Nidhi Sharma

A record-breaking number of mosquitoes in and around Las Vegas are carrying West Nile virus, sparking warnings from local health officials who say the public should take precautions to avoid getting bit. West Nile virus can cause fever, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea and is fatal in about 1 of 150 cases. There are no vaccines or medications to treat or prevent the mosquito-borne illness. In recent weeks, 169 of over 24,000 pools of mosquitoes tested for West Nile virus returned positive — mean…

Over $700 billion in loans and underwriting flowed into companies conducting business in fossil fuels last year, funneled by 60 of the world’s largest private banks, according to a report released Monday by several environmental groups. The annual report, put together by the Sierra Club and the Rainforest Action Network among others, shows a slight decline in banks’ financing for oil, gas and coal since 2021, but researchers say it is not dropping quickly enough. Environmental activists have for…

CAMERON PARISH, La. — Seven days a week, Tressie LaBove Smith makes the two-hour round trip from Lake Charles to what’s left of her Cajun restaurant in Cameron, Louisiana, an unincorporated town perched along the stormy Gulf Coast. Business once boomed at Anchors Up Grill, which opened in 2014 as Cameron’s only sit-down restaurant. In 2020, Hurricane Laura destroyed the restaurant along with most of the town. Smith now dishes out Louisiana home cooking from a food trailer to customers dining in…

Delegates from the almost 200 nations attending the global COP28 climate summit in Dubai reached a breakthrough agreement on Thursday that establishes a fund for loss and damage in developing countries impacted by climate change. The fund will funnel voluntary contributions from developed countries to low- and middle-income nations struggling to cope with billions of dollars in damages from climate-exacerbated drought, extreme weather and sea-level rise. António Guterres, the United Nations secr…

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a sweeping clean energy package Tuesday that would make Michigan the second swing state to go 100% clean energy 2040, a move widely applauded by climate advocates but criticized by some environmental justice groups. The Clean Energy and Jobs Act includes several bills that would improve state energy efficiency requirements and streamline permitting processes for solar and wind projects. It would also mandate that state utilities shift 100% of electricity sal…

A breakthrough agreement could open doors for companies and policymakers looking to jump-start the international carbon credit system, which has come under increasing scrutiny by environmental advocates who say the credits allow firms to sidestep real climate action. The agreement, which was made public by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on Saturday, features guidelines for businesses and nations to receive verified carbon credits issued by the world body for trade on t…

Wildfire smoke from nearby marsh fires and heavy fog mixed to produce a “superfog” event early Tuesday morning northeast of New Orleans near the Irish Bayou, creating near-zero visibility conditions for drivers on Interstate-10. Multiple accidents occurred in the area, resulting in one death, the New Orleans Police Department said in an emailed statement. Several victims were taken to the hospital, and sections of I-10 were closed in both directions. Conditions became undrivable within minutes,…

The lithium-ion battery is a near-ubiquitous technology with a serious flaw: They sometimes catch on fire. A video of crew and passengers aboard a JetBlue flight feverishly dumping water on a backpack became the most recent example of broader concerns about the batteries, which can now be found in almost any device that needs portable power. Headlines about lithium-ion battery fires originating from e-bikes, electric vehicles and laptops onboard passenger flights have surged over the last dec…

Trick-or-treaters this year can expect a chilly Halloween as freezing temperatures sweep from coast to coast Monday. The National Weather Service has issued freeze alerts through Halloween for 80 million people across parts of California to Pennsylvania. A broad cold front expanding eastward from the central U.S. is expected to drop temperatures up to 35 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than average from Houston to Minneapolis. In Texas, highs in the 40s could potentially set records in Austin, Houston…

Songbirds like cardinals and sparrows follow the same schedule every year. In spring, they build nests and raise their young from nestlings to fledglings — but as springtime temperatures get warmer due to climate change, scientists have observed bird populations struggling to keep their offspring alive. A study published Thursday in the journal Science examined over 150,000 nesting attempts from 1998 to 2020 and found that warmer-than-average temperatures during nesting seasons significantly ham…