ENVIRONMENT

Wildfires fueled by climate change have ravaged communities from Maui to the Mediterranean this summer, killing many people, exhausting firefighters and fueling demand for new solutions.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Ophelia has been downgraded to a post-tropical low but continues to pose a threat of coastal flooding and flash floods in the mid-Atlantic region.

Five flamingos that showed up in Wisconsin to wade along a Lake Michigan beach attracted a big crowd of onlookers eager to see the unusual visitors venturing far from their usual tropical setting.

At the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, African leaders are relaying a unanimous message, that their continent of more than 1.3 billion people is done being a “victim” of a post-world war order and must be recognized and partnered with as a global power in itself.

Residents in parts of coastal North Carolina and Virginia have experienced flooding after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island, bringing rain, damaging winds and dangerous surges.

Historians are racing to locate Great Lakes shipwrecks before a seemingly unstoppable invasive mussel destroys them and erases part of the region's heritage.

U.S. wildlife officials have finalized an agreement with Ted Turner’s Endangered Species Fund regarding the release of more Bolson tortoises on the media mogul’s Armendaris Ranch in central New Mexico.

California's insurance commissioner says he will write new rules for insurers in the nation's most populous state.

Economists in Hawaii warn that residents who survived the wildfire that destroyed much of the Maui community of Lahaina might not be able to afford to live there after it is rebuilt unless officials alter the zoning laws and make other changes.

Animals at a zoo in Rio de Janeiro have been getting cold treats to cool them down during a rare winter heat wave.

Communities along the U.S. East Coast are preparing for the arrival of heavy rain, flooding and high winds from an approaching storm.

The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Ophelia has formed off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast and was producing winds just below hurricane force.

The Biden administration is appealing a federal judge's order requiring the Interior Department to expand next week’s scheduled sale of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases by millions of acres.

The Energy Department announced Friday a $325 million investment in new battery types that can help turn solar and wind energy into 24-hour power.

A top official of upcoming international climate negotiations hopes to prove critics wrong and surprise them with a “course correction” for an ever-warming world.

The Biden administration has pledged over $200 million toward reintroducing salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin in an agreement with tribes that includes a stay on litigation for 20 years.

A new plan from California's insurance commissioner aims to keep the nation's top insurers from leaving the wildfire-prone state.

Brazil's firefighters in the northeastern state of Bahia are battling wildfires, fanned by strong winds and abnormally high temperatures for the season.

Governments, organizations and businesses have set ambitious goals to combat climate change.

A coalition of 25 governors and the Biden administration are set to announce a pledge Thursday morning to quadruple the number of heat pumps in U.S. homes by 2030.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $200 million to help save the lives of mothers and children during childbirth.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he’s delaying by five years a ban on new gas and diesel cars that had been due to take effect in 2030.

Forecasters in Bermuda are warning of dangerous swells and rip currents as Hurricane Nigel spun through open waters in the northern Atlantic.

The United Nations chief says Earth is facing a hellish problem in climate change and its leaders still aren’t doing nearly enough to curb carbon emissions that’s causing it.

Environmental activists are praising President Joe Biden's New Deal-style American Climate Corps.

President Joe Biden and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, focused on workers’ rights as the leaders of the Western Hemisphere’s largest democracies met Wednesday in New York.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is preparing to water down some of Britain’s environmental commitments, saying the country must fight climate change without penalizing workers and consumers.

King Charles III has praised France’s “wonderful welcome” at a grand dinner held in his honor in the sumptuous Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles.

This is the first time the tree disease has been found in a natural area within Ann Arbor, city officials said in a notice.

A growing number of Americans are finding it difficult to afford insurance on their homes, a problem only expected to worsen because insurers and lawmakers have underestimated the impact of climate change, a new report says.

Britain’s Prince William and wealthy entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg promise hope to a warming world.

Tunisian President Kais Saied’s remarks that have been denounced as antisemitic have prompted an uproar on social media across the world.

Scientists say climate change made the devastating storm along the Libyan coast up to 50 times more likely and 50% more intense.

The tiny Pacific island nation of Niue has come up with a novel plan to protect its vast and pristine territorial waters — it will get sponsors to pay.

The prime minister of Libyan’s eastern administration says authorities have divided the flood-stricken city of Derna into four sections to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks.

Germany racked up one economic success after another for most of this century.

Learn about sustainable living and innovation in Ann Arbor during the free A2ZERO Green Fair on Main Street and in the Library Lane Lot on Fifth Avenue.

More than 30 Atlantic countries on four continents have committed to bolster coordination on economic development, environmental protection, maritime issues and more.

The U.N. General Assembly’s yearly meeting of world leaders is here.

It’s Day 1 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting that brings world leaders together at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Experts hope the sputtering global public health system and efforts to curb global warming through collaboration can combine to create a better system for handling the problem.

A top elected Republican in Maine says he's glad to be alive after a giant wave overturned his lobster boat ahead of the remnants of Hurricane Lee.

A Florida reptile park has taken in an alligator that lost its nose and upper jaw to a fight or boat propeller.

The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon manufacture cutting-edge electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

For two years, it was the coronavirus pandemic.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he plans to sign into law a pair of climate-focused bills intended to force major corporations to be more transparent about greenhouse gas emissions and the financial risks stemming from global warming.

Tens of thousands of people in New York City have kicked off a week of demonstrations seeking to end the use of coal, oil and natural gas blamed for climate change.

Across the country, more indoor farms are launching or expanding even as others founder.

Dozens of demonstrators against a divisive plan to redevelop a beloved Tokyo park are forming a human chain outside the Japanese Education Ministry to demand a revision.

A long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads as shipping costs soar.

Atlantic storm Lee made landfall at near-hurricane strength, bringing destructive winds, rough surf and torrential rains to New England and Maritime Canada.

The state of California has filed a lawsuit against some of the world's largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels blamed for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage.

The heat is about to be turned up on fossil fuels, the United States and President Joe Biden.

Climate scientists say storms like Hurricane Lee could become more common in the future as the Gulf of Maine and other bodies of water rapidly warm.

Atlantic storm Lee has made landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada, at near-hurricane strength with sustained winds of 70 mph.

Small-scale, tech-based solutions to transportation problems have emerged as a great equalizer in the battle for infrastructure dollars between big cities and rural communities.

The Brazilian government is reinstating a stricter greenhouse gas emissions target first announced in 2015 as part of the Paris Agreement.

Climate scientists say that storms like Hurricane Lee could become more common in the future as the Gulf of Maine and other bodies of water rapidly warm.

Libyan authorities have limited access to the flooded coastal city of Derna to dig through the mud and hollowed-out buildings for the more than 10,000 people still missing and presumed dead following a disaster that has already claimed more than 11,000 lives.

For a generation and more, Starbucks' throwaway cup has been a cornerstone of consumer society, first in the United States and then globally.

From Europe to Africa to southeast Asia, tens of thousands of climate activists around the world launched protests Friday to call for an end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels as Earth suffers from dramatic weather extremes.

New England harbors and fishing villages are being emptied of boats as the region prepares for Hurricane Lee.

Listen to a panel of experts and local community leaders share how public power can combat the consequences of climate change at the University of Michigan from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday.

New England will feel some effects from Hurricane Lee but is usually protected from the worst of a hurricane’s wrath by the cold waters of the North Atlantic.

States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration.

This year’s marine heat waves and spiking ocean temperatures foretell big changes in the future for some of the largest fish in the sea, such as sharks, tunas and swordfish.

New York could soon require people selling their homes to disclose whether their properties have been flooded or are at risk for future flooding.

France is sending military forces to distribute water on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte.

The storied Italian lagoon city of Venice has escaped inclusion on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites in danger during a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Saudia Arabia on Thursday.

Spain has recorded its third hottest summer since official records began 62 years ago.

Two major offshore wind power projects are taking steps forward in New Jersey.

Hundreds of communities around the country will share more than $1 billion in federal money to help them plant and maintain trees under a federal program that is intended to reduce extreme heat, benefit health and improve access to nature.

The wall of water several stories high smashed into apartment buildings, drowning entire families in minutes.

After several days of torrential rain, flooding, sinkholes and tornadoes, New England is preparing for something more dangerous lurking offshore — Hurricane Lee.

Efforts by the Biden administration to limit tailpipe pollution from automobiles face a crucial test as legal challenges brought by Republican-led states head to a federal appeals court.

A new study of Earth's health says the planet is outside its “safe operating space for humanity” on six out of nine key measurements.

EU lawmakers have approved new rules requiring airlines to use more sustainable fuels across the bloc in a bid to help decarbonize the sector.

Global energy giant BP is scurrying to find a new chief executive after CEO Bernard Looney became the latest corporate leader to step down amid questions about his personal conduct.

Emergency crews are working to protect the Outback Australian town of Tennant Creek with containment lines as a huge wildfire threatens the remote community of 3,000.

Search teams are combing streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea to look for bodies in a coastal Libyan city where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for portions of Maine and a tropical storm watch for a large area of coastal New England as Hurricane Lee heads to the region.

Preventing dengue fever has long meant teaching people to fear mosquitoes and avoid their bites.

Scientists say the Mediterranean storm that dumped torrential rain on the Libyan coast is just the latest extreme weather event to carry some hallmarks of climate change.

A storm that has killed thousands of people and left thousands more missing in Libya is the latest blow to a country that has been gutted by years of chaos and division.

Diverting Mississippi River water to states struggling with water scarcity isn't a new idea.

The mining of minerals critical to electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies in Congo has led to human rights abuses, including forced evictions and physical assault.

Heavy rainfall has flooded parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with two communities declaring a state of emergency as water poured into homes, creating moats around their foundations and leading to boat rescues of residents.

California lawmakers have approved legislation requiring major companies to disclose a sweeping range of greenhouse gas emissions.

South Dakota regulators have denied a permit application for a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline project.

The deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia’s watery storm surge helped push the United States to an annual record for the number of weather disasters that cost at least $1 billion.

As the U.S. races to build offshore wind power projects that will transform coastlines from Maine to South Carolina, much remains unknown about how the facilities could affect the environment.

A major rescue operation is underway in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to bring out an American researcher who fell seriously ill nine days ago, about 1,000 meters — or 3,000 feet — from the entrance of one of world’s deepest caves.

Hurricane Lee is whipping up waves of more than 15 feet as the Category 3 storm cranks through open waters just north of the Caribbean region.

The alert level has been downgraded for a Hawaiian volcano that ranks as one of the world's most active.

At the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District, working on the front lines of mosquito control can be a prickly job.

How hot is Phoenix.

Most of West Maui will officially reopen to travelers next month under a new wildfire emergency proclamation signed by Hawaii's governor.

Group of 20 leaders have agreed to triple renewable energy and try to increase the funds for climate change-related disasters but maintained the status quo with regards to phasing out carbon spewing coal.

Greek authorities have ordered the evacuation of a village close to the major city of Larissa, in central Greece, as the river Pineios overflows its banks.

Several thousand climate activists blocked a Dutch highway on Saturday in anger at billions of euros in government subsidies for industries that use oil, coal and gas.