Environment News

Crews are battling 'fire whirls' in California's Mojave Desert

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. (AP) — Crews battled “fire whirls” in California’s Mojave National Preserve this weekend as a massive wildfire crossed into Nevada amid dangerously high temperatures and raging winds.

Jul 31, 2023 2:36 PM Read more >

The first US nuclear reactor built from scratch in decades enters commercial operation in Georgia

ATLANTA (AP) — The first American nuclear reactor to be built from scratch in decades is sending electricity reliably to the grid, but the cost of the Georgia power plant could discourage utilities from pursuing nuclear power as a path to a carbon-fr

Jul 31, 2023 2:35 PM Read more >

As work begins on the largest US dam removal project, tribes look to a future of growth

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won't conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives.

Jul 31, 2023 11:21 AM Read more >

Discovery of a whale carcass in Hong Kong sparks anger over the possible damage done by sightseers

HONG KONG (AP) — The discovery of a whale carcass in Hong Kong waters Monday sparked an outpouring of grief on social media, with many comments blaming the mammal's death on sightseers.

Jul 31, 2023 11:07 AM Read more >

Pig cooling pads and weather forecasts for cows are high-tech ways to make meat in a warming world

CHICAGO (AP) — More than a third of the heat-trapping gases cooking the planet come from growing and raising food, but millions of cattle, pigs and other animals get to stay cool in the United States and other parts of the developed world.

Jul 31, 2023 8:57 AM Read more >

Blue blood from horseshoe crabs is needed for medicine, but a declining bird relies on crabs to eat

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The horseshoe crab has been scuttling in the ocean and tidal pools for more than 400 million years, playing a vital role in the East Coast ecosystem along with being a prized item for fishing bait and medical research.

Jul 31, 2023 8:31 AM Read more >

Here's how hot and extreme the summer has been, and it's only halfway over

At about summer's halfway point, the record-breaking heat and weather extremes are both unprecedented and unsurprising, hellish yet boring in some ways, scientists say. Killer heat. Deadly floods. Smoke from wildfires that chokes.

Jul 31, 2023 8:10 AM Read more >

Locals vow to keep fighting to save a forest in southwest Turkey after the chainsaws finish work

ISTANBUL (AP) — Campaigners fighting to protect woodlands earmarked for coal-mining in southwest Turkey on Monday pledged to maintain their fight as tree-felling came to an end.

Jul 31, 2023 6:54 AM Read more >

Youngster dies after tree falls at provincial campsite in B.C.'s Okanagan region

KELOWNA, B.C. — A child has been killed in British Columbia while visiting a provincial park in the Okanagan, south of Peachland. A statement from BC Parks says the child was at a campground at Okanagan Lake Provincial Park on Saturday.

Jul 31, 2023 6:41 AM Read more >

Biden goes west to talk about his administration's efforts to combat climate change

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to Arizona, New Mexico and Utah next week and is expected to talk about his administration's efforts to combat climate change as the region endures a brutally hot summer with soaring temperatures , th

Jul 31, 2023 5:58 AM Read more >