Environment Archives

An exterior view of the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.

Environment

Records Show a Top DOI Official Met With His Former Employer—a Koch Brothers-Linked Foundation

A high-level official at the Department of the Interior held meetings with a previous employer, the Koch-linked Texas Public Policy Foundation, while it was involved in legal action against the department, according to newly obtained documents.

Jimmy Tobias

Environment

How California’s Clean Air Regulations Have Reduced Whale Strikes by Cargo Ships

Rules intended to protect people from pollution are simultaneously saving the lives of whales by slowing down cargo ships, but researchers say more still needs to be done.

Matthew O. Berger

The Wilmington ARCO refinery in Los Angeles, California.

Environment

How One Los Angeles Community Is Combating Oil Pollution With Green Spaces

For generations, oil refineries brought jobs—and pollution—to the residents of Wilmington. Can a new generation of youthful activists make it a healthier place to grow up?

Mimi Kirk

How to Protect Rare Books and Manuscripts From the Ravages of Climate Change

Almost all American archives are at risk from disasters or changing temperatures. Community history will probably be the first to go.

Sophie Yeo

Concerned residents attend a community meeting in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island on May 7th, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii.

Environment

Hawaii’s Volcanic Eruption Could Hit Low-Income Residents Hardest

Impoverished communities are often the most affected by natural disasters.

Kate Wheeling

Workers install solar panels on the roof of a home on May 9th, 2018, in San Francisco, California.

Environment

California Becomes the First State to Make Solar Panels Mandatory

The new standard will bring the state closer to meeting its climate goals.

Kate Wheeling

Traffic on Highway 4 travels along a canal in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Environment

Can Anyone Clean Up California’s Selenium-Contaminated Farm Runoff?

Even after 35 years of efforts to resolve the issue, toxic farm water is being pushed into a local park and showing up in the eggs of local bird species.

Matt Weiser

Environment

Facing a Massive Pollution Problem, California Is Fighting Against the EPA’s Efforts to Roll Back Emissions Standards

California, the most polluted state in the country, is engaged in a fight with EPA to keep higher auto emissions standards.

Ashley Hackett

Environment

Biologists, Divers, and Fishers Are Creating Inventive Tools to Combat a Lionfish Invasion

Lionfish are non-native invaders introduced to Florida waters 30 years ago that have since proliferated to pestilent levels and unleashed an ecological crisis that is only getting worse

Alastair Bland

Elephants can communicate over long distances with low-frequency rumbles called infrasound.

Environment

Could Earthquake-Monitoring Technology Help Save Elephants?

A new study shows how technology developed to study earthquakes could help conservationists monitor elephant populations from afar.

Kate Wheeling