Environment

Environment

Doherty's story began when he noticed a rise in bizarre medical conditions among the county's 45,000 residents, linked to toxins in the local water. Working with the county health office, the rancher-turned-official began a survey of 70 wells throughout his jurisdiction - 68 of which, his testing found, violated the federal limit for nitrates in drinking water. Of the first 30 homes he visited, Doherty told RS that 25 residents had recently had miscarriages, while six had lost a kidney.

In 2009, Swiss photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer set out to document the people suffering the first shocks of the climate crisis. They had just returned from China, where rapid, unregulated development has ravaged the natural landscapes. Back home, though, the debate still felt strangely theoretical. In 2009, you still had people who denied climate change, Braschler recalls. People said, This is media hype.'

Employee experience teams across Baton Rouge are restructuring how they think about workplace productivity, as a growing body of research quantifies the impact of environmental quality, air cleanliness, and hygiene conditions on cognitive performance, absenteeism, and operational effectiveness. While companies traditionally treated office cleaning as a basic operational necessity, recent studies indicate that variations in cleanliness correlate with measurable differences in employee output, attendance, and satisfaction.

If your home has high humidity levels, you might be hosting a family of booklice without even realising it. These tiny insects thrive in warm, damp conditions, feeding on mould and mildew that commonly form on cardboard, wallpaper and books. The fastest way to tackle the problem is by investing in one of the best dehumidifiers, which remove excess moisture from the air and help prevent further mould, dampness and condensation from forming.

An Atlantic hurricane season defined by political and climate disasters comes to a close on November 30th. It kicked off after DOGE's flurry of slashes to federal agencies. Employees who stayed on endured a tumultuous year, to say the least, at the National Weather Service (NWS). A series of strong storms brewed in the Atlantic this season. But for the first time in a decade, no hurricane made landfall in the US - sparing most Americans the worst of the season.

This Earth911 inspiration comes from American environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill: "I wake up in the morning asking myself what can I do today, how can I help the world today." Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image. Editor's Note: This poster was originally published on August 28, 2020.

Air conditioning accounts for 9% of electricity used on earth and 3.2% of all greenhouse gasses. Even if some countries like Germany shuns its use, air conditioning releases close to one billion tons of CO2 each year. As summers get longer and hotter; heatwaves become more commonplace; and tropical climates expand further north and south, the demand for climate control is set to grow significantly. This catch-22 dilemma seems insurmountable but new, more sustainable solutions are being developed as direly needed alternatives.

Precipitation is projected to be below normal statewide, meaning a generally drier season for areas from Houston to Amarillo. Snowfall will also be below normal, though parts of northern Texas could see a brief early snow event in mid-November. Otherwise, most Texans can expect a winter that feels more like an extended fall-mild afternoons, cooler nights, and fewer stormy systems than usual.

Little kids giddily squeal as a baby sea turtle, flippers flapping, lurches toward the water with the grace of a drunk lunging for a cab at closing time. Tourists applaud as about a dozen more palm-sized hatchlings stumble into the sea. The tourists had gathered at daybreak on an April day for the Velas Turtle Festival, on the western Indian coast, where volunteers invite visitors to watch them release baby turtles from a hatchery like an animal pen on the sand.

If your plans for the new year include trying to make your cleaning routine, well, cleaner, Dropps is making it easier (and cheaper) to upgrade your cleaning essentials right now. The brand just launched its Black Friday sale: 30% off sitewide, including bundles, from November 24 through December 1 with the code BFD2025. If you've been curious about eco-friendly laundry and dishwashing products that actually work, this is your moment to stock up.

The most successful Olympian in sailing's history is also the sport's equivalent of The Hulk: you really don't want to make him angry. So perhaps it's a good thing that there has been plenty to annoy him this year, not least that acrimonious split from his America's Cup team owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. In true Ainslie style, it only seems to have made him more dangerous. His Emirates GBR team top the SailGP championship going into this weekend's grand final.

There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded which will cause damage to buildings. Should there be any flooding there is a small chance there could be delays or cancellations to trains and buses. Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures amid the "heavy rains and there is a slight chance of power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses.

Temperatures plummeted this week across the eastern half of Europe, with the Alps dipping as low as -20C and to -8.5C in the Polish town of Zakopane in the Tatras Mountains. Heavy snow also affected other parts of Poland with 15-20cm of snow falling in much of the central swathe of the country and more than 40cm in the south towards the mountains. This occurred as an area of low pressure moved up from the Balkans and collided with cold Arctic air over Poland.

Ministers have been warned that Britain could face a looming gas supply crisis by the end of the decade and should draw up plans to guard against the emerging risk. The government's energy advisers urged ministers to address an emerging risk to gas supply security that could mean homes and businesses going without gas during a prolonged period of cold weather.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference. A $100-per-person charge for foreigners entering Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and other popular national parks is stoking apprehension among some tourist-oriented businesses that

The New Jersey-based company acknowledged violations in September 2025, admitting its Napoleon, Ohio canning plant illegally dumped wastewater more than 5,400 times from April 2018 to December 2024, breaking federal water pollution laws. Environmental groups sued Campbell's in March 2024, alleging repeated exceedances of effluent limits of pollutants were released into the Maumee River, which feeds into Lake Erie. A trial to determine penalties and cleanup requirements is scheduled for 2026.

It's a zero to hero story," said Gemma Webb, CEO of RetuRO, the company running the system in a public-private partnership with beverage packaging manufacturers and the state.

Sometimes a story begins where no one would expect it. That's exactly what happened to GOT BAG when an online purchase from Albania became the creative spark for an international brand campaign, bringing a herd of goats stumbling straight into the fashion world. What first appeared as an unusual order at the Mainz-based label turned out to be the starting point of a story you immediately want to share.

When I first started working at Wallasea it looked an awful lot like a construction site because that's what it was. But just 10 years on, there's no evidence of the diggers or trucks. There's just thousands and thousands of birds who now use it as a refuge, shelter and nursery for their chicks. It's an almost unbelievable transformation.

The ozone layer shields Earth's inhabitants from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation as it sits in the stratosphere 9-22 miles above Earth. Its depletion "increases the amount of UVB that reaches the Earth's surface" - and this can impact plants, marine ecosystems UVB causes non-melanoma skin cancer, per the EPA.

The NWS San Francisco CA states to anticipate, Visibility one quarter mile or less in dense fog. Low visibility could make driving conditions hazardous. Limited visibility will result in hazardous driving conditions, the NWS said. If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you. If commuting, allow extra drive time to reach your destination safely.

If you add in nuclear, then the US has reached a grid that is 40 percent emissions-free over the first nine months of 2025. That's up only 1 percent compared to the same period the year prior. And because coal emits more carbon than natural gas, it's likely the US will see a net increase in electricity-related emissions this year.

In a country famed for its large portion sizes, Americans toss out some 30-40% of the food produced. "We think of U.S. households wasting about a third of all their food that could be eaten," said Ted Jaenicke, a professor of agricultural economics at Pennsylvania State University who studies food waste and consumer purchasing behaviors. "Visually, that's buying three bags of groceries at the supermarket and putting one in the trash on your way out the door." Experts say the holiday season compounds the problem.

Megan O'Connor, cofounder and CEO of Nth Cycle, a Beverly, Mass.-based startup poised to disrupt the metal recycling industry with an electro-extraction system that can operate in very small facilities spread all over the world. The Nth Cycle process can handle up to five tons of material each day in a very compact facility - only 1,000 square feet, about the half the size of the typical retail storefront. That means in theory that materials could be recycled near the source and reused locally.

Earlier this fall, a flock of birds descended upon New York City, flying through the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. The arrival of these birds, however, isn't literal. They came to the city in the form of murals, thanks to the National Audubon Society's Mural Project. Since its launch more than 10 years ago, the project has produced 142 total murals around New York, with the goal of centering the birds most vulnerable to extinction from climate change.

There is just a beautiful layer of snow on the ground deep in the woods. And it is still and cold. I'm starting early, climbing a mountain called Wright Peak. That means moving through near darkness in the hour before sunrise. There's just enough light in the woods. I can see, but there's no color. It's just like I'm walking through this black and white world of snow and charcoal lines of the hemlock trees, the boughs already really heavy with snow.

Bashir Ahmed manoeuvres his frail craft with agility. His slender boat is more than just a means of transport. It is the legacy of a people who live to the rhythm of water: the Mohana. They have lived for generations on the waters of Lake Manchar in Sindh province, a vast freshwater mirror covering nearly 250 sq km. The lake, once the largest in Pakistan, was long an oasis of life. Now, it is dying.

Measuring in at just under 270,000 square miles, the state of Texas is home to sprawling cities and dazzling natural sites alike. And when it comes to experiencing both in one fell swoop, it's tough to find a better destination than Corpus Christi. While this Gulfside city comes equipped with a thriving dining scene and top-tier aquarium, it's also renowned for its high level of avian biodiversity, thanks to its location on the Central Flyway migration path, earning it the nickname "America's Birdiest City."

Military helicopters dropped equipment to residents gathered on rooftops, while other aircraft flew in key materials like generators, oxygen tanks and drinking water. The country's aircraft carrier, Chakri Narubet, set out from its home port on Tuesday to join the relief efforts, the navy said. The government also appealed to the public for the donation of useful relief equipment such as boats or Jet Skis.