Environment & Science

Officials gathered at the Lehigh Valley Zoo Thursday evening for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of Rothrock Red Panda Peak. It's the first time the zoo has had red pandas in residence.

The complaint alleges Sunshine Act violations from the township supervisors and legal filings from the township solicitor with no official approval beforehand.

The Storm Prediction Center has maintained a marginal risk (1 out of 5) for the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas Thursday, with the primary threat being damaging winds.

Environmental and county officials this week began dismantling a dam over Bushkill Creek in an effort to restore the creek. The removal will improve water quality, stormwater function and connectivity for fish and other organisms.

“The pleasant stretch of weather we encountered early in the week is beyond us,” the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast discussion, with the Lehigh Valley at risk of excessive rainfall Wednesday.

After a raging fire on Saturday night destroyed his Center Valley barn, tractors, trucks and equipment, Leroy C. Stahler Jr. vows to rebuild and continue the Stahler family legacy of farming, said his daughter, Tracy Beers.

While monitoring continues, Lehigh Valley Breathes officials used the most recent project update to explain results from the research this spring at Lehigh University.

When all was said and done, May was the Lehigh Valley’s sixth consecutive warmer-than-normal month, with an average temperature of 63.4 degrees – or 1.4 degrees above normal. So what will summer bring?

Voyager 1 is now the furthest man-made object from Earth, having traveled to a distance of around 15 billion miles away.

During this year’s spring migration count, which runs from April 1 through mid-May, Hawk Mountain volunteers and staff tallied 1,001 birds of prey.

Relief from the brutal heat and humidity has been pushed to later in the week, forecasters say. Wednesday's temperatures will climb into the 90s with heat indexes inching past 100 degrees.

A Red Cross volunteer from the greater Lehigh Valley just got back from assisting displaced people in Hawaii following devastating wildfires there. Her job was to try and reconnect families.

Olivia Teel became the city’s forester in June. A native of the Lehigh Valley, who also studied environmental science at a local university, Teel’s devotion to the environment extends past working hours.

The Lehigh Valley's public pools will all be closed come Labor Day, rounding out a rather unusual August. But with blazing temperatures coming up at the beginning of September, it's vital to keep an eye out for heat exhaustion.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

During National Preparedness Month, those with the American Red Cross are helping people stay ready for anything. They say they are responding to twice as many disasters than they were 10 years ago.

WLVR's Ryan Gaylor talks with reporters Molly Bilinski and Olivia Marble.

Sunny days and warm temperatures are ahead in the Lehigh Valley forecast. Outdoor plans for the Labor Day weekend should go off without a hitch.

While three out of four Lehigh Valley residents are either “very” or “somewhat” concerned with loss of open space, about a third expressed concerns about the quality of air and drinking water in the region. Read the latest in our "Life in the Lehigh Valley" series.

The panel approved the motion 3-2, rezoning 275.7 acres of farmland near Bethlehem Landfill from Rural Agricultural to Light Industrial. While some residents are outraged, officials say tax rates will stay low.

The program empowers high schoolers to be local leaders when it comes to caring for the environment.

Allentown and nearby areas had some showers and potential morning thunderstorms. The day will gradually clear to about 81 degrees with changing winds. The coming days bring stable, cooler weather for the Labor Day weekend.