The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has created a new class of “emergency” permits for fossil fuel projects, raising the possibility that pipelines, mines, power plants and other facilities could be fast-tracked for approval as part of President Trump’s demand to increase oil, gas and coal production. The move could reduce the opportunities for the … Read more
Dickson Despommier, a microbiologist who proposed that cities should grow food in high-rises, popularizing the term “vertical farming” — an idea that crossed over from the realm of the purely fanciful to become a reality around the globe — died on Feb. 7 in Manhattan. He was 84. His wife, Marlene Bloom, confirmed the death, … Read more
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech Data from Sept. 18 to Oct. 17, 2024 Along the sparkling coast of Southern California, a string of landslides creeping toward the sea has transformed the wealthy community of Rancho Palos Verdes into a disaster zone. New data from a NASA plane shows the widening threat of these slow-moving landslides, which have destabilized … Read more
Numerous programs aimed at averting violence, instability and extremism worsened by global warming are ensnared in the effort to dismantle the main American aid agency, U.S.A.I.D. One such project helped communities manage water stations in Niger, a hotbed of Islamist extremist groups where conflicts over scarce water are common. Another helped repair water-treatment plants in … Read more
President Trump’s policies could threaten many big green energy projects in the coming years, but his election has already dealt a big blow to an ambitious California effort to replace thousands of diesel-fueled trucks with battery-powered semis. The California plan, which has been closely watched by other states and countries, was meant to take a … Read more
At the annual gathering in Boston this week of one of America’s oldest scientific societies, the discussions touched on threats to humankind: runaway artificial intelligence, toxic “forever chemicals,” the eventual end of the universe. But the most urgent threats for many scientists were the ones aimed at them, as the Trump administration slashes the federal … Read more
By any measure, the diabetes drug Ozempic has been a blockbuster, racking up billions of dollars in annual sales. In the United States alone, pharmacies fill millions of prescriptions for Ozempic and related drugs, which have become popular for their weight-loss effects, every month. But in the beginning, before the celebrity endorsements and the think … Read more
Despite being in office for less than a month, the Trump administration has already made the United States more exposed to catastrophic wildfires in ways that will be difficult to reverse, current and former federal employees say. On Thursday, the administration fired 3,400 employees from the U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of … Read more
Despite being in office for less than a month, the Trump administration has already made the United States more exposed to catastrophic wildfires in ways that will be difficult to reverse, current and former federal employees say. On Thursday, the administration fired 3,400 employees from the U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of … Read more
(Editors note: This is the second edition of The Climate Fix, a twice-a-month look at some of the biggest and most promising solutions to climate change. Read the last version here. Got comments? Email us at [email protected].) Thanks in large part to booming data center construction and the surge in artificial intelligence, electricity demand in … Read more