Science

Holiday gatherings and a new variant have driven up COVID cases globally, WHO says

By Associated Press

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42 percent in nearly 50 countries — mostly in Europe and the Americas — that shared such trend information.

Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters broke U.S. record in 2023, NOAA says

By Shuang-Ye Wu, The Conversation

While 2023 wasn’t the most expensive year overall, it had the highest number of billion-dollar storms, floods, droughts and fires of any year since counting began in 1980.

Carbon pollution is down in the U.S., but not fast enough to meet Biden’s 2030 goal, new report says

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

The report from the Rhodium Group said the decline is a step in the right direction but far below the rate needed to meet President Joe Biden's pledge to cut U.S. emissions in half by 2030.

First human moon landing in over 50 years delayed to 2026

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

The news came barely an hour after a U.S. company abandoned its own attempt to land on the moon because of a fuel leak.

Earth was hotter than ever in 2023, approaching 1.5-degree warming limit

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

There are several factors that made 2023 the warmest year on record, but by far the biggest factor was the ever-increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that trap heat.

A strong winter storm expected to bear down on a large swath of the U.S. midsection

By Associated Press

The National Weather Service says the storm has the potential to bring 8 to 12 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday to a broad area.

Scientists find about a quarter million invisible microplastic particles in a liter of bottled water

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

Scientists long figured there were lots of these microscopic plastic pieces, but until researchers at Columbia and Rutgers universities did their calculations they never knew how many or what kind.

Moon landing attempt by private company abandoned after ‘critical’ fuel leak

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

A crippling fuel leak forced a U.S. company on Tuesday to give up on the first U.S. moon landing attempt in more than 50 years.

News Wrap: Blinken visits Qatar in diplomatic effort to contain Israel-Hamas war

In our news wrap Sunday, Secretary of State Blinken continued his urgent mission to the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas war enters its fourth month, Defense Secretary Austin took responsibility for delays in disclosing his hospitalization, major winter storms dropped…

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