The US is now leading a global surge in new gas power plants being built in large part to satisfy growing energy demand for data centers. And more gas means more planet-heating pollution. Gas-fired power generation in development globally rose by 31 percent in 2025. Almost a quarter of that added capacity is slated for the US, which has surpassed China with the biggest increase of any country.
Hundreds of preventable fatalities and more than 13 million metric tons of climate pollution would be avoided by 2045 if Congress passed legislation that answered advocates' long- time demand to require state DOTs to set declining annual fatality targets - and reallocate highway money to safety projects if they don't meet those goals, according to a new analysis from Evergreen Action.
Data centers have caused the demand for gas-fired power in the US to explode over the past two years, according to new research released Wednesday. More than a third of this new demand, the research found, is explicitly linked to gas projects that will power data centers -the equivalent of energy that would power tens of millions of US homes.
For decades, he's lived in Homer City, a southwestern Pennsylvania town that was once home to the largest coal-fired power plant in the state. The plant, which shares its name with the town, closed nearly three years ago after years of financial distress. Dudash, 89, has lived in the shadow of its smokestacks-said to be the tallest in the country before they were demolished-for much of his life.
The emissions in our atmosphere are at work, heating the planet, acidifying our oceans, and leading to climate-fueled disasters: heat waves, fires, flooding, droughts, and storms. For some climate impacts, devastation can be followed by the painstaking work of recovery. But for many natural systems, like our tropical coral reefs, the stress we are putting on them is reaching the realms of permanent decline and ultimate collapse.
Buildings are among the world's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Improving how they use energy offers one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to curb climate change. Alexis Abramson, professor and dean at the Columbia Climate School, is an engineer whose research focuses on making buildings more efficient through data analytics, machine learning and smart design. By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, for example, she has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions.
The data, which the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program has been collecting since 2011, is essential in efforts to reduce emissions and provides vital information to the public about climate pollution from the largest U.S. polluters. However, the Trump EPA has proposed to put an end to greenhouse gas reporting by major polluters. This move is consistent with the Trump administration's intent to make climate denial an official U.S. policy and restricts the public from the right to know.
But there's a catch: only major commodity farming operations-such as those that grow corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, wheat, and soybeans-will be eligible for more than 92 percent of the money, which is scheduled to begin flowing in February. The move is par for the course from the administration, which has allocated a near-record total of $40 billion in farm subsidies this year, with at least two-thirds of those payments having gone to commodity farms.
The verdict was based on factors including low noise levels, minimal light pollution and limited environmental disruption. Property company Sell House Fast analysed noise complaints, artificial light exposure, vacant homes, sewage works and greenhouse gas emissions of every local authority in England. Locals in Bromley enjoy some of the most peaceful living conditions in the country. Here they enjoy the Beckemham bandstand Historic England, Chris Redgrave
The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported data up to November 2025 that show this year has been 1.48 degrees C above the average from 1850 to 1900. That's right around the target set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, under which countries pledged to limit warming to below 1.5 degrees C and well below 2 degrees C. Despite 2024's record-setting temperatures and 2025's proximity to the 1.5-degrees-C threshold, scientists must take into account many years of data before they can say with certainty that the Paris Agreement's target has been breached.
On Wednesday, president Trump announced plans to drastically lower fuel efficiency standards for new cars and pick-up trucks, the New York Times reports, claiming the move will save over $100 billion over the next five years and lower the average price tag of new vehicles by $1,000. But both symbolically and in actual effect, the move would be firmly putting Biden era environmental policy in the rear view mirror, ditching regulations and consumer incentives to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.
Melting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could save the Gulf Stream, a remarkable new study reveals. The vast icy mass in the southern hemisphere contains around 750,000 cubic miles of ice - enough to fill Wembley Stadium nearly three billion times. As it melts, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet sends salty water towards the North Atlantic, which helps the water stay dense enough to keep the crucial ocean current moving, the study authors reveal.
Indonesia has experienced rapid economic growth over the past two decades, at an average of 5% a year since 1997. But this progress has been powered by carbon-intensive resources at a steep cost to the environment. Deforestation, peatland drainage and the extraction and burning of coal have powered Indonesia's development model, reshaping landscapes through timber, pulp and mineral excavation and palm-oil booms.
Over those three decades, the U.S. population soared by 28% and the economy, as measured by gross domestic product adjusted for inflation, more than doubled. Yet U.S. emissions from many of the activities that produce greenhouse gases-transportation, industry, agriculture, heating and cooling of buildings-have remained about the same over the past 30 years. Transportation is a bit up; industry a bit down. And electricity, once the nation's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, has seen its emissions drop significantly.
We need to talk about e-bikes and e-scooters: The city of Alameda encourages active transportation walking, bicycling and riding public transportation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) that cause global warming and sea level rise and for the health benefits. Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft is the mayor of Alameda. (photo courtesy of Maurice Ramirez BANG archives) Transportation, primarily on-road travel, is the single largest source of GHGs in California, according to the California Air Resources Board.
In a video address to the United Nations Climate Summit on 24 September, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced that China will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 7% to 10% from peak levels by 2035. The pace at which China cuts emissions will have profound global impact. The country has accounted for 90% of the growth in the world's CO emissions since 2015 and it is now the largest GHG emitter in the world
When a fossil fuel is combusted, it releases energy, which boils water, which turns to steam, which drives a turbine, which generates electricity. This is an almost comically inefficient process, requiring immense amounts of material: more than 8bn tons of coal and 4tn cubic metres of fossil gas every year. And given the basic chemistry of combustion, it's unavoidable that burning all this stuff leads to an immense buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Martinez et al. tested three different Roman concrete recipes with varying slaked lime-to-pozzolan ratios (1:2, 1:3, and 1:4), and assessed greenhouse gas and air emissions for each production stage based on known Roman construction practices. The results surprised the scientists. Per volume of concrete, the production process for Roman concrete ended up emitting as much and, in some cases, more CO2 than modern formulations.
The Complete Streets project along Richmond Street aims to lower car speeds and improve pedestrian safety through various installations including raised intersections, corner extensions, and flashing crosswalk signals.
