Environment

Peru's government has declared a state of emergency in the southern Andes, where brutally cold temperatures have killed the animals and threatened farmers living at high altitude.

A terrible drought hit Ghana in the 1400s, far worse than today's conditions. Yet people had enough to eat, while today they go hungry. What changed? In a word, colonialism, a new study suggests.

Lots of tasty, nutritious produce ends up in landfills because it doesn't meet retail beauty standards. Now Wal-Mart is testing sales of wonky apples and spuds in hundreds of Texas and Florida stores.

Scientists have tested all sorts of strategies to keep Lyme disease ticks from biting us. One is to make it less likely you'll cross paths with the critters in your yard. Sawdust mulch, anyone?

Eight of the 10 busiest ports are in East Asia. A new study shows how the growing number of cargo ships are polluting the air and threatening health.

During the 12 months from May 2015 to May 2016, each month set an all-time heat record. That's on average around the world. Some places were not record breakers, but overall, global warming is increasing. NASA scientists talk about what the rest of this year may look like, and whether it will set yet another global record.

Citing "a culture of deeply-rooted corporate arrogance" at Volkswagen, New York and Massachusetts have filed civil lawsuits against the carmaker.

Some plants will release their pollen only to bees that buzz in just the right way. It's a risky strategy — and it's critical to human agriculture, from tomatoes to blueberries.

In 2014, after disastrous spills and opposition from environmentalists, the Environmental Protection Agency imposed new rules on the storage of coal ash. Now utilities are planning to close down the ponds that hold the toxic ash, but it has to go somewhere. Environmentalists say the safest place for it is in securely lined landfills, such as the municipal landfill in Wayne County, Ga. Locals are fighting the plan, but there's not much they can do.