Environment

Mardi Gras beads strewn on a New Orleans street.

National

New Orleans Hopes 'Gutter Buddies' Will Keep Mardi Gras Beads Out Of Storm Drains

6:52pm February 12, 2018

Last month, city officials announced they had pulled 93,000 pounds of old beads out of catch basins along the parade route. So the city created a new system of bead-blockers to keep the drains clear.

Warmer temperatures are making canola and possibly other brassica seedpods open too early, reducing crop yields.

What Canola Can Tell Us About Crops And Climate Change

12:01pm February 12, 2018

by Angus Chen

When canola seedpods shatter prematurely, farmers can lose a lot of their crop. Scientists have now figured out how this happens, and it has implications for similar crops facing global warming.

Virgin Islands National Park Is Still Trying To Recover From Hurricane Irma

4:26pm February 09, 2018

by Greg Allen

The Virgin Islands National Park on St. John's has reopened but the staff is still assessing the damage to park buildings and the coral reefs. It's unclear how long it will take to remove sunken vessels and restore amenities to the park, that before the storms, received nearly a half million visitors a year.

Pro-public lands messages are projected on the McNichols Civic Center in Denver. The Outdoor Retailer and Snow Show moved to Colorado because of a public land use dispute with Utah government leaders.

2 Trade Shows, 2 Portraits Of The American Conservation Movement

1:26pm February 08, 2018

Major outdoor shows in Colorado and Pennsylvania put a complex and divided American conservation movement on full display. But some see shared values beneath frequently political exteriors.

The offshore oil drilling platform called Gail, operated by Venoco, Inc., off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., in 2009.

California May Have A Way To Block Trump's Offshore Drilling Push

9:49am February 08, 2018

by Lauren Sommer

In the 1980s, California towns used local zoning rules to block offshore oil and gas drilling. State lawmakers are considering a similar strategy to push back against the Trump administration.

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A paddy field sits on the outskirts of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, the only country that even comes close to delivering the good life in a sustainable way.

If We Bring The Good Life To All, Will We Destroy The Planet?

4:53pm February 07, 2018

by Nurith Aizenman

A new study offers an intriguing way to calculate the answer.

Denver's newest skyscraper (center) followed new building codes for energy efficiency. The city wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Despite Progress, Cities Struggle With Ambitious Climate Goals

4:27pm February 06, 2018

by Dan Boyce

Dozens of cities are vowing to cut their carbon emissions and uphold the U.S. commitment to the Paris climate deal. Despite progress, many are falling short of their most ambitious goals.

Tea pickers stand in the scorching sun, hand-plucking the tea leaves for about eight hours a day.

Tea Farmer In India Leads Charge For Organic, Evades The Charge Of Elephants

5:03am February 06, 2018

by Julie McCarthy

In the biggest tea-producing region of India, hazards range from red spider mites to wild elephants. One brave grower faces them head on, all while spurring a movement to grow tea organically.

After Deadly Mudslides In California, Residents Are Trying To Plan For Next Time

4:22pm February 05, 2018

by Stephanie O'Neill

Mudslides and debris flow in Southern California killed more than 20 people in January. Public safety officials say people in flow-prone areas throughout the western U.S. need to spend more time preparing for the possibility of these natural disasters.

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Jason Czapla, principal engineer for Controlled Thermal Resources, surveys the site where the company's Hell's Kitchen Plant will be built.

The Forgotten Renewable: Geothermal Energy Production Heats Up

12:49pm February 05, 2018

by Benjamin Purper

Experts say the American West is full of geothermal reservoirs whose energy could power millions of homes. But extracting that energy isn't easy.

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