International: United States
Trump wants climate science denier to run NASA
6 Sep 2017
The White House has announced that President Donald Trump plans to nominate Republican Jim Bridenstine, a climate science denier, to be administrator of NASA.
Insurance industry eyes Hurricane Harvey cost
6 Sep 2017
Because US infrastructure is not built to withstand climate change the cost of the Hurrican Harvey disaster will be relatively high.
Faded favourite jeans might be causing a health threat
5 Sep 2017
The faded, “distressed look” of a favorite pair of blue jeans, might come with a hidden price.
California wants law setting 100% renewable power goal
4 Sep 2017
California, the world’s sixth-largest economy, is aiming for an entirely clean power grid by 2045 with legislation that pits technology start-ups against utilities.
Invasive insect chewing through Mississippi delta
1 Sep 2017
An invasion of tiny insects is killing swaths of coastal marsh at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and has turned an already unraveling landscape into open water in a matter of months.
US to abolish job of climate change envoy
31 Aug 2017
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has informed Congress that the US will no longer have a special envoy for climate change, the official that has led delegations to UN climate talks since 2009.
How did climate change make Hurricane Harvey much worse?
30 Aug 2017
At least 14 people have died and tens of thousands evacuated as Houston continues to be battered by catastrophic rainfall. Can we decode the disaster?
I was an Exxon-funded climate scientist
28 Aug 2017
ExxonMobil’s deliberate attempts to sow doubt on the reality and urgency of climate change and their donations to front groups to disseminate false information about climate change have been public knowledge for a long time, now.
California pollution permits sell at highest price ever
25 Aug 2017
California has raised more than $640 million auctioning off permits for businesses to emit greenhouse gases as part of a program aimed at fighting climate change.
WALL WARS: Stop fighting and make Rio Grande grand again
25 Aug 2017
Rather than spending billions of dollars and squabbling about a border wall, the US and Mexico could adopt an alternative vision: regenerating the Rio Grande.
There’s no saving the world without business
24 Aug 2017
The “We Are Still In” movement launched to send a message to US president Donald Trump over his Paris Agreement threat has grown to include more than 1500 businesses and investors, as well as nine states, more than 200 cities and counties, and more than 300 colleges and universities.
Denmark just generated 140% of its power demand from wind
23 Aug 2017
On a particularly windy day recently, Denmark’s wind farms produced between 116 per cent and 140 per cent of the national electricity requirements ... and they weren’t even trying.
Will the US ever build another big coal plant?
23 Aug 2017
About 16 per cent of the US coal fleet has retired in the past five years, but don't expect major new coal-fired plants to fill that void.
Doomed by climate – but they still don't get it
21 Aug 2017
The Louisiana town of Cameron could be the first in the US to be fully submerged by rising sea levels – and yet locals, 90 per cent of whom voted for Trump, still aren’t convinced about climate change.
Trump cans no-sales rule on plastic bottles in parks
21 Aug 2017
The Trump administration's reversal of ban on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks shows ‘the corporate agenda is king and people and environment are left behind’, say campaigners
Not burning fossil fuels saves thousands of US lives
18 Aug 2017
Fossil fuel not burnt because of wind and solar energy helped to avoid between 3000 and 12,700 premature deaths in the US between 2007 and 2015, says a new report.
California eyes massive climate research move
18 Aug 2017
California scientists are sketching plans for a home-grown climate-research institute - to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Alaska lists 30 towns at risk from coastal erosion
17 Aug 2017
At least 31 Alaskan communities face “imminent” existential threats from coastline erosion, flooding and other consequences of changing temperatures.
Gulf of Mexico dead zone could get worse
16 Aug 2017
Each summer, a large part of the Gulf of Mexico “dies”. This year, the “dead zone” is the largest on record, stretching hundreds of miles from the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of Louisiana to waters off Texas.
AL GORE: Trump has failed to knock Paris off course
14 Aug 2017
Donald Trump has failed to knock the Paris climate agreement off course, says former US vice-president Al Gore.
California's climate policies create economic boon
11 Aug 2017
California’s Inland Empire counties can thank the state's climate change programmes forma net benefit of $9.1 billion in direct economic activity and 41,000 jobs from 2010 through to 2016.
Court scuttles rule cutting potent greenhouse gas
11 Aug 2017
A federal appeals court in Washington has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has overstepped its authority in regulating HFCs under the Clean Air Act.
Scientists fear Trump will dismiss blunt climate report
10 Aug 2017
The average temperature in the United States has risen rapidly and drastically since 1980, and recent decades have been the warmest of the past 1500 years, according to a sweeping federal climate change report awaiting approval by the Trump administration.
Don't call it climate change, says US federal department
8 Aug 2017
Staff at the US Department of Agriculture have been told to avoid using the term climate change in their work.
Changing climate fuels Arizona’s monstrous monsoons
8 Aug 2017
Summer in Arizona and throughout the US southwest is monsoon season, which means a daily pattern of afternoon thunderstorms, flash floods, dramatic dust clouds and spectacular displays of lightning over the desert.
Hawaii wants hydrogen vehicles on road next year
7 Aug 2017
Hawaii has started the construction of its first public fuelling station for hydrogen vehicles, and aims to start selling hydrogen-fuelled cars next year.
Fears rise for future of US climate report
3 Aug 2017
A sweeping US government report on the state of climate-change science is nearing the finish line, but faces one big hurdle - final sign-off by top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Meat industry gets blame for gulf 'dead zone'
3 Aug 2017
The global meat industry, already implicated in driving global warming and deforestation, has now been blamed for fueling what is expected to be the worst “dead zone” on record in the Gulf of Mexico.
Climate lab sits empty, waiting for its mighty machine
3 Aug 2017
Behind a locked door at a Colorado university, a laboratory sits dark and empty, like a dining room set for a guest who never arrived. In this case, the no-show is a $2 million, 12 tonne machine that is vital to addressing global warming.
Carbon-free city being built from scratch
31 Jul 2017
Can a city built from scratch be profitable to developers and enjoyable to residents as it tries to be carbon-free?
US powercos knew of climate threat decades ago
28 Jul 2017
The US electric industry knew as far back as 1968 that burning fossil fuels might cause global warming, but cast doubt on the science of climate change.
Climate science meets a stubborn obstacle: Students
28 Jul 2017
To Gwen Beatty, a junior at the high school in a proud, struggling, Trump-supporting town, the new science teacher’s lessons on climate change seemed explicitly designed to provoke her. So she provoked him back.
Exxon, Shell face action over US sea level rises
27 Jul 2017
As a trio of lawsuits in California claim compensation for sea rises resulting from fossil fuel emissions, campaigners say carbon majors must change their business models.
Rising seas spark tobacco-style lawsuits in California
21 Jul 2017
Several flood-prone municipalities in California filed first-of-their-kind lawsuits against fossil fuel companies this week as they attempt to recoup the cost of coping with rising seas.
California extends cap-and-trade to 2030
19 Jul 2017
California lawmakers have voted to extend the state's signature programme for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
GROW FOOD ON MARS: Los Angeles startups get inventive
19 Jul 2017
Geeks are inventing ways to keep Los Angeles cool with products and services that aim to avert environmental disaster – and make a profit.
Bloomberg and California launch climate action plan
18 Jul 2017
California Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg have announced the launch of America’s Pledge, which will allow US states, cities and businesses to stay aligned with the Paris Agreement.
US approves oil drilling off Alaska
18 Jul 2017
An Italian multinational oil and gas company has received permission to move ahead with drilling plans in federal waters off Alaska.
California about to vote on emissions trading scheme
14 Jul 2017
California lawmakers are expected to vote next week on legislation to extend the state's landmark cap-and-trade programme, the country's most progressive, statewide attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
DIZZY DAYS: What Trump has scrapped since January
5 Jul 2017
Since January, the White House, Congress and EPA have engineered a dizzying reversal of regulations designed to protect the environment and public health.
Climate change will worsen US poverty
5 Jul 2017
Yet another study has exposed the cruel cost of climate change as it increases US poverty. It could be worse than the Great Recession.
Giant hailstones set to become the norm across North America
30 Jun 2017
Golfball sized hail that can crack car windscreens, damage roofs and decimate crops are set to become the norm across parts of North America as a result of climate change.
Big Oil backs Republicans' carbon tax proposal
22 Jun 2017
Oil giants ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Total are among a group of large corporations supporting a plan to tax carbon dioxide emissions.
Major businesses snap up renewable energy
22 Jun 2017
Major corporations such as Wal-Mart and General Motors have become some of America’s biggest buyers of renewable energy.
In Phoenix, it's so hot the planes can't take off
22 Jun 2017
A heat wave across the American West has sent the mercury above 120degF in places like Phoenix - so hot some airlines have had to cancel flights.
How solar power can save lives and money
21 Jun 2017
US scientists have just worked out how many lives, and at what price, solar power can deliver.
Whole Foodies ponder future under Amazon
21 Jun 2017
Shelf-stockers and purveyors of locally sourced organic produce give a wary welcome to Jeff Bezos’s buyout of the market that changed their town.
Marijuana industry a glutton for fossil fuels
21 Jun 2017
Producing a few pounds of weed can have the same environmental toll as driving across America seven times – harming cities’ and states’ plans to curb emissions.
San Francisco restoring nature's delicate balance
16 Jun 2017
As rising seas and demands for fresh water threaten San Francisco area shorelines, the focus is on building tidal marsh.
US passes renewable power generation mark
16 Jun 2017
Combined wind and solar energy accounted for more than 10 per cent of US power generation in March - the highest ever share of renewable energy in the nation’s power mix.
Australian rainforests no longer a carbon sink – study
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Australia's tropical rainforests are among the first in the world to start emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, scientists said Thursday, linking the "very concerning" trend to climate change.
In China, climate litigation starts with the state
Thu 16 Oct 2025
With thousands of dedicated courts and more than a million recent cases, environmental and climate litigation is booming in China, but it often looks different to the trend seen elsewhere.
'Not up for discussion': Brussels rejects Washington's pressure on climate rules
Mon 13 Oct 2025
In response to US demands to roll back the EU's environmental legislation, the European Commission defended its autonomous power to adopt laws.
Government told to prepare for 2C warming by 2050
Thu 16 Oct 2025
The UK should be prepared to cope with weather extremes as a result of at least 2C of global warming by 2050, independent climate advisers have said.
Renewables are a global economic engine, not a culture war threat
2 Oct 2025
Energy companies are learning this lesson faster than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Indonesia restarts international carbon trade after four years
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has issued a new decree to restart international carbon emission trading after a four year hiatus.
Familiar tensions emerge at the Pacific Islands Forum
26 Sep 2025
With China-Taiwan rivalry, China-Western competition, and big carbon emitters at odds with the islands on climate policy, there is plenty of tension to go around.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
Mon 13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
Angola lowers climate ambition in blow to spirit of Paris Agreement
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Angola has scaled back its targets for reducing emissions in its new national climate plan, saying it chose “realism and implementability” over the Paris Agreement's calls for governments to set progressively more ambitious goals.
Four Brazilians to watch at COP30
Wed 15 Oct 2025
Influential Brazilians, from government figures to Indigenous activists, will take center stage during UN climate talks in the Amazon next month.
UN agency says CO2 levels hit record high last year, causing more extreme weather
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilisation and “turbo-charging” the Earth’s climate and causing more extreme weather.
