Arguments over state environmental policy impacts ignore broader challenges to rural communities.
Climate change
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Seattle will offer residents shelter from the smoke
As climate change fuels fires and warms the city, clean air will be in short supply.
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Paranoia and a ‘preposterously’ oversized water tank
An affluent Utah community spent millions to extinguish its fear of fire. Decades later, they’re still trying to buy their way out of a bottomless pit.
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Oregon Republicans are hiding to avoid a climate-bill vote
This is the second time the group of state lawmakers have walked out this year.
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The rapid thaw of Alaska will accelerate global heating
The state’s warmest spring on record will have planet-wide repercussions.
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The rise of wildfire-resilient communities
As fire seasons become longer and deadlier, communities turn to urban planning to combat dangers.
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Washington’s giant sea snail still needs saving
The state’s pinto abalone population is 97% lower today than in 1992. Will adding it to endangered species list help?
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
The West’s worst fires aren’t burning in forests
Range fires get bigger every year, threatening sagebrush habitat and rural towns.
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NOAA’s university partners tackle climate change research
Despite the Trump administration’s attacks on science, collaborators continue their studies.
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
Potato living; safe landings; swarms at the bend
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
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New Godzilla movie makes a mess of environmental ethics
Once an allegory for the atomic bomb, the big lizard has come to represent climate change.
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A memoir of sorrow and grace
Pam Houston conveys the pleasures and challenges of rural life.
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A wild winter threatens summer profits in Colorado’s high country
The potential for a cascade of water may slow the flow of tourists to Lake City.
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Public lands top Rep. Debra Haaland’s agenda
One of the first Native American women elected to Congress is fighting fossil fuel development on ‘the most pristine and beautiful places in our country.’
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
The hidden consequences of New Mexico’s latest oil boom
Carlsbad residents are experiencing health impacts, but the science behind their woes lags behind the pace of drilling.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
Fires are indiscriminate. Recovery isn’t.
The disparate timeframes of rebuilding in California’s wine country and its poorest county, shown by data.
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How do tribal nations’ treaties figure into climate change?
U.S. courts rarely favor environmental protections as a right — except when it comes to tribes expressing their treaty rights.
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
Should we be thinking about last ascents, instead of first ones?
Mountaineers confront disappearing glaciers.
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Interior secretary blames Congress for his inaction on climate change
There’s no law to make him address the climate and biodiversity crises, David Bernhardt said: ‘You guys come up with the shalls.’
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See the captivating flux of Western alkaline waters
Salt lakes fade from chartreuse to rust into pale wastelands in photos taken by Aya Okawa.