The week in climate
Iran’s water crisis, a move to weaken limits on a cancer-causing gas and building a space mirror.
Climate Forward
March 15, 2026

Here is some of our best climate reporting from the week.

A large plume of grayish brown smoke is billowing into the sky over Tehran.

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

How War in Iran Could Remake the Global Energy Landscape →

Several reddish buildings on a hilltop.

Caine Delacy for The New York Times

Trump Administration Readies Plans to Dismantle Renowned Science Lab →

Rows of solar panels on a farm reflect the setting sun on the horizon.

Tim Gruber for The New York Times

A Big Night Light in the Sky? Start-Up Wants to Launch a Space Mirror. →

Scores and scores of vent stacks and smokestacks protrude from a series of low slung buildings, clusters of piping and circular tanks.

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

E.P.A. Moves to Weaken Limits on a Cancer-Causing Gas →

A dark cloud of smoke rises in an arid landscape by an isolated building.

Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

Tehran’s Smothering Smoke Has Roots in ‘Mazut,’ an Unusually Dirty Fuel →

Article Image

The New York Times

Iran Has Put Middle East Water Supplies at Risk →

A scene through a chain-link fence of an industrial area, with white tanks in the forefront and processing plants along the background. One plant tower is spewing smoke.

Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Eye Doctor Named to Air Pollution Advisory Board Draws Pushback →

A woman stands in front of a muddy puddle on a dirt-filled lot. Metal fencing is behind her.

Stephen Ross Goldstein for The New York Times

They Want to Rebuild. Can They Afford to Prevent the Next Fire, Too? →

Two people walk past an enormous sinkhole in the middle of dry, brown land. The sinkhole was caused by drought.

Solmaz Daryani for The New York Times

War Brings New Water Crises to an Already-Parched Iran →

CLIMATE FORWARD

This week’s newsletter editions featuring news and analysis for a warming world.

An oil tanker sits on the water with dark smoke coming out of one of its ends.

The Largest Oil Supply Disruption in History

A look at the war in Iran’s effects on global energy markets, two activists whose Sierra Club memberships were revoked, and more climate and environmental news.

By Claire Brown

Dark silhouettes, seen from the back, watch as smoke rises in the sky.

An Environmental Crisis in Iran

War is polluting the skies and waterways in Iran, and experts are warning that the conflict’s environmental effects could extend beyond the country.

By David Gelles

Thanks for reading.

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