From a sociological perspective, we rake because no one wants to be the neighbor with the messy lawn, but ecologically speaking, the benefits of a little mess outweigh the merits of a pristine yard.

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to make combating climate change a central pillar of his administration. And he campaigned on rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement.

A first-of-its-kind assessment of coral reefs in U.S. waters is again sounding the alarm over the continued decline of these sensitive underwater ecosystems, which scientists deem essential to the health of the world’s oceans.

A strong cold front is moving toward Chicago, bringing fast-moving thunderstorms, plunging temperatures and the threat of damaging wind gusts and tornadoes.

Pumpkin Smash events are taking place Saturday throughout the Chicago area as part of an effort to keep the hefty Halloween jack-o’-lanterns out of landfills. 

Between 8% and 9% of the trash produced every year by Chicago residents is kept out of landfills, officials said Friday — acknowledging that the city’s efforts to boost Chicago’s recycling rate remain stalled.

The holidays are shaping up to be quite different in 2020, but Chicago is still officially putting on a festive face. 

Chicago tied a record Wednesday for high temperature when the mercury hit 74 degrees at O’Hare Airport, and more records could fall in the coming days.

An upcoming virtual tour will offer insights into the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s inner workings and will revisit the reversal of the Chicago River. 

We gain an hour this weekend when daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. 

Saturday’s full moon will be the second one in October, earning the label “blue moon.” It’ll have a red companion, in the form of Mars. 

The trail, which took nearly 60 years to complete, was one of 30 designated a National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

From eating mosquitoes to restoring rainforests to making tequila (sort of), bats are amazing. The creature gets its due during International Bat Week, running through Oct. 31.

Opponents of the Obama Presidential Center care more about trees and traffic than they do about people impacted by decades of systemic disinvestment, proponents of the project said in an open letter.

Leaves don’t belong in the streets, or in dumpsters. Call 311 for a yard waste pickup after you’ve raked and bagged your leaves.

When the pandemic hit, city officials found there was a significant information gap when trying to collect race and ethnicity data. What researchers at DePaul University is doing to help narrow that gap.