A low-flying helicopter, towing what looks like a giant hula hoop, is set to pass over a wide swath of the state's midsection into Northwest Indiana, surveying the Illinois River watershed. 

It’s a public relations challenge that could determine whether the country meets President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

Looks like we’re going to have to come up with replacements for terms like “starstruck” and “starry-eyed.” Scientists say the visibility of stars is rapidly fading as light pollution increases.

PFAS are called "forever chemicals" because they fail to break down easily in the environment. Chemicals leach into the nation's drinking water and accumulate in the bodies of fish, shellfish, livestock, dairy and game animals.

The board will help ensure the growth, maintenance and health of Chicago’s tree canopy for generations to come, officials said. The group’s first meeting could come as early as February.

With temperatures averaging in the mid to high 30s, Chicago is seeing its fourth warmest January on record. Climatologist Trent Ford said the only years that were warmer were 1880, 1939 and 2006.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation has announced the 50 finalists in the contest. Voting is open to Chicago residents through Jan. 31.

Remember the pair of mountain lions (aka cougars, aka pumas, aka panthers) that wandered into Illinois last fall? Scientists say folks east of the Mississippi should expect more of such sightings.

January and February are prime months for bald eagle watching in Illinois, with some 3,000 of the raptors hanging out in the state during the winter.

Supporters of Promontory Point can breathe a sigh of relief that the peninsula's much loved stair-step limestone wall is poised, finally, to become protected from attempts to replace it with concrete.

The road to city landmark status for Promontory Point starts at Thursday’s meeting of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Supporters have been fighting to protect the lakefront peninsula for more than 20 years.

According to NASA, the comet would last have been seen in the night sky more than 10,000 years ago — millennia before the birth of human civilization — and it may never pass this way again.

The funding, established through the 2022 climate and health law signed by President Joe Biden, marks the largest environmental justice grants the agency has ever offered.

Lincoln Park Zoo announced it welcomed not one, not two, but three lion cubs on Monday. The zoo had been on lion watch since early December, when staff confirmed 4-year-old African lion Zari was pregnant.

The six recommended appointees to the board, which was created in June 2021, all received unanimous support during a key committee hearing. Next up is a full Chicago City Council vote.

"Despite promising signs of recovery the first 48 hours, the bird took a very rapid turn for the worst," Willowbrook Wildlife Center shared on social media.