The state is grappling with more fires and fewer fighters where they need them.
Climate change
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
Meet the West’s oldest climate correspondent
Anna Mae Wright has spent seven decades recording the weather.
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
Time to make peace with invasive species?
A conversation with climate science director Stephen Jackson about why and where we should tolerate non-native invaders.
Posted inArticles
After thousands of fish die in the Yellowstone River, officials lift boating bans
Stretches of the river remain closed as officials scramble to save the iconic fishery.
Posted inArticles
American pika disappearing from Western regions
The pika is fading from historical habitat and a new study points to climate change.
Posted inArticles
Photos of the North Dakota pipeline protest
Background on the Standing Rock Sioux pipeline protests and how social media and climate activism raised their profile.
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
Latest: NASA determines methane hotspot is from natural gas production
BACKSTORYA methane “hot spot” over the Four Corners region has puzzled scientists for nearly a decade: Concentrations of the greenhouse gas were far higher than could be accounted for by official inventories from known contributors — an underground coal mine, landfills, and oil and gas infrastructure. So in 2015, NASA scientists began an intensive examination […]
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
How the Park Service is planning for climate change
The agency is forging ahead despite meager help from Congress.
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Meet the man helping the Park Service prepare for a hotter future
Patrick Gonzalez walks the walk when it comes to climate action.
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
What climate change is doing to the parks
A sample of the shifts already underway due to a warming climate.
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Nuclear power divides California’s environmentalists
Is the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant good or bad for the climate?
Posted inArticles
The West’s ‘new normal’: Another long season of volatile wildfires
In California and across the region, drought and heat makes for big blazes.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
California plans to log its drought-killed trees
Cutting down dead trees may not reduce wildfire risk.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Inside a seed museum meant to track plant response to climate change
Researchers have collected seeds from across the country in a quiet Colorado storage facility.
Posted inArticles
The Colorado River’s unexpected carbon footprint
Flooding a dry riverbed restored vegetation, but released significant amounts of methane and carbon dioxide.
Posted inArticles
Outdoor outfitters can’t stay quiet on climate change
The industry is short-changing millions of visitors at a time when dialogue is needed.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
‘Keep It in the Ground’ prompts online oil and gas leasing auctions
Protests against drilling on public lands continue.
Posted inArticles
Dispatch from coal country: Advocates and adversaries duel over leasing reform
In western Colorado, two visions for the future of fossil fuels collide at a BLM listening session.
Posted inArticles
How the Keep it in the Ground movement came to be
A look back at a decade of coverage of anti-fossil fuel protests.
Posted inArticles
Retreating glaciers a sign of Alaska’s major meltdown
This summer’s record-breaking temperatures hasten glacier, permafrost melt.