Why America's Schools Have a Money Problem
NPR | READ STORY

Across the U.S. there is a tale of two types of education, with kids the same age, in the same grade attending schools that try to educate them with wildly different resources. On average, New York, Alaska, and Wyoming each spent more than $17,000 per student in 2013, while California, Oklahoma and Nevada spent roughly half that. Below, you can see that remarkable variation for yourself — and find out what schools are spending where you live.

The Global Impact of Air Conditioning: Big and Getting Bigger
AlterNet | READ STORY

A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science examines the enormous global potential for air conditioning. As incomes rise around the world and global temperatures go up, people are buying air conditioners at alarming rates.

Britain's Big-Sort Moment
Daily Yonder | READ STORY

The Brexit vote in Britain looks familiar to folks who are watching the political divide in the United States. A map of the Brexit vote in Great Britain (on whether the country should leave the European Union) shows a pattern familiar to U.S. citizens. The cities voted one way (to stay) and the countryside voted the opposite (to Brexit). Like the United States, Great Britain is a country that is divided politically — and geographically.

Fewer Americans Believe Churches Key to Solving Social Problems
Pew Research Center | READ STORY

Americans appear to be growing more skeptical of how much of a difference churches and other houses of worship make in tackling social concerns. About four-in-ten Americans (39%) now say religious institutions make little to no contribution in this area.

As Clouds Head for the Poles, Time to Prepare for Food and Water Shocks
WRI | READ STORY

A changing climate means less rain and lower water supplies in regions where many people live and much of the planet’s food is produced: the mid-latitudes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, including the U.S. Southwest, southern Europe and parts of the Middle East, southern Africa, Australia and Chile.

Paris Agreement: Getting Closer to "Entering into Force" this Year
WRI | READ STORY

If an additional 23 other nations follow through on their promises to join this year, countries representing about 54 percent of global emissions will have joined the Agreement, putting "entry into force" well within reach.