Using NASA mathematical models and satellite observations of sand, sea salt and smoke moving across the Western hemisphere, researchers at Goddard Space Flight Center created this visualization of the 2017 hurricane season.
What you're seeing: Sand and dust from the Sahara (seen in brown), sea salt picked up by the winds of hurricanes Irma, Harvey, Jose and Maria (blue) and smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. (gray) travel thousands of miles on wind. Across the Atlantic, Hurricane Ophelia takes form off the coast of Africa.
Nebraska's Public Service Commission has approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across Nebraska in a 3-2 vote, removing the last regulatory hurdle for the $8 billion project, per the Omaha World-Herald.
Why it matters: Oil prices go a lot further than any government permit to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline will ever actually be built. Companies' appetites to tap into the expensive oil sands region in Canada are much less than what they were several years ago, as crude oil is trading at about three times less the price it was trading when the pipeline was first proposed.
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