Natural Resources

"Hotshot fire crews work on the front lines of the biggest wildfires in the American West. We rode along with them."

"Deep inside a forest in Oregon’s Willamette River Valley stands a dead “Tree of Life.” Its foliage, normally soft and green, is tough and brown or missing altogether."

"In a dark, unexplored layer of ocean, a hidden cache of fish might play an unexpected role in our climate’s future. It seems like a bad time for a new fishery."

"A treasure trove of metal is hiding at the bottom of the ocean. Potato-size nodules of iron and manganese litter the seafloor, and metal-rich crusts cover underwater mountains and chimneys along hydrothermal vents. Deep-sea mining companies have set their sights on these minerals, aiming to use them in batteries and electronics. Environmentalists warn that the mining process and the plumes of sediment it would dump back into the sea could affect marine life."

"Mining the critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries could threaten local water supply and Indigenous culture."

"Monsoon rains have finally passed and floods blocking the lone dirt road have retreated enough for a small truck to climb these Himalayan foothills to a gurgling spring. It spews water so fresh that people here call it nectar."

"Authorities were using skimmers and remote vehicles to respond to an oil leak off the coast of Plaquemines Parish on Monday, with more than a million gallons having potentially been spilled, the Coast Guard said."

"Quinault Nation shuttered its fall coho fishery a month early this year after harvest numbers came in at just a fraction of what was expected. Now, fishery leaders have called on the state to do the same."

"Southern staples like magnolia trees and camellias may now be able to grow without frost damage in once-frigid Boston. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ” plant hardiness zone map ” was updated Wednesday for the first time in a decade, and it shows the impact that climate change will have on gardens and yards across the country."

"The latest round of negotiations to craft a treaty to end global plastic pollution closed late on Sunday after strained talks in Nairobi, Kenya, where delegates failed to reach a consensus on how to advance a draft of the treaty after a week of negotiations."