PETER PRENGAMAN

The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
The eye behind the lens: AP photographers on pictures capturing horror and emotions of LA fires
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As uncontrolled blazes have turned large swaths of Los Angeles into hellscapes the last week, Associated Press photographers have been on the frontlines.
 
The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Landscapes turned into hellscapes, shock and the ongoing fight against wildfires in Los Angeles
While firefighters made gains on the fires, the battle was far from over. From both the air and the ground, firefighters attacked the flames. Hazardous smoke, from both active burning and smoldering homes, filled the skies.
 
A worker inspects the permanent foundations being constructed on the coral reef for a judging tower to be used during the Olympic Games surf competition in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Jan. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
From destruction to deadly heat, Associated Press photographers capture climate change in 2024
As seas rise, salty ocean water of the Pacific encroaches on Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, hurting agriculture and the farmers and sellers who rely on it. Life for those on the Mekong now – paddling across markets and working and sleeping from houseboats – is quickly being altered. In Tahiti, the arrival
 
Nick Chow, part of the COP29 Singapore Pavilion team, poses for a photo with NEWBrew, beer made with treated wastewater, during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
At UN climate talks, “sewage” beer from Singapore highlights water scarcity and innovations
The Singapore pavilion at the United Nations climate talks offers attendees free beer with an ingredient that’s surprising to many — treated wastewater.
 
FILE - Solar panels sit in the yard of an apartment building in Lyman, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Nov. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko, File)
Ukraine has seen success in building clean energy, which is harder for Russia to destroy
This year, Russian missile attacks have knocked out about 50% of Ukraine’s power generation, a major threat as winter looms.
 
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks to the media at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Head of UN nuclear watchdog: ‘Dire straits dynamic’ with Iran’s nuclear program amid Mideast wars
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog will travel to Iran this week to meet with officials including its new president.
 
FILE - A cargo ship sails toward the Pacific Ocean waiting to transit the Panama Canal in Panama City, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Head of international shipping regulator says industry must do more to cut carbon pollution
Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, says international shipping companies need to do more to decarbonize their fleets right now.
 
Pattie Gonia performs at the "Save Her! Environmental Drag Show" during Climate Week, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)
Drag queen Pattie Gonia aims to give the climate movement a makeover with joy and laughter
“Save Her! Environmental Drag Show” has become a popular attraction during New York’s Climate Week, which brings scientists, activists, executives from green energy companies, politicians and many others to the city for hundreds of climate-related events.
 
FILE - Margarita Salazar wipes sweat off her brow inside her home amid high heat in Veracruz, Mexico, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
A 13-month streak of global temperature records just ended. Here are five takeaways
After 13 months of what felt like an endless breaking of heat records, the streak came to an end last month. The European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday that July 2024’s average heat just missed surpassing the July of a year ago.
 
FILE - Workers build the stands for the upcoming Olympic Games on the Champ-de-Mars just beside the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, April 1, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
Paris is aiming for the most sustainable Olympics yet. Organizers acknowledge the plan isn’t perfect
Organizers of the Paris Olympics have set ambitious goals for environmental sustainability. They aim to reduce the Olympics’ overall carbon footprint by half compared with the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games.
 
Local residents watch a wildfire in Avantas village, near Alexandroupolis, Greece, Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Achilleas Chiras)
AP photos reveal intensity, insecurity and inequality in 2023 as world altered by climate change
Punishing heat that hovered and hung on much longer than usual. Flash floods that washed away large swaths of land and life.
 
Britain's Minister for Climate Graham Stuart speaks during a plenary session at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Heard at UN climate talks: Quotes that tell the story
Over 14 days of U.N. climate talks, delegates from nearly 200 countries debated, made proposals, lobbed criticisms and did their best to convince each other how best to stop the planet from warming at a dangerous pace.
 
FILE - Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a group photo at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Brazil’s Lula takes heat on oil plans at UN climate talks, a turnaround after hero status last year
At last year’s climate talks, then Brazilian President-elect Inacio Lula da Silva was received as a hero with chants of “Lula! Lula! Lula!”
 
FILE - Capuava oil refinery owned by Petrobras sits in Maui, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
At COP28 meeting, oil companies pledge to combat methane. Environmentalists call it a “smokescreen”
Fifty oil companies representing nearly half of global production are pledging to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring in their operations by 2030.
 
FILE - People walk through the venue at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit near the Al Wasl Dome at Expo City, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)
5 reasons why COP 28, the UN climate talks, are worth your attention
The annual U.N. climate talks are nearly two weeks of delegates meeting. They use wonky terms like “NDCs,” “1.5 degrees” and “loss and damage.”
 
Capuava oil refinery owned by Petrobras sits in Maui, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Petrobras specializes in deep water exploration, drilling and extraction. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Oil companies attending climate talks have minimal green energy transition plans, AP analysis finds
Oil and gas companies have a large presence at international climate talks aimed at getting the world to sharply reduce emissions, which lead to climate change.
 
A single-use cup undergoes a rigidity test at the Tryer Center at Starbucks headquarters, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Seattle. Paper pulp from recycled cups has shorter fibers than virgin pulp, which means less rigidity, important particularly with hot coffee. Part of the company's goal is to cut waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Citing sustainability, Starbucks wants to overhaul its iconic cup. Will customers go along?
For a generation and more, Starbucks’ throwaway cup has been a cornerstone of consumer society, first in the United States and then globally. It has also carried a message: I am drinking recognizable coffee.
 
FILE - People watch the sunset from a peak at Papago Park, Feb. 19, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
As he leaves Phoenix’s blistering sun, AP’s climate news director reflects on desert life
For four years, The Associated Press’ global climate and environment news director, Peter Prengaman, has lived in Phoenix. The city is currently experiencing an extreme heat wave even by the extreme standards of America’s hottest big city.
 
The other issues: Pandemic focus at UN pushes out key topics
Just as the coronavirus has taken center stage in daily life worldwide, it is hogging the conversation at the United Nations General Assembly, the biggest annual meeting of international leaders.
 
‘I’ve got one!’ Hunting neon scorpions in the Arizona desert
Feared, admired and loathed, scorpions have roamed the earth for millions of years. An interesting way to learn about the critters, which glow under black lights, is to go on scorpion hunts in Southwest states like Arizona and New Mexico.
 
Brazil’s anti-graft crusader struggles in Bolsonaro gov’t
Brazilian Justice Minister Sergio Moro was once a federal judge dreaded by politicians, but now he is suffering at the hands of some of the people he used to investigate.
 
Red-stained Brazil flags at burial of man shot by military
Angry friends and relatives of a man shot to death by Brazilian soldiers wailed and waved national flags spattered with red paint during his funeral.
 
2 ex-cops arrested in killing of black Brazilian politician
Brazilian authorities have arrested two former police officers in the killing of a Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman, a brazen assassination that shocked the many Brazilians and sparked protests in several countries.
 
Flamengo soccer club fire in Brazil: bad luck or negligence?
Was the fire at the training facility of soccer club Flamengo just a question of bad luck, or did negligence play a role?
 
Openly gay Brazil congressman leaves job amid death threats
An openly gay congressman who frequently clashed with President Jair Bolsonaro says he is leaving his job and the country because of death threats. Daily Folha de S.
 
Bolsonaro loosens gun laws in Brazil, world murder capital
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed a decree making it easier for many Brazilians to own a gun _ a measure he says will help people defend themselves. The decree establishes wide categories of people who qualify for gun ownership.
 
Brazil’s Bolsonaro sees threat in Russia, considers US base
Brazil’s new president would consider putting U.S. military base in the country. Far-right former Brazilian army captain Jair Bolsonaro made the suggestion in a TV interview Thursday night.
 
Arrest of Rio governor adds to state’s fame for corruption
Rio de Janeiro Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao has been arrested for corruption, the latest national figure ensnared in a sprawling probe of bribes and kickbacks. Pezao allegedly received about $10 million in bribes since 2007.
 
Big risks in Judge Moro becoming Brazil justice minister
Judge Sergio Moro, at the center of one of the biggest corruption investigations in history, will become justice minister in the administration of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro.
 
Amid violence, Brazil presidential candidates call for calm
The two presidential candidates who will square off in Brazil’s runoff later this month are calling for an end to politically motivated violence_ an issue emerging as a central theme of the elections.
 
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