Environment & Science

Members discussed ways the council could help advance priorities in the city’s Climate Action Plan. With dozens of goals and tasks to tackle, members voted to prioritize those that aligned with existing committees or garnered volunteer interest.

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center on Tuesday released its new report, “Solar Schools for Pennsylvania: Repowering Education with Clean Energy."

The council on Tuesday heard from officials and experts about Pittsburgh's dark sky efforts, aimed at tamping down on light pollution and saving money.

Penn State Extension this summer published "The Bees of Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Genera,” outlining the commonwealth’s more than 440 species of bees, organized by genus.

Senate Bill 980, introduced Wednesday, would phase out the manufacture, sale and use of firefighting foams containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, beginning in 2026.

This week the question is: Are eclipses of the sun and moon common, or rare? The answer is … both!

For more than three decades, Hunters Sharing the Harvest has facilitated a venison donation program throughout Pennsylvania, creating a network of deer processors and hunger relief agencies. Find out how much was donated and where last season.

The 2025 autumn migration count has begun at Hawk Mountain. It's the longest running raptor migration count in the world.

The rain-or-shine event, open only to Northampton County residents, will take place Saturday, Oct. 4 at Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem.

The Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley was one of the half-dozen winners of this year’s Environmental Partnership Awards.

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.

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.

While Tropical Storm Francine and its remnants will not be moving this way, it will play a role in the Lehigh Valley’s weather pattern for the next few days.

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.

Awardees of the state Department of Education’s Environmental Repairs Grant program were announced Monday. It focuses on eliminating lead, mold, asbestos and other environmental hazards from school buildings.

Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire. This week should be a good one for viewing the planet Saturn.