Inside Climate News

Wildfires in New England rarely make national news. The spotlight is more often on the catastrophic fires of Western states, but the Northeast’s fire season has been quietly heating up. In 2025, severe drought quadrupled Maine’s late summer fire activity. In 2024, another drought quintupled Connecticut’s fall wildfires, and one firefighter died while controlling a […]

Local and state governments across the United States have turned to state courts over the past nine years, filing lawsuits reminiscent of those against the tobacco industry in the 1990s against major fossil fuel companies, aiming to hold them accountable for climate change damages and alleged deception.  The cases are still in preliminary stages and […]

In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, policy makers, scientists and global negotiators are gathering to convey an urgent message: The world’s rangelands, which make up about half of Earth’s land surface, are in trouble. But these same lands offer an opportunity. If, collectively, farmers and land users restore rangelands and soils, they can combat drought and preserve a […]

Zach Lentsch was leading a climbing trip on Devils Tower in Wyoming’s northeast corner on Aug. 18 when he got a text from a friend saying voter turnout in the state primary, held that day, was strong. The chairman of Protect Wyoming, the first and only political action committee in the Cowboy State focused on […]

In a matter of days, a dirt pit the size of five football fields appeared next to the weathered headstones of Center Cemetery in Castana, Iowa. The excavation site sits on the edge of the Loess Hills, a 200-mile corridor of craggy bluffs and ridges bordering the Missouri River valley in western Iowa. The hills, […]

The three elected officials who regulate the oil and gas industry in Texas hold an open meeting each month in Austin to vote on matters from pipeline violations to permit renewals. Members of the public can register to speak for up to three minutes at the end of each meeting. People often travel hundreds of […]

One of the nation’s largest environmental groups is challenging the Trump administration’s closure of a leading climate institute, filing a lawsuit Thursday in federal court saying the closure is unlawful. The administration had announced in December that it would dismantle the Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, which conducts advanced climate and weather […]

Nicknamed the “Amazon of the Seas,” the Coral Triangle is the world’s most biologically diverse marine ecosystem. Sink below the surface and you’ll encounter the sound of a vibrant symphony of snapping shrimp, crunching crustaceans and feeding fish.  But then the rhythmic music of life will dissolve into eerie silence, punctured only by the plosive […]

A collaborative project about Chicago’s handling of its massive number of lead water pipes—a public health hazard—has won a reporting award from the National Association of Black Journalists. The “Salute to Excellence” award is the latest in a list of honors for “Lead City,” a series Inside Climate News reported alongside WBEZ and Grist.  The […]

LINZ, Austria—A summer-long series of heatwaves that has been blistering much of Europe since June has turned political. Elected leaders are facing growing scrutiny for their lackluster response to the deadly consequences of climate extremes, even as their parties continue to pursue policies that worsen the crisis.The extreme temperatures, along with drought, have drained rivers, […]

New investigative findings from a Florida sheriff’s office detail the stark conditions of emaciated and dehydrated sloths at a planned tourism attraction where more than 50 of the animals died, including one frothing at the mouth and another that had been lying on the ground for two days, covered in feces.   Even so, the Orange […]

Policies promoting solar power construction projects in China have contributed to a decline in bird diversity across the country. Those findings, from a study published Thursday in the journal Science, highlight the environmental impacts of large-scale solar developments and suggest ways that policies supporting photovoltaics could be improved in China, which has installed nearly as […]

Illinois is the latest example of how a state can embrace virtual power plants and see results almost immediately. Today, Solrite Energy is announcing its entry into the Illinois market with a program that provides households with battery energy storage for $20 per month and makes the batteries available to support the local power grid. […]

Wildfires in Europe could burn across about 39 percent more land by the end of the century, even if greenhouse gas emissions decline rapidly over the next few decades, new research shows. With continued high emissions, the burned area could increase as much as 192 percent. Emissions reductions are the key to reducing wildfire impacts, […]

ORLA, Texas—Elected officials and industry leaders warn that Texas is at the “precipice” of running out of underground space to dispose of the nearly 1 billion gallons of wastewater that oil and gas production generates every day in the Permian Basin. The toxic wastewater, known as produced water, is usually injected underground into disposal wells. […]

The federal government alleged that U.S. Steel could have prevented a catastrophic explosion at Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh on Aug. 11, 2025, killing two workers and injuring 11. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) issued a final report a year after the incident, saying the company had no procedure for how […]

SEBRING, Fla.—The city of Sebring has an “Old Florida” charm.  Citrus trees greet motorists driving into town. Red, white and blue bunting hangs from a white gazebo in the middle of the town circle. Many of the century-old stucco and brick buildings surrounding the downtown circle have generous awnings to protect against the Florida sun.  […]

Firefighters are gaining ground on three large wildfires that have burned more than 47,000 acres across southwestern Montana, but unhelpful warmer temperatures, lower humidity and breezy conditions are returning after recent rainfall slowed the fires’ growth.  According to the U.S. Forest Service, containment on the Sand Creek Fire, southeast of Wisdom, increased from 2 percent […]

Wired for Profit: Fourth in a series about Alabama Power’s influence over electric rates, renewable energy, pollution and politics in the Yellowhammer State. WESTOVER, Ala.—Shannon Vanden Heuvel said she doesn’t believe a word they say.  A marketing designer and proud mom, she’s seen the seemingly endless television advertisements from Alabama Power, the state’s largest electric […]

STONE HARBOR, N.J.—Against a lush carpet of marsh grasses, the five-and-a-half acre island of muddy sediment, shallow pools and tufts of straggly vegetation stood out like a sore thumb.  It wasn’t enough to catch the eye of young visitors to The Wetlands Institute, who were far more interested in the diamondback terrapin enclosure that was […]