The Springs fire in Riverside county has grown to 3,500 acres, prompting local authorities to issue several evacuation orders. The fire is concentrated in an area mostly north and east of Lake Perris, burning portions of the surrounding state recreation area.
Air pollution is the second-largest risk factor for early death globally. Traditionally, our response has focused on reducing the levels of pollution people breathe, but this is only part of the story.
We created Earth in Action to provide a lens into what's happening on our planet, as it happens. Whether it's something typical, like the current air temperature, or an extreme event like a major dust storm, we wanted to provide an opportunity for people to see them.
Rising temperatures are projected to increase the prevalence of physical inactivity, translating into additional premature deaths and productivity losses, especially in tropical regions. Prioritising heat-adaptive urban design, subsidised climate-controlled exercise facilities, and targeted heat-risk communication is essential to mitigate these emerging health and economic burdens, in addition to ambitious emissions reductions.
The powerful March storms that drenched Hawaii produced more than 2 trillion gallons of rain and pushed precipitation levels to as much as 3,000% above normal in a 14-day period for this time of year.
"So whenever people think about hot weather, they always talk about the temperature," he says. "There's two issues with that. First of all, most people don't realise that the temperature is measured in the shade. So if you're in direct solar radiation, the amount of heat stress you're exposed to is much greater as it will stress your body out a lot more."
Because the past three years have shattered temperature records, researchers have been exploring whether global warming is accelerating, and if so, why. Many scientists agree that the rate at which it is increasing has picked up. This is mainly because of a reduction in air pollution following the introduction of fuel regulations for international shipping (which has resulted in fewer pollutant particles that reflect sunlight into space and seed insulating clouds).
We're seeing more frequent, more severe extreme weather events and that inevitably affects claims and affects pricing it can't not. And this is happening all over the globe. More, after this week's most important reads.
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 past 11 years are the warmest since records began, with the past three top of the leader-board. Hottest of the lot was 2024, which coincided with a strong Niño-a pattern of winds and ocean currents that nudges the thermometer upwards-combined with a peak of the 11-year solar cycle when the sun shines brightest. But in 2025 El Niño tailed off, to be replaced by its opposite pattern, La Niña, and the sun-only a minor part of the story in any case-began to dim.
Most Americans now accept the basic physics of climate change-that manmade greenhouse-gas emissions are raising global temperatures. Yet the public discussion of climate change is still remarkably broken in the United States. Leaders of one political party frame climate change as an existential emergency that threatens human life and prosperity. Leaders of the other dismiss it as a distraction from economic growth and energy security. Economists like me, trained to think about trade-offs,
When Specian dug into the data, he discovered that implementing energy-efficiency measures and shifting electricity usage to lower-demand times are two of the fastest and cheapest ways of meeting growing thirst for electricity. These moves could help meet much, if not all, of the nation's projected load growth. Moreover, they would cost only half-or less-what building out new infrastructure would, while avoiding the emissions those operations would bring.