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Climate

Congratulations! You Just Lived Through the Hottest Month Ever Recorded
Can’t Beat the Heat

Congratulations! You Just Lived Through the Hottest Month Ever Recorded

While the strengthening El Niño helped boost temperatures, climate change is the main culprit for making August so hot.
Molly Taft
The Super El Niño Won’t Fix the West’s Water Crisis
Dry Times

The Super El Niño Won’t Fix the West’s Water Crisis

Molly Taft
Spokane Shows What the New Era of Wildfires Looks Like
Harder, Faster, Stronger

Spokane Shows What the New Era of Wildfires Looks Like

Sachi Kitajima Mulkey

Regulations and Solutions

AI Agents Are Thirsty for Power

AI Agents Are Thirsty for Power

Silicon Valley is shifting away from chatbot queries toward a future filled with resource-intensive agentic AI—and it's driving the data center buildout.
Molly Taft
The Best Air Quality Monitors We’ve Tested Around Our Homes

The Best Air Quality Monitors We’ve Tested Around Our Homes

These WIRED-tested indoor and outdoor air quality monitors give you insights into your home’s air quality, warn of potentially harmful pollutant levels, and help keep tabs on your environment.
Molly Higgins
Livestream Replay: The Great Data Center Backlash

Livestream Replay: The Great Data Center Backlash

You have questions about data centers, and WIRED has answers. Watch our livestream where a panel of experts tell you everything you need to know.
Tim Marchman, Maxwell Zeff, Molly Taft, and Hugo Lowell
The Best USB Car Chargers, Road-Tested and Load-Tested

The Best USB Car Chargers, Road-Tested and Load-Tested

I put top-rated USB car chargers to the test for fast charging, value, heat, and safety. These are the best I found.
Matthew Korfhage

Oceans and Waterways

You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, Trump-Appointed Judge Rules

You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, Trump-Appointed Judge Rules

And if your tap water is undrinkable, you have no “constitutional right to truthful information” about it.
Sophie Hurwitz
The Best Water Leak Detectors I Trust in My Home

The Best Water Leak Detectors I Trust in My Home

Don’t let busted pipes or an overflowing washing machine dampen your day. These smart water sensors can help you catch problems quicker.
Simon Hill
How Rising Temperatures Likely Contributed to Nepal’s Deadly Flood

How Rising Temperatures Likely Contributed to Nepal’s Deadly Flood

Climate change is causing glaciers to retreat and become less stable, upping the odds of catastrophic collapses.
Molly Taft
Is Expensive Bottled Water Actually Better for You?

Is Expensive Bottled Water Actually Better for You?

Luxury water can contain different minerals and taste noticeably different. But a remote source, alkaline pH, and high price do not necessarily mean better hydration.
Megan Tomos

Extreme Heat

Puerto Rico Is Rationing Water. It Could’ve Avoided It by Harvesting Rainwater

Puerto Rico Is Rationing Water. It Could’ve Avoided It by Harvesting Rainwater

The island could capture billions of gallons of water a year if it implemented systems to catch it as it falls from the sky.
Yessenia Funes
France Had Never Seen a ‘Fire Cloud’ Until This Month’s Record-Smashing Blazes

France Had Never Seen a ‘Fire Cloud’ Until This Month’s Record-Smashing Blazes

Extreme fire conditions on the ground have created unprecedented conditions in the atmosphere.
Brian Kahn
New Firefighting Technologies Could Help Battle Blazes Like Those in France and Spain

New Firefighting Technologies Could Help Battle Blazes Like Those in France and Spain

Climate change is upping the odds of major wildfires, creating a need for new tools to combat them.
Fernanda González
One of NASA’s Most Important Deep Space Observatories Hit by Spanish Wildfires

One of NASA’s Most Important Deep Space Observatories Hit by Spanish Wildfires

Flames burned through the Deep Space Communications Complex near Madrid, but NASA has been unable to assess the damage as a wildfire emergency grips the region.
Brian Kahn