The lop News

Environment

Brazil's Atlantic Forest Drops Below 10,000 Hectares Lost — But for How Long?

Deforestation in Brazil's Atlantic Forest fell to 8,658 hectares in 2025 — a 40-year low. A new law stripping federal oversight and a Bolsonaro candidacy could erase those gains before the trend hardens into recovery.

Rae Carlsen May 14, 2026

Environment

150 Million Hectares Already Burned. A Supercharged El Niño Hasn't Even Arrived Yet.

Twice the size of Texas, already scorched — and that's before Pacific waters forecast to hit 3°C above average unleash what scientists say could be the worst fire season in modern history.

Rae Carlsen May 13, 2026

Environment

Tropical Deforestation Slowed Last Year. El Niño Could Erase That Progress.

Tropical primary rainforest loss dropped 36% in 2025 — the steepest decline in years. El Niño is building, and the fires it brings could burn it all back.

Rae Carlsen May 12, 2026

Environment

The Seabird Eggs Say So: When You Ban Forever Chemicals, They Actually Go Away

PFOS levels in northern gannet eggs dropped 74% over 55 years. The steepest declines came after governments started regulating. The chemicals are leaving living tissue — slowly, but measurably.

Rae Carlsen May 11, 2026

Environment

Hormuz-Detoured Ships Plow Through Whale Habitat Off South Africa

Since Hormuz closed, ships rounding South Africa have more than doubled. The whales feeding in those shipping lanes had no time to adapt.

Rae Carlsen May 11, 2026

Environment

Europe's Climate Lifeline Is Fading Far Faster Than Predicted

The climate models that best match real-world ocean data are the ones showing the steepest decline in the Atlantic's heat-carrying current system. A roughly 50 percent slowdown by 2100 is no longer the worst case — it is the best estimate.

Rae Carlsen May 10, 2026

Environment

Three-Quarters of the World's Largest Forest Research Network Faces Closure

The world's largest forest research network could lose 57 of its 77 sites. The studies that would end have been running for decades — and nobody else is positioned to continue them.

Rae Carlsen May 10, 2026

Environment

The Models Agree: A Record-Breaking El Niño Is Coming

Climate models rarely agree this completely. Right now, every major seasonal forecast points toward an El Niño that could surpass anything in the historical record.

Rae Carlsen May 09, 2026

Environment

The Poison They Left Behind: Kenya's Oil Waste Cancer Cluster

More than 500 people have reportedly died from cancers in villages near abandoned drilling sites in northern Kenya. The company that left the waste behind has declined to comment.

Rae Carlsen May 08, 2026

Environment

After 34 Years of Climate Talks, Countries Finally Sat Down to Discuss Ending Fossil Fuels

Fifty-seven countries gathered in Colombia for the first summit dedicated to planning a managed phase-out of fossil fuels. The world's biggest producers and consumers weren't invited.

Rae Carlsen May 08, 2026

Environment

Mecca at the Limit: Hajj Heat Now Breaches Human Survivability

For four consecutive hours during the 2024 Hajj, heat and humidity in Mecca exceeded what the human body can survive — even for healthy young adults. Roughly 1,300 pilgrims died.

Rae Carlsen May 07, 2026

Environment

Deforestation Just Pushed the Amazon's Tipping Point Below 2°C

A Nature study finds that continued deforestation could trigger Amazon collapse at 1.5°C of warming — a threshold the world could breach before 2030. Without deforestation, the same dieback would require nearly 4°C.

Rae Carlsen May 06, 2026

Environment

The Caspian Sea Is Vanishing — and Nobody Is Coming to Save It

A cafe that once sat at the water's edge now stands meters from the nearest shore. The world's largest inland sea has dropped two meters since the 1990s — and projections get far worse from there.

Rae Carlsen May 06, 2026

Environment

165 Wind Farms Frozen Overnight in the Name of National Security

Thirty gigawatts of planned clean energy capacity now sits in limbo. The Pentagon's explanation for blocking 165 onshore wind projects: national security. The specifics: nonexistent.

Rae Carlsen May 05, 2026

Environment

Australia Reports Half Its Coalmine Methane. The IEA Has the Receipts.

Satellite data puts Australian coalmine methane at 1.7 million tonnes. The government's official figure: 0.82 million. The gap is not new — but it keeps widening.

Rae Carlsen May 04, 2026

Environment

Mexico City Is Sinking So Fast You Can See It From Orbit

New satellite data confirms parts of Mexico's capital are dropping nearly 2 centimeters every month. The Angel of Independence has needed 14 extra steps added to its base since 1910 just to reach ground level.

Rae Carlsen May 03, 2026

Environment

Timmy the Humpback Whale Gets His Shot at the Atlantic

A 12-meter humpback whale swam free in the North Sea on Saturday after eight weeks stranded in the Baltic. Whether he reaches the Atlantic is far from certain.

Rae Carlsen May 02, 2026

Environment

Sixty Countries Just Agreed to Plan Fossil Fuels' End. The Word Was 'Voluntary.'

Fifty-nine nations signed on to draft national roadmaps for phasing out coal, oil, and gas. The plans are voluntary, carry no deadlines — and the world's biggest emitters didn't show up.

Rae Carlsen April 30, 2026

Environment

The Green Energy Boom Is Poisoning the Mekong

Toxic runoff from rare earth mines in Myanmar and Laos is draining into the Mekong, threatening 70 million livelihoods — all to feed global demand for EVs, wind turbines, and weapons systems.

Rae Carlsen April 29, 2026

Environment

Tropical Deforestation Slowed in 2025. Eleven Football Fields a Minute Is Still the Rate.

The world lost a Denmark-sized expanse of tropical rainforest in 2025. That was the good news — and a potential El Niño could undo even that.

Rae Carlsen April 29, 2026