THIS WEEK ON EARTH

This week on Earth, all environmental justice employees at Chicago’s EPA office received layoff notices, Trump’s EPA rolled back the Energy Star program and the UK increased funding for offshore wind development.

This week on Earth… Trump wreaks environmental havoc during the first 100 days of his second term, Mexico agrees to make an emergency water delivery amid a drought and scientists discover that South Africa is rising out of the ocean.

This week on Earth… controversy around plans to replace a park with an urban farm in Evanston, the EPA faces another wave of mass layoffs and Istanbul is rocked by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake.

This week on Earth... Evanston hosts an annual environmental celebration for Earth Day, Trump’s tariffs on China threaten the solar industry and new research shows that sea turtle populations are experiencing shifts due to climate change.

This week on Earth… the Trump administration cuts funding to Princeton University climate research programs, citing their contribution to “climate anxiety;” the dire wolf has been resurrected…maybe ; and a new report found that tech giants are operating water intensive data centers in arid areas across the world.

This week on Earth, the EPA puts dozens of environmental regulations on the chopping block, the global sea ice reaches a record low and the Amazon is razed in preparation for the COP30 in Brazil.

This week on Earth, Evanston adopted Illinois Stretch Energy Codes, the world’s biggest iceberg has halted its journey across the Southern Ocean and the UK government funds research on tipping points in its fishing industry.

This week… Chicago sues Big Oil, the Trump administration lays off 1,000 National Park Service workers and global biodiversity loss feeds Western consumers.

This week… mudslides in California after the wildfires, the dismantling of USAID leaves developing countries uncertain about their environmental futures and chocolate prices spike as cacao production suffers.

This week… Northwestern’s Block Museum introduces an exhibit of local Indigenous art, Chile’s uniquely dark skies are in trouble and a new AI chatbot claims to be more environmentally friendly.

This week… Lee Zeldin confirmed as EPA administrator amidst funding chaos, Florida slammed with a surprise snowstorm and urban rats benefiting from climate change.

This week… egg prices soar in the U.S., icebergs are on the move and Trump pulls the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement.

This week… wildfires rage across Los Angeles, oil and gas corporations continue to amass wealth and native residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation protest against land theft.

This week… 31,000 acres of public land returned to the Penobscot Nation in Maine, an inadequate climate financing deal at COP29, and protests across Aotearoa (New Zealand) to protect Indigenous land rights.

This week… the COP29 climate summit kicks off in Azerbaijan, wildfires ravage New York and New Jersey and rising sea temperatures devastate the mussel industry in Greece.

This week… the COP29 climate summit kicks off in Azerbaijan, wildfires ravage New York and New Jersey and rising sea temperatures devastate the mussel industry in Greece.

This week… unusually warm weather in the Chicago area, the carbon footprint of Taylor Swift’s two-year Eras Tour and deadly flooding in Valencia, Spain.

This week… the UN publishes its annual Emissions Gap Report, Pacific Island nations at risk of sinking under the waves and a controversial mega-development on a historic floodplain in South Carolina.

This week… the UN talks biodiversity in Colombia, a Spanish team develops better solar cells and Australian beaches covered in mysterious tar blobs.

This week… Hurricane Milton batters Florida, fossil fuel advertising in sports and heat waves caused by… corn?

Welcome back to This Week On Earth for the 2024-2025 academic year! This week... devastating floods in Nepal caused by global warming, deforestation law delayed in the Europe and nuclear waste piling up in the U.S.