Marine life finds a home on the artificial reefs. What happens when the platforms are decommissioned?
Climate change
Indigenous feminism flows through the fight for water rights on the Rio Grande
An intergenerational group of Pueblo women lead the way on water policy along the Middle Rio Grande Valley.
How do you make a movie about a hyperobject?
The film ‘Don’t Look Up’ turns climate change into an allegorical comet.
Stories we wish we’d written
A look at some of the journalism from 2021 that inspired us, made us feel seen, and, sometimes, even made us cry.
A shellfish company gets into the weeds
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community shows how eelgrass and aquaculture can coexist in Puget Sound.
2021’s climate was one of contrasts, contradictions and extremes
There was one constant: Heat.
40 years after its closure, the Jackpile Mine’s toxic legacy continues
‘They have to look at it every day and wonder if that’s the reason why they’re dying.’
At the Colorado River conference, ‘It’s really no longer a drill’
Water managers announce new measures to deal with dwindling water supply.
Wildfire survivors face another threat: PTSD
As disasters become more frequent, acute stress can turn chronic.
How to cool one of the fastest-warming cities in the West
In Phoenix, a new heat office hopes to prevent more people from dying of extreme heat.
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?
Winter without snow is coming
Parts of the Mountain West could be nearly snowless for years at a time in just a few decades.
Where are Alaska’s snowy owls?
The birds serve as an alarm bell for the repercussions of environmental change.
Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?
Agribusiness and its proponents say repairs will benefit disadvantaged towns. Those residents disagree.
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.
Wind turbines proposed near a Japanese American incarceration camp prompt outrage
The Lava Ridge Wind Farm in Idaho would more than double the state’s wind energy output, but at what cost?
How heat waves warp ecosystems
After the Northwest ‘heat dome’ this summer, scientists look for signs of ecological ruin — or resilience.
What Biden’s infrastructure bill means for wildfire management
The bill allocates $3.3 billion for firefighter raises, prescribed fire, defending communities and more.
Seeing COP26 through the lens of RÃos to Rivers’ chief storyteller
Paul Robert Wolf Wilson’s photos take you into the streets and behind the scenes of the convention.
