“Atmospheric river” storms continue to lash California and the West Coast—12 since late December. More than 25 people have been killed. The latest was a hurricane-like storm that toppled trees and left tens of thousands without power. In the Central Valley, Tulare Lake—once the largest lake west of the Mississippi—is refilling after drying up 80 years ago. California’s Sierra Nevada have the second-highest snowpack in recorded history—and may well achieve a new record before the season’s done.

Two tornadoes hit Southern California (video). Cyclone Freddy kills more than 500 people in Malawi.

A dire new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that only a “quantum leap in climate action” can hold future warming to 1.5°C.

The surface temperature of Earth’s oceans hit a new record high—an average of 70°F.

Tokyo’s cherry blossom season starts 10 days earlier than usual, a tie with 2020 and 2021 for the earliest start date.

Millions of fish die in Australia’s Darling River due to low oxygen levels and extreme heat.

Utah names the brine shrimp—which lives in the disappearing Great Salt Lake—as state crustacean.

President Biden designates two new national monuments: Avi Kwa Ame (a.k.a. Spirit Mountain) in Nevada and Castner Range in Texas. 

The USGS, Fish and Wildlife Service, and University of Wisconsin-Madison are seeking to develop a vaccine against the fungal white-nose syndrome that is decimating US bats. The Bat Conservation Society proposes to protect the bats by fattening them up.

In London, cyclists now outnumber motorists.

Fifty-four metric tons of nickel—a metal used in electric car batteries—owned by JPMorgan Chase and stored in a Rotterdam warehouse turn out to be useless stones.

New research suggests that the mysterious space object dubbed ‘Oumuamua when it transited our solar system in 2017 was propelled by outgassing hydrogen—not alien technology.

A 90-year-old endangered radiated tortoise named Mr. Pickles fathers three offspring: Dill, Gherkin, and Jalapeño.