A quarter inch of rain in fifteen minutes can turn a freshly burned slope into a river of mud and boulders. The warning system has long leaned on a model built from Southern California canyons, then applied to the entire West. A new USGS update refits it for three regions and beats the old version by roughly 15 to 60 percent, with fewer false alarms. A strong El Niño is on the way, so read this before the next storm.
This Fall’s What’s Hot in Climate Change roundup highlights five notable climate-related stories, ranging from the brewing “Godzilla” El Niño, mountains storing water, bad climate tipping points, good climate tipping points, and the importance of dialogue and community action.
You don’t need a grad program, a six‑figure loan, or a secret handshake to get serious about climate education anymore. Thanks to AI, you can design your own climate curriculum that actually fits your life: your schedule, your starting knowledge, and the problems you want to help solve. In this guide, we walk through how to turn AI into a research assistant, tutor, and course designer so you can build a practical, personalized path to climate literacy—without paying a cent in tuition.
Online climate change courses can do more than teach abstract science—they can help you understand your local risks, plan smarter, and make better decisions at home and at work. This guide walks through some of the best options available now, from big-name university programs to flexible, self-paced classes you can fit around a busy life.
Wildfire season is accelerating in 2026, with activity already running well above the 10-year average and millions of acres burned. At the same time, states are facing hundreds of millions in unexpected firefighting costs, while new research links wildfire smoke to roughly 17,000 strokes annually in the U.S. Together, these signals point to a clear shift: longer fire seasons, broader economic strain, and health risks that extend far beyond the fire line.