Environment & Science

The box tree moth, a highly destructive, invasive insect, was discovered for the first time in Pennsylvania, in two cemeteries in Erie County. A quarantine has been issued.

The “Stanley Jr. Kids Wheelbarrow and 7-piece Garden Set" has been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after the paint on the hoe and rake were found to contain lead levels exceeding the federal content ban.

Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire. This week, they look ahead to the Autumnal Equinox.

SpaceX’s capsule Polaris Dawn splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico in the predawn darkness early Sunday. Returning to Earth were two SpaceX engineers, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman of the Lehigh Valley. Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk.

A Lehigh University graduate last year recorded a new species of mushroom at Wildlands Conservancy's South Mountain Preserve.

Monarch butterflies are starting to migrate through the Lehigh Valley. An annual tagging program, held at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, helps conservation efforts.

Testimony that will help a Northampton County judge decide if a lawsuit against the Bethlehem Landfill and Lower Saucon Twp. can move forward continued Friday, and will stretch into a third day.

Called the Recovery in Nature initiative, two state departments have joined forces to create regional-specific partnerships to bolster substance use recovery efforts while strengthening all residents’ connection to nature.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America released its report of the most challenging places to live with asthma. The release coincides with peak asthma season in September.

Early Tuesday, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who has a home in the Lehigh Valley, launched into space for a second time as part of a mission dubbed Polaris Dawn. The launch was visible in the area.

Forecast guidance continues to indicate precipitation can be expected over the region Friday evening, which could leave a blanket of white in some areas as we await the winter solstice.

The project, beginning today, includes rebuilding the stream bank. Officials said increased public interest and use, climate change and more frequent high-water events have significantly eroded it.

Easton City Council members Frank Pintabone and Crystal Rose will host a community Q&A session with the developers behind the controversial new Easton Commerce Park warehouse project on Thursday, Dec. 19.

A nuisance system that moved through the region Sunday night brought the Lehigh Valley its first measurable snowfall of the season, the National Weather Service said.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory mid-Sunday afternoon, warning of potential slippery conditions as mixed precipitation moves through the Lehigh Valley into early Monday morning.

The winter solstice is celebrated in many ways by many cultures. How will you ring it in in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Dec. 21?

State environmental officials awarded $2.55 million in grants as part of a statewide effort to improve air quality in communities through cleaner fuel transportation infrastructure.

Wilson Area School District's second annual Family Computer Science Night welcomed hundreds of students to learn all about computers, AI, robots, and the future careers they could have in the field on Thursday evening.

Plans by Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley to construct a 1,200-square-foot addition to its existing administrative offices at 4501 Crackersport Road were approved by the South Whitehall Township Planning Commission on Thursday night.

Three farms in Lehigh County were the latest to be included in Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program. The program aims to ward off development and protect open spaces.

A system arriving Sunday night could bring a period of snow and ice to the area before a changeover to rain but “there remains considerable uncertainty with the details.”

During the 2023-24 hunting seasons, a record-breaking 261,672 pounds of venison from 6,905 deer and six elk statewide was donated through Hunters Sharing the Harvest. Find out how much was donated in the Lehigh Valley.