Carbon County is getting 456 small nuclear reactors and a giant gas plant for data center complexes.
Climate
Posted inArticles
Watersheds near RÃo Frijoles bear the brunt of wildfire
In the aftermath of drought, wildfire and floods in northern New Mexico, residents who rely on a centuries-old irrigation system are concerned about water quality.
Posted inOctober 2026: Origin Stories
Meet the flower whose evolution is outpacing climate change
This common perennial blossom, beloved by hummingbirds and biologists, offers key insight on which plants might save themselves from climate stress.
Posted inArticles
Toxic algal blooms are spreading across the West
Climate change is increasing the frequency of the blooms. Here’s what you need to know.
Posted inOctober 2026: Origin Stories
Hail is a multibillion-dollar problem — and could get worse
At a Colorado cold lab, scientists race to better understand hail in a warming world.
Posted inArticles
As bears ‘spin out’ in southern Montana, wildlife managers are at wit’s end
Amid a record-breaking year of Western bear conflict, the historically tolerant Red Lodge community is grappling with opposing views on how to live with the species — and if a ‘fed bear’ really should be a ‘dead bear.’
Posted inNovember 2026: Altered Landscapes
What will happen to the Grand Canyon as water levels drop?
The impacts will reverberate through recreation, river ecology and local tribes.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
The massive infrastructure projects of the 1960s wouldn’t work today
When people thought infrastructure could solve the arid West’s water problems.
Posted inArticles
Nevada sues over Colorado River plans, aiming to protect Las Vegas
The state says federal plans to manage the drought-stricken basin would cut the city’s water supply by roughly 71%.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
In Arctic Alaska, 1.4 million acres of federal land is shifting to state hands
A cascade of changes is underway along its only northern highway.
Posted inArticles
New Mexico’s rising climate-disaster costs are being paid by oil and gas revenue
The state is in a double bind of fossil fuel extraction and the destructive results of burning it.
Posted inAugust 2026: The Conversations Issue
In a warming world, wildflowers offer a warning
The discourse between plants and fungi changes with increasing soil temperatures, impacting meadows, nutrients and wildlife.
Posted inAugust 2026: The Conversations Issue
Want to do something about climate change? Talk about it
Atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe explains why conversation on the topic is so important and how to take this step toward climate action.
Posted inAugust 2026: The Conversations Issue
In Inupiaq, when the weather talks, you listen
Sila is living with us and decides for us what to do with our days.
Posted inArticles
The Spokane burns show that not even suburbia is immune to wildfire
The Old Trails Fire burned through the city’s northwest corner — an area considered outside the highest risk zone.
Posted inArticles
A ban on chainsaws in wilderness is performative, not practical
An experienced trail crew leader argues that, in today’s forests, the rigidity of the regulation buries what it’s designed to protect.
Posted inArticles
The clock is ticking for New Mexico to cut Rio Grande water use
For now, the state is counting on voluntary cuts among vegetable and pecan farmers. But that might not be enough.
Posted inArticles
On Mount Shasta, a photographic record outlasts living memory
The re-photo project maps what used to be.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Collapsing mountains in Alaska are causing massive tsunamis
Climate change is shrinking glaciers, destabilizing the state’s coastline and shaking its tourism industry.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Canelo Hills ladies’-tresses grow only in the Southwest’s vanishing ciénegas. Can they be rooted there again?
Scientists restore an endangered orchid to Arizona’s desert wetland.