For many Americans, winter means ice skating, building snowmen and going skiing. But this year, many are missing out on the fun as the temperature stays stubbornly higher than normal.
Why it matters: Warming winters tied to human-caused climate change pose an existential threat to seasonal activities and sports, which require sustained cold temperatures and often snow.
The General Services Administration and Department of Defense are looking for suppliers that could provide federal facilities in 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030.
Why it matters: Such a clean energy procurement would be one of the government's largest on record for its vast real estate portfolio.
Two weeks ago today, President Biden issued a pause on new export approvals for liquefied natural gas. Here are a few things we've learned during the policy's young and tumultuous life.
Why it matters: There's lots of organization and money involved, helping to make this LNG move one of the most intense, well-coordinated energy policy battles this century.
Leading climate scientist Michael Mann was awarded $1 million in damages after winning his defamation lawsuit against two conservative writers over their response to his pivotal work on global warming.
The big picture: The University of Pennsylvania professor sued Rand Simberg, a former adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Mark Steyn, a contributor to National Review over their online posts from more than a decade ago about a key graph Mann helped author that illustrated rising global temperatures.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a La Niña watch on Thursday morning, indicating that the current strong El Niño may be headed for the exits.
Why it matters: If the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean shifts into its cooler La Niña phase, a cascade of extreme weather and climate impacts could be touched off worldwide.
New data shows that the Earth reached a potentially ominous temperature milestone last month.
Why it matters: January 2024 marked the first time that the global average surface temperature anomaly exceeded 1.5°C during a 12-month period, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The American West is the place to go if you want to spot some UFOs — especially (no surprise) Lincoln County, Nevada, home to the fabled Area 51, a top-secret U.S. Air Force base.
Why it matters: Discussion and reports of UFOs — or the more modern term, UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomenon) — have been going more mainstream in recent years amid a push for answers from lawmakers and others.
