Baby leatherback sea turtles head to the sea at sunset on Indonesia’s Lhoknga Beach in February 2023. (Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP / Getty Images)

Of the 1,189 creatures listed by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, more than one in five are threatened. They include species from all sorts of animal groups — whales, sharks, elephants, wild cats, raptors, birds and insects, among others.

A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)

In April 2020, a smokestack implosion in Little Village blanketed the community in dust, endangering the health of residents during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, eligible Little Village residents have until March 26 to file claims for compensation.

(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

The core principle of “leave the leaves” is to manage the leaves on site. It doesn’t mean to just leave them where they fell.

File photo of homes in Cicero. (WTTW News)

The project involves sensors installed and monitored by the Cicero Independiente and MuckRock providing data to back up what many community members were already feeling.

(WTTW News)

A new report from the Brushwood Center found Lake County residents face significant race-based disparities in health outcomes, environmental quality and access to nature.

A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)

Dave Graham, who a watchdog report said should be fired for “willful bureaucratic negligence” in the 2020 incident that covered Little Village in dust, is now in charge of environmental inspections and enforcement.

Flooded streets in Chicago are pictured on July 2, 2023. (Paris Schutz / WTTW News)

Cook County residents have until Oct. 30 to apply for assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, officials said.

Lake Michigan. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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Representatives of Bayer, which now owns Monsanto, said Chicago's lawsuit was “meritless” because the company never manufactured or disposed PCBs in or near the Chicago area.

Olga Bautista, the executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, lauded Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposal. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)
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“The time to act on environmental justice is now,”  Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

(WTTW News)

Chicago is one of 18 cities participating in the Heat Watch 2023 program with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in which community volunteers collect temperature and humidity data to analyze for underlying reasons and potential mitigation efforts.

(Courtesy of Efrain Soriano / Borderless magazine)

After the July 2 storm that caused catastrophic flooding across Chicago’s West Side and some western suburbs, many residents are still dealing with the damage. Now, some of those communities are exploring green infrastructure solutions that can help prevent future flooding events.

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel appears on “Chicago Tonight” on May 13, 2019. (WTTW News)
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Now U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel plans to travel to Fukishima prefecture and eat some local catch of the day to quell concerns about the release of treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

(ELEVATE / Pexels)

Dry cleaners, auto body and repair shops, food and beverage manufacturers and metal finishers in suburban Cook County that experienced a decrease in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic are able to benefit from the program.

Flooded streets in Chicago are pictured on July 2, 2023. (Paris Schutz / WTTW News)

Cook County residents are now eligible for assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, officials said.

FILE - A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. (Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo, File)

Debate over vinyl chloride has simmered for years, but gained a new urgency after the Feb. 3 derailment of a 50-car Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine. Three days later, emergency crews released toxic vinyl chloride from five tank cars and burned it to keep them from exploding.

(WTTW News)
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“The goal here is for us to think about how the cumulative impact data can help change policy and operations across city departments,” said Angela Tovar, Chicago’s chief sustainability officer.