Climate and environment

FILE - Activists participate in a demonstration for loss and damage at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (APPhoto/Kamran Jebreili, File)

Climate talks shift into high gear. Now words and definitions matter at COP28

The mood is about to shift, the hours grow longer and the already high sense of urgency somehow amp up even more as United Nations climate talks head into its final week.

A pair of maleos look for a spot to lay an egg in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. With their habitat dwindling and nesting grounds facing encroachment from human activities, the journey of a maleo pair for egg laying grows ever more precarious and uncertain. (APPhoto/Dita Alangkara)

Indonesian maleo conservation faced setbacks due to development and plans for a new capital city

Ali Shadilov, left, and Anvar Saimbetov pose in front of an old boat in the area where the Aral Sea once was in Muynak, Uzbekistan, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. APinterviewed Shadilov and others in Muynak, Uzbekistan 鈥� all residents in their 60s and 70s who鈥檝e long been tied to the sea, or what remains of it. (APPhoto/Ebrahim Noroozi)

These men once relied on the Aral Sea. Today, the dry land is a reminder of lost livelihoods

A generator and its blades, bottom, are tugged at sea leaving State Pier in New London, Conn., Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, heading to South Fork Wind farm. (APPhoto/Seth Wenig)

Decades after Europe, turning blades send first commercial offshore wind power onto US grid

Workers, foreground, stand Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in an area that features a life-sized representation, behind, of a device that will use magnets to create the conditions for fusion to happen, at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak. Nuclear fusion, which would be a new source of carbon-free energy, melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy. (APPhoto/Steven Senne)

At COP28, John Kerry unveils nuclear fusion strategy as a source of clean energy

COP28 Climate Summit

Juma Indigenous sisters Mandei Juma, from left, Mayta Juma and Borea Juma pose for a picture at their community, near Canutama, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sunday, July 9, 2023. The Juma seemed destined to disappear following the death of their father, the last remaining elderly man, but under his three daughters鈥� leadership, they changed the patriarchal tradition and now fight to preserve their territory and culture. (APPhoto/Andre Penner)

Indigenous women bring a tiny tribe back from the brink of extinction in the Amazon

Workers carry a solar panel for installation at the under-construction Adani Green Energy Limited's Renewable Energy Park in the salt desert of Karim Shahi village, near Khavda, Bhuj district near the India-Pakistan border in the western state of Gujarat, India, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. India is developing a 30 gigawatt hybrid 鈥� wind and solar 鈥� renewable energy project on one of the largest salt deserts in the world. (APPhoto/Rafiq Maqbool)

In the salt deserts bordering Pakistan, India builds its largest renewable energy project

Joyce Ngui heads to fetch groundwater in Athi River, Machakos county, Kenya, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. 鈥淪ometimes, we get to the water vending stations and find that the queue is long and then the water finishes and you have to wait,鈥� Ngui said. 鈥淢ost of the times you don鈥檛 have money to buy even the salty water sold around. So we have no choice but to use the swamp water," she said. (APPhoto/Brian Inganga)

In some neighborhoods in drought-prone Kenya, clean water is scarce. Filters are one solution

Bales of hay are stored under shelters at Al Dahra Farms, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, in the McMullen Valley in Wenden, Ariz. Worries about future water supplies from ancient aquifers are bubbling up in western rural Arizona. Some neighbors complain that their backyard wells have dried up since the Emirati agribusiness began farming alfalfa nearby. (APPhoto/John Locher)

Tensions are bubbling up at thirsty Arizona alfalfa farms as foreign firms exploit unregulated water

How did humans get to the brink of crashing climate?

FILE - People stand on the observation deck of the Dubai Creek Harbour in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, June 18, 2023, to view the city skyline with the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa. Dubai hosts the United Nations COP28 climate talks starting Nov. 30. (APPhoto/Kamran Jebreili, File)

Skyscraper-studded Dubai has flourished during regional crises. Could it benefit from hosting COP28?

FILE - An injured man is carried in Blantyre, Malawi, Monday, March 13, 2023, in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy. This year鈥檚 COP28 in Dubai is likely to see more discussion about compensation for developing nations harmed by climate change. (APPhoto/Thoko Chikondi, File)

Fund to compensate developing nations for climate change is unfinished business at COP28

Mamta Kumari, a farm worker, takes a brief break between harvesting wheat on a farm in Nanu village in Uttar Pradesh state, India, on Oct. 17, 2023. As the annual U.N.-led climate summit known as COP is set to convene later this month in Abu Dhabi, experts are urging policymakers to respond to climate change鈥檚 disproportionate impact on women and girls, especially where poverty makes them more vulnerable. (Uzmi Athar/Press Trust of India via 麻豆传媒app)

Climate change hits women鈥檚 health harder. Activists want leaders to address it at COP28

Fossil fuel influence at UN climate talks

Capuava oil refinery owned by Petrobras sits in Maui, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Petrobras specializes in deep water exploration, drilling and extraction. (APPhoto/Andre Penner)

Oil companies attending climate talks have minimal green energy transition plans, APanalysis finds

Happy Cardinal, right, looks at what remains of his cabin, destroyed by wildfires, near Fort Chipewyan, Canada, on Sunday, Sep. 3, 2023. Wildfires are bringing fresh scrutiny to Canada's fossil fuel dominance, its environmentally friendly image and the viability of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. (APPhoto/Victor R. Caivano)

Canada says it can fight climate change and be major oil nation. Massive fires may force a reckoning

FILE - The coal-fired power plant Uniper Scholven and a nearby BP refinery shine in the evening behind illuminated appartments in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. Environmental activists say the lobbying of fossil fuel interests are the reason why climate talks have yet to produce an agreement to phase out coal, oil and natural gas, as scientists have repeatedly said must happen to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, like extreme weather events. (APPhoto/Martin Meissner, File)

Fossil fuel interests have large, yet often murky, presence at climate talks, APanalysis finds

FEATURED

Fish swim around brain coral deep below ocean at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Sheltered in a deep, cool habitat far from shore, the reefs in the Flower Garden Banks boast a stunning amount of coral coverage. (APPhoto/LM Otero)

Climate change is hurting coral worldwide. But these reefs off the Texas coast are thriving

Jonnie Narita, 24, whose grandfather George Nakagawa was a baseball star at the camp, poses for a portrait in front of a recreated baseball diamond at Minidoka National Historic Site, Saturday, July 6, 2023, in Jerome, Idaho. It wasn't until after Nakagawa's family convinced him to attend the celebration of the reconstructed diamond in 2016 that he began to share more of his incarceration experience. "Without [this] place we wouldn't have all these family stories from my grandpa," said Narita. (APPhoto/Lindsey Wasson)

People who make pilgrimages to a APWar II Japanese American incarceration camp and their stories

Nikyle Begay moves a sheep in preparation for shearing Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, on the Navajo Nation in Ganado, Ariz. When it's time for shearing, Begay ties the hooves of the sheep into place and cut the wool by hand with a special pair of scissors. (APPhoto/John Locher)

鈥楳y heart was always just with the sheep.鈥� One Navajo鈥檚 push to keep tradition vibrant

Cody Manson, left, holds a sheep as Jay Begay, right, applies a castration band Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in the community of Rocky Ridge, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation. Climate change, permitting issues and diminishing interest among younger generations are leading to a singular reality: Navajo raising fewer sheep. (APPhoto/John Locher)

Navajo sheep herding at risk from climate change. Some young people push to maintain the tradition

Juan Zuniga, a first-year deckhand on the Agnes Sabine, refuels the boat, Friday, June 23, 2023, in Kodiak, Alaska. For some young people who make the move to Alaska's coasts, the industry is a way to make quick money, but not a forever job. 鈥淭his is a pretty far place from where I live,鈥� Zuniga said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very big step out of my comfort zone." (APPhoto/Joshua A. Bickel)

As climate change and high costs plague Alaska鈥檚 fisheries, fewer young people take up the trade

Yaad Ali, 55, left, and his son Musikur Alam, 14, row a boat to collect drinking water in the floodwaters in Sandahkhaiti, a floating island village in the Brahmaputra River in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (APPhoto/Anupam Nath)

In India, river islanders face the brunt of increasingly frequent flooding

Wyoming may auction off huge piece of pristine land inside Grand Teton

Wyoming officials will decide whether to auction off a valuable and pristine piece of state land located within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park.

A sea otter pup found alone in Alaska has a new home at Chicago鈥檚 Shedd Aquarium

A northern sea otter who was found alone and malnourished in the remote Alaska town of Seldovia in October has a new home in Chicago.

Environmentalists say Pearl River flood control plan would be destructive. Alternative plans exist

Environmental groups in Mississippi say findings from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show a long-debated flood control project along the Pearl River would be 鈥渄estructive.鈥�

House backs GOP bill to block EPA rule on tailpipe pollution; slams plan as electric-vehicle mandate

House Republicans have approved a bill to block strict new tailpipe pollution limits proposed by the Biden administration, calling the plan a back-door mandate for electric vehicles.

Automakers, dealers and shoppers dawdle on EVs despite strong year in US sales growth

The EV trend in the US at the end of 2023 is a little tough to tease out. Overall sales hit a record, but they鈥檙e also falling short of expectations amid the industry鈥檚 push to transition away from combustion engines and quickly towards EVs.

Massachusetts governor says AI, climate technology and robotics are part of state鈥檚 economic future

Artificial intelligence, climate technology and robotics are some of the economic opportunities Democratic Gov.

Cougar struck and killed near Minneapolis likely the one seen in home security video, expert says

A Minnesota wildlife official says that a cougar that was struck and killed on an interstate highway in suburban Minneapolis was more than likely the same animal captured on home security video sauntering across a driveway earlier this week.

Oregon power company to pay nearly $300 million to settle latest lawsuit over 2020 wildfires

Electricity utility PacifiCorp will pay $299 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 463 plaintiffs who said they were harmed by devastating wildfires in southern Oregon in 2020.

2 bodies found in creeks as atmospheric river drops record-breaking rain in Pacific Northwest

Authorities in Oregon are investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found in creeks this week as an atmospheric river brings heavy rain, flooding and unseasonably warm temperatures to the Pacific Northwest.

European Union calls for 鈥渢he beginning of the end鈥� of fossil fuels at COP28 climate talks

This year鈥檚 climate talks should 鈥渕ark the beginning of the end鈥� of fossil fuels the European Commissioner for Climate Action said on Wednesday as the United Nations summit wrapped up its first week.

As COP28 talks try to curb warming, study says Earth at risk of hitting irreversible tipping points

The world is in danger of hitting the point of no return for five of Earth鈥檚 natural systems because of human-caused climate change, a team of 200 scientists said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations鈥� climate summit.

Activists say their voices are stifled by increasing rules and restrictions at COP28 climate talks

This year鈥檚 United Nations climate talks may have seen record numbers registered to attend, but activists who have spent years demonstrating at the annual event say their space to voice their demands is shrinking year on year.

Dutch plans to tackle climate change are in doubt after the election victory of a far-right party

The outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, told delegates at the COP28 United Nations climate conference his country is 鈥渃ommitted to accelerating our efforts鈥� to tackle climate change.

After a fast start, COP28 climate talks now in murky middle of hope, roadblocks

After a first-day blur of rare quick action and agreement, negotiators at a critical United Nations climate conference Wednesday are finishing up their first week in a more familiar place for them: the murky middle where momentum and roadblocks intertwine.