Environment

Narrow-headed garter snake
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit on Aug. 22 accusing two federal agencies of failing to protect the habitats of two snake species in Arizona and New Mexico.
Aug. 22, 2023
woman wades across the Rio Grande
Texas installed roughly 1000-feet of giant orange buoys are held together by sharp metal pieces and surrounded by barbed wire earlier this year.
Aug. 21, 2023
Kevin Hultine
There’s perhaps no symbol more strongly associated with Arizona than the saguaro cactus. But this summer’s record-breaking heat has been so extreme, even some of these desert-adapted plants have died. And scientists are concerned about the future of the species in a warming climate.
Aug. 21, 2023
A flood watch for Hurricane Hilary is issued by the National Weather Service.
Sixteen water rescue specialists from the Phoenix Fire Department are being sent to Yuma. They will be staged there to prepare for flooding that may occur as a result of Tropical Storm Hilary.
Aug. 20, 2023
Coronado National Forest
Forest officials have announced thinning and piling projects for a swath of the Coronado National Forest. Operations will begin in September and span near 800 acres to include areas of Mt. Lemmon and Willow Canyon.
Aug. 19, 2023
Arizona Humane Society emergency response gear
Five members of the Arizona Humane Society’s emergency response team are in Maui to help with search and rescue efforts of pets in the aftermath of deadly wildfires.
Aug. 19, 2023
Tree and rocks on the banks of the creek
The Forest Service has closed the road leading to a popular recreation area that only recently reopened to the public in the Coconino National Forest.
Aug. 18, 2023
Blue bird in a tree
The population has dwindled by 80% in the last 50 years and play an essential role in the health of pinyon and juniper forests.
Aug. 17, 2023
Quail using the catchment water system
The effects of this summer's record setting heat on humans and plants have been well documented. There have been reports of shoes melting, and saguaros falling. But through our Q&AZ reporting project a listener asked, how are wildlife surviving this Arizona summer?
Aug. 17, 2023
solar panels
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act a year ago to help promote clean energy and reduce the impacts of climate change. The act has had positive effects for Arizona residents.
Aug. 16, 2023
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Utah recently lost a bid to reduce the size of a pair of national monuments in the state when a judge ruled against it. This is not its first attempt to assert control over public lands.
Aug. 16, 2023
drop from a water faucet
The federal government is slightly easing restrictions on Colorado River water after a wet winter helped boost reservoir levels. But Phoenix water managers say the city will remain under a stage one water alert.
Aug. 16, 2023
Phoenix is looking for a nonprofit to take over operations at a remote youth camp located far north of the city.
Aug. 16, 2023
Yellowed leaves silhouetted in the sun.
From Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego to state and federal lawmakers, leaders across Arizona have been urging Congress to pass a bill that would give the Federal Emergency Management Agency the power to declare a new kind of emergency – extreme heat.
Aug. 16, 2023
An oil well in northern Utah
Eastern Utah’s Uinta Basin has more than 10,000 active oil and gas wells. Local environmentalists have dubbed it Mordor — a grim reference to “The Lord of the Rings.” The sparsely populated area has air quality as poor as Beijing.
Aug. 16, 2023
Lake Powell
The Bureau of Reclamation has released its annual operating conditions report for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which offered a mixed assessment of the Colorado River.
Aug. 15, 2023
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed delisting the Apache trout from the endangered species list. But biologists will continue to work on conserving the native trout.
Aug. 15, 2023
An aerial photo of Phoenix
While we’ve heard a lot about the effects of the heat this summer — the unhoused people who are most at risk, the cost of cooling our homes, the urban heat island effect that’s making it harder for the city to cool down at night — it's also important to talk about why this is happening. In a phrase: climate change.
Aug. 15, 2023
Melanie Tluczek
The Show spoke with Melanie Tluczek, the director of science and education at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy in north Scottsdale, to find out what’s happening to local plants in the heat and why.
Aug. 15, 2023
Jonah Yellowman
But President Joe Biden restored Bears Ears National Monument, which was created to protect archeological sites in southern Utah, to roughly its original size. He also restored Grand Staircase Escalante.
Aug. 14, 2023

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