in the state Senate, and Gov. Janet Mills said she backs it. It would freeze >20-MW data center projects until November 2027, giving the state time to gauge grid and environmental impacts. Officials around the US are watching closely—at least 10 other states are considering similar policies.

  Also on the governor’s desk: Maine recently became the third state to pass plug-in solar legislation, following the trail blazed by Utah and Virginia. Like the first two’ bills, any retail electricity customer in Maine can install a plug-in PV or battery system up to 1.2 kW without an interconnection agreement or utility fees (as long as devices meet safety standards).

• • New North Sea Drilling Would Barely Reduce UK Gas Imports At All

  Research Finds Jackdaw Field Would Provide Only About 2% of Current Demand, and Rosebank Only 1%

  
  

  April 4, 2026 -Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.

  The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.

• • Stunning Images Reveal a Massive Coral Reef
  For the First Time In More Than a Century

  These Incredible Corals Form What May Be One of the World’s Largest Reef Systems—And Researchers Have a Plan to Restore It

  
  

  April 2, 2026 -A humpback whale nicknamed Timmy that has been stranded in the Baltic Sea off Germany will be left to die; all rescue efforts have been called off, according to Till Backhaus, environment minister of the German state where the whale is now stranded.

  The 12- to 15-meter-long whale became stuck on sandbanks a few times at the end of March—in one incident, it was freed with the help of an excavator that dug an escape channel, and in another, it freed itself. Currently, Timmy is beached on a small island near the port of Wismar, Germany, in the Baltic.

• • More Than 10 Million Fish Devoured In Just a Few Hours

  It’s the World’s Largest Predation Event
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 3, 2026 -Off the frigid coast of Norway, a gruesome spectacle unfolded that scientists had only imagined. In the early hours of a February morning in 2024, millions of capelin, small Arctic fish, came together to spawn. But instead of peacefully laying their eggs, they found themselves at the center of a predatory onslaught. Within hours, the swarming capelin had become a feast for their relentless pursuers — Atlantic cod.

  The dramatic encounter, reported by researchers from MIT in the USA and Norway, marks the largest recorded instance of marine predation. Using advanced acoustic imaging technology, scientists watched as capelin formed a massive shoal stretching over ten kilometers. In response, cod converged to form their own enormous group, devouring more than 10 million capelin in just a few hours.

• • Forest Service Will Close Research Stations That Study Wildfire Risk

  Scientists Say Their Work On Fires and Climate Change Could Be Lost as the Agency Moves Its Headquarters to Utah From Washington and Shuts 57 Research Stations

  
  

  April 3, 2026 -The U.S. Forest Service is closing 57 of its 77 research facilities in 31 states under a reorganization plan announced this week, threatening science that looked at how wildfires, drought, pests and global warming are putting pressure on forests.

  The agency plans to consolidate its research division into a centralized office in Fort Collins, Colo., and move field researchers to locations in nearby states. But employees said they feared the move would lead many scientists to leave instead. The reorganization will also move the agency’s headquarters to Salt Lake City from Washington, affecting 260 employees.

• • EPA Flags Microplastics as ‘Priority’ Water Contaminants

  But the Move Doesn’t Guarantee Regulation

  
  

  April 3, 2026 -Citing the Trump administration’s promise to “Make America Healthy Again,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a draft list of contaminants maintained by the agency.

  The Sixth Contaminant Candidate List includes known or likely contaminants in public water systems that are currently unregulated but may be subject to future regulation by the EPA.

• • Scientists Tracking the Microplastic Pollution Just
  Realized They Were Measuring Their Own Lab Gloves

  Researchers Discovered Their Own Lab Gloves Are Artificially Inflating Environmental Microplastic Counts
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 3, 2026 -We should not underestimate the prevalence of microplastics. They are everywhere—in our rivers, our lungs, and even in our blood. But researchers tracking this global pollution crisis may have inadvertently contaminated their research samples. The protective lab gloves they wear are shedding microplastic-like particles that tamper with their numbers.

  The culprit, according to a University of Michigan study, is a soap-like residue used to pop disposable gloves out of factory molds. Even a light, dry touch sheds thousands of these false-positive particles onto lab equipment. Because this residue can produce a very similar vibrational signature to common plastics under a lab laser, scientists have been accidentally counting microplastics from their own lab gear as environmental pollution.

• • Phthalate Plastic Chemicals Linked to
  Millions of Premature Births in One Year

  In 2018 alone, 1.97 Million Preterm Births – More Than 8% of Preterm Births Worldwide – Could Be Attributed to Di (2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate (DEHP) Exposure
  
  {EHN}

  April 3, 2026 -Phthalates are common ingredients in plastic packaging, personal care products, and cleaning products, but are known to be carcinogenic, neurotoxic, toxic to reproduction, and more.

  Because of this widespread use, individuals are often exposed to multiple types of phthalates simultaneously, as well as newer phthalate substitute chemicals like DiNP, many of which have not been tested for health risks. The authors of this study emphasize the need for a broader and stricter approach to regulating phthalates, which has been shown to meaningfully reduce exposure.

• • The Bizarre Election That Could Decide Arizona’s Energy Future

  One Acre, One Vote

  
  

  April 3, 2026 -In a country characterized by antiquated systems for regulating how electricity is produced and transported to homes and businesses, one utility in Arizona may be the most outdated. In 1903, almost a decade before Arizona became a state, a group of landowners around Phoenix secured a federal loan for a dam on the Salt River. The dam collected water to irrigate farms and produce hydroelectric power to run irrigation pumps. The landowners created the Salt River Project Association to govern the operation of the dam, and gave each landowner a vote for every acre of land they owned.

  The Salt River Project, or SRP, now serves one of the nation’s largest metro areas, not just a swath of farmland. With several hydropower dams and a fleet of power plants,

• • What Drought Conditions in Mass. Mean For Spring Gardening

  Spring Planting Season has Arrived — Right in the Middle of a Statewide Drought
  
  {wbur}

  April 3, 2026 -Despite the recent rain and historic snowstorms this winter, all of Massachusetts (save for Martha’s Vineyard) is experiencing drought conditions right now. According to the most recent state data, northeastern and central Massachusetts are in a “Level 3” critical drought, leading to outdoor water use restrictions in communities as big as Worcester.

  This state of dryness is nothing new, according to Vandana Rao, director of water policy for the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Rao says most of the state has been contending with some level of drought since 2024.

• • The Long-Term Impact of Hawaii’s Floods

  Spring Break in Hawaii Took a Dangerous Turn When Consecutive Kona Low Storms Struck the State
  
  {EARTH.ORG}

  April 3, 2026 -Over 400 homes destroyed with total damages exceeding $1 billion, thousands of people evacuated, and hundreds rescued from rising floodwaters. These numbers represent the tragic aftermath of the recent flooding in the US state of Hawaii.

  What was intended to be a relaxing spring break for students, families, and tourists turned into one of the worst flooding events in the state’s history. According to Governor Josh Green, the consecutive Kona low storms – the name subtropical weather systems take in Hawaii – resulted in destruction not seen in 20 years.

• • Clean Air and Safe Water at Risk Under Trump FY27 Budget Proposal

  “This EPA Budget Proposal Leaves Families Sicker, Not Safer”
  
  {Environmental Protection Network}

  April 3, 2026 -The Environmental Protection Network issued the following statement today in response to the President’s proposed FY27 budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. The President has proposed cutting EPA’s budget by half – similar to the proposal he made last year that was soundly rejected by Congress on a bipartisan basis. The renewed attempt is a part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to put their political agenda ahead of protecting Americans’ air, water, food, and health.

  “This is part of the Trump administration’s dangerous and far-reaching plan to let polluters decide which toxic chemicals to dump in our drinking water, which harmful pollution to pump into the air we breathe, and which pesticides are put on the food we eat.”

• • Save ‘Every Drop of Fuel’, South Korea Urges as Iran Crisis Hits

  He Warned That the Middle East Crisis Has Triggered One of the Most Severe Energy Security Threats In Decades
  
  {THE STRAITES TIMES}

  April 3, 2026 - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged citizens to “save every drop of fuel”, ramping up an official call for energy conservation as the deepening Iran conflict hits the energy-importing nation hard, straining households and businesses.

  In a parliamentary address on April 2, Mr Lee sharpened earlier appeals for restraint in fuel use, signalling a heightened sense of urgency as the government moves to contain the economic fallout from surging energy prices and prolonged supply disruptions.

• • Could a Solar Storm Derail the Artemis II Mission?

  The Mission Is Not Without Risk
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 2, 2026 -As humans set off on the Artemis II mission, visiting the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, one persistent threat they face is from solar radiation.

  Intense bursts of radiation from the Sun, known as solar particle events, can endanger the lives of space travellers, particularly those venturing beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). During these events, high speed, charged particles stream out from the Sun and into space.

• • Solar Was Poised to Help Puerto Ricans Survive
  Blackouts — Until Trump Axed Nearly $1B in Funding

  The Money is Being Redirected to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, a Government-Owned Utility With a Checkered Past

  
  

  April 2, 2026 -aría Pérez lost power for about three months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017. Her home in Salinas, on the island’s southern coast, sits near a river. As the hurricane knocked out the island’s grid and sent rainwaters surging down from the mountains, Perez’s house flooded with a swirling mix of muddy water and animal feces, rising 3 feet high and warping the hallways. For the next three months, she went without power as she cleaned out the home and began the long process of rebuilding.

  Five years later, when Pérez got word that Hurricane Fiona was expected to make landfall, she was prepared. This time, she and her family boarded up the doors and windows, sealed every opening with silicone, and evacuated to her daughter’s home, which lost power as the storm hit the island.

• • Uh-oh! Could a Solar Storm Derail the Artemis II Mission?

  The Mission is Not Without Risk
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 2, 2026 -Every mission to deep space is fraught with danger. A hardware failure during launch, an equipment malfunction far from Earth, or a small space rock hitting the vehicle are all scenarios astronauts will train for.

  As humans set off on the Artemis II mission, visiting the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, one persistent threat they face is from solar radiation.

  Intense bursts of radiation from the Sun, known as solar particle events, can endanger the lives of space travellers, particularly those venturing beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). During these events, high speed, charged particles stream out from the Sun and into space.

• • US Agencies to Monitor Drinking Water
  For Microplastics, Pharmaceuticals

  Governors, Environmental Groups Petitioned For Move

  
  

  April 2, 2026 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced that they will monitor the impact of microplastics and pharmaceuticals on drinking water, the first step toward assessing their health risks and shaping new policies.

  The joint announcement was hailed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a win for President Donald ?Trump's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, whose priorities have included reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines and promoting whole foods in new ?dietary guidelines.

• • Gas Turbine Prices Soar 195% as Market Faces Supply-Demand Crisis

  Gas Turbine Prices Are Projected to Surge 195% From 2019-2027, Reaching $600/kW
  
  {energy central}

  April 2, 2026 - That’s because rising electrification demand, particularly from data centers, has created a “significant market imbalance,” WoodMac reports. In late 2025, global orders reached 110 GW—but manufacturing capacity tops out at 60-70 GW.

  Now, supplies are sold out through 2027 with six-year lead times. Orders are expected to peak this year as gas developers lock in equipment for 63 GW of additions through 2030.

• • Big Tech's Data Center Power Playbook is Getting a Lot Gassier

  How Much Gassier Can It Get?
  
  {energy central}

  April 2, 2026 - The background: Some tech giants have made lofty sustainable commitments in recent years, including net-zero pledges at Google, Microsoft, and Meta. And as of 2024, renewables contributed about a quarter of electricity at US data centers. But their latest data center moves suggest these green ambitions may be going by the wayside.

  For one, Google appears to be leaning more heavily on natural gas. It’s joining forces with Crusoe on a 933-MW natural gas plant (with no carbon capture) to power a Texas data center campus—it could emit more carbon dioxide annually than the city of San Francisco.

• • Why Cancer Rates Are Skyrocketing In Iowa

  Look to Nitrate, Pesticides, PFAS and Radon
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 1, 2026 -When Iowa resident Chris Henning was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, her youngest sister and brother-in-law had already died of cancer 13 years earlier and her father had been treated for lung cancer. Since her diagnosis, another one of her sisters died of cancer and two more women in her family have received cancer diagnoses. But testing indicated that the sisters’ breast cancers are not due to family genetics, she tells Sentient.

  After stints in Des Moines and Arizona, Henning now lives on a farm in Greene County, Iowa, just half a mile from the family farm where she grew up. Over the past 25 years or so of familial cancer diagnoses, Henning has ruminated on what her family shares besides genes. As a kid, she remembers carrying little jugs of herbicide to spray the milkweeds and glancing up as planes carrying fungicides sprayed overhead.

• • Le Pen Hammers Trump as Iran war Triggers Spiraling Energy Crisis

  The French Far-Right Chief Says “These Strikes Were Carried Out Blindly,” in a Fierce Rebuke of U.S. Preparation For Middle East Turmoil
  
  {POLITICOs}

  March 31, 2026 -The National Rally is hitting out at U.S. President Donald Trump, the French government and large oil companies for variously causing and profiting from soaring energy prices due to the war in the Middle East.

  The far-right party has pushed for lower taxes on gas and urgent market controls to shield consumers from the spiraling crisis, doubling down on its cost-of-living platform that has made it the front-runner for next year's presidential election under Marine Le Pen's leadership.

• • Where is Tornado Alley Now?

  How the Deadliest Storm Zone in the U.S. is Shifting East

  
  

  March 31, 2026 Tornadoes are some of the most destructive natural disasters seen in the United States each year, and twisters are 10 times more common in Tornado Alley.

  But for tornado expert Stephen Strader, the term Tornado Alley may be a bit outdated. “We've had devastating tornadoes outside of what people consider Tornado Alley,” the Villanova University associate professor explains. And the disastrous phenomenon is only expected to get worse.

• • Utah’s Great Salt Lake May Be
  Hiding a Massive Reservoir of Fresh Water

  Fresh-Water-Saturated Sediment or Bedrock May Extend as Deep as Three or Four Kilometers Below the Great Salt Lake’s Basin
  
  {Scientific American}

  March 31, 2026 -Utah’s Great Salt Lake may be concealing a massive reservoir of fresh water, new research suggests. The finding seems counterintuitive: the Great Salt Lake is the Western Hemisphere’s largest saltwater lake. But as its water levels have hit a historic low in recent years, scientists have noticed mysterious, reed-covered mounds, dozens of meters wide, emerging from the lake bed. And now it turns out that these islands may be a sign of fresh water bubbling up from below.

  The potential reservoir—likely fresh-water-saturated bedrock or sediment—may lie as deep as three or four kilometers, or around two miles, below the lake bed, according to the study, which was published last month in Scientific Reports.

• • The Trump Administration’s New Biofuels
  Targets Threaten Carbon-Rich Rainforests

  The U.S. Doesn’t Have Enough Bio-Based Diesel to Meet the Administration’s New Mandate, So Blenders Will Have to Import Yet More Foreign Crop-Based Oils

  
  

  March 31, 2026 -Trump stood on the Truman Balcony at the White House during the “Great American Agriculture Celebration” last week and announced what he called a “historic” boost to the nation’s farmers.

  The Environmental Protection Agency, Trump said, would require the highest-ever volume of crop-based biofuels to be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply, a move the administration promises will bring jobs and cashflow to an agriculture industry feeling the twin punches of the president’s tariffs and higher fertilizer prices linked to the war in Iran. Trump called himself a “true friend and champion” of the country’s farmers, a key political constituency that he is again actively and festively courting.

• • Where is Tornado Alley? How the Deadliest
  Storm Zone in the U.S. is Shifting East

  Scientists Say a New Epicenter Is Forming For The Deadliest Storm Zone In the U.S. Here’s Where People Are Now Most At Risk From Tornadoes

  
  

  March 31, 2026 - Tornadoes are some of the most destructive natural disasters seen in the United States each year, and twisters are 10 times more common in Tornado Alley.

  But for tornado expert Stephen Strader, the term Tornado Alley may be a bit outdated. “We've had devastating tornadoes outside of what people consider Tornado Alley,” the Villanova University associate professor explains. And the disastrous phenomenon is only expected to get worse.

• • Blasting Begins For Border Wall On Cherished New Mexico Mountain

  A Planned 1.3-Mile Wall Across Mount Cristo Rey has Drawn Opposition From Environmentalists and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces

  
  

  March 30, 2026 -On a Saturday morning in March, high school students, mountain bikers and soldiers from a nearby Army base climbed the winding path up Mount Cristo Rey.

  From the summit, they could see most of El Paso, the sprawling city that dominates a stretch of desert where New Mexico, Texas and the Mexican state of Chihuahua meet.

• • Can Dying Coral Be Nursed Back to Life By Healthy Coral?

  A New Theory On How the Tiny Animals Work Together is Offering Fresh Hope in the Fight to Save the World’s Vanishing Reefs

  
  

  Match 30, 2026 -Rarotonga, the largest island in the archipelago of the Cook Islands, is protected by a coral reef that forms a barricade around the kidney-shaped dollop of terra firma moored in the middle of the South Pacific.

  If that reef were to die off or disappear—as reefs are, globally, at a disheartening rate—it would spell catastrophe for Rarotonga’s more than 10,000 inhabitants. That partly explains how Anya Brown came to be a regular at a hardware store on the island. The 38-year-old marine ecologist and National Geographic Explorer has been trying to figure out what allows some of the coral in Rarotonga’s turquoise lagoon to survive in increasingly warm conditions. And she needs a steady supply of plastic buckets, PVC pipes, and gloves to do it.

• • Cities Worldwide Cut Air Pollution in Major Breakthrough

  Cities Across the Globe Have Sharply Reduced Harmful Air Pollution Since 2010s
  
  {HEALTHY HAPPY NEWS}

  Mar. 29, 2026 - A recent report examining one hundred global cities reveals that nineteen have substantially improved their air quality since 2010. These success stories span across China, Hong Kong, Europe, and the United States, proving that cleaner air is achievable worldwide.

  San Francisco emerged as a domestic leader by successfully reducing both fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. These efforts target pollutants linked to various health conditions, showing a commitment to long-term public wellness.

• • Toxic Ocean Crisis in Papua New Guinea Sparks
  Mass Marine Die-Off and Public Health Emergency

  Thousands of Dead Fish Are Washing Ashore and People Are Falling Ill Too, As Officials Investigate Possible Sources of Contamination

  
  

  Mar. 29, 2026 -It started in December, when dead fish began washing ashore New Ireland—a mountainous island in Papua New Guinea’s New Ireland Province, flanked by the Pacific Ocean and the Bismarck Sea.

  At first, just a few fish scattered the beaches—mostly small bluestripe herring, which school in shallow tropical waters. Within a few weeks, they were landing in droves.

• • How Clean Energy Firms Are Trying to Survive the Trump Era

  Offshore Wind is Out. Geothermal Power is In. And many Climate Technology Start-Ups Are Looking For Ways to Carry On Without Federal Backing

  
  

  Mar. 28, 2026 -Clean energy isn’t dead in the Trump era. But it does look different these days.

  Since returning to office, President Trump has dismantled federal efforts to fight climate change and vowed to stop new wind turbines from going up. His administration has canceled billions of dollars in funding for technologies that might one day help reduce planet-warming emissions, and it has instead pushed to expand domestic oil and gas drilling.

  Those moves have taken a brutal toll on America’s budding clean energy industry, including canceled offshore wind farms, shuttered electric-car factories and layoffs at climate technology start-ups.

• • Climate Action Could Backfire On Food—Unless We Use This Fix

  Scientists Say Cleaner Air From Reduced Ozone Pollution May Be Key to Avoiding a Global Hunger Spike

  
  

  March 27, 2026 -Efforts to mitigate climate change could unexpectedly increase global hunger levels by making food more expensive. But, if the ozone-reducing benefits of climate action are factored in, it could curb world hunger by a substantial 15%, a new study says.

  This ozone-reducing element has been overlooked in most research exploring the climate mitigation impact on food availability—and that’s where the new Nature Food research comes in.

• • Why the Iran War May Force Countries to Rely Less on Natural Gas

  Disruptions to Persian Gulf Supplies Are Pushing Gas-Buying Countries to Consider Alternatives Like Coal, Solar and Nuclear Energy

  
  

  Mar. 26, 2026 -From Western Europe to East Asia, countries are scouring the globe for natural gas after the war in Iran cut off the Persian Gulf fuel that they relied on to cook dinner, heat homes and generate electricity.

  The United States, as the world’s biggest gas exporter, will almost certainly benefit from this upheaval, at least in the short term.

• • He Helped Write the Clean Air Act. He Fears for Its Future

  Thomas Jorling, Adviser to Republicans Who Cosponsored the 1970 law, Disputes the Trump Administration’s Claim That It Shouldn’t Apply to Planet-Warming Greenhouse Gases

  
  

  Mar. 28, 2026 -When the Trump administration took the extraordinary step this year of killing the government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases, it made a simple argument: The Clean Air Act doesn’t allow it.

  Thomas Jorling, who helped write the Clean Air Act, disagrees.

  The 1970 Clean Air Act became law more than a half-century ago, when climate change wasn’t as widely recognized a threat. But Mr. Jorling said in a recent interview that he and the other authors of the legislation had known that scientists would continue learning about new pollutants, and so the bill was meant to be flexible enough to encompass them.

• • Inside 2026’s Massive Fireball Surge

  Earth Faces an Unexplained Surge of Massive, Booming Daytime Fireballs in Early 2026
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Mar. 28, 2026 -On a Saturday afternoon this past March, a piece of the solar system plummeted toward a home in north Houston.

  The one-ton space rock broke apart nearly 30 miles above the city, unleashing a violent sonic boom equivalent to 26 tons of TNT. A dark, jagged fragment smashed through a residential roof and even ricocheted around a bedroom like a cosmic pinball.

• • This New Carbon Material Could Make
  Carbon Capture Far More Affordable

  A Cleverly Redesigned Carbon Material Could Make Capturing CO2 Far Cheaper By Releasing It With Minimal Heat
  
  {Science Daily}

  Mar. 28, 2026 -Stopping carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere is a critical way to cut greenhouse gas emissions. While carbon capture has been around for many years, it has not been widely adopted because most systems are costly and inefficient.

  A common industrial approach, aqueous amine scrubbing, requires heating large amounts of liquid to temperatures above 100 °C to release the captured CO2 and reuse the solution. This high energy demand drives up operating costs and makes large-scale use difficult.

• • European Country Vows to Give Homeowners
  ‘Free Electricity' Instead of Switching Off Wind Turbines

  Europe’s Outdated and Under-Invested Energy Grid Means Huge Amounts of Renewable Energy Are Wasted Every Year
  
  {euro news}

  Mar. 27, 2026 -The case for renewable energy is stronger than ever, as the war on Iran continues to highlight the dangers of fossil fuel dependency.

  While Brent crude, the world benchmark for oil prices, dipped yesterday morning (26 March) amid rising hopes of de-escalation, barrel prices have exceeded $100 (around €86.38) per barrel several times since the conflict began. Before the US-Israel war on Iran, oil prices were under €63 per barrel.

  Much of the surge has been blamed on the Strait of Hormuz’s effective closure. This is one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel chokepoints, carrying around one-fifth of global oil supplies.

• • Scientists Discover 24 New Species and New Branch
  of Life in Area Slated for Deep Sea Mining

  The Ocean Floor is Teeming With Life
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Mar. 27, 2026 -A patch of seafloor targeted for future mining has given us a blunt reminder that we don’t really know what’s going on down there. Researchers have described 24 new species of amphipods (tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans) hailing from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. We often discuss this vast abyssal stretch of the Pacific in terms of resources, but as it turns out, it’s also a biological frontier.

  Among the new finds is a creature so unusual that the team had to put a new branch on the tree of life just to categorize it. But as we’re adding new branches to the tree of life, we’re also preparing to scrape the area for mining.

• • Iran Was Already Running Out of Water.
  Then Came the ‘War On Infrastructure

  Drought, a Legacy of Overpumping, and Now Military Strikes Are Driving the Country’s Fragile Water and Food Systems to the Brink

  
  

  Mar. 26, 2026 -Last week, following escalating attacks on critical energy and water facilities, the Israeli-U.S. war in Iran entered a new stage. “Now the war on infrastructure has started,” said Kaveh Madani, a water researcher at the United Nations University and former deputy vice president of Iran.

  On March 18, Israel struck the South Pars gas field in Iran, the largest natural gas field in the world. Iran is heavily dependent on South Pars for its energy supply; by some estimates, the field accounts for 90 percent of the country’s domestic energy use.

• • Lifestyle Changes May Help Meaningfully
  Reduce Exposure to Toxic Plastic Chemicals

  Some Couples Also Reported an Increase in Energy, Improved Sleep Quality, and Weight Loss
  
  {EHN}

  Mar. 26, 2026 -Most couples who underwent lifestyle changes designed to reduce chemical exposures - such as eating out less, avoiding plastic food containers, and avoiding products with synthetic fragrances - experienced a drop in both their bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalate levels.

  Total motile sperm count increased above subfertile levels for three of the five men, and four of the five couples had children following the intervention.

• • E.P.A. Waives Smog Rules on Summer Gasoline in Bid to Ease Prices

  The moves Allow Expanded Sales of a Higher-Ethanol Blend Known as E15, Which is Often Restricted in the Summer

  
  

  Mar. 25, 2026 -The Trump administration said Wednesday that it would temporarily suspend some anti-smog restrictions on summertime gasoline blends, in an attempt to ease the recent spike in fuel prices stemming from the war with Iran.

  The Environmental Protection Agency issued emergency waivers to allow expanded sales this summer of a gasoline blend known as E15, which consists of 15 percent ethanol. More than 3,000 stations across the country offer E15, which sells at a discount to other gasoline blends but is often restricted from June to September because of concerns that it can exacerbate smog in hotter weather.

• • A Sunken Soviet Nuclear Sub Is Leaking
  Radiation into the Norwegian Sea

  Researchers Say Things Aren't Really *That* Bad.
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  Mar. 25, 2026 -Thirty-seven years ago, the Soviet nuclear submarine Komsomolets plummeted to the seafloor. It settled a mile beneath the surface of the Norwegian Sea, resting in absolute darkness and under crushing pressure. Now, a new study confirms the submarine’s outer shell is corroding, venting radioactive isotopes into the deep.

  Although researchers say it’s not yet a disaster in the making, the clock is ticking.

• • As Prices Soar, EPA Greenlights Higher Ethanol Blends in Gasoline

  The Agency Typically Doesn’t Allow Smog-Creating Ethanol Blends in the Summer But is Relaxing That Restriction to Appease Consumers and Farmers

  
  

  Mar. 25, 2026 -The Trump administration handed farmers and the ethanol industry a win on Wednesday by issuing a waiver that will allow the use of higher corn-based ethanol blends in gas tanks this summer.

  EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made the announcement at CERAWeek, a major energy conference in Texas, saying it furthered the administration’s goal of creating “American energy dominance” and will give consumers relief from soaring gas prices.

• • Iowa’s Cancer Crisis Linked to Pesticides, PFAS, Fertilizer and Radon

  The State is One of a Handful Where Cancer Diagnoses Are On the Rise

  
  

  Mar. 25, 2026 -Iowa is among a few states where cancer diagnoses are on the rise. A new analysis from the Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement and the Iowa Environmental Council says that environmental exposures are partially to blame.

  High pesticide and fertilizer use in the top corn-producing state, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public drinking water supplies and elevated radon levels in soil and water threaten the health of residents and likely interact to drive up Iowa’s cancer rate, the second highest in the nation, the report’s authors say.

• • Corpus Christi is Scrambling to Ward Off a Water Crisis

  Here’s a Guide to Its Water Projects
  
  {THE TEXAS TRIBUNE}

  Mar. 24, 2026 -A historic drought has gripped Corpus Christi, the eighth-largest city in Texas, placing unprecedented strain on a water system that serves roughly 500,000 people across seven counties, along with one of the nation’s largest petrochemical corridors and Port of Corpus Christi, the country’s top port for crude oil exports.

  Industrial demand accounts for more than half of the region’s water use.

• • Hurricane Evacuation Tool Will Soon Expire Due to DHS Approval Delays

  The Tool Helps Determine If and When Public Safety Agencies Should Evacuate Neighborhoods When a Hurricane Approaches

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -A tool thousands of communities at risk for hurricanes use to decide when to evacuate residents is set to expire Friday because the acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator has held up its full renewal, according to emails reviewed by The Washington Post, as well as four current and two former officials familiar with the situation.

  The system, called Hurrevac, has more than 30,000 users according to its website, including emergency managers for cities, states and U.S. territories as well as some National Weather Service offices. The group of current and former FEMA officials, all but one of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, described it as an invaluable tool that overlays evacuation, storm history and forecast data to determine whether and when public safety agencies should clear neighborhoods when a hurricane is approaching.

• • Pakistan Ranked Most Polluted Country in 2025

  The World’s Top 25 Most Polluted Cities Were All in India, Pakistan and China
  
  {NBC NEWS}
  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -Pakistan was ranked the world’s smoggiest country in 2025, with concentrations of hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 up to 13 times higher than the recommended World Health Organization level, research showed Tuesday.

  Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir said in its annual report that 13 countries and territories kept average PM2.5 levels at the WHO standard of less than 5 micrograms per cubic meter last year, up from seven in 2024. The other 130 out of 143 monitored countries and territories, including the United States, failed to meet the WHO guideline.

• • How to Get Big Tech to Pay Your Energy Bills

  The Most Overlooked U.S. Power Plant Isn’t a Gas Turbine or Solar Farm. It’s Your House (and Thousands of Others)

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -The tech industry needs massive amounts of electricity. The most overlooked power plant in the United States isn’t a gas turbine or a solar farm: It’s your house.

  Tech companies are locked into a race to build artificial intelligence that comes down to speed and scale. AI infrastructure such as data centers, some argue, plays the role that railroads and canals did in the 19th century: The first firms to dominate will control the era’s most transformative technology. Tech giants are expected to pour about $2.7 trillion into data centers and AI infrastructure in the United States by 2030, McKinsey estimates, more than one Manhattan Project every month, in inflation-adjusted terms.

• • Wildfires Rip Through Unusual Parts
  of U.S., Raising Fears of a Brutal Season

  The Blazes Perhaps Signal an Expanding Frontier for Fire Risk in Broader Patches of the U.S.

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -By late March, Nebraska was already in the throes of a historic wildfire event that had burned more than a half-million acres. In South Dakota and Wyoming, strong, dry winds are flaring up big blazes. Dozens of residents in two Colorado counties had to evacuate over the weekend as record hot temperatures and extremely low humidity fueled the rapid spread of fires in the parched brush. And until last week, it was still technically winter.

  Wildfires are ripping across the Great Plains, and other flare-ups are popping up in Arizona and Colorado remarkably early in the season. Firefighters and experts are watching these giant red splotches of burning forest and grasslands with alarm, warning that the timing, ingredients fueling their startling growth, and what they signal about the fire season ahead is a recipe for concern — perhaps signaling an expanding frontier for fire risk in broader patches of the western half of the United States.

• • Hawaii Assesses Damage Left By Worst Flooding In More Than 20 Years

  People Evacuated On Oahu And Maui As Rains Lifted Houses and Cars, Swept Through Stores and Left Streets Mud-Clogged

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -Hawaii is assessing the extensive damage left by the worst flooding the islands have seen in more than 20 years.

  Heavy rains and floodwater forced thousands on the North Shore of Oahu to evacuate over the weekend and triggered evacuation orders for parts of Maui. Floodwater from rains lifted houses and cars, inundated farms and swept through grocery stores on the islands, leaving behind a thick layer of mud.

• • The Chinese Mitten Crab Is an Armor-Clad
  Invader Engineering the Collapse of Global Riverbanks

  It's One of the Most Damaging Invasive Species

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -Part biological tank, part master engineer, the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) has moved from East Asia to become one of the world’s most destructive invasive species. By riddling riverbanks with holes and outcompeting native wildlife, this “hairy-clawed” hitchhiker is transforming entire ecosystems into its own private colony.

  From the murky depths of the Thames in London to the pristine flows of the Willamette in Oregon, this crab has become an invasive problem in many ecosystems. The worst thing about it is we don’t really have a good idea how to get rid of it.

• • This Tiny Plant Could Be the Secret to
  Stopping Flash Floods On Our Roads

  Replace Boring Roadside Grass With Moss That Eats Heavy Metals and Drinks Flash Floods

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -Across Europe, many banks alongside motorways are planted with grass to stabilize soil and keep roadside landscapes tidy.

  But there may be a better solution. Already some countries are experimenting with using moss in built-up areas to absorb air pollution. As countries search for nature-based solutions to climate and environmental challenges, roadside moss is starting to attract attention. So could mossy motorway banks work?

• • What An Oncologist Wants You to Know
  About Environmental Cancer Risks

  From Air Pollution to Mmicroplastics to Natural Radiation, Here’s What to Be Aware of — and What You Can Do to Reduce Your Exposure

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -As much as we all want to avoid consuming or breathing in dangerous chemicals and pollutants, they may be impossible to escape.

  Half the world’s population is exposed to increasing amounts of air pollution, mainly due to energy production, industry and transport. Additionally, our contact with environmental radiation has been increasing, from natural sources such as radon in rocks and soil and cosmic radiation, to artificial sources such as industrial and occupational exposures and even medical imaging — which is often necessary, and the benefits of diagnosing an immediate problem far outweigh the remote chance of boosting cancer risk at some point in the future. Forever chemicals, or PFAS, also contaminate the soil, which can in turn affect the food we eat and the water we drink, and have been associated with cancer.

• • Replacing Toxic Lead Pipes Could Drive Job Creation in Illinois

  Replacing the Unsafe Plumbing Has the Potential to Create 90,000 Jobs

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -Illinois is in the midst of a public health crisis. Nearly 1.5 million service lines—the pipes that carry drinking water to homes and businesses—contain or are suspected to contain lead, a neurotoxin linked to cognitive, reproductive and cardiovascular problems.

  Now, public health and workforce advocates want to turn the state’s long-overdue pipe replacement backlog into a statewide economic engine, creating up to 90,000 jobs over a decade.

• • In the Fight to Defend the Amazon, This
  Indigenous Community’s Secret Weapon Is Science

  In the Copper-Rich Mountains of Southeastern Ecuador, Shuar People Are Combining Ancestral Knowledge and Modern Science to Protect Their Forest From a Canadian Mining Giant

  
  

  Mar. 22, 2026 -By the time Olger Kitiar reached the ridge, his shirt was wet with sweat, clinging to his back. Built with the solid frame of a linebacker, he moved through the rainforest with a quick, even rhythm that defied the steep, slick climb.

  Then he froze.

  “Stop,” he hissed in Spanish, his hand snapping up.

  Jhostin Antún, a few steps behind, halted mid-stride. To an outsider, the trail ahead looked like any other patch of churned Amazonian mud—slick, brown and dense enough to swallow a boot. But Olger’s eyes, trained by a lifetime in the Shuar territory of Maikiuants, saw it instantly. He squatted down, pointing to a deep, four-toed indentation. The track was fresh. And massive.

• • A Massive Border Wall Expansion is Underway

  The Construction Will Destroy Pristine Country, Threaten Endangered Species, and Cut Off Access to Sacred Indigenous and Archaeological Sites

  
  

  Mar. 21, 2026 -The Trump administration is building hundreds of miles of border wall through iconic national parks, public lands and ecologically sensitive wilderness, empowered by provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that provided $46.5 billion in funding and a 2005 law that waived dozens of environmental rules for border security projects.

  The “Smart Wall” project calls for a wall in parts of rugged Texas desert that are experiencing historically low border crossings and a second wall across parts of California, Arizona and New Mexico that already have barriers from the first Trump administration, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents recently posted online.

• • Mexico's Coastal Communities Fear More Crude Contamination

  Spill Source Unclear

  
  

  Mar. 20, 2026 -Residents along Mexico's Gulf Coast fear more crude oil will ?wash onto beaches in Tabasco and Veracruz states nearly a month after the first signs of contamination were detected, as authorities investigate the source of the spill.

  The contamination has affected 230 km (143 miles) of shoreline and 39 communities in the two states, according to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Corridor Network, a coalition of fishing, Indigenous and environmental groups.

• • Carbon Removal Hubs Languish as DOE Audits Drag On

  Two Megaprojects That Were Awarded More Than $1 Billion in Federal Subsidies Have Stalled Under President Trump
  
  {E&E NEWS}

  Mar. 20, 2026 -The world’s largest carbon dioxide removal project was scheduled to break ground in Louisiana in 2025 and begin pulling climate pollution from the sky next year.

  But preliminary work on the $1 billion development known as Project Cypress has stalled and the companies collaborating on it have gone quiet amid uncertainty about the status of up to $550 million that the Biden-era Department of Energy awarded to the initiative.

• • Thousands Ordered to Evacuate as
  Oahu Floods Put Dam at Imminent Failure Risk

  Two Powerful Storms Have Hit Hawaii Over the Past Week, So the Recent Rain Landed on Ground That Was Already Saturated
  
  {NBC NEWS}
  
  

  Mar. 20, 2026 -After two powerful storms struck Hawaii over the past week, officials are warning that one of the largest dams on the island of Oahu is at risk of imminent failure.

  Water was flowing over the top of the Wahiawa dam on Thursday morning local time. Officials issued evacuation notices for two towns, Waialua and Haleiwa, which were already dealing with local flooding but could get inundated if the dam fails.

• • Google Boosts Grid Flexibility in South and Midwest

  Google’s Demand Response Contracts With Utilities Add to Its Initiatives Meant to Keep the Electric Grid Stable
  
  {ENERGYWIRE}

  March 20, 2026 -Google is improving the flexibility of its data centers’ power use in what it says is an effort to make the U.S. power grid more stable and affordable.

  The technology giant announced on Thursday that it is integrating 1 gigawatt of "demand response" into its utility contracts in the South and Midwest. Demand response involves energy customers adjusting their operations based on the needs of the power grid. If the grid is using a lot of power in a given hour, factories or data centers scale down.

• • Cigarette Butts Don’t Biodegrade

  They Turn Into Microplastics That Linger for Years

  
  

  Mar. 20, 2026 -What happens to a cigarette but when it’s thrown away? A new study offers an unsettling answer: not much; at least not in the way you’d hope.

  After tracking cigarette filters for nearly a decade under real outdoor conditions, researchers found they don’t fully biodegrade or mineralize. Instead, they slowly break apart, leaving much of their material behind as persistent residue in the soil.

• • South Texas Officials Didn’t Know Tesla Was
  Discharging Lithium Refinery Wastewater Into Local Ditch

  While the EV Company Has a Permit to Discharge Effluent Into a Ditch, the Local Drainage District Said It Didn’t Permit Use of Its Easement

  
  

  Mar. 19, 2026 -The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Friday approved an investigation report on Tesla’s battery-grade lithium compounds manufacturing facility near Robstown in Nueces County, finding no violation of the plant’s wastewater discharge permit.

  TCEQ began its investigation after workers for Nueces County Drainage District No. 2, which presides over the ditch area, found an unfamiliar pipe stretched across the district’s easement, expelling black liquid into the ditch. The workers filed two complaints with TCEQ on Jan. 20 and Feb. 9 about the quality of the wastewater discharged from the Tesla facility.

• • Meet the Medicane, a Hurricane’s Mediterranean Cousin

  The Storm, Which Made Landfall This Week in Libya, is Fairly Infrequent, With Only a Dozen Forming Between 1982 and 2003

  
  

  Mar. 19, 2026 -A cyclone made landfall this week in Libya, likely packing tropical storm-force winds, a few heavy rain squalls and perhaps a minor storm surge. It even had an eye-like feature on satellite.

  But it wasn’t a hurricane — at least, not exactly. It was a medicane — a hurricane’s Mediterranean cousin

• • AI Power Demand Creates ‘High Likelihood, High Impact’ Grid Risks

  The North American Transmission Watchdog Warns of Cascading Outages If the Largest Data Centers Aren’t Regulated
  
  {EHN}

  Mar. 18, 2026 -North America’s electric grid watchdog is acting with urgency to guard against widespread power outages stemming from the volatile energy demand of data centers.

  The North American Electric Reliability Corp., the grid’s not-for-profit security monitor, is moving to draft new standards for large artificial intelligence computing hubs that could lead to regulation of their operations. A NERC committee is expected to initiate the project Wednesday, seeking final approval by the end of the year.

• • Two Energy Firsts Out of Japan This Week

  New Test Shows 100% Ammonia Can Power Gas Turbines Without Carbon Emissions
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Mar. 18, 2026 -GE Vernova and IHI successfully tested 100% ammonia combustion in a full-scale F-class gas turbine. The companies are targeting commercial availability by 2030, with retrofittable combustors for multiple GE models.

  Panasonic and Itochu are simulating how continuous monitoring of BESS power-control communications could catch cyberattackers in their tracks.

• • For Heat Pumps, Size Matters

  Learn More By Clicking on the Link Provided
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Mar. 18, 2026 -The standard calculations that HVAC contractors use to size heating equipment are an obstacle to electrifying the space heating sector. The reason is that they consistently project much higher heating loads than most homes ever experience, causing contractors to install much larger equipment than is necessary.

  That practice isn’t a big problem for natural gas furnaces. Larger furnaces cost only a bit more than smaller units. They may operate a bit less efficiently, but those contractors aren’t paying the utility bills. But for heat pumps, larger units cost significantly more than smaller ones and oversized equipment can run much less efficiently.

• • Landmark Deal to Share Chile’s Lithium
  Windfall Fractures Indigenous Communities

  A Pioneering Accord Meant to give Indigenous Communities More of a Say Over Lithium Mining Sites has Left the People of the Atacama Desert Divided Like Never Before
  
  {CLIMATE HOME NEWS}
  
  

  Mar. 18, 2026 -Perched nearly 2,500 metres above sea level, his village, Toconao, means “lost corner” in the Kunza language of the Indigenous people who have lived and farmed the land in this remote spot for millennia.

  “Our deep connection to this place is based on what we have inherited from our ancestors: our culture, our language,” said Espíndola, a member of a local research team that found evidence that people have inhabited the desert for more than 12,000 years.

• • Senator Launches Investigation Into
  Methane Pollution in the Permian Basin

  Actual Emissions From the West Texas and Southeast New Mexico Basin Are Four Times Higher Than Official Estimates

  
  

  Mar. 18, 2026 -U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) launched an investigation into the discrepancy between reported and observed methane pollution from the Permian Basin—the largest-producing oil field in the United States and one of the largest in the world.

  The investigation, announced Wednesday, follows a recent report by MethaneSAT, a short-lived methane-sensing satellite launched by the Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University and others in 2024. That report, released in early February, found that methane emissions from oil and gas production facilities in the Permian Basin from May 2024 to June 2025 were four times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s official estimates.

• • How Can Data Centers Reduce Strain on the Grid?

  Energy and Grid Management
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Mar. 19, 2026 -Google has now signed demand response agreements with five utilities—Entergy Arkansas, Minnesota Power, DTE Energy, Indiana Michigan Power, and TVA—cutting up to 1 GW of its data center load during peak demand.

  Claros is tackling the problem from inside the rack. Its integrated voltage regulators reduce energy waste by sending power straight to servers’ main processors, claiming up to 30% energy savings. The company recently closed a a $30M seed round.

• • Trump Administration Auctions Contested Arctic Lands for Oil Drilling

  Oil Companies Bid On More Than 1 Million Acres in the First Lease Sale in the Western Arctic Since 2019

  
  

  Mar. 19, 2026 -Oil companies won the right to drill on more than 1.3 million acres across the Alaskan Arctic on Wednesday, including areas that local Alaska Native leaders consider critical to wildlife and subsistence hunting and land set aside for conservation.

  It was the first lease sale in the region since 2019 and marked the next phase in a sustained push by industry and the Trump administration to expand fossil fuel extraction in the rapidly warming North Slope.

• • After Record WA Flooding, Promising Signs Emerge at Restoration Site

  Dramatic Scenes Played Out All Over Washington as the State Was Hit With a Parade of Atmospheric Rivers

  
  

  Mar. 19, 2026 -December’s flooding brought chaos, evacuations and over $180 million in damage to public roads and infrastructure across the state. But at this stretch of the Cedar between Highway 169 and picturesque homes, disruptions were minimal.

  Over a decade ago, King County bought out the mobile home park which used to lie alongside the river here, relocating its 90 residents to higher ground. Then starting in 2020, the county removed an old, long-battered levee, filled in a gravel pit and dug out new side channels.

• • This Probiotic From Kimchi Vacuum
  Nanoplastics Right out of Your Gut

  A Common Kimchi Microbe Helps the Body Flush Out Microscopic Plastic Pollution

  
  

  Mar. 18, 2026 -You probably ate 100,000 plastic pieces over the past year. And some reports suggest that number was a conservative estimate. You didn’t see it on your plate or your fork, but it was there, hiding in the salt, the water, the food, and even the dust floating in our living rooms. These tiny pieces of plastic, known as nanoplastic, are smaller than a grain of sand.

  Unlike larger microplastics, nanoplastics are small enough to slip through your gut lining and hitch a ride in your bloodstream. Once they’re in, they set up shop in your kidneys, your liver, and other vital organs. But researchers in South Korea just found an unlikely ally in the fight against this invisible invasion: a humble bacterium living in a jar of fermented kimchi.

• • Nebraska Wildfires Consume Nearly 800,000 Acres

  The Morrill Fire, the Largest Wildfire in State History, Was 16 Percent Contained on Wednesday

  
  

  Mar. 18, 2026 -Hundreds of firefighters from across Nebraska and neighboring states were battling two major wildfires that have burned nearly 800,000 acres in western and central Nebraska, officials said Wednesday.

  One of the fires, the Morrill fire, is the largest in the state’s history, officials said. That fire has killed at least one person, Gov. Jim Pillen said.

• • U.S. Natural Gas Consumption Set a Monthly and Yearly Record in 2025

  Blame the Bitter Cold
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Mar. 17, 2026 -By the numbers: The US burned through a record 92 Bcf/d on average last year, up 2% from 2024. That’s mostly thanks to a brutal winter: January hit an all-time monthly high of 126.6 Bcf/d.

  The twist: Electric power demand for natural gas actually fell 1 Bcf/d year-over-year, to 35.8 Bcf/d. A milder summer played a role, but so did solar + battery additions muscling gas off the dispatch stack for more of the day.

• • Meteor Explodes Over Cleveland in Broad Daylight

  The Explosion Produced a Loud Booming Noise and Even Shook the Ground

  
  

  Mar. 17, 2026 -A meteor exploded Tuesday morning north of Cleveland over Lake Erie.

  The American Meteor Society received hundreds reports of a visible meteor from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Kentucky; it was widely visible across Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and western New York state, too.

  Though the meteor occurred during the daylight hours, it was bright enough to be seen for about 5½ seconds. Tens of thousands of people across northern Ohio heard a loud boom, and some people even felt the ground shake. That may have been the meteor’s sonic boom or the sound of it actually exploding. A seismometer, or earthquake-measuring instrument, detected subtle shaking of the ground at 8:56 a.m. in Lorain County, Ohio.

• • Researchers Use Sunlight to Turn Plastic Waste Into Vinegar

  But Tapping into These Resources Is Anything but Easy

  
  

  Mar. 17, 2026 -Plastic is one of the most durable materials humans have ever made. That durability has made it indispensable in medicine, food packaging and transport. But it’s also created one of the defining environmental problems we have faced.

  Hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic are produced globally every year. Much of it ends up in landfills, incinerators or the natural environment, where it can persist for centuries.

  Instead of treating plastic purely as waste, research shows that it can be transformed into something useful under mild conditions.

• • Water Shortage May Hit Corpus Christi Within Weeks

  The City Could Lose Access to Millions of Gallons of Water Per Day in April or May

  
  

  Mar. 17, 2026 -Water shortages could hit Corpus Christi within weeks when contract terms mandate a 10 percent reduction in the city’s draw from its largest remaining reservoir, the equivalent of 7 million gallons a day, according to local officials. City leaders previously said water curtailment could begin in November.

  The reduction could begin when Lake Texana, which the city of Corpus Christi shares with Formosa Plastics’ Point Comfort complex, falls below 50 percent full. Under current conditions, that will happen in April, said Patrick Brzozowski, general manager of the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority, which administers the lake.

• • Synthetic Chemicals Are Widespread in Marine Ecosystems

  Compounds From Hygiene Products Were Among the Most Common Culprit
  
  {abc NEWS}
  
  

  Mar. 16, 2026 - Scientists have detected a substantial amount of synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, in the ocean, according to new research.

  The distribution of human-made chemicals in the ocean is widespread but especially abundant in coastal areas, a paper published Monday in Nature Geoscience found.

  Researchers studying carbon cycling in the ocean were consistently observing datasets that identified the presence of manmade chemicals in Earth’s oceans, which sparked the initial interest in the study

• • 4 Ways Trump is Sabotaging Climate Action Around the World

  In just the last year, Trump Has Derailed an International Carbon Tax, Boosted Forecasts For Oil and gas, and Sought to Silence an Island Nation’s Climate Campaign

  
  

  Mar. 16, 2026 -President Trump has spent much of his second term trying to reshape global politics, first through a series of tariffs and trade deals that began on what he termed “Liberation Day” last April. This year, he’s focused on changing the world through military force: After abducting the leader of Venezuela and blockading Cuba, last month the president launched an attack on Iran that has now spiraled into a regional war involving most of the Middle East.

  Among many profound consequences, Trump’s military strikes could have dramatic effects on the world’s energy trajectory and climate change, though what those effects are remains to be seen. But well before Trump’s attention was consumed by deposing foreign leaders, the president devoted much of his foreign policy to much more directly undermining international progress on global warming: Top diplomats in the Trump administration have pressured other countries to sabotage major treaties on plastic production and shipping emissions, and they have fought to drop even the mention of climate change at international institutions like the United Nations and the International Energy Agency.

• • Potential For Severe Storms Moves East of D.C. For Now

  Tornado Watch Until 7 p.m. The most Intense Storms Could Produce Wind Gusts of 60 mph or Greater and an Isolated Tornado

  
  

  Mar. 15, 2026 -The worst of the storms is over, at least for the afternoon, for the Beltway, Interstate 95 and points west. Strong to severe storms remain possible east of the Beltway and Interstate 95 to the Chesapeake Bay through about 4 p.m. Some storms could produce damaging winds, maybe an isolated tornado.

  What’s next? A final line of gusty showers and storms could cross the area from west to east between 7 and 10 p.m., after whichbtemperatures tumble. Rain may briefly end as snow between 10 p.m. and midnight. Unseasonably chilly Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, temperatures moderate.

• • Nation’s First Critical Minerals Mine
  Nears Approval in Biodiversity Hotspot

  The U.S. Forest Service Plans to Approve South32’S Hermosa Project in Patagonia, Arizona, Despite the Water Problems the Mine is Already Causing

  
  

  Mar. 16, 2026 -The U.S. Forest Service on March 5 announced it plans to soon approve the nation’s first critical minerals mine, South32’s Hermosa project, when it released the final environmental impact statement, which was permitted under a streamlined process. The federal government called it “a strategic investment in America’s energy future” that “directly supports U.S. energy and security needs.”

  But in Patagonia, Arizona, residents and environmentalists are preparing for the impacts the project will bring to a world-renowned biodiversity hotspot, as the town, the nearby city of Nogales and Santa Cruz County inch closer to signing a community benefit agreement with the Australian mine company, South32, to mitigate and help address the impacts it is already bringing.

• • Why Hundreds of Earthquakes Have
  Rattled South Carolina in Recent Years

  The State’s History Includes the Most Deadly and Destructive Earthquake in The Eastern U.S.

  
  

  Mar. 15, 2026 -At 12:17 p.m. on a recent Thursday, the Earth rumbled, windows rattled and a loud boom startled residents in communities around Lake Murray, just outside South Carolina’s capital of Columbia.

  “Wow! If that is considered ‘light’ I’d hate to feel much stronger. I had some photos fall off the wall it shook the house so much,” wrote one of the many nearby residents who shared details on social media. Another woman posted a video of the moment her living room was jolted, and her spooked cat leaped in alarm from a nearby chair.

• • Stripped of Life: the Deadly South Australian
  Algal Bloom is Still Spreading One Year On

  More Than 20,000 Sq Km of Coast has Succumbed to Australia’s First Bloom of Toxic Karenia Cristata Algae

  
  

  Mar. 14, 2026 -The largest and most destructive algal bloom in Australia’s history is persisting along parts of the South Australian coastline, a year on from when it was first detected.

  From a distance, it can be hard to grasp just how unusual and devastating the crisis has been.

  Most harmful blooms only last a few weeks. This one has been unrelenting.

• • ‘Drinking From a Fetid Pond’: Superbug-
  Creating Genes Found in UK’s Largest Lake

  Lough Neagh, Which Supplies Drinking Water For 40% of NI, Contains Genes Resistant to Last-Resort Antibiotics

  
  

  Mar. 14, 2026 -Genes capable of creating antibiotic-resistant superbugs have been detected in the UK’s largest lake, which supplies drinking water to about 40% of Northern Ireland.

  Testing of water from Lough Neagh, which has a surface area 26 times bigger than Windermere, found genes resistant to a wide range of antibiotics, including carbapenems – drugs reserved for life-threatening infections when all other treatments have failed.

• • War in Iran Has Put Middle East Water Supplies at Risk

  Two Water Desalination Plants in the Region Have Been Damaged in Military Operations

  
  

  Mar. 14, 2026 -Last week, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said an attack on a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, in the Persian Gulf, on March 7 had affected the water supply to 30 villages. While Iran blamed the United States for the attack, the Pentagon has denied responsibility, as has Israel.

  And in Bahrain, the Interior Ministry blamed an Iranian drone for “material damage” to a desalination plant, though the country’s water and electricity authority said water supplies had not been affected.

• • Mining’s Toxic Timebomb: Dams Full of
  Poisonous Waste Are Dotted Around the World

  What Happens When They Burst?

  
  

  Mar. 13, 2026 -As soon as the barrier broke, a flood of poison brought death to the river. Gushing through the fragile wall built to hold back mining waste in Zambia’s copper belt in February 2025, more than 50m cubic litres of acid and heavy metals poured into the Chambishi stream – a tributary of the Kafue River, the country’s longest waterway.

  Thousands of lifeless fish rose to the surface as a plume of acid floated downriver, leaving dead crocodiles and other wildlife in its wake.

• • China’s Clean Energy Push Has Made It Less
  Vulnerable to Energy Shocks, Including the Iran War

  As Countries Scramble to Secure Oil, Gas and Fertilizer, China’s Bets On Clean Energy and Coal are Cushioning Its Dependence On Oil and Gas Imports

  
  

  Mar. 13, 2026 -When Gary Dirks arrived in China in 1995, the country’s government was looking to source more of its energy at home. Dirks was the incoming country head for BP, but efforts to find more oil and gas in the country had largely fizzled.

  So government leaders pivoted, Dirks said. China invested heavily in its domestic coal and, later, in building wind and solar energy. Now, those investments and other steps are shielding China from more severe impacts of the volatility unleashed by the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, despite Beijing’s continued reliance on foreign oil.

• • They Want to Rebuild. Can They Afford to Prevent the Next Fire, Too?

  Palisades fire victims want to raise money for disaster hardening. Their idea Could Be a model — If...

  
  

  Mar. 13, 2026 -Allison Holdorff Polhill looks out at the slice of paradise she’s rebuilding near the Pacific coast, and worries.

  In her backyard, a utility pole towers over a small pool — the only thing left of her home of 30 years after the Palisades fire flattened 97 percent of her neighborhood in 2025.

  But sometimes when Ms. Polhill gazes across the blocks of empty lots, lonely chimneys and front steps to nowhere, she sees possibilities.

• • A Late-Winter Snowstorm is About to Hit
  the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes

  What to Know About Snow Totals, as Well as Thunderstorm and Tornado Risks

  
  

  Mar. 13, 2026 -A sprawling and powerful late-winter storm is about to blast the northern Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes into southeastern Canada. It will bring heavy snow measured in feet, plus high wind that will lower visibility while buffeting a large region with a risk for damage and power outages.

  On its cold side to the north and west of the track, the storm is expected to drop a zone of 12 to 36 inches of snowfall from the eastern Dakotas through the north-central Great Lakes and into Ontario province.

• • Pennsylvania Publishes Long-Awaited
  Study on Radioactivity in Landfill Runoff

  The State Concluded There's “No Current Cause For Concern.” Experts worried about the Long-Term Impacts of Fracking Waste Say More Research is Required

  
  

  Mar. 13, 2026 -A decade ago, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection published a study on radioactivity in the oil and gas industry, motivated by fears that increasing volumes of toxic fracking waste could pose risks to the environment and public health. That study concluded, in part, that more research was needed—especially regarding the impacts on landfills where this waste is disposed.

  On Friday, the agency released a follow-up study that specifically examined landfill leachate, the liquid byproduct formed when rainwater passes through waste, picking up contaminants along the way.

• • How a Species Evolved Fast Enough to Save Itself From Extinction

  The Scarlet Monkeyflower’s Rapid Adaptation to Drought Has Given Some Scientists Hope for Species’ Survival Amid Climate Change

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -All through the long and punishing drought, the little red flowers kept dying. The water-loving plants couldn’t survive amid such scorching summers and winters with no rain. By 2015 — the peak of California’s worst drought in at least 10,000 years — the scarlet monkeyflower had all but vanished from its creekside habitat in Sequoia National Park.

  But as the drought eased, the monkeyflowers reemerged with a vengeance. Their showy blooms danced beneath a canopy of redwood trees. Hummingbirds flocked to sip the rich nectar at their hearts. Against all odds, this isolated population of fragile, fleeting flowers was thriving once again.

• • The Future of Epoxy Could Be Plant-Based—and Recyclable

  New Resin Derived From Woody Waste Beats Fossil Resin Strength By 76%, and Could Keep Difficult-to-Recycle Composite Materials Out of Landfill

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -New resins made from sawdust, straw, and other woody waste could be up to 76% stronger than the fossil-based glues that hold together strong, lightweight materials used in the construction, transportation, and renewable energy industries. The sustainable glue alternatives could make it easier to recycle the heaps of trash produced by those industries.

  High-performance composite materials are essential for modern car and aircraft bodies, wind turbine blades, flooring and roofing materials, and electronics. These composites, known as epoxy thermoset plastics, are made of glass or carbon fibers held together with epoxy resins.

• • What’s More Carbon-Friendly, Farmed Or Wild Fish?

  Some Math For Those Suffering Analysis Paralysis in the Seafood Section

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -In the 1990s, the divide between wild and farmed fish felt moral as much as culinary. Farmed salmon became shorthand for industrial excess—crowded pens, antibiotics, polluted bays, and the irony of feeding wild fish to captive ones. Wild fish, meanwhile, carried an aura of purity, even as global stocks were thinning under overfishing.

  Over time, that simple story has shifted. Aquaculture expanded and, in many regions, improved: antibiotics declined, feeds became more efficient, and certification schemes promised accountability. At the same time, wild fisheries revealed their own vulnerabilities—bycatch, habitat destruction, and fragile management regimes.

• • The Japanese Mayor Who Built a Floodgate
  No One Wanted and Saved His Town

  For Decades, Kotoku Wamura Was Mocked. His Vision Saved an Entire Village

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -For decades, Kotoku Wamura was ridiculed for his insistence on constructing a massive seawall to protect his village. As mayor of Fudai, a small Japanese town with just over 3,000 residents, he championed a project that cost ¥3.56 billion (approximately $30 million in 2011) and took over a decade to complete. Many saw it as an unnecessary expense; that is, until a 9.1-magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami in 2011.

  The wave wiped out entire towns along Japan’s coastline. Even those with seawalls considered safe at the time were ravaged. But in Fudai, where Wamura’s floodgate stood, the village remained untouched.

• • Eye Doctor Named to Air Pollution Advisory Board Draws Pushback

  Brian Joondeph, a Colorado-Based Ophthalmologist and Political Commentator, Has Not Published Peer-Reviewed Research On Air Pollution Science

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -The Trump administration has tapped an eye doctor with no background in air pollution science to advise the Environmental Protection Agency on what levels of air pollutants are safe to breathe.

  The E.P.A. named Brian Joondeph, a Colorado-based ophthalmologist and political commentator, on Monday to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, an influential panel that advises the agency’s leadership on the latest scientific evidence on soot, smog and other hazardous pollutants.

• • There’s Something in the Air in South Portland, Maine

  Emissions Test Results Are in On the City’s 120 Petroleum Storage Tanks

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -It’s one of Maine’s most desirable locations—home to a vibrant and diverse community, nearby beaches, and close proximity to Portland’s downtown. But for years, residents in South Portland have wondered: With 120 massive petroleum storage tanks dotting the shore and knitted into some neighborhoods here, is the air safe to breathe?

  Now the first answers are in, thanks to a year of emissions monitoring along the fencelines of the city’s tank farms. At two of those locations, in particular, the results showed levels of benzene—a known carcinogen—well above the state’s limit.

• • Why the Iran War is Bad For Clean Energy

  Surging Oil And Gas Prices Could Increase Inflation — The Clean Energy Industry Recently Emerged From a Fight With Inflation. Now, With Energy Prices Surging, It May Have to Brace for Another Round
  
  {CLIMATEWIRE}
  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -The clean energy industry recently emerged from a fight with inflation. Now, with energy prices surging, it may have to brace for another round.

  Economic analysts are increasingly concerned about the potential effects of inflation as oil and gas prices soar due to the Iran war launched by the United States and Israel 12 days ago. Energy infrastructure such as storage tanks, refineries and natural gas facilities are increasingly being struck by forces on both sides of the conflict. Oil tankers have all but stopped passing through the Strait of Hormuz, driving U.S. gasoline prices to levels not seen in several years.

• • Getting Data Centers to Generate Their Own Electricity
  May Ease One Obstacle to Public Acceptance of Data Centers

  A Data Center Opened Next Door. Then Came the High-Pitched Whine

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 - Lindsay Shaw was happy when she found out a data center was going up 100 meters from her front door.

  Unlike most of her neighbors, she preferred a supercomputing hub to a shopping mall, which might bring a crush of car traffic. She was even more pleased when she learned the data center would generate its own power — rather than connecting to the grid and driving up her electric bills.

  But then the data center turned on, along with the eight natural gas turbines powering it. Now her home is barraged by a high-pitch whine that she says has made her newly screened-in porch unusable.

• • Attacks on Middle East Desalination Plants Highlight
  Risks of Near-Total Dependence on ‘Fossil Fuel Water’

  Destroying the Facilities is a Violation of International Law That Could Cause a Humanitarian Crisis in the Most Water-Scare Region on Earth

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -Recent attacks in the Middle East on desalination plants, facilities that remove salt from seawater, raise the potential for a humanitarian crisis if the region’s freshwater production facilities are subjected to more widespread destruction. The attacks also underscore the region’s heavy reliance on an energy-intensive method of producing drinking water that is powered almost entirely by fossil fuels.

  On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of striking a desalination plant in southern Iran. The U.S. has since denied any role in the attack. The next day, Bahrain accused Iran of damaging a desalination plant in a drone attack. The targeting of freshwater production facilities follows attacks on schools, airports, hotels and refineries since U.S Operation Epic Fury began in February. Attacking desalination plants is a violation of the Geneva Conventions, which established humanitarian laws for the treatment of non-combatants in war.

• • There’s Something in the Air in South Portland, Maine

  Emissions Test Results Are in On the City’s 120 Petroleum Storage Tanks

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -It’s one of Maine’s most desirable locations—home to a vibrant and diverse community, nearby beaches, and close proximity to Portland’s downtown. But for years, residents in South Portland have wondered: With 120 massive petroleum storage tanks dotting the shore and knitted into some neighborhoods here, is the air safe to breathe?

  Now the first answers are in, thanks to a year of emissions monitoring along the fencelines of the city’s tank farms. At two of those locations, in particular, the results showed levels of benzene—a known carcinogen—well above the state’s limit.

• • How War in Iran Could Remake the Global Energy Landscape

  The Middle East Oil Crisis Could Spur Countries to Invest in wind, solar and Other Renewables, And...

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -The war in Iran is choking off oil and gas supplies and spiking energy prices across the globe. And for many environmentalists, that’s a powerful argument for countries to curb their use of fossil fuels and shift to wind, solar and other renewable sources.

  Some countries in Europe and Asia may try to install more wind turbines, solar panels and batteries to buffer themselves against surges in the price of natural gas, as many did after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. If oil prices stay elevated, electric cars could become a more economical option for drivers from Brazil to the United States.

• • Hawaii’s Klauea Volcano Erupts, Shooting Lava 1,300 Feet into the Air

  Over Nine Hours, K?lauea Released 16 Million Cubic Yards of Lava and Sent a Cloud of Ash Beyond 30,000 Feet

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -The K?lauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island erupted on Tuesday in a nine-hour spectacular in which it shot fountains of lava some 1,300 feet into the air, according to the U.S. Geological Survey./p><

  The eruption generated “significant heat and ash,” USGS said, with some six inches of “tephra”—bits of volcanic material, ranging from glasslike particles to rocks and ash—accumulating on a nearby golf course.

• • Storm Risk Shifts East After Tornadoes, Monster Hail Strike Midwest

  Several Damaging Tornadoes and Grapefruit-Size Hail Struck Illinois and Indiana Late Tuesday

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -Several damaging tornadoes and grapefruit-size hail struck Illinois and Indiana late Tuesday amid a widespread severe-weather outbreak across the central United States.

  That included a supercell thunderstorm that tracked from near Kankakee in northern Illinois to near Knox in northern Indiana. That system probably spawned several destructive tornadoes along its path and produced potentially record-large hailstones that were five to six inches in diameter — denting cars and smashing windshields.

• • Dredging Up a Toxic Past in the Cape Fear River

  A Proposed $1.3-Billion U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Port Expansion in North Carolina Threatens to Unearth Decades of “Forever Chemicals”
  
  {SCI AM}

  Mar. 9, 2026 -Taking a blood sample from a wild American alligator is not a clinical procedure. North Carolina native Kemp Burdette describes the process as an “all-hands-on-deck” situation. After rolling up on the gator in a boat and tossing a hook and a lead weight tied to a heavy-gauge fishing line across the beast’s backside, you reel until the hook catches and flips the creature. Then comes the all-hands part. Ideally a small group of people tag-team to hold the animal down—it will chill out, but just watch for the tail—drape a towel over its eyes, duct tape its mouth, and prick between the thick armor with a needle.

• • What is the ‘Acid Rain’ In the Wake of U.S. Bombings in Iran?

  Iranian Residents Have Reported Headaches, Difficulty Breathing, and Oil-Contaminated Rain Settling On Buildings and Cars After the Bombing of Oil Depots
  
  {SCI AM}
  
  

  Mar. 9, 2026 -Reports are emerging of black rain falling over parts of Iran in the hours after US-Israeli airstrikes on oil depots on the weekend, with some outlets describing it as “acid rain.”

  Iranian residents have reported headaches, difficulty breathing, and oil-contaminated rain settling on buildings and cars. Iran’s Red Crescent Society warned rainfall following the strikes could be “highly dangerous and acidic.”

• • WA Skier Survives Four Hours Under Snow

  About the Stevens Pass avalanche

  
  

  Mar. 9, 2026 -Michael Harris set out for a day at Stevens Pass last month. A 21-year regular at the ski area and a lifelong skier, he knew the terrain, understood the risks and had done enough sidecountry skiing over the years to understand what avalanche country looked like.

  But on a Thursday afternoon in late February, something unexpected happened.

  While skiing a popular run on the south side of Stevens Pass, Harris was buried beneath several feet of avalanche debris. He was alone, without a beacon and, by most statistical measures of avalanche survival, the odds were stacked against him.

• • A Big Night Light in the Sky? Start-
  Up Wants to Launch a Space Mirror

  A Startup Seeks FCC Approval to Reflect Sunlight Onto Earth With a Constellation of Giant Space Mirrors
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Mar. 10, 2026 - California-based Reflect Orbital plans to deploy up to 50K orbiting mirrors by 2035 to provide $5k/hour “sunlight on demand” for solar farms and illuminate disaster zones. It will kick things off with a 60-ft prototype, which could launch as soon as this summer.

  Maybe not the best idea: Biologists say beaming artificial daylight from orbit could severely interfere with the circadian rhythms of wildlife, affecting hibernation, migration, and pollination patterns.

• • After a Decade of Missteps, a Texas City
  Careens Toward a Water-Shortage Catastrophe

  Officials in Corpus Christi Expect a “Water Emergency” Within Months and to Fully Run Out of Water Next Year

  
  

  Mar. 8, 2026 -The imminent depletion of water supplies in Corpus Christi threatens to cut off the flow of jet fuel to Texas airports and other oil exports from one of the nation’s largest petroleum ports, triggering potential shockwaves through energy markets in Texas and beyond.

  Without significant rainfall, Corpus Christi is headed for a “water emergency” within months and will reach a point next year where city supply can no longer meet demand, according to the city’s website. At that critical point, the city would be unable to deliver water to its customers—a potential catastrophe for Corpus Christi and beyond, experts and people knowledgable about the city’s water system say.

• • Adequate Housing as a Pillar of Climate
  Resilience in Asia-Pacific Cities

  Unplanned Development, Weak Land-Use Systems and Inadequate Housing Expose Millions of Urban Residents to Climate Hazards and Disaster Risks
  
  {EARTH.ORG}
  
  

  Mar. 3, 2026 -Access to adequate housing is a foundation of resilient cities. Safe and affordable homes provide stability, allow residents to access essential services, and enhance the capacity for communities to withstand and recover from shocks. Yet housing is often treated as a downstream outcome of urban development or disaster recovery rather than as a strategic investment in resilience.

  The Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2026 delivers a stark warning. The region is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and 88% of measurable targets are projected to be missed by 2030 at the current pace. Progress across SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) indicators reflects mixed trends. While some indicators show improvement, disaster losses and infrastructure damage continue to rise. This widening gap between policy commitments and real-world outcomes exposes a growing resilience deficit in urban systems. Accelerating progress on SDG Target 11.1, which calls for access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and the upgrading of informal settlements, will be critical to reducing urban vulnerability across Asia and the Pacific.

• • California Water Board Will Soon Release a New
  Rule to Limit Water Pollution From Dairies in the State

  The State Plans to Require the Central Valley Water Board to Update Its Waste Regulations For Dairies Contributing to Groundwater Pollution

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -California dairies are out of balance. Everyone from environmentalists to regulators to the industry agrees that the nitrogen from milk cow manure is ending up where it can pose a health threat.

  Excess nitrogen from dairies turns into excess nitrate in the soil, spilling into waterways, seeping into groundwater and contributing to widespread contamination of drinking water in the Central Valley. In some counties there, 40 percent of drinking wells are above the safe limit established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, posing health risks like miscarriages and infant mortality.

• • London, San Francisco and Beijing Achieve
  ‘Remarkable Reductions’ in Air Pollution

  Cycle Lanes, Electric Cars and Other Interventions Have Helped 19 Global Cities Slash Levels of Pollutants By More Than 20%

  
  

  Mar. 12, 2026 -London, San Francisco and Beijing are among 19 global cities that have achieved “remarkable reductions” in air pollution, analysis has found, having slashed levels of two airway-aggravating pollutants by more than 20% since 2010.

  The analysis found interventions such as cycle lanes, uptake of electric cars and restrictions on polluting vehicles had helped to drive the improvements.

• • How War in Iran Could Remake the Global Energy Landscape

  The Oil Crisis in the Middle East Could Spur Countries to Invest in Wind, Solar and Other Renewables, And...

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -The war in Iran is choking off oil and gas supplies and spiking energy prices across the globe. And for many environmentalists, that’s a powerful argument for countries to curb their use of fossil fuels and shift to wind, solar and other renewable sources.

  But as the chaos forces nations to rethink their energy policies, the results could be messy — and cleaner options may not always be the winner.

• • Maui’s Mental Health Crisis Goes Far Beyond the Wildfire Burn Zone

  Unstable Housing and Job Loss Are Key Drivers of Psychological Distress Among Survivors of the 2023 Wildfires

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -On the day of one of the deadliest natural disasters in Hawaii’s history, Blake Kekoa Ramelb watched his hometown go up in flames.

  It was Aug. 8, 2023, and Maui was burning. Ramelb, born and raised in Lahaina, lived outside the burn zone, so his home was intact. But he couldn’t get into town to check on his family. He was forced to watch from afar as the fires blazed through the night, killing at least 102 people, burning down more than 2,200 structures and displacing thousands of residents.

• • Seattle Windstorm: 1 Dead, 120K Without Power

  Blizzard Blasts Cascades

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -Gusts over 60 mph roared into the Western Washington lowlands Wednesday evening, carried by an atmospheric river that brought blizzard conditions to the Cascades and Olympics.

  One person died when a large tree fell onto a vehicle east of Monroe around 8:20 p.m., according to Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue. Firefighters asked the public to avoid the area, near Old Owen and Florence Acres roads.

• • Countries Agree On Historic Release of Crude Reserves

  To Lower Oil and Gasoline Prices
  
  {CNN}
  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -Mar. 11, 2026 -Member countries of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil into the global market – the largest release of emergency oil stocks in history – in a drastic move aimed at shoring up crude supplies and capping a surge in prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

  “IEA countries will be making 400 million barrels of oil available to the market to offset the supply lost through the effective closure of the Strait (of Hormuz),” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a live broadcast.

• • Tehran’s Smothering Smoke Has Roots
  in ‘Mazut,’ an Unusually Dirty Fuel

  Tanks of Mazut May Now Be Burning Near the City

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -The people of Tehran have long suffered from some of the dirtiest air in the world. It’s largely because Iran’s power plants burn an extraordinarily sulfur-heavy fuel known as “mazut.”

  Mazut is essentially the bottom-of-the-barrel residue that’s left when everything else of value is refined out of oil. Much of the world bans burning it. Only a handful of other countries, like North Korea, rely on it so heavily.

• • The Story of Weda Bay – and How
  Nature is Being Sacrificed For Mining

  Analysis Has Found More Than 3,000 Mining Operations Within the Most Naturally Precious Areas of the Planet

  
  

  Mar. 11, 2026 -Weda Bay is just one example of a global trend that could see the mining industry expand into some of Earth’s last areas of wilderness in search of minerals and materials to feed the global economy.

  Analysis produced for the Guardian by a group of academic researchers found more than 3,267 mining operations within key biodiversity areas (KBAs), accounting for nearly 5% of the mining sector’s global footprint. China, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico top the rankings for total surface mining area within key biodiversity areas, the most naturally precious areas of the planet.

• • Black Rain and Health Fears After Strikes on Iran Fuel Depots

  Health Experts Warn of Long-Term Respiratory and Neurological Risks as Smoke From Burning Oil Spreads Across the Region

  
  

  Mar. 10, 2026 -Soon after dark plumes of smoke began settling over Tehran early Sunday, residents noticed a bizarre phenomenon: black rain. Some also reported a thick, oily film covering their cars and roofs like paint.

  Then the migraines, dizziness and coughing set in.

  Health experts were not surprised. Iranian fuel depots had just been hit as American and Israeli forces intensified their campaign against the Iranian government.

• • Bombing of Iran’s Oil Infrastructure
  to Have Major Environmental Fallout

  Monitors Admit They Are Struggling to Keep Track of the Environmental Disasters Arising From Widening War

  
  

  Mar. 10, 2026 -Israel’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war.

  Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e fuel depot to its south continued to burn on Monday, two days after they were bombed by Israeli warplanes.

• • War Brings New Water Crises to an Already-Parched Iran

  Iran Has Accused the U.S. of Bombing a Desalination Plant On Qeshm Island

  
  

  Mar. 10, 2026 -The war in Iran has exposed the country’s water woes, which had been pushed to the brink by climate change, excessive agricultural use and decades of mismanagement.

  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday accused the United States of bombing a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, affecting the water supply for 30 villages. The U.S. government has denied responsibility for the attack.

• • Ditching Forever Chemicals Without Getting Cold and Wet

  The First People to Climb Everest Didn’t Need Outdoor Gear Made With “Forever Chemicals” to Stay Warm and Dry. You Don’t Either

  
  

  Mar. 10, 2026 -When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay set out to climb Everest in 1953, wool, down and cotton kept them alive in temperatures 30 degrees below zero. Synthetic fibers played only a supporting role as the pair ascended more than five miles above sea level, about the same altitude as modern jets.

  By the 1980s, the roles had reversed: Synthetic materials are now the preferred way for people to stay warm and dry, from the streets of New York to the Antarctic ice sheet. Many are fashioned from PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”