SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Yolo County’s Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency Tuesday in response to the threat of invasive golden mussels spreading through the county’s waterways, officials announced.

Yolo County authorities confirmed June 25 that the invasive freshwater mollusk, native to Asia, had been found in county waterways ...Read more

SpaceX sent up a Tuesday evening launch of a Northrop Grumman robotic vehicle featuring a pair of swiveling arms with clampy hands that aims to become an all-purpose Mr. Fix-It in space.

The Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) has been in the works for years, with Northrop subsidiary SpaceLogistics working with the Defense Advanced Research Project ...Read more

California and 19 other attorneys generals are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for reversing action on high-polluting refrigerants.

President Donald Trump announced in May that grocery stories and air conditioning companies would get several more years to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a class of very climate-damaging ...Read more

Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the country’s two largest reservoirs, have fallen to their lowest combined levels on record, a grim marker in the deepening water crisis across seven states that depend on the Colorado River.

The two reservoirs are now lower than the previous record in 2023, researchers say.

“It’s a hell of a milestone,” said...Read more

Why would a young Republican back solar power but reject a carbon tax? Why would two Democrats agree that climate change is real but split over a policy that would charge households more if they exceeded a monthly limit on energy use?

Those patterns may go against the partisan rhetoric of our times, but they reflect the reality that ...Read more

Remember when planning a summer day meant glancing out the window to see if it might rain?

Summer now comes with a checklist. What’s the temperature? What’s the heat index? Is there a thunderstorm coming? What’s the air quality index? Is wildfire smoke drifting in from Canada? Should the kids bring swimsuits or stay inside? Will tonight�...Read more

From my desk in London, I’ve watched Los Angeles with a jolt of recognition. As dangerous heat settles over the city, it’s opening more than a hundred cooling centers and running air-conditioned buses to reach people with nowhere cool to go. It’s a life-saving response to a growing problem. It’s also a quiet admission: For many Angelenos...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Big Bear bald eagle Jackie, one-half of the beloved avian pair featured in a longtime nest livestream, was rescued over the weekend after going missing from the aerie for several days, according to the wildlife nonprofit behind the cam.

The injured eagle was seen on the ground near Dana Point Park in the nearby community of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Big Bear bald eagle Jackie, one-half of the beloved avian pair featured in a longtime nest livestream, was rescued over the weekend after going missing from the aerie for several days, according to the wildlife nonprofit behind the cam.

The injured eagle was seen on the ground near Dana Point Park in the nearby community of ...Read more

In a time of political polarization, it’s easy to forget that the vast majority of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs – 80% or more, depending on the poll – value environmental conservation. However, this support is not easily or often translated into successful, popular initiatives.

One success story is the Great Lakes ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

How hot does it get in the desert? – Henry, age 5, South Bend, Indiana

When you think of a desert, you probably imagine giant waves of sand dunes beneath a blazing Sun. You...Read more

Lake Jesup, one of Central Florida’s largest water bodies, is also one of its sickest.

Urban runoff filled with a noxious brew of fertilizers, stormwater and sewage has flowed into the Seminole County lake from as far as Orlando, Winter Park and Altamonte Springs for decades.

Even the state’s Department of Health regularly alerts the ...Read more

Casey Fiesler suspects she wound up in the federal government’s crosshairs for attempting to combat misinformation.

The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded the University of Colorado Boulder information science professor a $268,428 grant in the fall of 2024. The funds were slated for a project teaming up CU media and communication ...Read more

With two swoops of his pen, President Donald Trump again razed a decades-long push by tribes and conservationists to preserve two cherished national monuments, dramatically shrinking them in size by about 90%.

Trump, flanked by Utah Republicans on Monday, falsely claimed during the signing that national monument protections have hindered open ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida wildlife officials repeatedly searched personal driving records as they secretly investigated at least a dozen outspoken environmental activists who opposed the state’s efforts to revive bear hunting and enshrine hunting and fishing rights in the state constitution, records obtained by The Orlando Sentinel show.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A California airman died Thursday after the heavy machinery he was operating rolled down an embankment at a military base, officials said.

Airman 1st Class Cedric Eneluna was a member of the 30th Civil Engineer Squadron Pavements and Equipment Flight at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. He was part of the “...Read more

New findings about an alien asteroid are out, and it’s all thanks to a New Jersey couple after an uninvited hazard crashed into their home two years ago.

In July 2024, a meteorite shot through the sky. Observers across the Northeast said they witnessed a fireball at the time.

Before reaching Earth, the asteroid had a mass of 115 pounds, ...Read more