People & Population

"The state’s first climate deception case unfurled Thursday in North Carolina Business Court, where attorneys for the town of Carrboro and Duke Energy spent six hours sparring over legal arcana to answer a single question: Should a jury hear a case alleging that Duke Energy is responsible for lying about the link between climate change and extreme weather that has inflicted millions of dollars of property damage on the town? "

"One Year After Helene: People who lost their homes turned to FEMA for aid. Some are still slogging through red tape. Wealthier Getting More: We found that in some North Carolina counties, homeowners with the highest incomes received two to three times as much FEMA housing assistance as lower-income ones."

"Slogging through a thick slop of mud and rock, Brian Hill passed the roof that Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters had just ripped off someone’s barn and dumped into his yard. Then he peered into the unrecognizable chaos inside what had been his family’s dream home.

"A third of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Climate Adaptation Science Centers are expected to drastically wind down and possibly close after Sept. 30." "Tracking bird populations after hurricanes. Mapping the risk of megafires across the Midwest. Identifying less expensive ways to battle invasive plants. Preparing communities’ stormwater drains against intense flooding."

"Staffing cuts under the Trump administration mean forecasters are struggling to maintain normal operations." "Some National Weather Service staffers are working double shifts to keep forecasting offices open. Others are operating under a “buddy system,” in which adjacent offices help monitor severe weather in understaffed regions."

"The climate emergency is significantly increasing costs for California households in the form of rising utility bills, lost wages and growing healthcare expenses, worsening the state’s affordability crisis, according to a sweeping new report."

"NAACP leaders cite energy, water usage and a lack of transparency around the project as causes for concern."

"Residents of Indianapolis’ Martindale Brightwood neighborhood are confronting stubbornly high rates of hypertension, and public health experts point to lead exposure as a likely contributor."

"JBS, the world's largest meat company, has indirectly bought cattle raised illegally on indigenous land in Brazil, according to a Greenpeace investigation released on Thursday."

"The women of Holy Wisdom Monastery have restored 170 acres of native prairie and oak savanna. “Humans need creation to find ourselves,” one said."

"Tropical Storm Humberto formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday at the same time Hurricane Gabrielle was racing across the ocean toward the Azores islands, forecasters said."