Environment

Environment

Very cold conditions with temperatures in the mid 20s to low 30s expected. Cold conditions will be hazardous to sensitive populations such as unhoused individuals. Cold conditions may damage or kill sensitive crops, plants, and vegetation if appropriate precautions are not taken. Prolonged exposure to the cold conditions will lead to hypothermia for people, pets, and livestock, according to the NWS.

Every winter in the Ladakh region in northwest India, the two roads that connect the small villages in the Zanskar Valley with the rest of the country close, are overwhelmed by snow. But for centuries, locals have had a workaround: a road of ice formed by the frozen Chadar River. A week-long trek in frozen temperatures connects them to the outside world.

The exact volume of the spill remains unknown as crews continue to monitor the site. Tiffen noted that a final estimate will not be available until reports are submitted to state regulators, adding that the massive volume of stormwater currently in the river makes testing for pathogens more difficult. "It's complicated by the amount of storm water and how that would affect testing regardless of a spill," Tiffen said. "Because it tends to muddy the water, so to speak."

Ava Community Energy, formerly East Bay Community Energy, partnered with the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the county transit funder, to launch a $10 million fund in July to offer significant rebates to adult customers for the purchase of new electric bikes. The program provides $1,000 toward the cost of a standard e-bike or $1,500 toward the cost of a cargo or adaptive e-bike for people who qualify as low-income, with $400 and $900 rebates, respectively, for other county residents.

Black plastic gets its color from carbon black pigment and is commonly used in food containers, such as meat or produce trays and take-out containers, as well as disposable coffee lids, plastic bags, and hard plastic items like DVD cases and planters. While plastic is one of the categories of things that we are encouraged to recycle - when we can't reuse or repurpose it - not all black plastic items can be recycled.

That is, if the church has a pipe organ. Most do, and pipe organs need periodic tuning as the seasons change. When organ tuners carry out that work, many will write down details of the ambient temperature and humidity at the time. Those observations are often recorded in small logbooks kept by the organ itself - and over time, they can build into a surprisingly detailed climate record.

The powerful storms that blew through Berkeley over Christmas pummeled the city-owned Cazadero camp in Sonoma County, where howling winds toppled trees and damaged dozens of structures at the remote retreat that has hosted music and performing arts programs for generations. Now staff are working to clear mountains of debris and downed redwoods so the camp can reopen in time for programs this spring.

It's a sight that usually means California is having a good winter and water supplies are healthy. This week, operators at Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in the United States, which holds back California's second-largest reservoir, opened the spillway gates and began releasing billions of gallons of water down the massive concrete spillway into the Feather River below. The reason? It's not to waste water. But to prevent potential floods.

Sea levels are rising faster than at any point in human history, and for every foot that waters rise, 100 million people lose their homes. At current projections, that means about 300 million people will be forced to move in the decades to come, along with the social and political conflict as people migrate inland. Despite this looming crisis, the world still lacks specific, reliable forecasts

For years, the idea of "energy independence" belonged to a narrow group of early adopters. Previously, reliable off-grid power meant involving professionals for electrical installation, a custom battery bank, and a web of wiring forms, thus rendering the project beyond an affordable reach for most people. Today, as mobile living, remote work, and outdoor lifestyles are creating new paradigms, so is the market.

Fog shrouded the ruins still standing at the center of the Pacific Palisades on a morning in December, a once-vibrant Los Angeles community decimated by flames. Melted newsstands that distributed the Palisadian-Post, an almost century-old paper that ceased operating in the fire's wake, sit on crumbled concrete. Weeds spread over an expanse of emptied lots, painting the blackened foundations and chimneys with swaths of green.

The worst offenders, though, are the goody bags. This year, my kids received them at Valentine's Day, Ramadan, Easter, Halloween, and many birthday parties. Every time they bring one home, they dump its contents on the living-room floor and pick through their treasures with glee. But soon enough, the tiny fire truck has lost its wheels and a fight has broken out over whose Care Bears keychain is cooler, though neither of my children has ever owned a key.

Clean energy technologies have become more affordable around the world. Yet for many countries in the Global South, the cost of transitioning to a low-carbon economy remains disproportionately high. But not because the equipment is more expensive: in fact, solar and wind components are often imported at comparable prices around the world, as global manufacturing scale and trade have helped standardize hardware costs. Instead, the disparities in financing costs reflect the way the global financial system fails to adequately capture, differentiate and price risk.

The past 11 years are now the warmest 11 years in the 176-year history of temperature records. What is especially concerning about 2025 is that it occurred during La Niña, a natural Pacific cooling pattern that usually brings lower temperatures. This time, it did not help. Climate scientist James Hansen reports that global warming is now speeding up by 0.31°C per decade, and he predicts we will pass the +1.7°C mark by 2027.

I grew up in San Andres Tzirondaro, a Purepecha community on the shores of Lake Patzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacan. My childhood was shaped by water, forests and music. The lake fed us. The forest protected us. In the afternoons, people gathered in the local square while bands passed through playing pirekua, our traditional music. That way of life is now under threat as our land is extracted for profit.

Temperatures have plunged to -8C in London overnight as the Met Office warned of a distinct chance disruptive snow, wind and rain could hit parts of southern England this week. And there is a possibility of snowfall sufficient to cause travel disruption on higher ground in the South on Thursday and Friday, as an Atlantic low-pressure front meets an Arctic airmass over the country.

Just simply, rent, water, return,

When the category-5 storm Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica in October, its path crossed communities that had varying levels of preparedness. Many with maintained coastal protections, upgraded drainage and reliable early-warning systems had power and water restored in days. Others were immobilized for weeks.

The Klamath Indigenous Land Trust recently purchased 10,000 acres along the Klamath River, signifying one of the largest Indigenous-led private land purchases in U.S. history as salmon continue to make their historic return to the newly revived watershed. The expansive property, located mostly in California and extending into Oregon, includes the sites of reservoirs that existed up until the removal of four of the Klamath's dams in 2023 and 2024.

As the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) enters its 200th year as a charity, keepers at London Zoo have started counting every animal for its annual stocktake. The zoo is home to more than 8,000 animals — from a colony of leafcutter ants to critically endangered Asiatic lions. ZSL, which runs London Zoo, was founded in 1826 as science-led conservation charity working to protect species, restore ecosystems and help wildlife and people coexist.