Amid the worst drought on record, the city has threatened to turn off the taps on its nearly 4 million residents. Our correspondent spent a week there while he could still get a shower.
The Senate was close to passing a sweeping GOP bill Tuesday morning that rolls back renewable energy tax credits, adds a new tax on wind and solar, and boosts fossil fuel development.
The bill would cut off tax credits for wind and solar projects not operational by the end of 2027.
A new excise tax targets clean energy projects that use materials from countries like China.
Credits for nuclear, hydrogen, and geothermal remain, while fossil fuel drilling and permitting are expanded.
Key quote:
“If this passes, it is a death sentence for the wind and solar industries.”
— Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senate Finance Committee ranking member
Why this matters:
Rolling back clean energy support would stall progress on climate goals and raise energy prices. Fossil fuel expansion and regulatory rollbacks would increase health risks from pollution.
More than 200 civil society and Indigenous groups have issued a unified call for major reforms to the United Nations’ global climate negotiations, criticizing decades of slow progress and lack of accountability.
The coalition’s statement, released during preparatory talks for COP30 in Germany, urges changes to decision-making processes, increased accountability, and the exclusion of fossil fuel interests from negotiations.
Their demands follow long-standing frustrations with the Conference of Parties structure, including COP29’s failure to secure meaningful climate finance commitments and its hosting by oil-producing Azerbaijan.
Reform proposals include ending consensus-based voting, enforcing human rights protections, and aligning climate efforts with broader environmental treaties like those on plastics and fossil fuels.
Key quote:
“Global climate governance is increasingly perceived as out of touch, driven by vested interests, and running out of relevance and trust.”
— Civil society coalition statement
Why this matters:
International climate negotiations are meant to unite countries in slowing global warming, but critics say the process is being derailed by fossil fuel interests, political gridlock, and broken promises. As the planet warms, developing nations are bearing the brunt of climate impacts — facing floods, droughts, and extreme heat — yet they often lack the funding and political leverage to adapt. COP summits, originally created to drive global action, have instead become arenas where wealthy countries delay progress and corporations influence outcomes. The result is growing distrust, especially from communities most vulnerable to climate change. Without a credible, transparent process that delivers real commitments, public confidence in climate diplomacy — and its ability to protect health and ecosystems — continues to erode.
Human-driven warming has pushed multiple Earth systems dangerously close to irreversible tipping points, but social and technological momentum could still steer the planet toward recovery.
Timothy Lenton, a leading climate systems scientist, says critical Earth systems like the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, permafrost, and Atlantic Ocean circulation are nearing — or may have already passed — irreversible thresholds.
A 2008 map of climate tipping elements has expanded with new risks; Lenton says the more scientists study the issue, the closer these thresholds appear, warning that past assessments were too optimistic.
Despite the worsening outlook, Lenton sees potential in "positive tipping points" in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and community-led conservation efforts that can drive cascading change across sectors.
Key quote:
“It's like running faster into a sea that is rising to drown us.”
— Timothy Lenton, professor of climate change and Earth system science at the University of Exeter
Why this matters:
Tipping points mark moments when slow environmental shifts flip into rapid, often irreversible change — melting ice sheets, collapsing ocean currents, or rainforest diebacks. These events can trigger global consequences, from rising seas to agricultural collapse. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, for instance, helps regulate global climate; its breakdown would disrupt rainfall patterns across Africa, South Asia, and the Americas, endangering food and water supplies for billions. Such interconnected risks challenge traditional models of gradual climate impact and raise urgent questions about resilience and adaptation. Recognizing the compounding effects of these feedback loops is vital to understanding not just future climate scenarios, but our current trajectory.
A punishing heat wave swept across southern Europe this weekend, forcing evacuations in Greece and pushing several countries into emergency wildfire alerts as temperatures soared past 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Portugal placed two-thirds of the country on high alert, with temperatures expected to reach 107°F in Lisbon and wildfire risks escalating.
Italy’s health ministry issued maximum heat warnings for 21 cities, while several regions restricted outdoor work to protect workers from record heat.
In Greece, a fast-moving wildfire near Athens led to evacuations and property damage, with helicopters and planes deployed to battle flames worsened by strong winds.
Why this matters:
Extreme heat events in Europe are no longer rare spikes; they are increasingly part of a seasonal norm shaped by climate change. Southern Europe’s dense urban centers, aging populations, and tourism economies make them especially vulnerable. Heat stress drives up hospital admissions, disrupts outdoor labor, and ignites deadly wildfires. Older adults and children face the greatest health risks. As warming accelerates, studies predict heat-related deaths could more than quadruple in Europe by midcentury. Fire-prone Mediterranean regions are also seeing drier springs and hotter summers, creating ideal tinderbox conditions. These effects converge to threaten public health, strain emergency response systems, and reduce air quality across entire regions.
A heat dome sent temperatures soaring across the Eastern U.S. last week, part of a growing trend driven by human-caused climate change that’s increasing the frequency and severity of extreme heat events.
Cities across the Eastern U.S. endured temperatures over 100°F during a heat dome, causing road damage, infrastructure malfunctions, and hospitalizations, including 100 people treated after outdoor graduations in New Jersey.
Scientists say human-driven global warming is intensifying heat waves by raising baseline temperatures and changing atmospheric patterns like the jet stream, which contributes to the formation and persistence of heat domes.
The Trump administration is rolling back climate regulations as Republicans in Congress push to dismantle existing clean energy incentives, raising concerns about future policy responses to climate-related disasters.
Key quote:
“This heat wave that we’re just coming out of is a great example of we’re going to see more of getting even hotter and longer if we don’t slow down our use and stop our use of fossil fuels and replace fossil fuels with … clean, low-carbon energy.”
— Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan
Why this matters:
Extreme heat is deadly. As average global temperatures rise, heat waves are becoming more frequent, longer, and more intense. These events strain public health systems, damage infrastructure, and disrupt daily life, especially in urban areas where concrete and asphalt trap heat. High temperatures also increase the risk of heat-related illnesses, particularly among older adults, outdoor workers, and children. Humidity worsens these effects by reducing the body’s ability to cool itself. The changing behavior of the jet stream, influenced by Arctic warming, is locking in extreme weather patterns, making episodes like heat domes more persistent. Without emissions cuts, what we consider extreme today may soon become the new normal.
Nations facing submersion from rising seas could retain their legal status and maritime rights under international law, according to a new report from the United Nations’ International Law Commission.
The UN’s International Law Commission concluded that countries can maintain statehood and maritime boundaries even if their land disappears due to sea level rise, preserving access to natural resources and political recognition.
Island nations like Tuvalu are already experiencing land loss and saline intrusion, forcing governments to seek legal recognition, adaptation aid, and migration pathways for citizens.
Australia and Latvia have formally committed to recognizing the sovereignty and maritime claims of Tuvalu, even if its territory becomes uninhabitable, setting a precedent for future international agreements.
Why this matters:
Rising sea levels are already reshaping coastlines and endangering freshwater supplies in island nations. As ice sheets melt and oceans expand, small island states face the loss of territory, homes, and even the legal frameworks that define their sovereignty. Without clear rules, disappearing land could mean disappearing rights, from fishing grounds to diplomatic recognition. This creates a volatile mix of legal ambiguity, human displacement, and geopolitical tension. The fossil fuel emissions driving these changes come mostly from wealthy nations, but the consequences are landing hardest on communities with the fewest resources. Legal recognition of statehood despite physical loss offers a safeguard, but not a solution, for countries already on the front lines.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stopped receiving data from key weather satellites on June 30, limiting forecasters’ ability to detect dangerous hurricane intensification in real time.
NOAA and the Department of Defense will cease collecting data from aging polar-orbiting satellites that have helped track hurricanes since the early 2000s, citing unspecified service changes.
These satellites use microwave instruments to detect storm structure changes at night, a key time when hurricanes often intensify due to warm ocean waters.
While some microwave data will still be available from other satellites, experts say coverage gaps and delays will hamper forecasting accuracy and readiness.
Key quote:
With fewer satellite passes over a given part of the ocean, “forecasters will see hourslong delays in the National Hurricane Center recognizing that a storm has begun to strengthen abruptly.”
— James Franklin, former head of the hurricane team at the National Hurricane Center
Why this matters:
Timely hurricane forecasts depend on real-time data from multiple satellites, especially those that can "see" storm structure through clouds at night. Without that data, meteorologists may miss signs that a storm is quickly strengthening — a trend that has become more common as climate change fuels warmer ocean temperatures. Rapid intensification, particularly overnight, can leave communities with little time to prepare or evacuate. Gaps in data coverage also threaten maritime safety and disrupt decades of storm behavior research, which helps improve future forecasts. As the hurricane season intensifies, losing these tools could reduce warning times, affecting millions in vulnerable coastal areas across the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean.
