The Unconventional Weapon Against Future Wildfires: Goats

Lani Malmberg travels with a few hundred goats, which eat the tall brush and grasses that power Western wildfires.

40 Million People Rely on the Colorado River. It’s Drying Up Fast.

Low water levels have triggered cutbacks to some Western states.

Western Drought Will Last Into Fall or Longer

The forecast, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, comes as almost half of the land area of the lower 48 states is experiencing drought.

Where Dark Skies Draw Star-Gazers, Wildfire Smoke Spoils the View

Parts of the Mountain West still largely free of light pollution or cloudy weather are losing their famed spectacular views of the night sky to smoke from fires burning hundreds of miles upwind.

In the West, a Connection Between Covid and Wildfires

A new study links air pollution from wildfire smoke to higher rates of coronavirus cases and deaths.

Opinion | The West Is on Fire. It’s Past Time to Act on Climate Change.

The infrastructure deal is a good start. But much more must be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Delta Variant Widens Gulf Between ‘Two Americas’: Vaccinated and Unvaccinated

Data from overseas, particularly Britain, suggest the spread of the virus will set vaccinated and unvaccinated communities on very different paths.

Opinion | Once Again, the Earth Is Being Wrung Dry

We can survive an arid future if we put our minds to it.

What Is a Megadrought?

Yes, the West is in extreme drought. But for part of the region, conditions have been bad for decades, rivaling periods in the distant past.

Where the Grass is Greener, Except When It’s ‘Nonfunctional Turf’

Plus, mammoths in Vegas, watermelon snow, Miami’s looming sea wall and more in the Friday edition of the Science Times newsletter.

Western States Sizzle Under Triple-Digit Temperatures

Temperatures in parts of California could reach well above 100 on Wednesday, and areas across Nevada and Washington State will continue to see sweltering conditions.

With a Chinese American Gunslinger, He’s Challenging the Whiteness of Westerns

Tom Lin is making his debut with “The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu,” a novel that has drawn comparisons to Cormac McCarthy and “True Grit.”

When to Watch a Lunar Eclipse and Supermoon in Late Night Skies

People out west in the United States and in Australia and East Asia will have a good view of an event some call a “super blood moon.”