For thousands of years, one tree species defined the cultural and ecological identity of what is now the American South: the longleaf pine. The forest once stretched across 92 million acres from Virginia to Texas, but about 5% of that original forest remains. It was one of North America’s richest ecosystems, and it nearly disappeared.

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Snow has returned to the Philadelphia region, and along with it the white residues on streets and sidewalks that result from the over-application of deicers such as sodium chloride, or rock salt, as well as more modern salt alternatives.

As an environmental scientist who studies water pollution, I know that much of the excess salt ...Read more

Winter Storm Fern brought Colorado’s mountain towns a bit of what they’ve spent weeks hoping for.

It snowed 23 inches (58 centimeters) at the Crested Butte ski resort over the weekend of Jan. 24-25, 2026. Aspen Snowmass got 13 inches (33 cm).

It was a welcome change in Colorado, where the ski season is off to a slow start....Read more

CHICAGO — Shortly after her arrival last fall, Amelia Gray met Hudson, and the pair hit it off immediately. They touched their noses together in greeting and chuffed — a soft, breathy, snorting sound that signals affection or reassurance. Amelia Gray rolled on her back, gently pawing at her counterpart. Later that same day, they played in ...Read more

Microsoft Corp. is rolling out its second-generation artificial intelligence chip, the centerpiece of the company’s push to power its services more efficiently and provide an alternative to Nvidia Corp. hardware.

The Maia 200 chip, which is being produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., is making its way to Microsoft data centers ...Read more

SpaceX is set to launch its latest national security mission, yet another GPS satellite that was originally to have been launched by United Launch Alliance.

A Falcon 9 that was delayed from Monday because of weather is now set to lift off Tuesday night on the GPS III-9 mission to bring the satellite to medium-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral ...Read more

When people think about agricultural pollution, they often picture what is easy to see: fertilizer spreaders crossing fields or muddy runoff after a heavy storm. However, a much more significant threat is quietly and invisibly building in the ground.

Across some of the most productive farmland in the United States, a nutrient called ...Read more

The ocean is under increasing pressure. Everyday human activities, from shipping to oil and gas exploration to urban pollution, are affecting the marine environment. Extensive research shows how this combination of stressors represents one of the greatest threats to marine wildlife, potentially affecting biodiversity on a global scale.

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MIAMI — In lush South Florida, trees and bushes grow all year round. And that means yard waste and dead trees never stop piling up. But leaving them in a landfill is a climate-warming issue.

Two South Florida governments think they have a new solution — light it on fire, but in a planet-friendly way.

Miami-Dade County and Coral Gables, one...Read more

Their eyes were watching. Some knew something was wrong. Others were slow to realize. Soon everyone came to grief.

Forty years ago Space Shuttle Challenger climbed into the clear amid blue skies over Cape Canaveral. The nation’s youth watched on TVs across the nation and from school playgrounds across Central Florida.

Christa McAuliffe was ...Read more

One llama is sprawled on the grass with its neck craned, basking in a patch of sunshine. Another stands on a dirt hill, ears flattened defiantly. A third rushes to greet visitors with a friendly nuzzle.

This isn’t a petting zoo. The furry beasts are in Belgium for work.

Scientists have discovered the potential of the animals’ antibodies ...Read more

A severe winter storm sweeping across the central and eastern U.S. in late January 2026 is threatening states from Texas to New England with crippling freezing rain, sleet and snow. Several governors issued states of emergency as forecasters warned of hazardous travel conditions, dangerous wind chills and power outages amid bitter cold ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — With frustrating meetings on a near-daily basis, the seven states that share the Colorado River are scrambling to deliver any semblance of an agreement as they gear up for a high-profile discussion with the Trump administration next week.

About 40 million people — and economically vital farms — in the American West rely on the...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Andrew Marshall has ruffled some feathers in his volunteer role caring for Lake Eola’s swans. Now, following the deaths of dozens of those swans over the past month, he’s demanding more be done to protect them.

A petition he started after an avian flu outbreak erupted in late December urges the city to create a full ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Trump administration on Friday gave its approval for plans to build Sites Reservoir, a vast 13-mile-long off-stream lake north of Sacramento that would provide water to 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmland and 24 million people, including residents of Santa Clara County, parts of the East Bay and Los Angeles.

The U....Read more

The last time the Seahawks hosted the NFC Championship Game in 2015, Seattle was a much different city and Lumen Field was a different stadium.

To be sure, to the untrained eye the Sodo gridiron doesn't look much different from the CenturyLink Field days. But 11 years brings change for both the fans' experience and their expectations. Among the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For more than a year, a Texas oil firm has clashed with California officials over controversial plans to restart offshore oil operations along the Santa Barbara County coast.

Now, California’s feud with Sable Offshore Corp. has spread to the Trump administration.

On Friday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that...Read more

It was a rare White House rebuke to the crypto industry: Don’t take your newfound political muscle in Washington for granted.

A week after Coinbase Global Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong helped stall sweeping cryptocurrency legislation in the Senate, White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt took to X to express his displeasure ...Read more

MIAMI — It’s no secret that Florida’s iconic coral reefs are in trouble.

Repeated body blows from hurricanes, pollution, disease, climate change — and a near-knockout punch from a 2023 marine heat wave — has effectively wiped several species off the map and shrunk the reefs that stretch from the Keys throughout South Florida.

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