The amount of food consumed every year at Thanksgiving is actually associated with a large carbon footprint, according to experts.

Although Thanksgiving may be the holiday best known for indulging, there are ways to enjoy your favorite meal of the year while keeping the environment in mind.

"The Thanksgiving meal is more than just the food," Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida's College of Public Health, told ABC News. "There's so much meaning [and] emotions associated with it."

The average Thanksgiving dinner has a carbon footprint of about 103 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the Climate Trade, an environmental solutions platform.

Here are some tips to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving.

Maine has become the latest in a growing number of states to sue the fossil fuel industry over the impacts of global warming.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey accused major fossil fuel companies of deceiving Mainers for decades about the impact their product has on human-amplified climate change.

"For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects," Frey said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed in state court on Tuesday, alleges the defendants knew as early as the 1960s that an increasing use of fossil fuels could potentially bring devastating consequences to Maine. The state argues the companies not only failed to warn residents about the consequences, but knowingly concealed their knowledge about the long-term negative impacts that Maine's people, environment and economy could face.

The filing states the companies focused on creating public doubt by launching public relations campaigns targeting the science of climate change and the impacts of burning fossil fuels. It is seeking financial compensation for both past and future climate-related damages and for the companies to cease their ongoing deception in Maine.

"They burdened the state and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception," Frey said.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills applauded the attorney general's actions, saying in a statement that "for decades, big oil companies have made record profits, taking billions out of the pockets of Maine people while deliberately deceiving them about the harmful impacts of fossil fuels -- impacts that Maine people see and feel every day."

Maine joins a growing list of more than 20 states -- including California, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Vermont -- that have brought similar types of lawsuits to date. Earlier this year, Vermont's Climate Superfund Act became law, seeking financial accountability for climate change-related damages brought by fossil fuel companies. However, due to stipulations in the law and likely lawsuits, it's expected to be several years before any potential first charge to fossil fuel companies would be attempted.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Widespread drought conditions are still a significant concern across the country, with parts of the Northeast, northern Plains and Southwest currently experiencing some of the worst impacts, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor update released Wednesday.

Overall, more than 40% of the contiguous United States remains in a drought. This is an improvement, however, from the beginning of the month when more than half of the lower 48 faced drought conditions. Recent heavy rain along the West Coast and parts of the Midwest brought significant drought relief to portions of Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and Illinois.

As a result, drought coverage decreased from 45.48% to 41.45% versus last week. While some regions experienced a notable improvement, the recent soaking in the Northeast was only enough to pause the fire danger and trend of intensifying drought conditions -- for now.

The current drought situation in the Northeast took months to evolve, and it will take several more rounds of significant rainfall over the span of weeks or even months to completely eliminate the widespread drought in the region.

After a few rounds of beneficial rain, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center says a large part of the country will likely experience below-average precipitation in early December, particularly in the West, Plains and East Coast.

Much of the western Gulf Coast and northern Plains could see above-average rainfall during this period. Drought relief across the country will, at the very least, take a pause through the beginning of next month.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

A major water supplier in the West is once again in the spotlight for its unpredictable future.

The Colorado River, the water source for 40 million people across the west, is in a worse state than previously believed, according to a recent study published in Earth's Future.

Drought and dry conditions, compounded by climate change, put the Colorado River in greater jeopardy, the study's authors said.

"It doesn’t take a lot of climate change to put the system into a very vulnerable future," said Dr. Patrick Reed, a civil and environmental engineer at Cornell University and co-author of the study.

Colorado's West Slope River Basins "are essential water sources for the Colorado River and play a vital role in supporting the state of Colorado's local economy and natural environment," according to the study. The West Slope River Basins contribute nearly 70% of the streamflow deliveries to Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir.

But drought has significantly depleted Lake Powell’s water supply, leading to the first-ever water shortage in the Upper Colorado River Basin in 2021 and more dependence on the West Slope Basin supply.

"The Colorado River is extremely stressed and overallocated," Reed said.

The Colorado River supplies water to seven states and Northern Mexico. Agreements about how the water is divided are up for renegotiation in 2026.

-ABC News' Charlotte Slovin

During the first week of COP29, the U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan, delegates learned global fossil fuel emissions hit record highs in 2024, the world's emissions reduction efforts are not good enough to meet 2050 net zero carbon goals and the international response to climate change has "flatlined."

Now, a group of veteran climate leaders and scientists, are calling for a significant overhaul of future COP conferences, including Christiana Figueres, head of the Paris climate talks in 2015; Ban Ki-moon, former secretary-general of the U.N.; and Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and a climate advocate.

In an open letter, the 22 signatories begin by praising the past accomplishments of the COP conferences and the framework that has been established.

"We recognise the important diplomatic milestones of the past 28 years of climate negotiations," the letter states. "A remarkable consensus has been achieved with over 195 countries having agreed to strive to hold global warming to 1.5°C."

But the signatories go on to say that despite the COP successes, including agreements to phase out fossil fuels, "it is now clear that the COP is no longer fit for purpose. Its current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity."

The group says the world needs to "shift from negotiation to implementation" and listed seven recommendations for reforming what's become the most significant climate meeting in the world.

One suggested change is implementing "strict eligibility criteria" for future COP presidents to "exclude countries who do not support the phase out/transition away from fossil energy." That would also prevent their countries from hosting the event. Some climate advocates have criticized the decision to hold the last two COP meetings in countries where oil is a primary export.

The group is also calling for changing the meeting structure from one giant yearly convention to "smaller, more frequent, solution-driven meetings," improving implementation and accountability and better tracking of climate response funding, specifically interest-bearing loans the group says "exacerbates the debt burden of climate vulnerable nations."

In response to the letter, Laurence Tubiana, the head of the European Climate Foundation, posted on social media, "I know some are frustrated with the COP and UNFCCC processes, given the urgent need to accelerate action. While reforms are needed, let's not forget: multilateralism is the foundation of climate progress. The Paris Agreement happened because every country had a voice."

-ABC News Climate Unit's Matthew Glasser