Climate Change & Environment
Latest stories
Ski resorts are embracing a new role

Snow falls thick as skiers shed their gear and duck into the Sundeck Restaurant, one of the first certified energy efficient buildings in the U.S. – this one at 11,200 feet (3,413 meters) above sea level atop Aspen Mountain in Colorado. Skiers in brightly colored helmets jockey for a spot at the bar, their bodies warmed by thick, insulated walls and highly efficient condensing boilers.

Overhead, WeatherNation plays on the television, looping footage of last year's mega storms and flashing a headline: "2022 billion dollar disasters."

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Paris aims to keep Olympians cool without air conditioners

The Paris Olympics is going underground to find a way to keep athletes cool at the 2024 Games without air conditioners.

Organizers are planning to use a water-cooling system under the Athletes Village — much like the one that has helped the Louvre Museum cope with the sweltering heat that broke records last year — to keep temperatures in check for the Olympians and Paralympians who stay there.

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UN science report to provide stark climate warning

A major new United Nations report being released Monday is expected to provide a sobering reminder that time is running out if humanity wants to avoid passing a dangerous global warming threshold.

The report by hundreds of the world's top scientists is the capstone on a series that summarizes the research on global warming compiled since the Paris climate accord was agreed in 2015.

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EU moves on clean technology: Subsidies up, free market down

The European Union has presented plans to fundamentally revamp its policies on promoting green technologies and dealing with critical raw materials, imposing limits on imports from countries like China while unleashing subsidies and other financial incentives to ramp up home production.

The plans by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, are essential in moving toward a climate neutral economy, while also increasing the bloc's strategic independence in a shifting world of geopolitical alliances.

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Death toll rises, locals pick up pieces after Cyclone Freddy

Authorities are still getting to grips with the scale of Cyclone Freddy's destruction in Malawi and Mozambique since late Saturday, with over 370 people confirmed dead, several hundreds still missing and tens of thousands displaced.

On Friday, Malawi authorities said Freddy killed at least 326 people, with 200 still missing. There are hundreds of evacuation centers set up across the country for survivors. Malawi's president, Lazarus Chakwera, declared a 14-day national mourning period on Thursday.

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Arctic sea ice thins in 2 big jumps, and now more vulnerable

Climate change attacked crucial Arctic sea ice thickness in two sudden big gobbles instead of steady nibbling, a new study says.

A little more than 15 years ago, sea ice quickly lost more than half its thickness, becoming weaker, more prone to melting and less likely to recover, according to the study that emphasizes the importance of two big "regime shifts" that changed the complexion of the Arctic.

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Scientists say Largest US reservoirs moving in right direction

Parts of California are under water, the Rocky Mountains are bracing for more snow, flood warnings are in place in Nevada, and water is being released from some Arizona reservoirs to make room for an expected bountiful spring runoff.

All the moisture has helped alleviate dry conditions in many parts of the western U.S. Even major reservoirs on the Colorado River are trending in the right direction.

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Don't leave Global South out of green tech growth, UN warns

The majority of developing nations are set to miss out on the economic benefits of booming green technologies, slowing progress toward their climate goals and widening the inequality gap between rich and poor countries, a United Nations report warned Thursday.

The U.N.'s agency for trade and development, or UNCTAD, said that unless the international community and national governments actively tend to green tech industries in developing countries, the benefits associated with lower-emission technologies will be near inaccessible for many poorer nations particularly in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Argentina forests burn amid heat wave, drought

Fires in heat wave- and drought-stricken Argentina have devoured some 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) of forests in the northern Corrientes province in just days, officials reported.

Three fires continued to threaten while two others were burning but under control, according to the emergency command center of Corrientes.

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War, transport weigh on Germany's efforts to curb emissions

Germany cut its greenhouse gas emissions by almost 2% last year, beating previous estimates but still falling far short of the cuts needed to meet its medium-term climate goals, officials said Wednesday.

Data published by the German Environment Agency showed the country released the equivalent of 746 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022, down from 760 million tons the previous year.

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