Spring is getting warmer overall and featuring more unusually hot days in most U.S. cities, a new analysis finds.

Why it matters: Warmer springs can cause early snowmelt, which can imperil summer water resources and heighten wildfire risks.

• Warmer springs can also worsen allergies, among other effects.

Zoom in: Nonprofit climate research and communications organization Climate Central examined 55 years of U.S. temperature data for 241 cities and found that the meteorological spring season of March through May has warmed by a national average of 2.4°F.

• In an analysis released today, the group found that 97% of the 241 cities analyzed saw a warming trend for the season.
• Four out of every five cities now see at least one more week of warmer-than-average spring days compared to the 1970s.
• The geography of the warming across the U.S. shows that the fastest rates are in the southern tier, with the Southwest leading the pack at an average spring warming of 3.4°F.

By the numbers: The cities that have warmed the most since 1970 were Reno, Nev., which has seen average seasonal temperatures spike by 6.8°F, followed by El Paso, Texas at 6.4°F and Las Vegas at a seasonal average temperature increase of 6.1°F.

• Tucson, Albany, Ga., Chattanooga, Tenn. and Phoenix round out the fastest-warming list in the analysis.
• While the Southwest is the region seeing the fastest-warming spring, the fall actually outranks spring for the fastest-warming season in much of the Southwest and West.
• And winter is the fastest-warming season for much of the Central and Eastern U.S., along with Alaska.

Yes, but: One region of the U.S. has seen some cooling during spring.

• It stretches from northern Montana into North and South Dakota as well as a sliver of Minnesota.

The intrigue: As spring temperatures have increased, the average number of days with above-average temperatures also went up in 98% of the locations analyzed.

• Locations in the Southwest, West, Southeast and South had the greatest increase in the average number of warmer-than-average spring days since 1970.
• Tampa, for example, now has an average of 37 more days with hotter-than-normal spring temperatures, Climate Central found.

The bottom line: The spring warming in the U.S. is taking place in tandem with increasing temperatures around the world due to human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

BP is abandoning plans to cut oil and gas production and slashing low-carbon investment targets in a major pivot unveiled this morning.

Why it matters: It's a huge (if expected) shift for the super-major, whose performance has lagged peers, as it looks to regain investor confidence.

• But it's also a window into wider trends: persistent fossil fuel demand and the challenge of turning an oil giant into a more climate-focused firm.

Catch up quick: Some toplines of BP's "reset" this morning...

📈 Raising oil-and-gas output to up to 2.5 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day by 2030, replacing plans for a 25% cut by then relative to 2019.

• BP had already softened its 40% reduction target in 2023. The company now plans to raise upstream capex to $10 billion annually.

✂️ Cutting planned investment in its energy transition lines. BP now sees $1.5b-$2b annually, down $5b from prior targets.

• It's focusing on biogas, biofuels and EV charging, "capital light" renewables work, and "focused" spending on hydrogen and CO2 capture projects.

🔽 Reducing overall capital spending; finding $4b-5b in structural cost cuts by 2027; and targeting $20b worth of asset sales that could include its Castrol lubricants business. The WSJ has more.

What's next: We'll see whether the moves satisfy Elliott Investment Management, which has amassed a big stake and wants a major shift.

The energy giant's market performance has trailed its multinational peers, as you can see above.

What they're saying: Morningstar analyst Lindsey Stewart said lower renewables investment and leaning into oil and gas will be "shocking but not surprising to investors focused on sustainability."

The bottom line: "Having already cut back its energy transition targets in 2023, BP's subsequent underperformance compared with peers has created pressure for BP management to focus on sustainability of a financial rather than ecological nature," said Stewart, director of stewardship research and policy at Morningstar Sustainalytics, in a statement.

A new interactive map and report — provided first to Axios — show wildfire risks in the West are outpacing preventative measures.

Why it matters: The work from the Property and Environment Research Center and UC Davis shows that risks can differ from one congressional district to the next.

• "We have a really high wildfire risk across the West, and we aren't doing nearly enough to prevent these fires," Hannah Downey, PERC's policy director, told Axios.

Threat level: Wildfires have become more frequent, larger and more intense in recent decades. They've also extended earlier into spring and later into fall across much of the West, in trends tied to human-caused climate change.

• As risks increase, PERC is trying to help show where more prescribed burning and other proactive measures should be taken to lower, though not eliminate, the dangers of a wildfire disaster.
• PERC focuses on incentives-based environmental stewardship, including market-based approaches.
• Downey said agencies in the West should be dramatically increasing preventative treatment measures, such as forest thinning and prescribed burns, to lower wildfire dangers.

She said multiple wildfire-related bills in Congress seek to address some of these issues.

Zoom in: PERC and UC Davis found that in the past decade, nearly 13% of U.S. Forest Service land in the western U.S. burned, but less than 4% of Forest Service land was subject to preventive treatment like prescribed burns.

• In California, 24% of Forest Service land burned from 2010 to 2020, the research shows.
• Out of the 10 congressional districts with the largest shares of Forest Service-burned land, eight are in California, while two are in Arizona.
• Nine of the 10 districts with the highest shares of Forest Service land at high wildfire risk are in California.

Fresh sales data offer the latest sign that Elon Musk's politics are hurting Tesla in Europe, a big EV market.

State of play: Tesla's European registrations dropped 45% last month compared to January 2024 — even as the continent's overall EV sales climbed 37%, per the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Why it matters: Analysts say Musk's public rightward turn, work for Donald Trump, and backing of Germany's far-right AfD party are likely keeping some buyers at bay in the U.S. and overseas.

Yes, but: No single factor explains sales trends. Tesla's also facing increased competition and has an aging lineup, among other variables.

What's next: Watch whether Tesla can reverse the slide as it rolls out refreshed models and has new products supposedly arriving this year.

👀 Speaking of EVs, Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson is stepping down as the luxury EV maker continues to lose money despite higher sales, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports.

🤝 President Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to sign a minerals deal, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

• Catch up quick: Two sources close to the Ukrainian government told Axios the deal was agreed upon yesterday after two weeks of tense negotiations.

💵 The Commerce Department will explore whether to impose tariffs on imports of copper, the latest component — on top of aluminum and steel — to be swept up in Trump's trade crackdown, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports.

• Why it matters: Copper is used in EVs, renewable power, and transmission and grid infrastructure.

That's Shell's new estimate of global LNG demand growth through 2040 amid rising energy needs in Asia.

• It's a higher projection than last year's analysis, which saw a roughly 50%-plus rise. Full report...Reuters coverage