As fires grow larger, wildland firefighting poses new risks to bodies and minds.
Climate change
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After June’s floods, will the Yellowstone River be allowed to roam?
Rock walls called riprap constrain the river to protect property from erosion —but there are other options.
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The pinyon jay’s predicament
The keystone species’ habitat in New Mexico is threatened by wildfire prevention and the climate crisis.
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Can the Salton Sea be saved?
Climate change, megadrought and agricultural needs have transformed the ‘jewel in the Californian desert’ into a toxic place.
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The West’s hottest county is also its most Latino
Some places in Imperial County, California, experienced 117 days above 100 degrees this year.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Why the country’s largest shellfish farm is struggling to hire and retain workers
And how it’s dealing with climate change and housing costs to make back-breaking work a little easier.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
A smoldering threat to wildland firefighters
Long COVID affects more than 16 million Americans, and firefighters are at increased risk of getting it.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
‘Estás viviendo en una lata’
En Arizona, los residentes de casas rodantes son más propensos a morir de calor excesivo.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
‘You’re living in a tin can’
Arizona’s mobile-home residents are far more likely to die from excessive heat.
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Salmon are nosing at the riverbanks trying to escape the Klamath River
As dam removal inches into view, fish have to survive increasingly compounding calamities.
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Wildfires are burning away the West’s snow
A new study finds wildfires are burning more high elevation areas and dramatically impacting the West’s snowpack as a result.
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Hungry bears are getting desperate in Montana
A poor berry crop is driving black bears into Missoula. A hot summer might be to blame.
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Utah’s youth climate activists held a funeral for the Great Salt Lake
‘Even though we’re the ones speaking up, the only landscape we know is something dead.’
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The Green New Deal didn’t crash California’s grid
Climate change is wrecking the electricity system.
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California’s algae bloom is like a ‘wildfire in the water’
Some scientists are equating the recent phenomenon to a mega blaze, spurred by human mismanagement.
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The divide over Diablo
Greens battle greens over the fate of California’s last nuke plant.
Posted inDecember 1, 2022: Beyond Illusion
Rising rivers don’t necessarily follow the lines on a map
June’s record-breaking flooding in Montana illustrates the importance of risk mapping for people living in the floodplain.
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Conserve groundwater. Fallow farmland. Increase dust?
A new study warns that California’s groundwater regulations could create more dust, worsening already poor air quality.
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What the Inflation Reduction Act means for Indian Country
$720 million goes directly to tribal nations, but compromises raise questions.
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A new podcast explores the Almeda Drive Fire’s aftermath
Isabella Ruikis’ ‘movement journalism’ explores Oregon’s most destructive wildfire and finds hope for the future in community-based action.