From a jump in ER visits and gun violence to fears for maternal health, the Northwest’s May heat wave shows the dangers of more moderate, early heat waves.
Northwest
Posted inArticles
Dispatch from the scaffolds: Native fishing culture on the Columbia River
An Indigenous fisherman describes how to hook a salmon, the meaning of life and his faithful dog Sturg.
Posted inArticles
In the once-cool forests of the Pacific Northwest, heat poses a new threat
Drought can stress trees to death, but heat’s effects are less known. New research could hold the keys to protecting conifer forests.
Posted inArticles
The untold story of the Pacific Northwest’s nuclear past
‘Atomic Days’ offers a compelling, fact-packed introduction to the most toxic place in the nation.
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 inArticles
Hotter summer nights affect everything from death rates to crop yields to firefighting
What happens when the Earth can’t cool off overnight?
Posted inArticles
The most destructive forest pest in North America is now in Oregon
The invasive emerald ash borer threatens the state’s salmon habitat, urban forests and agency budgets.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire and detours on the Pacific Crest Trail
A hiker is caught in smoke and decision-making when the Carr Fire broke out in 2018.
Posted inApril 1, 2022: The Archives Issue
A living archive of Oregon’s hops and beer
More than a beverage, beer helps tell the history of the Northwest.
Posted inArticles
Pacific Coast crabs are suffocating
Climate change has created dangerously low oxygen levels in the ocean, causing problems for creatures and the communities that rely on them.
Posted inMarch 1, 2022: The Cloning Conundrum
How a Tacoma gas facility started a fight over climate change, sovereignty and human rights
A Washington methane gas project is compounding a crisis of tribal consultation, pension funds and national immigration practices.
Posted inMarch 1, 2022: The Cloning Conundrum
Portland community leaders bring the heat to building standards
An activist collective says making buildings carbon-free is just the start.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
A new Northwest anthology finds both terror and magic in the darkness
‘Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses from the Gloomy Northwest’ explores landscapes and life from the Inland Northwest to the Pacific.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
A shellfish company gets into the weeds
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community shows how eelgrass and aquaculture can coexist in Puget Sound.
Posted inArticles
Corporations are consolidating water and land rights in the West
With farms, ranches and rural communities facing unprecedented threats, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water?
Posted inArticles
In the wake of floods, what’s next for salmon?
Recently released eggs likely bore the brunt of record-breaking rains in the Pacific Northwest.
Posted inArticles
Can younger generations spur corporations to divest from fossil fuels?
Youth activists in Seattle call out banks and insurance companies for fueling the climate crisis.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Decolonizing Idaho’s road signs
A new effort will add Indigenous history to historical markers across the state.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire smoke pushes migrating birds hundreds of miles out of their way
‘I was glued to my computer for days, trying to figure out what these birds were doing, because it was so clearly, obviously, not normal.’
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
How wildlife sightings create community
What we share and what we keep quiet in small mountain towns.