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After several days in the cities, it was the absence that began to strike me. Not the absence of people. There were people everywhere. Not the absence of noise. India hums continuously with movement and life. It was the absence of animals. On earlier visits to India, I had always been aware of animals as part of the everyday landscape. Street dogs slept in the shade of tea stalls. Cattle wandered slowly through traffic with the calm assurance of creatures that know they belon

I remember the moment the valley opened. We had been climbing through the Andes all morning, the road tracing ridges where clouds brushed the hillsides and the air smelled clean enough to drink. The land felt ancient and patient. Terraces, scattered farms, eucalyptus leaning into the wind. Then, as we descended, the color changed. At first it was only a glint. Pale rectangles catching the sun. I thought they were ponds, or frost. But around the next bend the truth came into f

There are moments in public policy when science quietly accumulates in the background for decades, until suddenly it must step forward and speak with a single voice. In the United States, the Endangerment Finding was one of those moments. Most people outside environmental law have never heard of it. Yet it sits at the foundation of modern U.S. climate policy, shaping regulations on cars, power plants, methane emissions, and industrial pollution. Without it, much of the feder

The 2025 State of the Climate Report published today (29 October 2025) in BioScience offers the clearest warning yet. The planet’s vital signs are in crisis. Of the 34 indicators that scientists track to measure Earth’s health, from atmospheric carbon and ocean heat to ice loss and biodiversity, 22 have reached record levels . “Earth’s systems are nearing tipping points that could plunge the planet into a ‘hothouse’ regime,” warns William Ripple, co-lead author and professo