When the Israeli lunar lander Beresheet crashed on April 11, 2019, it carried a box containing thousands of tardigrades—microscopic but incredibly tough creatures that may now be alive on the moon. 

July 2019 is the hottest month ever recorded.

The average temperature in Alaska in July 2019 is 5.4ºF above average and 0.8º warmer than the previous record high from 2004.

One-quarter of the world’s population lives in regions facing high water stress. 

The United Nations says that climate change threatens the world’s food supply. 

A top US Department of Agriculture climate scientist quits after agency officials try to suppress media coverage of his research showing that increasing carbon dioxide levels reduce nutrients in rice.

The Trump administration reauthorizes the use of M-44s, a.k.a. “cyanide bombs,” by the USDA’s Wildlife Services department to kill coyotes and foxes (although the devices kill many “non-target” animals as well, including pets and endangered species).

Smokey Bear turns 75.

The US Navy has shut down its climate change task force. The task force still has a website, but its link to “climate change fact sheets” leads to an empty page.

Three more southern resident orcas from Puget Sound are missing and presumed dead, bringing the endangered pod’s population to 73. One of those missing is the mother who carried her dead calf with her for weeks last year. 

No boys have been born in the Polish village of Miejsce Odrzanskie in nearly a decade. 

Between 2001 and 2017, the United States lost 24 million acres of natural land to development.

Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid says that, if necessary, the Senate should eliminate the filibuster to pass strong legislation to combat climate change.

Pennsylvania is using a large share of its $8.5 million settlement in Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal to buy more diesel vehicles.

An error by a Calpine Corp. technician causes the price of electricity in Texas to surge 24,000 percent. Since retail energy costs in Texas are not regulated, consumers will pay for the error. 

Coal mines in drought-stricken New South Wales, Australia, can stay open only because trains deliver water to them daily. 

A coal industry organization is spending up to $5 million on advertising to make Australians feel proud about coal.

In the United Kingdom, automobile drivers who kill someone while distracted by their cellphones face life imprisonment. 

Violent storms in Southeast Asia threaten the coconuts on which vegan ice cream depends.