Introduction The Mercury and Air Toxics Standard rollback marks a significant shift in US environmental policy. In February 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration announced plans to weaken federal limits on mercury and hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants. Mercury is a persistent, bioaccumulative neurotoxin. It impairs brain development in infants…
California atmospheric rivers now define the state’s water future. These intense moisture corridors can erase drought deficits in weeks, yet they also threaten dam safety, trigger floods, and destabilize wildfire-scarred slopes. In recent years, California has shifted from multi-year megadrought to record-breaking precipitation within a single winter. This volatility is not random. It reflects changing…
Indigenous climate knowledge is increasingly recognized as a critical component of effective climate adaptation and resilience strategies. For centuries, Indigenous Peoples have observed ecological shifts, managed landscapes, and adapted to climatic variability through place-based systems of knowledge. Today, integrating Indigenous climate knowledge into modern policy frameworks can strengthen biodiversity protection, disaster preparedness, and sustainable resource…
In 2023, COP28 climate change negotiations unfolded against a stark scientific backdrop. Earth is now experiencing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations not seen in at least 50,000 years. This is not a symbolic threshold. It reflects a measurable shift in planetary systems that underpin food production, water security, economic stability, and human health. COP28 represented more…
Introduction Has Earth crossed a homeostatic tipping point — a threshold beyond which planetary systems can no longer self-regulate effectively? The concept of a homeostatic tipping point refers to the limits of Earth’s natural ability to stabilize temperature, carbon cycles, biodiversity, and atmospheric composition. As climate change accelerates and ecosystems face mounting stress, scientists are…
Introduction The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is a groundbreaking climate policy designed to put a price on the greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imported products. Originating in the European Union (EU) as part of the EU’s Green Deal, CBAM aims to prevent carbon leakage — where production shifts to countries with looser climate policies…
