How Luma, an ancient cedar, has transfixed Seattle Seattle is a young racehorse of a city, a mere babe at 172 years old, who propelled herself through the jet age and now a tech boom, amassing wealth and dreamers and high rises and artisanal bakeries that sell $11 loaves and no one bats an eye. Isolde Raftery
El Niño will likely continue into early 2024, driving even more hot weather El Niño is warming up the water in the Pacific Ocean. That extra heat affects the whole planet, and has helped drive record-breaking hot weather. Rebecca Hersher
A blossoming success: federal protections removed for a once-threatened NW prairie flower A once-rare flowering prairie plant has recovered enough in Washington and Oregon to be removed from the federal Endangered Species List. Courtney Flatt
Washington state enacts new rules to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat A set of new and permanent rules aimed at protecting outdoor workers from the scorching heat took effect Monday. Natalie Akane Newcomb
Road trip! Kicking the tires on electric travel in the Northwest It's a long drive from Seattle, and I'm nervous about recharging once I've left the big city for mountains and sagebrush, but let’s go! John Ryan
Natural gas can rival coal's climate-warming potential when leaks are counted Climate-warming greenhouse gasses from natural gas could be as damaging as those from coal, according to a new analysis. Jeff Brady
Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on Earth June 2023 was the hottest June on record, going back to 1850. And forecasters expect more records to fall as El Niño exacerbates human-caused climate change. Rebecca Hersher
Heat waves in Europe killed more than 61,600 people last summer, a study estimates Researchers estimate that 61,672 Europeans died from heat-related illness between late May and early September 2022. They're urging countries to step up their heat prevention and adaptation efforts. Rachel Treisman
Scientists say a new epoch marked by human impact—the Anthropocene—began in 1950s The Anthropocene Working Group is proposing a small but deep lake outside of Toronto, Canada — Crawford Lake — to place a historic marker. The Associated Press
It's hot. For farmworkers without federal heat protections, it could be life or death Amid extreme heat, there are few federal protections for workers during hot temperatures. The Biden administration wants to change that but the rule making process is long and the heat won't wait. Ximena Bustillo
