Environment

As Wells Dry Up, Calif. County Aims To Streamline Solutions For Water

3:47pm May 26, 2015

by Ezra Romero

The lack of rain has hit all of California hard but perhaps no place more than Tulare County, an hour south of Fresno. It's home to 60 percent of the residential wells that have gone dry in the state.

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In Drought-Ridden Taiwan, Residents Adapt To Life With Less Water

6:45pm May 25, 2015

by Rob Ballenger

In Taiwan, businesses and residents have been learning to adapt to life with less water. The island country is coping with its worst drought in decades.

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The Speck air quality monitor costs $200, but is available to all through Pittsburgh's public library system.

A Home Air Quality Monitor That Can Be Checked Out From The Library

6:54pm May 24, 2015

by Larkin Page-Jacobs

In polluted Pittsburgh, a new device from a local university helps residents assess indoor air. It's not the only monitor on the market — but is the only one available to borrow from a public library.

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Oil-Soaked Wildlife Turn Up On California Coast, As Cleanup Efforts Continue

9:49pm May 23, 2015

by Nathan Rott

Workers continue to clean the coastline near Santa Barbara, where some 105,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled. Several pelicans, both dead and alive, have been found soaked in oil.

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Santa Barbara Oil Spill Reopens Fierce Environmental Debate

9:48pm May 23, 2015

The long-term environmental impacts of this week's oil spill in California may not be clear for some time. Meantime, the spill has reignited a fierce local debate over off-shore oil drilling.

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A bird covered in oil flaps its wings at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif., on Thursday. More than 9,000 gallons of oil have been raked, skimmed and vacuumed from a spill that stretched across 9 miles of California coast, just a fraction of the

Pipeline Operator: Possibly Months To Determine Cause Of Calif. Spill

6:35pm May 22, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Plains All American, the company that operates the pipeline, says it has yet to uncover the problem. So far, 9,000 gallons of sludge have been removed from a 9-mile stretch near Santa Barbara.

Plankton collected in the Pacific Ocean with a 0.1mm mesh net. Seen here is a mix of multicellular organisms — small zooplanktonic animals, larvae and single protists (diatoms, dinoflagellates, radiolarians) — the nearly invisible universe at the bott

Revealed: The Ocean's Tiniest Life At The Bottom Of The Food Chain

5:54pm May 22, 2015

by Christopher Joyce

The ocean's tiniest inhabitants — including bacteria, plankton, krill — are food for most everything that swims or floats. Now, scientists have completed a count of this vast and diverse hidden world.

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A helicopter coordinates ships below pulling booms to collect oil from a spill near Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif., on Wednesday.

Pipeline Operator In Calif. Spill Reportedly Had History Of Infractions

4:29pm May 21, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Plains All American Pipeline had accumulated 175 safety and maintenance infractions since 2006, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, people walk on a beach with an oil slick from a broken pipeline off the central California coast near Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

Oil Spill Near Santa Barbara Fouls California Coastline

6:51pm May 20, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

A pipeline rupture spilled some 105,000 gallons of crude. Some beaches were evacuated, and it's unclear if they will reopen in time for Memorial Day.

The White House announced an action plan Tuesday aimed at reversing dramatic declines in pollinators like honeybees, which play a vital role in agriculture, pollinating everything from apples and almonds to squash.

Pollinator Politics: Environmentalists Criticize Obama Plan To Save Bees

12:09pm May 20, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

The White House's strategy to reverse dramatic declines in bee numbers calls for the restoration of 7 million acres of bee-friendly habitat. Critics say the plan ignores a key culprit: pesticides.

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