Environment

The National Butterfly Center is a habitat for more than 100 species of butterflies. The proposed barrier would cut off 70 percent of its property, putting it in a no man's land along the Rio Grande.

The Environmental Protection Agency has given farmers the OK to continue to spray the controversial weedkiller dicamba. The chemical is prone to blowing in the wind and damaging other vegetation.

For months, Puerto Rican officials have said their government is ready for another hurricane. But the part of its emergency response plan dealing specifically with hurricanes hasn't been completed.

Venice saw an unusually high tide leaving three-quarters of the city covered in water. Officials in large areas of the country closed schools and urged residents to stay indoors.

Governor Roy Cooper issued an

Smithfield Foods says it will pay farmers to cover their manure ponds with plastic on more than 1,000 U.S. farms. Those "lagoons" have become increasingly controversial.

Scientists credit the crab and oyster industries with noticing a change in oxygen levels in coastal Pacific waters.

Forsyth County officials are considering a plan to buy land near Duke Energy's Belews Creek Steam Station. The property would be used for a new regional park.

The move would impose a complete ban on some single-use plastics across the European Union and a reduction on others, aiming to implement most measures by the mid-2020s.

Only two minuscule slivers of East Island have resurfaced since the storm struck the region and wiped out a critical habitat for endangered monk seals and green sea turtles.