Each year, Chicago Animal Care and Control takes in more than 3,000 stray dogs and 3,000 stray cats on average, but only a fraction of them are reunited with their owners. How a new app could help link lost pets with their owners.

The diets of white Americans contribute to climate change more than the eating habits of African and Latino Americans, according to a new report by a group of Chicago researchers.

While the Social Security Administration may contact people by phone, employees will never threaten a person or a promise Social Security benefit approval in exchange for information, according to the agency.

A first-of-its-kind report shows how climate change is threatening the Great Lakes, and how their ongoing transformation figures to impact the entire region.

Nearly 450 fishermen flocked to the 10th annual LVVA Ice Fishing Derby on Bangs Lake in north suburban Wauconda earlier this month. And we were there to catch the action.

Mining for coltan, a mineral compound used to make cellphones and other small electronics, has displaced large numbers of Eastern gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Chicago Animal Care and Control was so packed with cats late last summer that it sent out an urgent call for adoptions. Now, the department seems to have found a solution to one of its biggest challenges: overcrowding.

With the help of volunteers who classify sounds from recordings of seismic events, scientists could learn more about the conditions under which earthquakes occur. 

The complex and relatively advanced cultures of chimpanzees are disappearing as human beings encroach on previously undisturbed areas of African forest, according to a new study involving researchers from Lincoln Park Zoo.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is warning residents about a sophisticated phone scam in which an unsolicited caller claims to be a representative from Apple, Inc.

On average, people in the U.S. generate 220 pounds of plastic waste each year, even though much of those materials could be recycled. Here’s the lowdown on the types of plastic that can and can’t be recycled. 

A severe drought earlier this year forced a large group of flamingos to flee a nesting site in South Africa. That’s when Lincoln Park Zoo and other wildlife conservation groups from around the world stepped in.

A new Northwestern study is the first to show that female scientists receive less money when applying for federal grants than their male counterparts. 

For more than half a century, a plant at the Garfield Park Conservatory has been growing slowly and imperceptibly. Until last fall. We visit the rapidly ascending century plant.

The unnamed pup, born Dec. 15, can be seen alongside his mom on select days in the zoo’s “Tropic World: Africa” exhibit.

Erin Brockovich’s efforts to expose a utility company's contamination of California groundwater were made famous in a 2000 film bearing her name. She joins us to discuss Chicago’s environmental issues.