Some of the improved U.S. carbon numbers can be attributed to increases in gas obtained through fracking. But those numbers ignore the methane fracking emits. And moving carbon-intensive manufacturing off shore does nothing to help global emission totals.
It's finally spring and time to plant vegetables, herbs and flowers in your garden. Two experts from the Missouri Botancial Garden recommend the best varirties and tips for making your garden grow.
With the price of flood insurance on the rise and climate change likely to worsen Midwest flooding, a scientific panel wants federal emergency officials to modernize the outmoded tools used to analyze the probability and impact of floods.
Experts from the Midwest and the Netherlands are gathering to examine climate change and the Mississippi. The recent volatility of the climate — floods followed by drought — suggests that climate change is at work. The big question is: How do we cope and adapt to these changes?
We normally shrug off idiotic broadcast misstatements as harmless bloopers. But the adage to the contrary notwithstanding, the things we don’t know actually can hurt us. This is especially true when our ignorance provides the foundation for public policy on such things as global warming.
Energy issues such as oil production, pipelines, green energy and coal have become central to this year's presidential contest, but -- even at a time of severe weather events such as Hurricane Sandy and last summer's severe drought -- climate change has not emerged as an issue.
A coming typhoon may be the immediate worry, but Pat Raven (in Taipei with her husband, Peter. at a conference on biodiversity) sees a worse long-term threat in climate change. Scientists in Taiwan say they could lose 10 percent of their productive land.
A new study says St. Louis suffers from more - and harsher - heat waves now than it did a half century ago. Is the trend related to global climate change?
A group of reseachers from Maryville University has begun studying how global warming might throw off the established relationship between plants and pollinators – a development with big consequences for agriculture and the environment.
The signs of an early spring are evident all over town -- dandelions, periwinkles and maples already in flower; the buds of the dogwoods and magnolias swelling in anticipation of bloom. It makes me heartsick to know that a killing freeze will likely come later and mow them all down.
Extreme weather · Flooding · Tornadoes · Agriculture · Drought · Energy policy · Mississippi River flood control · Flood insurance
Jean Hutson · Ted Mathys · Kyra Krakos · Barbara Boxer · Pamela Walker · Mitt Romney · Barack Obama · John Hoal · Derek Hoeferlin · Dale Morris
Environment Missouri · National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration · NOAA · Maryville University · Union Of Concerned Scientists · U.S. Senate Environment And Public Works Committee · Missouri Botanical Garden
When you register with the Beacon, you can save your searches as news alerts, rsvp for events, manage your donations and receive news and updates from the Beacon team.
Take a look at our tutorials to help you get the hang of the new site.
Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
While the governor has commonly vetoed bills from the GOP-controlled legislature since he took office in 2009, this year may provide a test of how much weight his objections hold. That’s because for the first time since he became governor, Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
With congressional probes of the Internal Revenue Service and Benghazi likely to remain in the spotlight, both allies and critics of President Barack Obama are predicting that fallout from those and other revelations could endanger key parts of his second-term agenda.
They arrived four years ago as fifth-graders, behind in their work and not used to rigorous classes, but they've advanced rapidly and have a strong academic grounding for high school.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
“We speak in old language in a new witty way with contemporary feel,” Sean Curran said about the OTSL production of "Pirates of Penzance," which is set in the 1870s. Much of the Gilbert and Sullivan satire, however, focuses on still-relevant human foibles, government officials’ ineptitude and opera excesses.
The feeling is openness, with soaring, airy spaces planned for easy and logical circulation and planned to reveal art not only to its best advantage but also appropriately and respectfully. Still, the building is notable more for its architectural reticence than its audacity.
When a Chicago photographer found more than a thousand unidentified slides, he set out to discover the couple behind them -- with a little help from social media.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Eleven IT entrepreneurs vied for the attention of more than 70 investors at Capital Innovators' annual Demo Day. This year's crop of hopefuls wooed potential investors with eight-minute presentations on a wide variety of business ideas.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
The Academy of Science-St. Louis hosts tours of EarthDance, an organic farm, and the Monsanto Agronomics and Breeding Facility May 21-22. The workshop is meant to prompt discussion and answer questions about these two competing philosophies of food production.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
When the Civil War broke out, Grant rejoined the military. He may not have liked it, but it was what he was good at: fighting. The battle that cemented his reputation began 150 years ago yesterday.
Democracy is our answer to perhaps our most difficult ethical problem: How do we ethically protect the social cooperation that makes our society strong, while respecting the rights of individuals to pursue vastly divergent visions of the good life and deeply conflicting moral and political beliefs?
When the first group of students who entered KIPP Inspire charter school in south St. Louis were ready to be promoted out to area high schools, seeing how they've done was a natural follow-up.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.