Stories
The ground is starting to thaw on a gray Saturday afternoon in late March, which means it’s almost time for Albie Barden to prepare his fields for corn. Barden usually plants two or three varieties of corn at his home every year in Norridgewock, Maine. When growing season is over and the corn is harvested,…
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Sean O’Donnell started growing grains about 10 years ago at Rusted Rooster Farm, 45 minutes north of Skowhegan on the border of Maine’s Somerset and Piscataquis counties. He began on a small scale, using grains as a cover crop planted in rotation with other crops to improve the health of the soil. He and his…
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The World Bank says the fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of global emissions, leading some brands to take stock of their outsized carbon footprints. New Balance Athletics operates three factories in Maine and has pledged to be net zero by 2050. The company’s factories churn out thousands of sneakers every day. An MIT…
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Sneezing. Scratchy eyes. Car windshields caked with yellow-green buildup. These are the signs of spring that New England allergy-sufferers (including this reporter) greet with disdain. Despite heralding the triumphant return of our local plant life, these gifts feel more like lumps of coal. We’re early in the pollen season here in the Northeast, with most trees…
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Plunked on a southern New England shoreline is an understated and misunderstood ecosystem: Great Meadows Marsh in Stratford, Conn. For decades, that site was treated as an ugly nuisance, but it’s the focus of a $4 million restoration project aiming to make the coast more resilient to climate change. Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart…
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On a frigid winter day, University of Maine Farmington professors Julia Daly and Rachel Hovel load up their gear on a sled and head out on skis and snowshoes to Midway Pond near Saddleback Mountain in Western Maine. While this area is well known for outdoor recreation, scientists are also beginning to learn just…
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Lakes across the world are getting saltier. New Hampshire is no exception. In New Hampshire, road de-icing salt is the main culprit – that’s the salt we sprinkle on highways in the winter. And climate change is exacerbating salinization – more rain and snow in the winter, along with an increase in freeze and thaw…
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As climate change causes winters to warm in the Northeast, the town of Hanover, N.H., has decided to end a yearly winter tradition for good due to unpredictable weather. Hanover’s annual Occum Pond Party was a keystone event in the town, with ice castles and snow sculptures drawing thousands of participants to celebrate winter on…
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A popular seafood ranking guide is considering “red listing” American lobster and other New England fisheries for the danger they pose to endangered North Atlantic right whales. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Seafood Watch” list is used by grocery stores and restaurants like Whole Foods, Red Lobster and Aramark to inform their purchases. But Massachusetts lobstermen are pushing…
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There’s a new bug in town. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have spotted the southern pine beetle, an insect that feeds on pine trees and can kill them in large numbers, in New Hampshire. This is the first time the insect has been seen this far north – and Jeff Garnas, an associate…
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