David Sherfinski

President Donald Trump has gone beyond policy overhauls to fundamentally alter the way the government talks about climate change and the environment, limiting or outright deleting countervailing language and evidence during the first year of his second term in office.

The administration has methodically removed references to climate change and environmental justice from government resources and even blocked or deleted access to longstanding data and information that might contradict or undermine his agenda.

Nearly one year into President Donald Trump's second term, U.S. abortion laws are now a hodgepodge of duelling restrictions and protections, stemming largely from the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to end what had been a constitutional right.

As he begins Year Two of Term Two, President Donald Trump has already left a heavy mark on U.S. climate policy, pursuing an aggressive deregulatory and pro-fossil fuel agenda.

What comes next is the big question - especially now that the president has publicly dismissed climate change as "the greatest con job" the world has ever witnessed.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) swelled in the United States in the past year, from its rise in immigration enforcement to the growth of so-called grief tech that creates realistic facsimiles of deceased loved ones.

What were the major trends in 2025 and what's in store for 2026?

The demise of the coal industry left the U.S. Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless miles of abandoned underground mines.

Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centres that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence boom.

Floating piles of garbage. Chaos on the lake. And a beloved pet dog called Chicory, her chest ripped open in the devastating aftermath that followed Hurricane Helene. 

This was the scene that greeted Leslie Purser when she returned to her Dandridge, Tennessee home after the September 2024 hurricane that tore through eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. 

The United States will not send any high-level officials to Brazil for the UN's high-stakes COP30 climate talks that commence next week, the White House confirmed.

The announcement came amid speculation on whether Trump, who announced the U.S. would exit the Paris Agreement on climate change soon after entering office this year, would choose to participate in COP30 in Brazil's Amazonian city of Belém.

As the United States pursues its immigration crackdown, the administration of President Donald Trump is also seeking major overhauls to worker visas intended for specialty occupations like the technology industry.

The Trump administration in mid-September proposed a new $100,000 fee for visa applications and changes that would favour higher-paying jobs.

Vilas Dhar is the president of the U.S.-based Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, a global philanthropy that is working to expand the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at helping under-represented groups and promoting equity.

Dhar, through the foundation, has helped steer more than $500 million in commitments to groups advancing public health, education, climate action and democratic governance as it seeks to promote the responsible use of AI. 

Representatives of nearly every government in the world are expected at the global COP30 summit, scheduled next month in Brazil's Amazonian city of Belém, to discuss and share their efforts to curb climate change.

Many countries face major decisions on how to move towards keeping greenhouse gas emission levels in line with the Paris Agreement – an accord Trump has announced the U.S. is ditching.