"NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research, Medicare and Medicaid.
"Even as Earth sets new heat records, humanity this year is pumping 330 million tons (300 million metric tons) more carbon dioxide into the air by burning fossil fuels than it did last year."
The United Nation’s annual climate change meeting is underway this week and if you’re seeking databases on greenhouse gas emissions, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox suggests they might not be from the U.N. Instead, look for the best data from the European Commission’s EDGAR project. What makes EDGAR’s data particularly strong and how to make the best use of it in your reporting.
"For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest it’s ever been. And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday."
Getting people excited about large, charismatic wildlife is easy, but tiny, little-known or less-than-lovable species can be a tough sell. Journalists Bethany Brookshire and Douglas Main on why it’s important to include oddball organisms in your reporting and how to get audiences engaged. Pro tip: Building curiosity and caring for minor-league creatures often means being a bit self-centered.
When Illinois downplayed the results of long-delayed PFAS testing in the state’s public water supply, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Hawthorne revisited a story he had first covered two decades before. His investigation uncovered dangerous practices threatening public health, won him accolades and moved the needle on state policy. How he went about it, in the new Inside Story Q&A.
"State and local health departments would no longer be able to track opioid overdoses, provide cancer screenings and help people quit smoking, according to health officials, if Republicans carry out their plans to dramatically shrink the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under a second Donald Trump presidency."
"In September 2018, I was in North Carolina riding out Hurricane Florence and reporting on its impacts. For a few days, I embedded with a FEMA rescue team stationed at Hope Mills Recreation Center near Fayetteville, accompanying emergency responders as they evacuated a senior center in the middle of the night and touring flooded neighborhoods by day."
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told supporters on an online organizing call this week that former President Donald J. Trump had “promised” him “control” of the nation’s public health agencies, should Mr. Trump win the election next week. The Trump campaign, however, would confirm no such commitments."
Advertisement 
