A new 50-meter-deep crater appears in northern Siberia, the result of an explosion of methane from the thawing permafrost.  

A new study finds that, based on current policies, the earth is on track for 2.7°C (nearly 5°F) of warming.  

China and the United States jointly present a surprise but largely aspirational climate deal to COP26. 

The CEO of Patagonia calls for higher corporate taxes to pay for combating climate change: “The price of climate change is only going to increase. It will cost less if we pay now.”

A Michigan judge okays a $626 million settlement with the victims of the Flint water crisis, wherein the state would compensate the largely Black city after contaminating its water supply with lead in the interest of saving money.  

The owner of a California solar company is sentenced to 30 years in prison for defrauding investors—including Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway—of $1 billion in a Ponzi scheme involving mobile solar generators.  

After the first day of its IPO, electric-truck maker Rivian is valued at $86 billion. 

In Glasgow, six major automakers and 30 countries vow to phase out gasoline- and diesel-powered cars in “leading markets” by 2040.  

A black-footed ferret—one of nine of the endangered creatures released on Walker Ranch in Colorado as part of a conservation effort—turns up in the garage of a homeowner in Pueblo West.

Astronauts on the International Space Station are growing Hatch green chiles. Cultivation of the famous chile in New Mexico has been disrupted by drought and labor shortages due to COVID-19. 

India suffers concurrent environmental disasters: Much of Chennai is underwater, New Delhi is beset in toxic smog, and the sacred Yamuna River is covered in thick white toxic foam from pollutants from nearby factories. 

Tangier Island, Virginia (population 436), is projected to become uninhabitable by mid-century due to rising waters.  

The California Coastal Commission warns beach towns to plan for as much as 10 feet of sea level rise.

Oklahoma Natural Gas, the state’s largest gas utility, wants to charge customers who switch to electricity an “exit fee” of almost $1,400. 

Reversing a Trump-era decision, the US Fish and Wildlife Service restores more than 3 million acres of protected critical habitat to the northern spotted owl.

West Virginia senator Joe Manchin (D) backs the building of advanced nuclear reactors at shuttered coal-fired power plants.  

A report by Stanford and MIT proposes keeping Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear plant, open past the expiration of its license in 2025 to help the state meet its climate goals. President Emmanuel Macron says that France will resume construction of nuclear reactors for the same reason.  

Engie North America abandons plans to build a 60-megawatt solar project and a 240-MW battery storage facility in Hawai'i due to supply-chain and interconnection problems. 

Southern Company, the nation’s third-largest utility, will close more than half of its remaining 18 coal-fired power plants in the next seven years, including Plant Scherer, the largest coal plant in the US.  

Up to 80 percent of Iowa deer are found to be infected with the coronavirus, making them a potential wild reservoir where the virus might continue to mutate in the future.