Sweltering heat more commonly seen in the throes of summer than in the spring was making an unwelcome visit this week to a large portion of the U.S. – from the Dakotas to Texas and other parts of the South – and putting millions of Americans on alert for potentially dangerous temperatures.

In Austin, forecasters warned that the early heat wave could break a century-old record for May of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Europe's largest "green" methanol plant opened in Denmark on Tuesday, boosting the continent's emissions reduction efforts -- with customers ranging from shipping giant Maersk to toymaker Lego and pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.

The city of Copenhagen will offer special rebates and freebies to eco-friendly tourists this summer, including free bike rentals to those arriving by train and staying more than four days.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will no longer track the cost of climate change-fueled weather disasters, including floods, heat waves, wildfires and more. It is the latest example of changes to the agency and the Trump administration limiting federal government resources on climate change.

Wildfires driven by climate change contribute to as many as thousands of annual deaths and billions of dollars in economic costs from wildfire smoke in the United States, according to a new study.

Crews have been fighting at least 16 wildfires throughout North Dakota in the last several days, including several large fires still burning Tuesday across wooded areas and grasslands on the Turtle Mountain Reservation near the Canadian border.

Dry and breezy conditions before the spring green-up haven't helped the situation. Much of the state is in some level of drought, including a swath of western North Dakota in severe or extreme drought, according to a recent map by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Strands of kelp glow in the dim morning light off California's Channel Islands as fish and sea lions weave through the golden fronds. It's a scene of remarkable abundance — the result of more than two decades of protection in one of the state's oldest marine reserves.

But farther out in the Pacific, life in the vast Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument faces a very different future. The Trump administration has moved to reopen 500,000 square miles (about 1.3 million square kilometers) of previously protected waters there to commercial fishing, in a dramatic rollback of federal ocean protections.

President Donald Trump's first 100 days included a wide range of attacks on environmental and climate initiatives. His proposed budget does the same.

The document released Friday looks to curtail or cut billions of dollars for everything from drinking water, clean energy and weather satellites to national parks, emergency management and environmental justice, to name a few.

The cause of last week's massive power outage in Spain and Portugal remains unclear but it has shone a spotlight on solar and wind energy, which critics accuse of straining electricity grids.

The rise of renewables presents a challenge for power grids, which must evolve to adapt as countries move away from fossil fuels.

In a first-of-its kind move, Hawaii lawmakers are ready to hike a tax imposed on travelers staying in hotels, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations and earmark the new money for programs to cope with a warming planet.

State leaders say they'll use the funds for projects like replenishing sand on eroding beaches, helping homeowners install hurricane clips on their roofs and removing invasive grasses like those that fueled the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lahaina two years ago.