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The Conversation

Building leaning toward viewers that collapsed into its garage and crushed a car.

US earthquake safety relies on federal employees’ expertise

Jonathan P. Stewart, University of California, Los Angeles and Lucy Arendt, St. Norbert College

A view of ships on the canal, looking across green hills and fields surrounding it.

The Panama Canal’s other conflict: Water security for the population and the global economy

Karina Garcia, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá

Why forecasting where tornadoes will hit is still hard to do − even though storm predictions are improving

Chris Nowotarski, Texas A&M University

A tornado drops from dark clouds, kicking up debris on the ground.
As federal environmental priorities shift, sovereign Native American nations have their own plans

Alyssa Kreikemeier, University of Idaho

Two men stand in front of a river holding an enlargement of an old photograph.
Ecological disruptions are a risk to national security

Bradley J. Cardinale, Penn State; Emmett Duffy, Smithsonian Institution, and Rod Schoonover, Georgetown University

A person uses a chain saw to cut logs next to a massive tree stump.
From Greenland to Fort Bragg, America is caught in a name game where place names become political tools

Seth T. Kannarr, University of Tennessee; Derek H. Alderman, University of Tennessee, and Jordan Brasher, Macalester College

A view of a mountain across a still lake, with a reflection in the water.
Deep-sea mining threatens sea life in a way no one is thinking about − by dumping debris into the thriving midwater zone

Alexus Cazares-Nuesser, University of Hawaii

An aquatic invertebrate that looks like a floating star or an underwater sunflower floats above nodules on the seabed.
National monuments have grown and shrunk under US presidents for over a century thanks to one law: The Antiquities Act

Monica Hubbard, Boise State University and Erika Allen Wolters, Oregon State University

A view across red buttes with a rainbow beyond.
What causes the powerful winds that fuel dust storms, wildfires and blizzards? A weather scientist explains

Chris Nowotarski, Texas A&M University

A big dust storm spreads over suburban streets in this aerial photo.
Global warming of more than 3°C this century may wipe 40% off the world’s economy, new analysis suggests

Timothy Neal, UNSW Sydney

woman in mask stands in front of screen showing stock values
Revoking EPA’s endangerment finding – the keystone of US climate policies – won’t be simple and could have unintended consequences

Patrick Parenteau, Vermont Law & Graduate School

A coal-fired power plant in West Virginia
Water cooperation is essential when countries share lakes and rivers – yet it’s been deteriorating in many places

Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft and Melissa McCracken, Tufts University

People wash clothes at the edge of Lake Chad with the sunsetting over the water.
America’s clean air rules boost health and the economy − charts show what EPA’s new deregulation plans ignore

Richard E. Peltier, UMass Amherst

A woman runs beside a river with a city in the background
Environmental protection laws still apply even under Trump’s national energy emergency − here’s why

Albert C. Lin, University of California, Davis

An underwater view of a large pipeline.
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Extreme weather + wildfires

Two bright lightning bolts from a dark storm cloud hit the water, with the lights of a town in the foreground.

The world regulated sulfur in ship fuels, and the lightning stopped

Chris Wright, University of Washington

If FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response on their own?

Ming Xie, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

A flag stands in front of rubble and parts of buildings.
Carolina wildfires followed months of weather whiplash, from drought to hurricane-fueled floods and back to drought

Lauren Lowman, Wake Forest University and Nick Corak, Wake Forest University

Fire burns a hillside next to a road.
NOAA’s vast public weather data powers the local forecasts on your phone and TV – a private company alone couldn’t match it

Christine Wiedinmyer, University of Colorado Boulder and Kari Bowen, University of Colorado Boulder

A man sits in front of a bank of computer screens showing hurricane storm surge warnings, a map and the hurricane radar image.
How America courted increasingly destructive wildfires − and what that means for protecting homes today

Justin Angle, University of Montana

Homes with fire in the hills behind them.
Read more about extreme weather

Biodiversity + environment

A bright blue butterfly with rows of yellow spots on its wing tips sits on a stalk of grass.

Butterflies declined by 22% in just 2 decades across the US – there are ways you can help save them

Eliza Grames, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Coastal economies rely on NOAA, from Maine to Florida, Texas and Alaska – even if they don’t realize it

Christine Keiner, Rochester Institute of Technology

Fishing boats at the Fishermens Terminal, the Homeport to the North Pacific Fishing Fleet, in Seattle in 2022.
How many types of insects are there in the world?

Nicholas Green, Kennesaw State University

A close-up shot of a garden fly, with a blue and yellow thorax and compound eyes of orange.
How are clouds’ shapes made? A scientist explains the different cloud types and how they help forecast weather

Ross Lazear, University at Albany, State University of New York

Clouds over a rocky coastline. One over mountains is circular.
Why do skiers sunburn so easily on the slopes? A snow scientist explains

Steven R. Fassnacht, Colorado State University

A skier with sunburn around the rims of where his goggles had sat.
Read more about environmental issues

Energy + infrastructure

A large cluster of industrial buildings and towers.

The US energy market has its troubles, though it may not be a ‘national emergency’

Seth Blumsack, Penn State

Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future − alongside the old one

Mike Shriberg, University of Michigan

A power line sags between older homes on a street in Ann Arbor.
Greenland’s rapidly melting ice and landslide-prone fjords make the oil and minerals Trump covets dangerous to extract

Paul Bierman, University of Vermont

Inuit village of Kulusuk in winter, Greenland
Trump’s offshore wind energy freeze: What states lose if the executive order remains

Barbara Kates-Garnick, Tufts University

Two workers stand on a dock with three large wind turbine blades on a ship in front of them.
3 ways Trump’s EPA could use the language of science to weaken pollution controls

Eric Nost, University of Guelph

A refinery with a large American flag on the side is lit up at night.
Read more about energy

Climate change

A lake with built-up sides and a snow-covered mountain in the background.

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions

Suzanne OConnell, Wesleyan University and Alton C. Byers, University of Colorado Boulder

The US military has cared about climate change since the dawn of the Cold War – for good reason

Paul Bierman, University of Vermont

Soldiers stand next to giant wheels on a supply train designed to cross the Greenland ice sheet. An Army “Sno-Train” at Camp Century during construction on the Greenland Ice Sheet in 1959. The tires, four feet wide and ten feet tall, were designed not to sink into soft snow. In the years that followed, the Camp Century ice core, vital to the Army’s mission to understand climate change, was carried off the ice sheet in wagons equipped with the same oversized tires.
How to find climate data and science the Trump administration removed from government websites

Eric Nost, University of Guelph and Alejandro Paz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

A scientist in a T-shirt works on a computer
How the oil industry and growing political divides turned climate change into a partisan issue

Joe Árvai, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Trump sits at a meeting about wildfires, with an image of a helicopter dumping water on a wildfire in the background.
Why the price of your favorite chocolate will continue to rise

Narcisa Pricope, Mississippi State University

Rows of different types of fancy chocolates in a display case
Read more about climate change

Environmental health

Avian flu virus has been found in raw milk − a reminder of how pasteurization protects health

Kerry E. Kaylegian, Penn State

Black and white dairy cows stand and lie in a muddy pasture
Cycling can make seniors healthier and more independent − here’s how to design bikes and networks that meet their needs

Anne Lusk, Boston University

A man and woman ride past townhouses on a two-seat, three-wheeled cycle
Carbon offsets can help bring energy efficiency to low-income Americans − our Nashville data shows it could be a win for everyone

Zdravka Tzankova, Vanderbilt University; Carol Ziegler, Vanderbilt University, and James Muchira, Vanderbilt University

A man installs in a heat pump on an older house.
Should I worry about mold growing in my home?

Nicholas Money, Miami University

A wall with splatters of mold growth
Read more about environmental health

Regulation + lawsuits

Supreme Court sides with San Francisco, requiring EPA to set specific targets in water pollution permits

Robin Kundis Craig, University of Kansas

aerial view of hundreds of people on a beach and in the surf
Supreme Court could narrow the scope of federal environmental reviews, with less consideration of how projects would contribute to climate change

J.B. Ruhl, Vanderbilt University

Two thick binders full of documents, topped with a gavel
3 ways the Trump administration could reinvest in rural America’s future

Randolph Hubach, Purdue University and Cody Mullen, Purdue University

A row of rural mailboxes with fields behind them.
What is a SLAPP suit? Legal experts explain how these lawsuits suppress free speech

Jennifer Safstrom, Vanderbilt University and Ryan Riedmueller, Vanderbilt University

Kayakers on a lake hold up a banner reading 'Choose water, not pipelines'
Read more about environmental regulation

The roles of government agencies

Agriculture secretary oversees food production, rural life, and nutrition programs that help millions afford healthy diets

Kathleen Merrigan, Arizona State University

A harvester pipes corn into a truck in a field covered with corn stalks
From watts to warheads: Secretary of energy oversees big science research and the US nuclear arsenal

Valerie Thomas, Georgia Institute of Technology and Margaret E. Kosal, Georgia Institute of Technology

A long silver bomb on a truck bed
How the EPA administrator protects public health, air, water and the environment

Stan Meiburg, Wake Forest University

A worker sprays water on a pile of waste dredged from the adjoining canal
Interior secretary manages vast lands that all Americans share − and can sway the balance between conservation and development

Emily Wakild, Boise State University

A man and two children wearing day parks look across a rocky canyon