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"Roughly one in four U.S. households have soil exceeding the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lead screening levels of 200 parts per million (ppm), halved from the previous level of 400 ppm, a new study found. For households with exposure from multiple sources, the EPA lowered the guidance to 100 ppm; nearly 40% of households exceed that level, the study also found."

"The chemical plume from the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, spread air pollutants to at least 16 states, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters."

"Hundreds of people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones’ bodies."

"The Senate on Tuesday passed a package aimed at bolstering the nation’s nuclear power sector, sending it to President Biden’s desk."

"Growing fossil-fueled authoritarianism in Azerbaijan and other COP host nations undermines climate action and human rights, researchers and policy experts report."

"Environmental groups want to use engineered wetlands to help replenish the river of grass and address toxic algae. The state’s politically powerful sugar growers say those wetlands are for their own polluted water."

"Nearly 2,000 children die every day from health problems linked to air pollution, which is now the second biggest risk factor for early death worldwide, a report said Wednesday."

"A number of wildfires in New Mexico and California have spawned evacuations, with intense blazes developing quickly and making damage assessments difficult for local officials."

"A scorching heat wave roasting the country and leading up to the summer solstice was expected to intensify in the coming days, potentially breaking records and impacting more than 135 million people, meteorologists warned Wednesday."

"No one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the tourism boom."