Tropical Cyclone Yaas formed in the Bay of Bengal Sunday night eastern time, and is poised to intensify -- perhaps at a rapid rate, as it swirls toward landfall in the Indian coastal state of Odisha on May 26.
The big picture: The storm, which may reach Category 2 or 3 intensity prior to landfall, threatens to cause more disruptions at the same time as India is reeling from a devastating surge in coronavirus cases.
The Biden administration plans to invest $1 billion helping states prepare for extreme weather ahead of the 2021 hurricane season, alongside an initiative to track natural disasters through a new NASA program.
Why it matters: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expects above-average storm activity during the next hurricane season, which would make this the sixth unusually active season in a row.
A new nonprofit group called Climate Vault aims to offer reliable carbon offsets while providing fresh support for CO2 removal technologies and methods.
Driving the news: It's the brainchild of the University of Chicago team led by economist Michael Greenstone, who served in the Obama White House.
G7 environment ministers have pledged to move toward the "absolute end" to financing international development of coal-fired power plants by the end of this year.
Why it matters: Their joint communique Friday is a stark statement about how they view the future of the world's most carbon-intensive fuel.
Gina McCarthy, President Biden's top domestic climate official, hasn't forgotten Big Oil's past funding of climate denial groups, but she now sees an evolving industry.
Driving the news: Axios' Mike Allen, interviewing McCarthy for "Axios on HBO," asked if Big Oil is an ally or an enemy in the fight against climate change.
On "Axios on HBO," White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy called for a practical rather than idealistic approach to getting Americans to change their routines to save the planet.
McCarthy told me that with all the lost jobs, "Now is not the time to sit them down and say: 'Let's talk about climate. How can you sacrifice?' ... [I]t's never going to be a winning strategy. Right now, it's ridiculous."
Why it matters: Electric vehicles have had a luxury image. But McCarthy took me for a spin in an electric Chevrolet Bolt before the interview, as part of an effort to show electric vehicles can be an economical part of the average American's future.
In many areas, the Brood X cicadas that are emerging across a 15-state region are spottier in their prevalence than they were 17 years ago. Some neighborhoods have been inundated with the insects, while others are seeing only a few.
Why it matters: The 17-year periodical cicadas are one of nature's wonders, but the patchiness of the emergence, particularly in suburbia, points to one of the key threats to these unique insects: urbanization.
Mount Nyiragongo in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo erupted on Saturday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate the nearby city of Goma, per Reuters.
The state of play: Witnesses told AP that lava had "engulfed" a highway connecting Goma with the city of Beni and Reuters reports that lava has reached an area near Goma's airport, on the outskirts of the city, which has a population of about 2 million.
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