Climate Change & Environment
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Thousands flee as wildfires burn out of control in and around Los Angeles

California firefighters battled wind-whipped wildfires that tore across the Los Angeles area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained early Wednesday.

The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot. The residents — one as old as 102 — waited there in their bedclothes as the night sky glowed red from flames and embers fell around them until ambulances, buses and even construction vans arrived to take them to safety.

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Severe flood warning issued as the UK faces more weather disruptions

Serious flooding swamped parts of England on Tuesday and snow forced three airports to close temporarily as wet and icy weather combined to extend travel chaos that has plagued the U.K. since the start of the year.

Areas of the Midlands in England remained under water and more than 200 flood warnings were issued as waters that overtopped riverbanks continued to inundate villages and drown farmland.

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Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024

2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that's a critical counterweight to climate change.

A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since 2005. And those fires contributed to deforestation, with authorities suspecting some fires were set to more easily clear land to run cattle.

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California begins 2025 with solid start to winter snowpack, but more storms are needed

California is beginning 2025 with a solid start to the winter snowpack, officials said Thursday, but they cautioned that more storms are needed to keep the state's water supplies on track.

Officials at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range that covers the eastern part of the state, recorded a snow depth of 24 inches (61 centimeters), said Andy Reising, manager of the Department of Water Resources' snow surveys and water supply forecasting unit. The water content of the snowpack at the station is currently at 91% of the average for this time of year and 37% of the average for April 1, when the Sierra snowpack is typically at its peak, he said.

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Russia warns of severe environmental damage as oil from damaged tankers washes up on beaches

Russian officials have warned of severe environmental damage as thousands of people came out to clean up tons of fuel oil that spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers more than two weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, near Moscow-occupied Crimea.

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4 killed in a storm system that spawned tornadoes across the southern US

Officials assessed the damage on Sunday after a strong storm system moved across the southern U.S. over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and killing at least four people.

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Climate change added 41 days of dangerous heat around world in 2024

People around the world suffered an average of 41 extra days of dangerous heat this year because of human-caused climate change, according to a group of scientists who also said that climate change worsened much of the world's damaging weather throughout 2024.

The analysis from World Weather Attribution and Climate Central researchers comes at the end of a year that shattered climate record after climate record as heat across the globe made 2024 likely to be its hottest ever measured and a slew of other fatal weather events spared few.

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Heat wave leads to warnings of potentially devastating wildfires in southern Australia

Communities and firefighters across Australia's second-most populous state were preparing Thursday for potentially devastating wild fires as a heat wave fanned by erratic winds presented the worst fire conditions in several years.

With temperatures in Victoria state reaching 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) and with wind changes expected throughout the day, fire chiefs have issued stark warnings to rural communities to delay travel or leave their homes and seek safety at shelters.

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Five facts about electric vehicles in 2024

Electric vehicles had another whirlwind year around the globe, driven by buyers in China, and growth in parts of Europe and the United States, despite headwinds.

In a milestone for China, the world's biggest auto market, EVs hit 50% of new car sales in July. That included pure battery EVs plus plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Chinese companies such as BYD continue to gain traction worldwide with their inexpensive EVs.

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As floods become yearly disaster in South Sudan, thousands survive on canal edge

Long-horned cattle wade through flooded lands and climb a slope along a canal that has become a refuge for displaced families in South Sudan. Smoke from burning dung rises near homes of mud and grass where thousands of people now live after floods swept away their village.

"Too much suffering," said Bichiok Hoth Chuiny, a woman in her 70s. She supported herself with a stick as she walked in the newly established community of Pajiek in Jonglei state north of the capital, Juba.

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