Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell in 2020 by the largest annual percentage since World War II due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the drop-off appears to be short-lived, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.
Environment


Reports that millions of 17-year cicadas will emerge from underground in the Chicago area this spring aren’t true. They’re coming in 2024.

Humans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. So the world must make dramatic changes to society, economics and daily life, a new United Nations report says.

Dirty snow absorbs more of the sun’s energy and melts faster. Here’s why that’s a problem.

Less than 9% of the trash produced every year by Chicago residents is kept out of landfills — a rate that has not budged for four years.

Across the United States and Canada, pollen season is starting 20 days earlier and pollen loads are 21% higher since 1990 and a huge chunk of that is because of global warming, a new study found in Monday’s journal the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.

Congress authorized a plan from the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the Chicago River’s South Fork, a 1.25-mile stretch more familiarly known as Bubbly Creek. Now actual dollars need to follow.

When it comes to keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, Illinois is the last line of defense, but the state’s not alone in the battle. Michigan will transfer up to $8 million to Illinois via an intergovernmental agreement as part of an effort to keep Asian carp at bay.

Kierra Wooden founded Southside Cleanup in the aftermath of 2020’s protests, and now the young activist finds herself at the head of a movement that’s about so much more than picking up trash.

From the pandemic to protests to the power of nature, 2020 has been a year for the history books. We take a look back at the year that was — warts and all.

Incorporating pollinator habitat into large-scale solar installations makes sense for wildlife, but what about the bottom line? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago aim to answer that question.

Traveling more than 2,000 miles every year, the migration journey of monarch butterflies links the United States and Mexico in a way no trade agreement or cultural exchange ever could.

Three firms involved in the botched smokestack demolition in Little Village will pay $370,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, his office announced Thursday.

General Iron’s parent company has applied for its final permit to operate its metal-shredding operation on the Southeast Side, but federal officials have asked the city to hold off on making a decision.

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.

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.