Crews work to contain southern Arizona wildfire burning near Biosphere 2 science facility
June 4, 2023 GMTORACLE, Ariz. (AP) — Firefighters on Sunday were trying to contain a wildfire in southern Arizona that's burning about a half-mile (0.80 kilometer) from the Biosphere 2 science facility.
The wildfire broke out Sunday morning northwest of Oracle Junction and north of metro Tucson, Arizona State Forestry officials said.
Michigan wildfire that’s burned more than 3 square miles was sparked by campfire on private land
June 4, 2023 GMTGRAYLING TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan wildfire that's burned more than 3 square miles (7.7 square km) amid hot, dry conditions was sparked by a campfire, the state Department of Natural Resources said Sunday.
Joe Redfield hits 3-run HR, Sam Houston jumps to 7-2 lead over Tulane before weather suspends play
June 4, 2023 GMTBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Joe Redfield hit a three-run home run, Walker Janek and Carlos Contreras each hit a solo shot Saturday night and Sam Houston jumped to a 7-2 lead over Tulane before the game was delayed due to inclement weather.
Pilchard pitches Santa Clara past Arizona , 9-3 after weather delay at Fayetteville Regional
June 4, 2023 GMTFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Cade Pilchard started and pitched six scoreless innings to earn Santa Clara a 9-3 win over Arizona in an elimination game in the Fayetteville Regional that was delayed by a lengthy bout with inclement weather Saturday.
Honeybee health blooms at federal facilities across the country
June 3, 2023 GMTCONCORD, N.H. (AP) — While judges, lawyers and support staff at the federal courthouse in Concord, New Hampshire, keep the American justice system buzzing, thousands of humble honeybees on the building’s roof are playing their part in a more important task — feeding the world.
UAE defends Big Oil’s role at UN climate summit it will host
June 3, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — A senior United Arab Emirates official says the Gulf nation wants the U.N. climate summit it's hosting later this year to deliver “game-changing results” for international efforts to curb global warming, but doing so will require having the fossil fuel industry at the table.
PARIS (AP) — Global negotiators have agreed to craft a draft treaty to end plastic pollution, a preliminary but crucial step toward tackling one of the most lasting sources of human waste.
Environmental advocates cautiously welcomed the outcome of five days of U.N.
Report: Buffalo’s snow-removal equipment, communications fell short during deadly blizzard
June 3, 2023 GMTBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo's snow-removal fleet was no match for the historic Christmas week blizzard that left 31 people dead in the city, and officials fell short in issuing warnings and providing shelter, according to a report released Friday.
Connecticut lawmakers vote to allow people to use deadly force as the bear population grows
June 2, 2023 GMTConnecticut lawmakers voted Friday to take steps to protect people from the state's growing bear population. But they stopped far short of a bear hunt and restrictions on people unintentionally feeding the hungry animals.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Residents from Canada's Atlantic Coast city of Halifax whose homes have been destroyed by wildfires boarded buses Friday to get a look at what little remains of where they used to live.
Biden orders 20-year ban on oil, gas drilling to protect tribal sites outside New Mexico’s Chaco
June 2, 2023 GMTSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park that tribal communities consider sacred, the Biden administration ordered Friday.
Long stretch of New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway reopens as firefighters battle 5,000-acre blaze
June 2, 2023 GMTBASS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A long stretch of New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway reopened Friday morning as firefighters worked to contain a 5,000-acre forest fire spewing thick plumes of smoke.
About 25 miles (40 kilometers) of the heavily traveled toll road, the state's major north-south highway, was reopened shortly before 11 a.m.
Companies reach $1.18 billion deal to resolve claims from ‘forever chemicals’ water contamination
June 2, 2023 GMTTRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Three chemical companies said Friday they had reached a $1.18 billion deal to resolve complaints of polluting many U.S. drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds known as PFAS.
MIAMI (AP) — It's time for residents along the southeastern U.S. coastlines to make sure their storm plans are in place as the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season got underway Thursday.
Chemical plant operator repays Georgia fire departments $37K for gear, overtime costs fire
June 2, 2023 GMTBRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The operator of a Georgia chemical plant where a raging fire erupted in April is reimbursing fire departments for damaged equipment and overtime pay accrued battling the blaze.
Tropical Storm Arlene, 1st of season, forms in Gulf of Mexico
June 2, 2023 GMTMIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed Friday in the Gulf of Mexico on a track taking the cyclone south toward the western tip of Cuba.
Tropical Storm Mawar intensifies rains for Japan, threatens floods and mudslides in some regions
June 2, 2023 GMTNAHA, Japan (AP) — Heavy rains intensified by Tropical Storm Mawar fell on Japan’s main archipelago Friday, halting trains and triggering floods and mudslides in central and western regions where residents were urged to use caution or evacuate.
In the Amazon region where pair was killed, neglect and allegations of harsh justice
June 2, 2023 GMTLADARIO, Brazil (AP) — One year ago on a Friday afternoon, Bruno Pereira, an expert on Indigenous peoples, and Dom Phillips, a British journalist, motored along the Itaquai river in far western Brazil, to the settlement of Ladario.
In Norway, Indigenous Sami protest outside prime minister’s office against wind farm
June 2, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Dozen of activists, including Indigenous Sami, protested Friday outside the office of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, vowing to block entry to remind Norway's government that they want a wind farm removed because they say it endangers the reindeer herders’ way of life.
UN warns of aid shortage, looming food crisis in wake of devastating cyclone that hit Myanmar
June 2, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — The United Nations warned Friday that far too little aid is reaching cyclone-hit areas of Myanmar and the country could face a major food crisis soon if farmers are unable to plant crops.
AP PHOTOS: As Spain’s ‘peasant farmers of the sea,’ groups of women dig for clams
Drought, water overuse prompt Arizona to limit construction in some fast-growing parts of Phoenix
June 2, 2023 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought that is sapping its water supply.
Debt ceiling deal advances pipeline and tweaks environmental rules. But more work remains.
June 2, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Despite weeks of negotiations, the White House and House Republicans were unable to reach a comprehensive agreement to overhaul environmental regulations and streamline federal permitting as part of their debt ceiling deal, instead settling for limited changes that could simplify and expedite some project reviews.
Oregon youths’ climate lawsuit against US government can proceed to trial, judge rules
June 2, 2023 GMTEUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Thursday that a lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists can proceed to trial years after they first filed the lawsuit in an attempt to hold the nation’s leadership accountable for its role in climate change.
CHICAGO (AP) — A pair of peregrine falcon parents are raising three chicks along Chicago's busy Wacker Drive, and beware to any pedestrian who ventures too closely to their nest.
Just ask Chuck Valauskas, who was struck by one of the falcons.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's attorney general and its Environment Department filed suit Thursday against the manufacturers of so-called “forever chemicals,” commonly referred to as PFAS, seeking monetary damages to defray the costs of environmental monitoring and cleanups that they say are inevitable.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A man was acquitted Thursday of intentionally setting a fire that spread over 36 square miles (93 square kilometers) and burned more than a dozen cabins in remote Southern California canyons five years ago.
Summerlike heat across Great Lakes region forces school closings
June 1, 2023 GMTDETROIT (AP) — The calendar says it's still spring, but for parts of the Great Lakes region, hot, summerlike temperatures already have arrived, forcing some schools to close or shift students to remote learning.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As California grapples with how to deal with heat waves made more intense by climate change, schools in the state may soon have to come up with plans for cooling down outside play areas by planting more trees and replacing surfaces like asphalt that swelter on hot days.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Congress has stripped powers away from the country's new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, both led by women environmentalists.
Louisiana, 9 other states sue US government over steep flood insurance rate increases
June 1, 2023 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana and nine other states filed a lawsuit against the federal government Thursday to block sharp increases in national flood insurance rates that are slated to be phased in over the coming years, saying the steeper price could cost some people their homes.
COUNSELOR, N.M. (AP) — Members of the Navajo community have complained to Samuel Sage for years about the noise and vibrations that rattle their homes.
They tell him about the dust kicked up by heavy trucks traveling the surrounding dirt roads and the smells that come from some of the oil and natural gas wells and tank batteries that dot the land around their Navajo community of Counselor in northwestern New Mexico.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — As the aviation industry seeks to cut its carbon footprint, Boeing has just signed a deal to help its quest for a sustainable jet fuel, and it's tied to an unlikely source: the ocean.
Berlin police record jump in angry motorists attacking road-blocking climate activists
June 1, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Figures released Thursday by German police showed a sharp increase in the number of violent attacks on climate protesters in Berlin recorded this year compared with 2022.
Police in the capital said they opened 66 investigations into motorists suspected of committing crimes against members of the activist group Last Generation during the first five months of 2023.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota regulators have concluded that state rules governing where copper-nickel mines can be built are insufficient to protect the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from noise and light pollution, creating another potential obstacle to the proposed Twin Metals mine in northeastern Minnesota.
A federal appeals court has put on hold an Environmental Protection Agency regulation aimed at reducing air pollution in Missouri, drawing criticism from environmentalists but praise from the state's attorney general who called the proposal “unconstitutional overreach.”
BERLIN (AP) — The world is set to add a record amount of renewable electricity capacity this year as governments and consumers seek to offset high energy prices and take advantage of a boom in solar power, according to a new report Thursday.
BERLIN (AP) — A leading Argentine meteorologist has been elected as the first female head of the United Nations weather agency.
The World Meteorological Organization said Celeste Saulo received the necessary two-thirds backing from member states Thursday.
India pauses plans to add new coal plants for five years, bets on renewables, batteries
June 1, 2023 GMTBENGALURU, India (AP) — The Indian government will not consider any proposals for new coal plants for the next five years and focus on growing its renewables sector, according to an updated national electricity plan released Wednesday evening.
Toyota debuts hydrogen-fueled Corolla race car as auto racing begins shift away from gas guzzlers
June 1, 2023 GMTOYAMA, Japan (AP) — In a sprawling circuit near Mount Fuji, a humble Corolla running on liquid hydrogen has made its racing debut, part of a move to bring the futuristic technology into the racing world and to demonstrate Toyota’s resolve to develop green vehicles.
NAHA, Japan (AP) — A weakened Tropical Storm Mawar headed toward Japan's southern archipelago of Okinawa on Thursday, leading businesses and the airport to close and fishermen to batten down their boats in preparation.
Judge dismisses criminal charges against California energy company in 2020 fatal wildfire
June 1, 2023 GMTREDDING, Calif. (AP) — A California judge on Wednesday dismissed all charges against Pacific Gas & Electric in connection to a 2020 fatal wildfire sparked by its equipment that destroyed hundreds of homes and killed four people, including an 8-year-old.
Born in a typhoon: Many, including newborns, remain without electricity as Guam recovers from storm
June 1, 2023 GMTHONOLULU (AP) — About a week after Typhoon Mawar tore through Guam as the strongest typhoon to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in over two decades, most of the island remained without electricity and the governor appealed for patience during a recovery process expected to take at least a month.
Officials: Florida panther struck and killed by vehicle
June 1, 2023 GMTIMMOKALEE, Fla. (AP) — An endangered Florida panther has died after being struck by a vehicle.
It’s the fourth panther death attributed to fatal collisions, out of four total deaths this year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
ATLANTA (AP) — Police on Wednesday arrested three Atlanta organizers who have been aiding protesters against the city's proposed police and fire training center, striking at the structure that supports the fight against what opponents derisively call “Cop City.”
Corporate Amazon workers protest company’s climate impact and return-to-office mandate in walkout
June 1, 2023 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — Telling executives to “strive harder,” hundreds of corporate Amazon workers protested what they decried as the company's lack of progress on climate goals and an inequitable return-to-office mandate during a lunchtime demonstration at its Seattle headquarters Wednesday.
Man pleads guilty to picking up Yellowstone bison calf that was rejected by herd, euthanized
May 31, 2023 GMTMAMMOTH, Wyo. (AP) — A man from Hawaii pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge alleging he picked up a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park, causing the animal's herd to reject it and leading park officials to kill it rather than allow it to be a hazard to visitors.
Earth is ‘really quite sick now’ and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says
May 31, 2023 GMTEarth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that's losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — An unprecedented string of wildfires in Canada's Atlantic-coast province of Nova Scotia continued to burn out of control for a fourth day on Wednesday, preventing thousands of evacuees from trying to see if their homes have been destroyed.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Thirteen coal companies owned by the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice are being sued over unpaid penalties for previous mining law violations that the federal government says pose health and safety risks or threaten environmental harm.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — An unprecedented string of wildfires in Canada's Atlantic-coast province of Nova Scotia continued to burn out of control for a fourth day on Wednesday, preventing thousands of evacuees from trying to see if their homes have been destroyed.
Triple-whammy of cyclones, a 1-in-200-year event, drove Italy’s deadly flooding, scientists say
May 31, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — A rare, triple-whammy of cyclones drove the deadly flooding that devastated much of northern Italy this month, but scientists said Wednesday that climate change doesn't seem to be to blame for the intense rainfall.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — For most of the year, California's quest to rid itself of fossil fuels seems on track: Electric cars populate highways while energy from wind, solar and water provides much of the power for homes and businesses.
A consumer class action lawsuit filed Tuesday claims Delta Air Lines inaccurately billed itself as the world's “first carbon-neutral airline” and should pay damages. The complaint in federal court in California alleges the airline relied on carbon offsets that were largely bogus.
The details of the deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are out. The 99-page bill produced from their agreement Sunday would avoid a federal default while limiting government spending. But the two leaders still have to persuade Congress to pass the bill.
Hawaii reopens popular stretch of Waikiki beach after endangered monk seal pup weans
May 30, 2023 GMTHONOLULU (AP) — A young Hawaiian monk seal has weaned and relocated, allowing a stretch of a popular Hawaii beach to reopen Tuesday after it was made off-limits to protect the endangered pup while it nursed.
Body of avalanche victim in Washington state recovered after being spotted by volunteer
May 30, 2023 GMTLEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP) — Search crews have recovered the body of a climber who was one of three killed in an avalanche on Washington's Colchuck Peak in February.
Nevada fight over leaky irrigation canal and groundwater more complicated than appears on surface
May 30, 2023 GMTRENO, Nev. (AP) — Water conflicts are nothing new to the arid West, where myriad users long have vied for their share of the precious resource from California's Central Valley to the Colorado and Missouri rivers.