Human Pathogens Are Hitching a Ride on Floating Plastic
James Wakibia/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire This story was originally published by Hakai Magazine and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The plastics had only been submerged in the ocean off Falmouth, England, for a week, but in that time a thin layer of biofilm, a slimy mix of mucus and microbes, had already…
Climate Bill Could Slash US Emissions by 40 Percent—If Democrats Can Pass It
Eric Kayne/ZUMA press wire This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration The US is, following decades of political rancor and fossil fuel industry obfuscation, on the verge of its first significant attempt to tackle the climate crisis. Experts say it will help rewire the American economy and act…
Phoenix Is the Hottest US City. It Also Has the Country’s Only Dedicated Heat Team.
Walter G. Arce Sr./ASP via ZUMA Wire This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Phoenix is America’s hottest city, and it’s getting hotter. The global climate crisis and decades of sprawling urban growth have turned this desert city into a hazardous heat island with dwindling water…
Just When You Thought Biden’s Climate Agenda Might Have a Chance, Here Comes Kyrsten Sinema
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/AP This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The most ambitious attempt yet to pass climate legislation in the US may have surprisingly won the crucial backing of a senator who owns a coal company. Now it faces a further, deeply ironic, obstacle—a lawmaker who…
Conservative Courts and the Filibuster Are Blocking Heat Protections for Farmworkers
Farm workers clear out hosing which was used to irrigate an okra field on July 13, 2022 near Coachella, California.Mario Tama/Getty In the fertile plains of Washington State’s Yakima Valley, maximum summer temperatures typically approach 90° F, meaning sweaty, potentially dangerous work for the people who harvest the region’s bounty: 77 percent of US-grown hops,…
Frustrated by US Climate Inaction, These GenZ Activists Have Taken Matters Into Their Own Hands
John Marshall Mantel/ZUMA Press Wire This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. On a searingly hot night in New York City, a group of mask-wearing activists grasping bags of lentils set out to stage the biggest blitzkrieg yet upon a new target for climate campaigners in the…