Climate Change & Environment
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Last Sunday was Earth's hottest day in all recorded history

On Sunday, the Earth sizzled to the hottest day ever measured by humans, yet another heat record shattered in the past couple of years, according to the European climate service Copernicus.

Copernicus' preliminary data shows that the global average temperature Sunday was 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), beating the record set just last year on July 6, 2023 by .01 degrees Celsius (.02 degrees Fahrenheit). Both Sunday's mark and last year's record obliterate the previous record of 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit), which itself was only a few years old, set in 2016.

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Hurricanes and earthquakes grab headlines but inland counties top disaster list

Floyd County keeps flooding and the federal government keeps coming to the rescue.

In July 2022, at least 40 people died and 300 homes were damaged when the eastern Kentucky county flooded. It was the 13th time in 12 years that the rural county was declared a federal disaster. These are disasters so costly that local governments feel they can't pay for it all, so the governor asks the president to declare a disaster freeing up federal funds.

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Wildfires plague the US West amid a scorching heat wave and high winds

At least a half-dozen homes lay in ruins after one of many dangerous wildfires in the West suddenly swept into a Southern California neighborhood during a blistering heat wave.

Six homes were ravaged and seven damaged when the fire sparked by fireworks erupted Sunday afternoon in a hilly area of Riverside, a city about 60 miles (95 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, authorities said at a media briefing Monday evening.

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Death toll in southern Ethiopia mudslides rises to at least 157

At least 157 people were killed in mudslides in a remote part of Ethiopia that has been hit with heavy rainfall, many of them as they tried to rescue survivors of an earlier mudslide, local authorities said Tuesday.

Young children and pregnant women were among the victims of the mudslides in the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district of southern Ethiopia, said Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator.

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Frozen treats, showers and ice: Florida zoo tries to protect animals from summer heat

Malayan tigers and Aldabra tortoises are native to hot and humid lands, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy a frozen treat on a hot Florida summer day.

Temperatures in South Florida this month have reached the upper 90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) with humidity reaching 70%, combining for "feels like" temperatures regularly exceeding 100 F (38 C).

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Man dies after being struck by lightning on Germany's highest peak

A man died after being struck by lightning near the summit of Germany's highest peak, police said Monday.

The 18-year-old German resident was one of a group of three young men who took the mountain railway up the Zugspitze late Sunday afternoon and then continued to the summit, which is a climb of about 80 meters (260 feet) from a terrace used by many visitors.

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At least 25 killed, dozens missing in flooding and bridge collapse in China

Rescuers on Monday were searching for dozens missing after heavy rains caused flash flooding and a bridge collapse in different parts of China, killing at least 25 people.

Flash flooding tore through a village in southwestern Sichuan province in the middle of the night Saturday, and rescuers said 10 people died and they were searching for another 29 missing. Days of heavy rain swelled the river that runs through the village of Xinhua in Hanyuan county. The water swept away 40 houses on the riverbank, according to local media, while also breaking bridges and cutting off roads.

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Greenhouse effect: How an oft-touted climate solution threatens agricultural workers

To harvest tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, to clip herbs, to prune and propagate succulents, people work in oppressive heat and humidity. Some wring out shirts soaked with sweat. Some contend with headaches, dizziness and nausea. Some collapse. Some hover on the brink of exhaustion, backs straining, breathing heavily.

Many do so not out in farm fields, but indoors – under the roofs of greenhouses. In structures designed to control the growing environment of plants, some workers described humidity with temperatures sometimes soaring past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 38 degrees Celsius).

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Spain heats up under 1st heatwave of the year as Southern Europe swelters

Spain sweated under its first official heatwave of the year with temperatures expected to reach 40 degrees Celcius (104 Fahrenheit) in a large swathe of the country on Thursday, while Italy, Greece and other areas of southern Europe also struggled to stay cool.

After a relatively bearable spring compared to record heat in 2023 and 2022, millions of Spaniards will be sweltering at least through Saturday before feeling any relief. The nation's weather authority said the only areas to be spared will be the northwest and northern Atlantic coasts.

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Tons of dead fish cover major river in Brazil after alleged dumping of industrial waste

Several tons of fish have died along one of the main rivers in Brazil's Sao Paulo state after an alleged illegal dumping of industrial waste from a sugar and ethanol plant, environmental authorities and prosecutors said.

A preliminary analysis estimates that between 10 and 20 tons of fish died on the Piracicaba River in southeastern Brazil, Sao Paulo's prosecutors said in a statement.

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