A community science initiative along the West Coast is using volunteer observations to study the effect of wildfire smoke on birds.
California
Posted inJuly 2024
The California artists illuminating kelp
How art and science can build hope for a threatened underwater species.
Posted inJuly 2024
Photorealistic fencing, far-traveling felines and some very weird-looking fish
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Data centers could set back climate progress
AI, cryptocurrency “mining” and our digital lifestyles imperil the energy transition — and the planet.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
California’s homelessness and climate crises leave unhoused communities vulnerable to floods
Seeking shelter, people are living in flood control channels and other flood-prone places.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
Water inequality on the Colorado River
A new accounting reveals deep disparities in Western water consumption.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
What if the future is the past?
Degrowth offers a path for dealing with our serious environmental issues.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
Learning how to live and die with long COVID
The late artist David Wojnarowicz’s work has brought me back from the dead.
Posted inArticles
Cancer is killing firefighters. So this city is going PFAS-free.
San Francisco is the first major American city to ban the substance from protective gear.
Posted inArticles
Can carbon capture transition California’s oil fields?
In Kern County, the community searches for an economic alternative to a fossil fuel industry. Will it be any fairer than the old one?
Posted inArticles
Killing one owl to save another
Is it ever the right thing to do? Two ethicists weigh in.
Posted inArticles
Will changes at San Gabriel Mountains National Monument serve LA’s communities of color?
As the monument reaches a decade of federal recognition, the Biden administration hopes to address funding and stewardship challenges alongside the expansion.
Posted inArticles
When dams come down, what happens to the ocean?
A long-term study of the Elwha River Delta reveals lasting change — and a healthier ecosystem.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
A border need not be a wall
An immigration journalist on confronting laws and encountering humanity.
Posted inArticles
California’s transgender Latinx people find refuge and empowerment in community
‘We are beginning to have that safety that we always desired.’
Posted inArticles
Could building on public land address the housing crisis?
The West has a plethora of land and a shortage of houses. Some are wondering if a solution lies within.
Posted inArticles
Disaster disparities in the West
The risk of climate catastrophe is complex, but people of color often face ‘unnatural hazards.’
Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground
Killer kitties, no-drama llamas and a brand-new arachnid
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
The good, the bad and the ugly of the state legislative season
While Congress does nothing, Western state lawmakers pass a flurry of consequential and/or crazy — bills.
Posted inArticles
A cartography of loss in the Borderlands
Mexicali’s Colorado River Family Album documents what is no more.