Haze obscures the Dubai skyline including Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. The United Arab Emirates is choking under "alarmingly high" air pollution levels fed by its fossil fuel industry, Human Rights Watch warned on December 4. The oil-rich country hosts the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai. Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
More than 2,400 fossil fuel representatives and lobbyists have been accredited for the U.N. climate talks in Dubai — a record. Meanwhile, negotiators are wrestling with calls to end all new oil, gas and coal projects to curb climate change. Giuseppe Cacace /AFP via Getty Images hide caption
ExxonMobil CEO, Darren Woods, speaks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week in San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2023. Oil companies have a big platform at the ongoing COP28 climate conference in Dubai, and experts say their language is important because it can make it into policy. Woods, for example, attended COP28, the first time an ExxonMobil CEO has gone to the gathering. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A section of aluminium coils from one of Helion's fusion machines. The company hopes its next-generation Polaris system will produce more electricity than it consumes. Geoff Brumfiel/NPR hide caption
Major flooding has hit Kenya in November. The disasters are likely intensified by climate change, and are causing ongoing health issues across the region. World leaders are discussing the health impacts of climate change at the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai this month. AFP via Getty Images/LUIS TATO hide caption
Achuar people ply the Rio Wichimi in a solar canoe. The nonprofit Kara Solar has helped fund a fleet of six sun-powered craft in hopes of benefitting the Indigenous Achuar while reducing pressure to build roads in the rainforest. Peter Yeung for NPR hide caption
A flare burns off methane and other hydrocarbons as oil pumpjacks operate in the Permian Basin in Midland, Texas, Oct. 12, 2021. David Goldman/AP hide caption
COP28 President Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber attends the opening session of the climate conference. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption
Climate envoys John Kerry of the U.S. and Xie Zhenhua of China met in California in November. As the world's two-largest greenhouse gas emitters, agreement between the two countries is considered key for significant developments at the UN climate summit. William Vasta/The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands hide caption
Tesla's Cybertruck, pictured here during its design reveal in Hawthorne, Calif., in 2019, is finally rolling out of factories a full two years after the initial delivery target. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A work brigade sponsored by Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA, which critics blame for the oil spills, use shovels and rakes to remove congealed petroleum from a Lake Maracaibo beach. John Otis for NPR hide caption
A woman breastfeeds her child at a camp for displaced people in Somalia, where climate change is fueling severe drought. Jerome Delay/AP hide caption
A man picks through plastic waste at a garbage dump in Kenya. TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The USFS is proposing changing a rule that would allow the storage of carbon dioxide pollution under national forests and grasslands. It's controversial. Julia Simon/NPR hide caption
The sun sets behind pumpjacks on Sept. 15, 2021, in the oilfields of Penwell, Texas. Eli Hartman/AP hide caption
Climate-influenced disasters are making people sick. When wildfire smoke from massive fires in Canada blanketed the U.S. in the summer of 2023, emergency rooms saw a spike in admissions for lung problems but also heart attacks and other health issues. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption
People work at a landfill in India that's full of plastic bags. Members of the United Nations are negotiating a treaty that's aimed at cutting plastic pollution globally. Shammi Mehra/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Wind turbines turn behind a solar farm in Rapshagen, Germany in 2021. The International Energy Agency projects demand for fossil fuels will peak before 2030 as renewable energy continues to grow. Michael Sohn/AP hide caption
Hundreds of active oil wells sit in densely populated and mostly low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles. A new report details why equity should be central to climate and energy policy in the U.S. to address historical practices. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A 1992 analysis by Duke University and EPA researchers found that children in a home with a gas stove have about a 20% increased risk of developing respiratory illness. A 2022 analysis showed 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the U.S. can be attributed to gas stove use in homes. Getty Images hide caption
President Joe Biden speaks about his Bidenomics agenda at Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 13, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Farmer Rob Stone (R) and Gregory Gingera, a canola breeder at Corteva Agriscience, walk through Stone's field in Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada in May. Canadian farmers are looking for ways to deal with recurrent drought, including planting earlier and using seeds that are more resistant to heat. GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Ramón Méndez Galain was Uruguay's National Director of Energy from 2008 to 2015. His plan for the energy sector led to 98% of Uruguay's grid being powered by green energy. And a good deal of that comes from wind energy — from turbines like those behind him. Amanda Aronczyk/NPR hide caption