Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday urged public officials and private sector workers to dress more casually to stay cooler after a deadly heat wave hit the country earlier this month, Reuters reports.
Why it matters:More than 2,000 people died from heat-related causes in Spain and Portugal in roughly a week after a deadly heat wave swept through Europe over several weeks.
The Oak Fire burning on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County, California has destroyed at least 135 structures and has damaged at least 10 others, Cal Fire said in an incident update on Thursday.
Why it matters: The wildfire has forced thousands of people to evacuate the area and has burned more than 19,100 acres, making it the state's largest so far this fire season.
Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentucky has experienced "one of the worst, most-devastating flooding events" in its history after heavy rainfall and flash flooding hit the eastern portion of the state overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
The big picture: This is the second deadly extreme rainfall event from this same frontal system, which stuck the St. Louis metropolitan area with record rainfall on Tuesday, also causing flash flooding that killed at least one person.
The climate and energy provisions in the Senate's revenue and spending deal cover everything from incentives to buy electric vehicles to spurring the development of next-generation climate technologies, such as direct air capture.
The big picture: The draft bill would bring U.S. carbon dioxide and methane emissions down and dramatically scale up the development and deployment of new technologies.
House leaders are preparing to call lawmakers back to Congress the week of Aug. 8 to pass the Senate's $740 billion climate and deficit reduction package, according to lawmakers and aides.
Why it matters: The current timeline speaks to the Democrats' confidence that they can pass a reconciliation package this August and hand President Biden a victory on some — but not all — of his priorities.
Human-caused climate change tipped the scale dramatically in favor of the record-shattering U.K. heat wave that struck the country last week, a new study concludes.
Why it matters: Extreme weather and climate events are a big part of how society is experiencing global warming, and this study clearly lays out the present-day consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.
West Virginia said Thursday that it would no longer do business with five financial institutions over their pledges to fight climate change by reducing financing for fossil fuel projects.
Why it matters: It's the first time a state has severed financial ties with major financial institutions over their policies to reduce the emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases, the New York Times reports.
An emerging Capitol Hill deal could give White House carbon-cutting goals a huge lift that looked all but impossible weeks ago.
Why it matters: President Biden's target under the Paris Agreement of cutting U.S. emissions 50% by 2030 could be within reach if Congress approves the new clean energy investments, analysts say — but it's not clear that it would have the votes to pass.
