Environment

The thousands of red-winged blackbirds that fell over Beebe, Arkansas, on New Year’s Eve 2010 became an early social-media mystery. Pollution, secret weapons and apocalyptic theories circulated before laboratory evidence…

Mercury pollution has fallen from several major U.S. sources, but the public-health problem has not disappeared. The important update in 2026 is that progress at smokestacks coexists with persistent mercury…

Arctic ice melting is no longer defined by a single record-low summer. The bigger story in 2026 is structural: the ice pack is younger, thinner and less able to survive…

Farm animal waste is still an environmental hazard, but the 2026 story is no longer simply “manure is pollution.” Manure is a valuable fertilizer and energy feedstock when nutrients match…

Common birds in decline are no longer a niche conservation story. The latest national evidence shows that losses once associated mainly with rare species now run through familiar backyards, farms,…