It's only the end of May, yet already about 1 million acres of forest have gone up in flames across Alberta, Canada.
Why it matters: The wildfires have caused a sharp deterioration in air quality across western Canada and large swaths of the U.S. The fires are occurring earlier in the season than is typical for this region, and they're a possible sign of a warming planet, in which conditions conducive for such fires are becoming more frequent.
Flooding in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma has caused thousands to evacuate, as recent levee breaches along the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers create new waterways that have spread into homes and businesses.
The latest: Arkansas officials called for 160 homes in Yell County to evacuate on Friday as a levee breach brought floodwaters to over 40 feet. Three Missouri towns were told to evacuate on Thursday after a levee breached along a creek connected to the Mississippi River. Rivers in the region are at or near all-time highs after weeks of torrential rainfall.
Driving the news: It's been a busy tornado season so far in 2019. In terms of the most tornadoes in a single period of time, 2019 has ranked 4th in both the 8-to-14-day and 28-to-30 day categories, per NOAA data.
Tesla said Friday that it's now taking pre-orders for Model 3s in China with a 286-mile range and announced pricing for the vehicles built there, according to published reports.
Why it matters: The announcements show how Tesla, which is struggling financially, is seeking to expand sales of the vehicle that's key to its future.
Oil prices are sinking Friday morning following Trump's Mexico tariff tweet and Thursday's White House announcement of new tariffs against Mexico and a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. stockpiles.
Why it matters: Trade fights have the potential to soften demand. Battles with China were already putting downward pressure on oil, and the opening of another front in Trump's trade fights only adds to that sentiment.
Saturday marks two years since President Trump announced he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement — and the chasm between scientific findings and political action is only growing.
The big picture: Climate science is now more clear than ever about the damage that climate change is causing. But many countries aren’t on track to meet their Paris emissions targets — and now there’s no U.S. leadership to push them to try harder.
When it comes to personal vehicles, Americans are pretty clear what they like — something large, muscular and gasoline-driven. Sedans were fewer than one-third of U.S. vehicles sold last year, and electrics just 2%.
Why it matters: Carmakers are betting that in the coming years, Americans will go electric in a big way. And behind that gamble are different electrics from those that consumers have been offered so far. Specifically, electric pickup trucks and SUVs.
The U.S. has been hammered by an onslaught of severe weather, as a persistent weather pattern set up a clash of seasons across the central U.S.
The state of play:Epic flooding has also been affecting the Upper Midwest, Plains, central U.S. and Mississippi River Valley this spring, with many locations seeing their highest water levels on record.
Federal prosecutors sent subpoenas to President Trump's South Florida Mar-a-Lago club and the political fundraising committee Trump Victory as part of the FBI's campaign finance investigation into Li "Cindy" Yang, the Miami Herald reports.
Details: They're meant to obtain records on Yang, a Trump donor and founder of a Florida massage parlor chain caught in a human trafficking investigation, and several of her associates and companies.
The Department of Energy uncorked a memorable phrase yesterday when it approved expanded shipments from the Freeport LNG site in Texas. Here's Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes yesterday in DOE's greatest press release ever:
"Increasing export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy."
