EPA Sets Stricter Limits for Hydrofluorocarbons Used in Refrigerators and Air Conditioners

This image from drone footage provided by the Vermont Agriculture, Food and Markets Agency shows flooding in Montpelier, Vt. on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Vermont Agriculture, Food and Markets Agency Vermont via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) The Environmental Protection Agency is imposing stricter limits on hydrofluorocarbons, very potent greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners that contribute to global warming. A rule announced on Tuesday will mandate an overall 40 percent reduction in HFCs starting next year, part of a global phase-out designed to slow climate change. The … Read more

Recent events that indicate that the Earth’s climate has entered uncharted territory

FILE - Cargo ships line up outside the Port of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in Los Angeles.  Maritime nations are finalizing a plan to reduce shipping sector emissions to zero by around 2050 on Thursday, July 6, 2023, but experts warn that the deal falls short of what is needed to prevent the climate catastrophe.  (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, Files)

Like a warming Earth boiled into troubling new territory This week, scientists said unofficial records set for the average planetary temperature are a clear sign of how pollutants released by humans are warming their environment. But the heat is also just one way the planet is telling us something is gravely wrong, they said. Heat … Read more

For the third consecutive day, the Earth’s average temperature remained at record levels

FILE - A security guard wearing an electric fan around his neck wipes sweat on a hot day in Beijing, Monday, July 3, 2023. The government ordered Beijing employers on Thursday, July 6, to stop working outdoors after the scorching summer heat in the Chinese capital it was expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).  (AP Photo/Andy Wong, archive)

Earth’s average temperature remained at a record high on Wednesday after two days of the planet hitting unofficial records. It is the latest indicator in a series of extremes driven by climate change. The global average temperature was 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the University of Maines Climate reanalyzer, an instrument that … Read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s climate agenda highlights tensions with environmental groups

FILE - Cargo ships line up outside the Port of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in Los Angeles.  Maritime nations are finalizing a plan to reduce shipping sector emissions to zero by around 2050 on Thursday, July 6, 2023, but experts warn that the deal falls short of what is needed to prevent the climate catastrophe.  (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, Files)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) In the rush to reduce California’s pollution and rid the state of fossil fuels, the most intriguing confrontation hasn’t involved business leaders or the oil industry. Instead, its simmering tensions between the state’s staunch environmental advocacy wing and the progressive governor of California who considers himself one of them. The modern environmental … Read more