海角大神

What we're writing

Why the EPA faces big cuts under Trump budget

Environmental issues have become more polarized even since the years of George W. Bush. Why? The stakes for both parties surrounding climate change have risen. An anti-regulatory philosophy has hardened on the right. And some say the Obama administration, tugging the EPA to the left, set the stage for a conservative backlash. //聽Zack Colman聽

How climate influences weather: six questions

Extreme聽rains in California. A "snowless Chicago." An聽early spring聽in much of the US. 聽Weather events like these prompt questions about what role climate change may be playing. Here's what聽scientists say. //聽Amanda Paulson

Its coal use falling, is China the new leader on climate action?

Reforms to the coal industry are central to Beijing鈥檚 climate campaign. In the face of US retrenchment on climate change, China may sieze an opportunity on the world stage. //聽Michael Holtz

Southwest聽cities expand, yet draw聽less water

Phoenix reduced its residential water consumption in the past decade despite a 23 percent rise in population. This and the story below are parts of the western water series that聽kicked off聽here聽the previous week. //聽Zack Colman

Biggest US water users learning聽to use less

In the Southwest and beyond, irrigation technology and other steps such as planting 'cover crops' to enrich the soil are making a difference. //聽Zack Colman

What we're reading

Peculiar outlook:聽warmer climate, slower snowmelt

Snow-fed rivers are expected to run lower as snow melts earlier. // The Associated Press

Burger King animal feed linked to聽deforestation

The green group Mighty Earth says it has documented a pattern of forest-burning. // The Guardian

Permafrost thaw portends huge carbon release

Changes in Canada send carbon-rich mud into streams and rivers. // InsideClimate News

Flint residents聽paying for water that's聽still unsafe

Michigan ends聽a program that聽helped cover water bills in the wake of Flint's lead-in-water revelations. // The Washington Post

What's trending

Spring, unusually聽early

鈥淚t poses聽significant challenges for planning and managing聽important issues that affect our economy and our society.鈥� // Jake Weltzin, a USGS ecologist and the executive director of the USA National Phenology Network, quoted in 海角大神

Top Trump advisers split on Paris Agreement

"Mr. Trump wants to make a decision by next week, say people familiar with the White House鈥檚 debate on the climate pact, in order to announce [a Paris position alongside] his executive order to undo Mr. Obama鈥檚 climate regulations." // Coral Davenport, writing in The New York Times

Congress weighs in on 'social cost' of climate change

鈥淸The government]聽should eliminate the use of the social cost of carbon until a credible value can be calculated.鈥� 聽 // Rep. Lamar Smith (R) of Texas,聽chair of the House Science Committee, quoted in The Washington Post

Ikea creates largest聽solar rooftop in Illinois

"It reduces our operating costs at that facility. We鈥檒l be paying a lot less in electricity in the long run.鈥� // Joseph Roth of Ikea, quoted by Yale Climate Connections