Environment & Science

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.

East Penn School District is seeking proposals for a potential solar farm near the Macungie and Shoemaker Elementary School buildings.

Northampton County Park and Recreation Division will host the Greenways Jamboree Celebration, marking their 50th anniversary, in tandem with the 20th anniversary of the Lehigh Valley Greenways Conservation Landscape Partnership and the 28th Annual Lehigh River Sojourn.

Three Lehigh Valley researchers are arguing bird-strike fatalities are much higher than we might think. They recently published a peer-reviewed study showing bird deaths from window strikes are nearly double previous estimates, and likely higher.

The colleges have formed a partnership to build and bring online a solar facility in western Kentucky. When completed, the facility will offset electricity usage at the institutions, effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation to zero.

The main threat will come later Monday and Monday night with a cold front that creates the possibility of strong winds and hail – even a tornado, said meteorologist Bobby Martrich of EPAWA Weather Consulting.

Essentially a scholastic scrimmage for environmental science, the annual Envirothon combines classroom learning and outdoor activities to engage students in the environment. The state competition was held Wednesday at Camp Mt. Luther in Mifflinburg.

Will it be Woody, Tupaca, or Zurg? Lehigh Valley Zoo is enlisting the help of the public to help name its baby alpaca.

Bethlehem Township Board of Commissioners will advertise an ordinance to let the Municipal Authority get a loan to help mitigate flooding.

State officials announced a $1 million pool for the 2025 Environmental Education Grants Program, as well as the Nov. 15 deadline to apply. Two Lehigh Valley projects were funded in the last round.

This week, news from the International Space Station, where the seven crew members have been hosting two unexpected guests for months.

Staff and volunteers at the sanctuary have monitored the autumnal migration since 1934 as part of conservation research efforts. It’s the longest-running raptor migration count in the world.

A pack of wolves will appear at the Allentown Fair as part of the free entertainment. One of the wolves will meet attendees. A tour of their den is also scheduled.

The Lehigh Valley will go beyond its average 90-degree window this year, with a heat advisory in effect and highs in the mid-90s expected Wednesday. But are the ingredients there for storms to fire?

Nine projects across Pennsylvania are included in the round of funding, awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. The projects focus on research, marketing, apprenticeships and sustainability for mushrooms, apples, potatoes and other crops.

Less than a month after a strong, bad smell permeated through the city and surrounding areas for several days, prompting a state Department of Environmental Protection investigation, the odor has returned.

Lehigh Valley Breathes is behind schedule from the course established in August 2023. Here's what officials have learned so far — and how they plan to proceed.

The Lehigh Valley has been reshaped by a massive wave of development, both in industrial and residential, that has swept over the region the last three decades. While the development boom may be slowing, the impacts to the region’s economy and the environment are clear. (First of 5 parts)

After temperatures that felt more like October than August last week, forecasters say the Lehigh Valley will return to summer in a big way this week. Near-record heat is expected Wednesday.