Justine Calma

The deep sea is an untapped source of battery materials. But world leaders missed a July deadline to craft regulations on deep sea mining. Since so little is known about marine life at those depths, Scientists warn that exploiting those resources would be disastrous — especially without international regulations in place. The International Seabed Authority was scheduled to discuss a potential moratorium on deep-sea mining during a meeting last week, but ultimately pushed talks to 2024.

After kicking off the with the hottest week ever recorded, July is on track to be the hottest month on the books, according to the World Meteorological Organization. It’s probably the hottest month in about 120,000 years, Associated Press reports. Heatwaves affecting North America and Europe this July would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, a recent study found. Climate change also made a severe heatwave in China this month 50 times more likely.

Joe Biden asked the Department of Labor today to issue a first-ever ‘Hazard Alert’ for heat. The move comes after UPS and Amazon employees demanded protections from sweltering work conditions. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) started the rulemaking process for a federal heat standard to protect workers back in 2021. This week, farm workers and Congress members urged OSHA to finalize and implement the rule.