Latest Environmental science News
Study: Wildfires produced up to half of pollution in US West
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildfire smoke accounted for up to half of all health-damaging small particle air pollution in the western U.S. in recent years as warming temperatures fueled more destructive blazes, according to a study released Monday. Even as pollution emissions declined from other sources...
One-third of America's rivers have changed color since 1984
America’s rivers are changing color — and people are behind many of the shifts, a new study said. One-third of the tens of thousands of mile-long (two kilometer-long) river segments in the United States have noticeably shifted color in satellite images since 1984. That includes 11,629 miles (18,715...
Fast rollout of virus vaccine trials reveals tribal distrust
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The news came during a hopeful time on the largest Native American reservation. Daily coronavirus cases were in the single digits, down from a springtime peak of 238 that made the Navajo Nation a U.S. hot spot. The tribe, wanting to ensure a COVID-19 vaccine would be effective for...
Feds to delay seeking legal protection for monarch butterfly
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal officials on Tuesday declared the monarch butterfly “a candidate” for threatened or endangered status, but said no action would be taken for several years because of the many other species awaiting that designation. Environmentalists said delaying that long...
Scientists focus on bats for clues to prevent next pandemic
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Night began to fall in Rio de Janeiro’s Pedra Branca state park as four Brazilian scientists switched on their flashlights to traipse along a narrow trail of mud through dense rainforest. The researchers were on a mission: capture bats and help prevent the next global pandemic....
Endangered-species decision expected on beloved butterfly
Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species. Stepped-up use of farm herbicides, climate change and destruction of milkweed...
The stormy, fiery year when climate disasters wouldn't stop
Nature struck relentlessly in 2020 with record-breaking and deadly weather- and climate-related disasters. With the most named storms in the Atlantic, the largest-ever area of California burned by wildfires, killer floods in Asia and Africa and a hot, melting Arctic, 2020 was more than a disastrous year with the...
Vast wildfires in Siberia linked to warming Arctic
WASHINGTON (AP) — This year's vast wildfires in far northeastern Russia were linked to broader changes in a warming Arctic, according to a report Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Wildfires are a natural part of many boreal ecosystems. But the extent of flames during the 2020...
Protesters against tunnel close UK's prehistoric Stonehenge
LONDON (AP) — The prehistoric monument of Stonehenge in southern England was closed to visitors Saturday after dozens of protesters staged a trespass against the British government's road-building plans, including a new tunnel near the World Heritage Site. The protesters, who described themselves as an...
California fire danger remains high even as winds ease
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fire danger remained high Friday amid unpredictable wind gusts and dry conditions in Southern California, as crews made progress against blazes that burned several homes and injured two firefighters. The region's notorious Santa Ana winds decreased slightly but red flag warnings of...
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