Environment & Science

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Monroe and several other eastern Pennsylvania counties.

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

Mayors in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton are coming together to fight against worsening climate change and strengthen sustainability across the region. Two of the three cities have their own climate action plans.

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 22, in the Lehigh Valley.

The first new building on Muhlenberg’s campus in more than a decade, the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, 2400 W. Chew St., opened in January. The 20,000-square-foot, three-floor building cost $13.2 million and is one of the first buildings in the world expected to achieve a rigorous sustainability certification for buildings that give more than they take.

A few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible in the region on Saturday, with the main threat being damaging wind gusts, according to the National Weather Service.

Puerto Rico's electrical grid has been devastated by hurricanes due to worsening climate change. Ruth Santiago, a Bethlehem native, has a solution.

Swarms of non-biting midge flies last week were spotted in Bethlehem. LehighValleyNews.com spoke with Marten Edwards, chair of Muhlenberg College's biology department, to find out more about the insects.

For the first time, the Lehigh River was included on American Rivers' list of most endangered rivers in the country. Environmentalists point to a proliferation of warehouses and distribution centers for putting the river at risk.

The storm is expected to cause heavy rainfall across the Mid-Atlantic states, potentially leading to flash and urban flooding. Easton's PorchFest has been postponed to Oct. 1.

A tropical system that was officially named Ophelia on Friday will drench the East Coast this weekend, including the Lehigh Valley, officials said.

The free festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the center. The schedule includes nature walks, live animal presentations, monarch butterfly tagging, music and more.

Northampton County and its conservation district appear poised to split after a County Council committee meeting Wednesday showed deep distrust between them

Lehigh Valley Breathes, a Valley-wide effort, aims to measure air quality. From the collected data, officials said they will make recommendations for improvements.

It’s becoming increasingly probable that a subtropical storm develops off the Southeast coast this weekend, forecasters say, but expected impacts to the Lehigh Valley remain in question.

It took less than two weeks to fix operational issues at Kline’s Island Wastewater Treatment Plant on Union Street. Officials described the sewer odor as an ‘"earthy" or "rotten egg" smell but said it is not harmful to human health.

The average price for a gallon of gas in the Lehigh Valley was $3.87 this week. That's below the Pennsylvania average of $3.92 per gallon but up slightly more than 11 cents from last week, according to AAA.

The letter-writing campaign began Sept. 9. It is unclear how many emails city councilmembers have so far received.

Released Tuesday, results from Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion’s National Surveys on Energy and the Environment show Americans want to prevent future global warming, and also believe adaptation to climate change will require major lifestyle changes.

The biggest differences between tropical and subtropical storms are in the way they form and in the broad impacts. A subtropical system could target the region this weekend.

A heat map generated from PennDOT crash statistics shows a high rate of collisions involving deer and vehicles — the Lehigh Valley included. Pennsylvania also ranked No. 3 overall for the likelihood of having an animal-vehicle collision.