climate change

In the arid Mountain West, rivers are under growing pressure — from climate change, drought and rising demand for water. But new research from New Mexico suggests some river ecosystems may be more resilient than they appear.

Stretches of calm weather in the mountains might seem harmless, but they can quietly increase avalanche danger over time. And traveling in groups doesn’t always make skiers and snowshoers safer. That’s one of the key takeaways from experts in the Sierra Nevada, where one of the deadliest avalanches in U.S. history recently struck near Lake Tahoe.

As winters begin to warm, trees and plants preemptively begin to bloom, elongating our allergy seasons. Allergy seasons have significant health implications.

Conservation groups filed a lawsuit on March 2 challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of federal protections for the greater sage-grouse across nine states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

A new report finds 2025 brought widespread drought, massive wildfires and destructive windstorms across several Mountain West states — and underscores how closely connected those disasters have become.

A coalition of public lands advocates and historians has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of censoring American history and science at national parks, including several in the Mountain West.

More than a century after the Mountain West’s silver and gold rushes, mercury used to process those metals is still moving through a northern Nevada river system and showing up in local wildlife.

The power grid across Western states is under growing strain. Now, a new report argues the region’s governments and utilities need to work together to keep the lights on and costs down.

A new report from climate central shows that extremely warm winter days are on the rise.

Electric vehicles are becoming more common across the country. But in the Mountain West, long distances, rural roads and wide-open spaces can make switching to electric more challenging.