Canada’s Northwest Territory goes up in flames, releasing massive amounts of carbon.
Climate change
Posted inAugust 18, 2014: Alaska's Uncertain Food Future
Alaska’s Uncertain Food Future
Climate change in the Far North puts traditional food sources at risk.
Posted inAugust 18, 2014: Alaska's Uncertain Food Future
Climate canary
Greenhouse gases are changing the way we talk about coal.
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
What the West will feel like in 2100
Scenarios for how our cities will change with the climate.
Posted inGoat
Glacier tourists to get a dose of climate education in Alaska
What a melting glacier can teach cruise ship passengers.
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
Climate changes for wolverine listing
What good can the Endangered Species Act do in a warming world?
Posted inGoat
Was the fatal thunderstorm in California a climate phenomenon?
The weather of Venice Beach, California, where I live, is for the most part stable, and almost always predictable. No sudden squalls appear out of the southwest to chase skateboarders off their concrete ramps; never do we hear the civil-defense sirens warning of an approaching tornado. Living here, swimming and surfing at the beach a […]
Posted inGoat
Colorado River Basin groundwater levels drop even faster than reservoirs
When Lake Mead is full it’s the largest reservoir in the U.S., capable of holding two years’ worth of water from the Colorado River. But the Southwest has been trapped in a 14-year drought, and the states Mead feeds – Nevada, Arizona and California – are thirsty. The reservoir is now only about half full […]
Posted inGoat
‘Lucking out’ for Wyoming’s winter smog
Air quality gets a boost from the state’s infamous sagebrush and wind.
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
A historic moment for the Clean Air Act
How it arrived and how much it matters for the climate.
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
Love that dirty river
Every year, I dutifully respond to those High Country News reader surveys in the fervent hope that you will devote more of your valuable real estate to urban-oriented stories about our region’s social injustices. Well, there is a Santa Claus, and he delivered a wonderful gift to me in the form of Daniel Person’s pitch-perfect “River of No Return” […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
Is coal dead?
Which plants are slated for closure or switches to natural gas.
Posted inGoat
This hummingbird’s survival hinges on precipitation, new study shows
Every year, the rufous hummingbird – a tiny fire-colored ball of feathers that weighs just three grams – flies up to 3,900 miles from its winter home in Mexico all the way to Alaska. At about three inches long, the rufous takes one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird its size. Over the past several […]
Posted inGoat
The water-energy nexus could become a collision in a warming world
If you thought fracking was a water-guzzling and violent way to get the oil and gas flowing from shale, then you should check out oil shale* retorting. Earlier this month, details were made public regarding an oil shale project Chevron proposes for western Colorado. Of particular note was the amount of energy and water it […]
Posted inWotr
A neologism for the summer’s inevitable wildfires: smoke season
Planning summer outings here in Montana used to be simple: Enlist participants, round up gear, drive to the river or trailhead, and go. But as I plan this year’s adventures, I’m warning the possible participants: Smoke may force cancellation. Last August was dicey. With wildfires roaring in 11 Western states, all our outings were at the mercy of wind […]
Posted inArticles
What’s killing the Yukon’s salmon?
An ecological mystery in Alaska has scientists and fishermen baffled and alarmed.
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
River of no return
Seattle’s Duwamish has been straightened, dredged and heavily polluted. Can a Superfund cleanup bring it back to life?
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
Duwamish sludge, from source to sink
A little over three miles from the mouth of the Lower Duwamish Waterway (once known as the Duwamish River), there is a small piece of property wreathed with chain-link fence and signs that warn in various languages of various threats to life and limb. This is Terminal 117, or T-117, former home of roofing material […]