Environment

What Is Lake Effect Snow, Anyway?

The town of Michigan City, Indiana, woke up on January 19, 2024, to a winter surprise: Three feet of snow had inundated the small...

Dogs Are More Than Just Cute — They’re Conservationists

To be a successful conservationist, you must be focused, enthusiastic, athletic, enjoy the outdoors and have a great sense of smell. Willow Lock, who...

Thrilling Tornado Tours Are Taking the Midwest by Storm

Every year, about 1,000 tornadoes touch down in the United States. They can reach wind speeds anywhere from 72 to 300 mph. Yet rather...

A Rural Illinois Community Fights Back Against Factory Farms

After hearing that a confined feeding operation was to be constructed within view from her house, DeWeerth was unsure what this would mean and what she should do about it. So she did her homework, and in doing so, rallied the troops to protect the way of life she and her community had enjoyed for generations. This story, produced in partnership with the Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund, combines data and narrative to chronicle DeWeerth’s journey.

Listening for Wonder With the U.S. Poet Laureate at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Still, there are mysteries below our sky:the whale song, the songbird singingits call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree. We are creatures of constant...

From Fury Road to Green Havens: What Mad Max Teaches Us About Climate Change

About two-thirds of the way into 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Furiosa (Charlize Theron) falls to her knees and lets out a cathartic scream...

From Lots to Gardens, Urban Farming Is Mitigating Food Insecurity in Detroit

On a one-acre plot in Southwest Detroit, what was once a vacant parking lot now abounds with seasonal produce: lettuce, chives, and herbs like...

In America’s Heartland, Homesteading Is Making a Comeback

Shawn and Beth Dougherty own 25 acres of a home-farm called Sow’s Ear in eastern Ohio, where they raise cows, pigs and poultry and...

Iowa’s Small but Mighty Organic Farmers Are Growing Industry Change

A quick Google search of Iowa yields unsurprising results. Maps and cityscapes beside endless photos of rolling cornfields: near-eternal rows of tender stalks shooting...

It May Be Too Late for the Early Bird — Colors of Climate Change, Episode 6

Birders in northern Ohio are seeing fewer of the species they used to reliably find, and evidence suggests climate change may be the culprit. This episode will explore the ways in which Ohio’s non-human residents are at risk due to climate change — and how this reflects the risk posed to human life, as well.

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