Agriculture

"Two new reports draw attention to the scant laws safeguarding farmworkers’ health, including from worsening extreme heat."

"The American West contains 620,000 miles of fencing, threatening the migration of pronghorn, mule deer and other species."

"Earthworms are often seen as a welcome presence in gardens, and even on fishing hooks. But in the Northeast, experts say invasive "crazy worms" from Asia are creating havoc in forests — and they say the unusual worms are a danger to animals and plants, and especially to sugar maple trees."

"Lake Mead has declined to its lowest level since the reservoir was filled in the 1930s following the construction of Hoover Dam, marking a new milestone for the water-starved Colorado River in a downward spiral that shows no sign of letting up."

"The Biden administration is planning to restore wetlands protections lost under a Trump-era rule that promotes development, the EPA announced Wednesday."

"Global warming is likely to make India’s monsoon season wetter and more dangerous, new research suggests."

"Fears of a confrontation between law enforcement and rightwing militia supporters over the control of water in the drought-stricken American west have been sparked by protests at Klamath Falls in Oregon."

"Each year Lake Oroville helps water a quarter of the nation’s crops, sustain endangered salmon beneath its massive earthen dam and anchor the tourism economy of a Northern California county that must rebuild seemingly every year after unrelenting wildfires."

"Long before the era of fossil fuels, humans may have triggered a massive but mysterious “carbon bomb” lurking beneath the Earth’s surface, a new scientific study suggests. If the finding is correct, it would mean that we have been neglecting a major human contribution to global warming — one whose legacy continues."