The pageant to choose the bulkiest bear is out of hibernation.
Why it matters: Fat Bear Week, the contest where the public can pick their favorite fattened-up bear at Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, drew in nearly 1.4 million votes from fans across the world last year.
Hurricanes and tropical storms have long-term health consequences, generating 7,000 to 11,000 excess deaths over the 15 years following the event, a new study finds.
Why it matters: The study demonstrates that long-term public health impacts are a concern in the wake of Hurricane Helene's devastating damage and long after direct deaths and damage is accounted for.
The deadly aftermath of Hurricane Helene created something rare and revealing: a prime-time spotlight on global warming in a White House debate.
Why it matters: A question just minutes into Tuesday night's JD Vance-Tim Walz faceoff brought the earliest climate science and policy exchange ever in a general election debate.
Hurricane Helene has left officials in six Southeastern states grappling to respond to the widespread destruction it caused after hitting Florida as a Category 4 storm last week.
The big picture: Officials confirmed at least 57 deathsin North Carolina Tuesdayand raised the death count in Georgia from 17 to 25 Monday, bringing the number of storm-related deaths across six states to more than 166, per AP.
Days after Hurricane Helene tore across the southeastern U.S., VP hopeful Sen. JD Vance pivoted away from questions about Donald Trump's claims that climate change is a "hoax" and towards an exchange on manufacturing policy.
Why it matters: The questions and back-and-forth were the most prominent discussion on climate science and policy in any debate this cycle, or any in recent memory.
A growing number of lawmakers is calling for Congress to cut its October recess short following an Iranian missile attack against Israel on Tuesday.
Why it matters: It builds on bipartisan calls from senators and House members in states affected by Hurricane Helene who said Monday that Congress should reconvene sooner than scheduled.
Old-fashioned legacy media — especially radio — have become a vital information lifeline in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Why it matters: Power outages, lost cell signals and hundreds of road closures have stifled on-the-ground reporting, giving way to falsehoods that can spread quickly online — and creating an urgent need to correct them.
A Georgia county issued a new shelter-in-place order, as a lingering haze from a chemical plant fire that ignited Sunday continued to affect thousands of residents.
The latest: Rockdale County officials advised residents in an update Tuesday to shelter in place "if the plume moves over your vicinity or if there is a strong odor of chlorine."
Why it matters: Susana Muhamad, Colombia's secretary of the environment and sustainable development, is set to chair international talks on a new biodiversity pact.
The already fragile medical supply chain is facing more stress this week, after Hurricane Helene ravaged a huge Baxter International plant in North Carolina that makes IV fluids for many U.S. hospitals.
Why it matters: While the damage hasn't been totaled up, and the company says it's lining up backup plants and making other contingencies, the closure of the flooded facility threatens to upend such basics as intravenous dialysis care and complicate the federal disaster response.
North Carolina, one of the most important battlegrounds in the race for president, is at the center of the destruction from Hurricane Helene.
Why it matters: Beyond the physical and emotional toll of the storm, Helene suddenly has created massive hurdles for voters and election officials just 35 days before the Nov. 5 election.
Driving the news: Trump began the day on Truth Social, posting unsubstantiated claims that Biden's administration and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) were "going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas" affected by Helene.
Mules are helping deliver aid to residents in North Carolina as they grapple with the fallout from the destructive Hurricane Helene.
The big picture: Five Southeastern states are responding to widespread devastation caused from the hurricane that made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm last week, withthe death toll surpassing 130.
Hurricane Helene's damage across five southeastern states is still emerging some three days on from it making landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm.
The big picture: The storm has killed at least 132 people in North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, which former President Trump visited on Monday. President Biden said he plans to visit storm-hit areas of N.C. on Wednesday and Georgia and Florida "as soon as possible."
