AGRICULTUREThe Greening of a Desert: How a Youth-Led Group Is Bringing Fresh Food to Underserved Areas of a City
A food desert, as defined by the USDA, is an area where a substantial number of residents lack access to a supermarket or grocery store. The difficulty in obtaining affordable fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats can lead to poor diets and conditions such as obesity or diabetes. Research shows that food deserts occur more in low-income areas of cities, but one group of students is working to change that statistic with a fresh approach.
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MAKING WAVESWhat Goes Up,
Tells Us What Will Come Down
Twice a day hundreds of people around the globe release large, tan balloons into the atmosphere. Weather balloons are still the go-to tool for meteorologists to get a true snapshot of how the atmosphere is at the moment at a specific location. What can these balloons tell us that satellites can’t? And, with balloons and satellites, why is the forecast sometimes just...wrong?
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WATER LAWHell and High Water—Unexpected Troubles Along Colorado's South Platte River
Many people in Colorado are facing a problem you’d never expect to find in the arid West: too much water. In places along the South Platte River, which flows from the Rockies through Denver to the northeast, basements are flooding, sewage systems are being damaged, and rising water is leaving salt in farmers’ fields, robbing them of productivity. The situation is vexing and has been the subject of numerous meetings of state officials, farmers, and water experts. But no lasting solution has been found. The real question is whether the state’s water law that goes back to the Gold Rush era is flexible enough to deal with the issue.
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Headlines for the week
ending Sept. 17, 2017
Federal and state regulators have not released contamination levels after Hurricane Harvey, so environmental groups, as
well as
the New York Times, studied the air and water themselves.
The U.S. and Mexico are close to extending an agreement about the Colorado River.
There was a major victory for environmental groups suing to
block federal coal leases.
Even before a major earthquake struck Chiapas
in southern Mexico about a week ago, another problem was plaguing some local townspeople—their water
was disappearing.
There really might be an "Octopus's Garden."
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