As the Trump administration aggressively works to overhaul the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 300 career employees have already left, while those remaining face mounting pressure to quit or work under an administration determined to roll back environmental protections.
The Trump administration is driving a mass exodus from the EPA, pushing career scientists, toxicologists and regulators to leave through financial incentives and threats of termination.
Key environmental programs, including those focused on pollution in vulnerable communities, are being dismantled, with an executive order aiming to eliminate the agency’s environmental justice office.
Trump’s new EPA leadership indicates alignment with corporate polluters, with industry-backed officials taking key roles and pushing to strip federal employees of job protections.
Key quote:
“If he replaces EPA scientists and lawyers with people who just want to say yes to him, it will be the death knell for the EPA.”
— Kyla Bennett, director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Why this matters: The people who built the EPA are being forced out, and there are serious questions about whether those who replace them are there to regulate, or tear the agency down.
After nearly vanishing from the wild, the California condor is soaring over North America once more, thanks to a decades-long conservation effort spanning the U.S. and Mexico — but keeping the species alive remains an uphill battle.
Conservationists have worked for more than 20 years to reintroduce condors to the wild, with efforts centered in Baja California, Mexico and several U.S. states.
Despite laws banning lead bullets in California, many condors continue to suffer from lead exposure after feeding on contaminated carcasses.
Scientists are using cutting-edge genetic research to manage the population, track inbreeding risks and even uncover rare cases of condors reproducing asexually — an evolutionary surprise that could help the species persist.
Key quote:
“There is a perception that when you release a condor it is already a success, but for there to be real success, you have to monitor them constantly.”
— Juan Vargas Velasco, biologist and field manager for the California Condor Conservation Program
Why this matters:
The condor’s survival is crucial to ecosystems that depend on scavengers to prevent disease spread. Their return is proof of what science and persistence can accomplish, but it’s also a reminder that nature’s victories are rarely permanent with humans' constant enroachment.
The Biden administration tightened pollution rules and expanded air monitoring in toxic hotspots, but Trump’s return threatens to unravel those efforts, leaving vulnerable communities exposed to industrial pollution.
The Trump administration is halting pollution regulations, freezing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants and shifting enforcement to states, which have a track record of weak oversight.
Communities in pollution-heavy areas, like Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Laredo, Texas, face ongoing exposure to carcinogens, while state agencies often lack the resources or will to enforce federal air quality laws.
New EPA rules requiring industrial plants to monitor and reduce emissions by 2026 could be delayed or dismantled under Trump, putting thousands at continued risk of cancer and other health effects.
Key quote:
“People exposed to something so horrible and cancer-causing should have the same protection everywhere.”
— Tricia Cortez, Rio Grande International Study Center
Why this matters:
Trump’s rollback of pollution protections could leave many Americans — especially in low-income communities and communities of color — breathing toxic air. Without strong federal oversight, polluters may operate unchecked, worsening health disparities and increasing cancer risks nationwide.
A warming world isn’t just changing landscapes—it’s stripping away words. The Sámi people of northern Scandinavia, whose language holds an intricate vocabulary for snow and reindeer, are watching their words vanish alongside their environment.
As the Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet, reindeer herders struggle with shifting landscapes that make traditional Sámi terms obsolete. Words describing snow, grazing conditions and reindeer behaviors are disappearing as these conditions become rare.
Scientists see a global pattern: where biodiversity declines, so do languages. Many Indigenous languages hold ecological knowledge, and when communities are forced from their land, that knowledge fades.
UNESCO classifies all nine Sámi languages as endangered. Sweden and Finland have cut funding for language preservation, accelerating the loss.
Key quote:
“There are constructions in the Sámi languages that give a precise description of how to use the land, what to do in certain conditions, what reindeer need, and also what not to do, in order to maintain the ecosystems."
— Lars Miguel Utsi, former Sámi Parliament vice president
Why this matters:
Across the world, Indigenous languages are disappearing at an alarming rate, often in lockstep with the destruction of the ecosystems they describe.
Temperatures at the North Pole soared more than 20° Celsius above average, briefly nearing the melting point in the dead of winter and alarming climate scientists.
A deep low-pressure system over Iceland directed warm air toward the Arctic, pushing temperatures above -1°C (30.2° Fahrenheit) as far north as 87°N.
Arctic temperatures have risen nearly four times faster than the global average since 1979, making extreme heat events more frequent and severe.
Scientists predict the Arctic Ocean will lose its summer sea ice cover within the next two decades, even with drastic pollution cuts.
Key quote:
“There is no negotiating with this fact, and no negotiating with the fact that the ice will disappear more and more as long as temperatures keep rising.”
— Dirk Notz, climate scientist at the University of Hamburg
Why this matters:
The Arctic, often referred to as the planet’s natural air conditioner, plays a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate. However, it is warming at an alarming pace — about four times faster than the global average — triggering a cascade of consequences that extend far beyond the polar region. Melting sea ice, a visible indicator of this warming, reduces the Earth’s ability to reflect sunlight, leading to further heat absorption and amplifying global warming.
The Trump administration is swiftly shutting down environmental initiatives, placing dozens of employees on leave and dismantling key offices within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department.
The EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which addresses pollution in marginalized communities, is being closed, with 168 employees placed on leave.
The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division has eliminated its environmental justice office and frozen pending litigation, raising concerns about the politicization of environmental enforcement.
The administration’s moves align with broader efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion policies, with former officials warning the closures will lead to increased pollution in vulnerable communities.
Key quote:
“Shuttering the environmental justice office will mean more toxic contaminants, dangerous air and unsafe water in communities across the nation that have been most harmed by pollution in the past.”
— Matthew Tejada, former EPA environmental justice official
Why this matters:
Eliminating environmental justice programs could mean more exposure to toxic chemicals, worsening health disparities and loss of legal safeguards for communities already bearing the brunt of industrial pollution.
Pennsylvania saw a record number of billion-dollar weather disasters in 2024, prompting officials and experts to gather in Philadelphia to discuss emergency preparedness as the federal government threatens funding cuts.
Pennsylvania experienced 12 major weather disasters in 2024, equaling the total from the entire 1980s, as climate change drives more extreme storms, heat waves and flooding.
Experts at a Drexel University event emphasized the need for early warning systems, evacuation plans and improved public communication to protect vulnerable populations.
The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to Federal Emergency Management Agency funding could leave states struggling to prepare for and recover from future disasters.
Key quote:
“Climate impacts are worsening and our federal politicians are going the wrong direction.”
— Chitra Kumar, managing director of the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Why this matters:
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, straining public health, infrastructure and local economies. Without federal support, state and local governments will face mounting challenges in disaster response and recovery. Vulnerable communities, including low-income and undocumented populations, risk being left without aid.
Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.
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