Climate and Environment

Balloon launches from around the world are part of a new kind of global alarm system: One that can detect if another country tries to dim the sun.

By Christopher Flavelle

As international talks continue this week, a dozen U.N. officials reveal scientists tracked their exposure to many chemicals found in plastics.

By Hiroko Tabuchi

The heaviest November snowstorm on record in the South Korean capital was a nuisance to commuters, and a delight to tourists, children and dogs.

By John Yoon

Martha Schwartz Partners works around the globe to take on pollution and warming of the planet.

By Shivani Vora

For Claudia Adriazola-Steil, the issue of safety, and the goal of lowering emissions and improving access, is deeply personal.

By Tanya Mohn

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger works to empower Indigenous peoples to lead the way on climate justice and decolonize environmental policy.

By Keridwen Cornelius

Having grown up in Chad, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim has taken on the cause of negotiating for her community at the international level.

By Shivani Vora

Helena Norberg-Hodge founded Local Futures with a mission of strengthening local economies and ending the most wasteful aspects of the global trade system.

By Keridwen Cornelius

With “Doughnut Economics,” Kate Raworth looks instead at planetary well-being.

By Keridwen Cornelius

Through her restaurant in France and her academy, Nadia Sammut aims to teach people about how their food choices can harm — or help — the planet.

By Farah Nayeri

Sunaina Sinha Haldea heads the board of SFC Energy AG, whose fuel cells are helping to provide continuous and safer power to remote areas.

By Shivani Vora

Cows and pigs produce a large share of planet-warming methane. A new tax is part of a plan to clean that up.

By Somini Sengupta and Charlotte de la Fuente

Mette Lykke leads Too Good to Go, which operates in 19 countries to reduce waste and make surplus food accessible.

By Shivani Vora

We explore Donald Trump’s climate agenda.

By Lisa Friedman

Fewer people will be able to afford electric cars and trucks if President-elect Donald J. Trump and Republicans in Congress eliminate a $7,500 federal tax credit.

By Lawrence Ulrich

This Southeast Asian island, home to some of the world’s strangest and most iconic creatures, is a dream destination for a growing number of “mammal watchers.”

By Mihir Zaveri

Extreme turbulence, a blown-out door, an engine on fire: For passengers and crew members who have experienced in-air emergencies, the pain endures.

By Carly Lewis

Delegates from developing countries described the deal’s financial target, $300 billion per year by 2035, as lacking the ambition needed to help their governments combat climate change.

By Axel Boada

Many nations hope to reduce the half a billion tons of plastic made each year. But pushback from plastic and oil producers, and Donald Trump’s election, could scuttle an agreement.

By Hiroko Tabuchi

The financing plan, which calls for $300 billion per year in support for developing nations, was immediately assailed as inadequate by a string of delegates.

By Max Bearak

A president has little control over global oil markets, economists say.

By Lisa Friedman

Hundreds of brush fires and wildfires have sparked all over the New York City region. Hilary Howard, who covers climate change and the environment in the region, explains what’s happening.

By Hilary Howard, Farah Otero-Amad, Karen Hanley, David Jouppi and James Surdam

Nitrogen oxides, a group of gases from the burning of fossil fuels, is linked to a range of health effects.

By Austyn Gaffney

Every month so far has seen floods, fires, smashed heat records or some combination of extreme weather. Little time remains for leaders to agree on what to do about it.

By Somini Sengupta

Crowds in Anchorage have braved freezing temperatures and slippery ice to see the hulking carcass of a rare fin whale, which washed ashore a few miles from downtown.

By John Yoon

The hoppy pilsner from Singapore, where freshwater is scarce, is part of an effort to promote recycling solutions.

By Rebecca F. Elliott

Despite endorsing a transition away from fossil fuels last year, Saudi Arabia has since worked to undermine it, diplomats say. Lisa Friedman, a New York Times reporter covering climate policy and politics, describes how the opposition is unlike anything climate negotiators say they’ve seen before.

By Lisa Friedman, Claire Hogan, Laura Salaberry and Ray Whitehouse

Deadly landslides are becoming more common and large amounts of rain are a known trigger. An atmospheric river is dumping rain out West. What you should know about your risk.

By Austyn Gaffney

The company’s woes are symptomatic of a wider malaise among companies that make batteries for electric vehicles.

By Jack Ewing and Melissa Eddy

Donald J. Trump promised to erase Biden tailpipe rules that are designed to get carmakers to produce E.V.s. But Detroit wants to keep them.

By Coral Davenport and Jack Ewing

In Azerbaijan, site of the COP29 climate talks and a petrostate, people aren’t only proud of their oil. They swear by its health benefits and visit resorts to soak in it.

By Anton Troianovski

Western countries are confronting demands for trillions of dollars to fight climate change and to cope with its worsening effects.

By Max Bearak

About two inches were forecast to fall through Saturday. Officials say it won’t be enough to fully replenish the city’s reservoirs.

By Yan Zhuang

The creator of the popular guidebook series, who recently died, not only democratized travel, but supported sustainable travel, before it got that name.

By Elaine Glusac

A new proposal would restrict the import of hunting trophies, pelts, bone carvings and other items.

By Catrin Einhorn

Public health advocates worry that Donald Trump could unravel federal clean water efforts, including restrictions on lead pipes and chemicals known as PFAS.

By Hiroko Tabuchi

A second Trump administration could alter the lives of all sorts of animals, whether they live in laboratories, zoos, fields or forests.

By Emily Anthes and Catrin Einhorn

Now that New York City and surrounding counties are under a drought warning, officials are asking residents to save water and help prevent more wildfires.

By Alyce McFadden

The New York region is unlikely to ever have as many brush fires as out West. But residents need to be ready for more droughts.

By Hilary Howard

As he made his final appearance at global gatherings, including at the Group of 20 summit in Brazil, President Biden lobbied for his foreign policy goals even as leaders shifted attention away from him.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs

The U.N. climate conference, held in a petrostate, is a surreal moment. This darkly funny novel about Baku, oil companies and climate change in the first Trump term helps make sense of it all.

By Coral Davenport

The tourism industry will be officially recognized at COP29 on Wednesday. Industry leaders signed a climate accord in 2021 to make travel more sustainable, but the results so far are meager.

By Shannon Sims

China has now passed Europe in its historical contribution to global warming. Rich nations say the country should contribute more climate aid.

By Brad Plumer and Mira Rojanasakul

As the glaciers of South America retreat, the supply of freshwater is dwindling and its quality is getting worse.

By Mitra Taj and Marco Garro

Despite endorsing a transition away from fossil fuels last year, Saudi officials have since worked to undermine it in at least five U.N. forums, diplomats said.

By Lisa Friedman

Senior ministers are arriving in an effort to break a deadlock over the summit’s main goal: funding to help lower-income countries hit hard by global warming.

By David Gelles and Brad Plumer

It’s not that hard, and there’s a bonus: Portfolios without fossil fuels have generally performed just as well as the broader market.

By Tara Siegel Bernard

As leaders gather for a global climate summit, investors are rewarding oil giants like Exxon Mobil that did not embrace wind and solar.

By Rebecca F. Elliott

The authorities in New Delhi closed schools and urged residents to stay home. Similar measures have been implemented in Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province.

By Yan Zhuang

The president toured the rainforest and promised Brazil funds for environmental initiatives, even as the incoming Trump administration appears poised to roll them back.

By Ana Ionova and Michael D. Shear

The U.N. climate summit in Azerbaijan has cleared the way for aid to flow when lower-income countries are hit.

By David Gelles

Brad Plumer is reporting from Azerbaijan, where the annual U.N. climate summit got underway this week.

By John Otis

Chris Wright is a TV-ready evangelist for fossil fuels who lacks government experience.

By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman

American officials are seeking to assure the world that U.S. climate action won’t end with the return of Donald Trump as president.

By David Gelles

One climate activist was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the other to two years. They said that they had meant to draw attention to climate change.

By Jesus Jiménez

President-elect Donald J. Trump wants Congress to repeal a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit. Doing so would hurt American automakers.

By Lisa Friedman

The North Dakota governor, who helped strengthen ties between the oil industry and President-elect Donald J. Trump, will do double duty as Interior secretary.

By Coral Davenport

Growing worldwide energy demand and other factors have shifted the calculus, but hurdles still lie ahead.

By Brad Plumer

Behind the scenes at a Chicago zoo, chimpanzees who spent years entertaining humans are learning to befriend their own kind.

By Emily Anthes

The South American nation says it is considering withdrawing from the landmark agreement, which aims to limit carbon emissions and slow global warming.

By Daniel Politi and Ana Ionova

The North Dakota governor helped strengthen ties between the oil industry and President-elect Donald J. Trump.

By Lisa Friedman and Michael Gold

The city will be the first in the U.S. to adopt a fee on driving in certain areas, with the aim of reducing traffic and pollution. For some other cities, that has long been the norm.

By Somini Sengupta

They’re up in nearly every major U.S. metro area, but homeowners in the South have seen especially large increases.

By Matt Yan

A new report forecasts global temperature increases well above the level that world leaders have pledged to avoid.

By Brad Plumer and Mira Rojanasakul

Negotiators agree that trillions are needed to help lower-income countries adapt and cope, but not on who should pay.

By David Gelles and Brad Plumer

The U.N.’s annual climate conference has swelled over three decades, with governments, fossil fuel interests and others vying for influence.

By Mira Rojanasakul

Countries promised to move away from coal, oil and natural gas at last year’s climate summit. New research shows they’re burning more than ever before.

By Brad Plumer

The choice of Mr. Zeldin, a former Republican congressman of New York, to be the next E.P.A. administrator caught even some of his closest allies by surprise.

By Nicholas Fandos and Lisa Friedman

The new agreement, which builds on an earlier announcement, calls for the German automaker to invest $5.8 billion in Rivian, a maker of electric vehicles.

By Jack Ewing and Melissa Eddy

The prime minister announced more ambitious climate targets, charting a very different course from the United States, which is expected to roll back its energy transition plans.

By Somini Sengupta

The Biden administration is imposing a fee on large energy companies that spew excess methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Republicans may be able to repeal it.

By Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer

Faced with rising costs and thin margins, wind energy developers have lately been reducing their ambitions.

By Stanley Reed

No one saw a Mekong giant salmon carp for 15 years, but then the species was spotted in areas of Cambodia that suggest it may be found in more locations.

By Rachel Nuwer

Darren Woods was one of only a few Western oil executives attending a global climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.

By Rebecca F. Elliott

Negotiators at the summit in Azerbaijan fear that the return of Donald Trump will sap momentum for global climate action.

By Brad Plumer and David Gelles

A lower court had ordered the company to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030, but the oil giant argued that a single firm should not be hit with arbitrary pollution-reduction requirements.

By Stanley Reed

Low-income countries need at least $1 trillion a year to manage climate change. Donald Trump’s victory just made that more difficult, but options exist.

By Somini Sengupta and Lydia DePillis

The former congressman from New York is a strong supporter of Donald Trump and voted against certifying the 2020 election.

By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman

Plus, Saudi Arabia’s “sportswashing” controversy.

By Tracy Mumford, Lisa Friedman, Robert Jimison, Ian Stewart and Jessica Metzger

The economy of Azerbaijan, host of COP29, relies almost entirely on the fossil fuels that are the main driver of global warming.

By Max Bearak

The election of Donald J. Trump is sapping momentum from global climate talks as diplomats brace for his pro-fossil-fuel agenda.

By Lisa Friedman

John Podesta, President Biden’s clean energy adviser, said agencies were racing to deliver money from the 2022 climate law before Donald Trump arrives.

By Lisa Friedman

India promised to burn its trash mountains and safely turn them into electricity. But a New York Times investigation found hazardous levels of toxic substances around homes, playgrounds and schools.

By Maria Abi-Habib and Bryan Denton

The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on the responsibility one has to dispose of an outmoded appliance.

By Kwame Anthony Appiah

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition team for climate and the environment is considering relocating the E.P.A. out of Washington and other drastic changes.

By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman

Limits on building energy projects on at least 34.5 million acres could strongly protect the iconic Western bird. But the incoming Trump administration may reverse the rule.

By Austyn Gaffney

The retired research chimpanzees, which had previously been deemed too frail to move, will be relocated to a Louisiana sanctuary.

By Emily Anthes

The Tesla billionaire is a key figure in the president-elect’s orbit. One question is whether his views on climate and clean energy will have any sway.

By Brad Plumer

As the world gathers for U.N. climate negotiations in Azerbaijan next week, here’s what we will be watching.

By David Gelles

The president-elect has promised to make it easier to build energy infrastructure and secure drilling leases. But higher production could hurt prices and profits.

By Rebecca F. Elliott