For millions of years, the Mississippi River flowed unchecked, carrying roughly 400 million metric tons of sediment down to Louisiana, where it spilled into the Gulf of Mexico to create new land. But in the early 20th century, a series of dams and river-training structures were built to prevent flooding...
Nearly two decades after landmark Indigenous rights declaration, countries still aren’t complying
Nearly two decades after the United Nations adopted a landmark declaration on Indigenous rights, advocates say countries still aren’t living up to their promises to uphold and respect those rights. Indigenous people are being killed for protecting their territories, criminalized for practicing their culture, and seeing their lands stripped of...
He’s the only lead tester in this contaminated neighborhood. He graduates next month.
Kim Booker never thought much about lead during her roughly 27 years living in Trenton, New Jersey. Born and raised in the once-industrial powerhouse, she first heard about the heavy metal at community meetings organized by the East Trenton Collaborative, a local nonprofit that works on environmental health and safety...
Illinois is feuding with itself over endangered species protections
In the creeks and rivers of southern Illinois, a school of bigeye shiners darting along the edge of a stream is a sign of healthy water. The freshwater fish, which is on the state’s endangered species list, has managed to survive despite habitat loss driven by decades of construction and industrial...
Michigan wins key legal battle over Line 5 pipeline
Michigan’s decades-long fight to shut down the Line 5 pipeline will be heard in state court after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the dispute belongs there, clearing the way for judges to weigh whether the aging oil pipeline can continue crossing the Straits of Mackinac. The ruling is...
How New Mexico is ‘building a forest’ by solving a seedling shortage
Recovery from the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fire has been daunting. Residents are still waiting for disaster relief payments even as floods sweep through the ashy burn scar, contaminating the drinking water downstream. And then there’s the forest itself: in desperate need of new trees but lacking the necessary seedlings. Wildfires...
Nearly half of US children are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, report warns
Nearly half of children in the United States are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new report, as experts warned Donald Trump’s expansive rollback of protections will make the situation worse. The 27th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association, or ALA, released on Wednesday...
AI is a double-edged sword for Indigenous land protection, UN experts warn
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is helping Indigenous communities detect illegal logging, track wildfires, and monitoring of traditional lands. But the data centers powering AI are driving new threats, requiring water, energy, and critical minerals often extracted from Indigenous territories. Now, Indigenous leaders at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous...
Indigenous health can’t be separated from environmental health, leaders tell UN
On the second day of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, experts called attention to the ways Indigenous health is deeply tied to nature and highlighted how health inequalities are compounded by environmental degradation, extractive activities, and climate change. The forum’s focus on Indigenous health comes...
Why millions of adorable bees are emerging from this cemetery
A miner haunts the East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, New York. It’s not the spirit of an interred workman, but Andrena regularis, also known as the regular miner bee. It’s black and tan and fuzzy, sometimes sporting patches of yellow as it collects pollen. The critter is at once peculiar...