National (U.S.)

"Artificial turf carpets athletic fields, playgrounds, and residential lawns across the US, offering a low-maintenance alternative to natural grass that always looks lush and doesn’t require heavy watering. But while this popular synthetic material is marketed as eco-friendly, it has also long attracted controversy – for decades, environmental and health advocates have expressed concern about the chemical byproducts of the turf’s plastic fibers."

"In an iconic corner of the Grand Canyon, a uranium mine may threaten a tribe’s sole water source"

"An Indiana-based philanthropic endowment will give $100 million to the official nonprofit of the National Park Service (NPS), the largest gift the organization has ever received."

"A rare but deadly disease spread by mosquitoes has one town in Massachusetts closing its parks and fields each evening. Four other towns are urging people to avoid going outdoors at night."

"Extreme heat killed more Americans in 2023 than any other year over nearly a quarter century of records, according to research published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association."

"Researchers in California are working to genetically engineer the cow microbiome -- and in the process, eliminate methane emissions."

"After World War II, Black people in Houston found the rare chance to buy a nice home in the new community of Pleasantville, Texas. But in the years that followed, officials routed the Interstate 610 loop with its tailpipe exhaust along one side of Pleasantville and cement plants and other heavy industry grew nearby."

"The U.S. is pretty much only building clean energy these days, and mostly solar and batteries. That’s good news — but the pace still needs to pick up."

"As heat waves become more frequent and intense, researchers and activists say the lack of precise data is leading to needless fatalities."

"Conflicting federal policies may force thousands of residents in flood-prone areas to pay more for flood insurance or be left unaware of danger posed by dams built upstream from their homes and worksites, according to an Associated Press review of federal records and data."