Frustration about slow progress at the United Nations climate talks boiled over this week. After hours under the equatorial sun at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, scores of protesters pushed past security guards Tuesday evening and briefly occupied parts of the negotiating area, calling for an end to mining and logging in...
The climate paradox of having a dog
I’ve been a vegetarian for over a decade. It’s not because of my health, or because I dislike the taste of chicken or beef: It’s a lifestyle choice I made because I wanted to reduce my impact on the planet. And yet, twice a day, every day, I lovingly scoop...
How urban farms can make cities more livable and help feed America
If you’ve spent any time on a roof, you know that it’s not especially pleasant up there — blazing in the summer, frigid and windy in the winter. Slap some solar panels up there, though, and the calculus changes: Shaded from gusts and excessive sunlight, crops can proliferate, a technique...
COP30 has big plans to save the rainforest. Indigenous activists say it’s not enough.
On Friday, at least 100 Indigenous protestors blocked the entrance to the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil. The action comes on the heels of an action earlier this week when hundreds of Indigenous peoples marched into the conference, clashing with security, and pushing...
‘They’re playing games’: Illinois lawmakers press Trump administration over stalled lead-pipe funding
Lead pipes are ubiquitous. At this point, no state has gotten rid of all of its toxic lead service lines, which pipe drinking water to homes and businesses. But some cities like Chicago, New York City, and Detroit, have more lead plumbing than others, and replacing it can cost tens...
What will it take to rebuild Jamaica’s food system after Hurricane Melissa?
In the three weeks since Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica, with destructive winds of up to 185 miles per hour, authorities have been busy addressing immediate crises and assessing the damage. The strongest hurricane ever recorded to hit the Caribbean nation, Melissa collided with houses and property and downed power lines...
Business With a Backbone
Ulrich Eichelmann has seen many rivers over his lifetime as the head of RiverWatch, an organization dedicated to protecting the world’s waterways. He’s spent time on the Tigris floating through Turkey and Iraq, on the Tagliamento in Italy, and traveled along the Danube as it winds across Europe. Yet none,...
Trump sets sights on Pacific seafloor near the Marianas Trench
The Trump administration is expanding its deep-sea mining ambitions to the region around the Marianas Trench in the western Pacific, and is nearly doubling the proposed seabed mining area around American Samoa from 18 million acres to 33 million acres, an area bigger than Peru. The move disregards unified opposition...
How government shutdowns give polluters a free pass
It’s day 42 of the U.S. government shutdown, but an end is finally in sight. On Sunday night, the Senate voted to move forward with funding for the federal government through January 30. That vote, in which eight Democrats joined the vast majority of Senate Republicans, is expected to be...
The Pacific won a landmark climate case at the world’s top court. Now they want countries to act.
In January 2004, Cyclone Heta pummeled the shores of the island nation of Niue, uprooting trees and flooding homes with 184 mile-per-hour winds and 164-foot waves. As dawn approached, after an intense night, the winds died down, and Coral Pasisi began to worry about her neighbors. The storm had been...