Environment & Science

This week on Watching the Skies, WLVR's Brad Klein and Bethlehem's "Backyard Astronomy Guy" Marty McGuire look forward to this year’s Lehigh Valley Space Fest at Lafayette College in Easton, set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11-12.

The exhibit's stop in Allentown is its first on a 13-museum tour that’s booked through the summer of 2030.

State officials on Thursday released the first fall foliage forecast of the year, an annual effort that maps the state’s six-week leaf-peeping season.

Gov. Josh Shapiro reached out to Easton City Council for assistance with signage along the 9-11 Trail in anticipation of the 25 anniversary of Sept. 11 in 2026.

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Environment Committee approved comments on more than a dozen water and wastewater projects Tuesday. The projects are part of a five-year capital plan.

This week, a look at the planet Saturn which is shining particularly brightly.

The largest green space in Easton, situated in the West Ward, Easton Cemetery officials are working to generate revenue through membership, fundraisers and events.

Three Lehigh Valley projects are in the running for Green Building United’s 2025 Groundbreaker Awards. Winners will be announced Oct. 9.

Northampton County and state Game Commission officials celebrated the opening of Gerald E. Seyfried Bear Swamp Park and Archery Complex and Wayne A. Grube Memorial Park with events at both locations.

This week on Watching the Skies, the subject is the beginning of ‘astronomical autumn.’

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.