"Last winter was tough for marmots living high in the Colorado mountains, where researchers say two-thirds of one population died while hibernating because of insufficient snow cover. Those that survived are doing well, fattening up in time not just for fall and hibernation season but … drumroll, please … the very first Fat Marmot Week."

"Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean." "Two years ago, McElroen began being trained by his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, for a job in the emerging offshore wind industry."

"A helicopter swooped through the bright blue sky, as a pilot scanned the high desert below for wild horses running through the dusty sagebrush, about an hour's drive west of Meeker, Colorado. A small group of reporters and horse lovers watched from the cover of wizened trees, about a mile from a pen that would trap the horses."

"Ebola virus, hantavirus and the pathogen that causes Covid-19 likely jumped from animals to humans. So do these viruses — and scientists say climate change is speeding their spread." "By the time colleagues called Dr. Matías Lahitte, an Argentine infectious disease specialist, it was too late."

"The newsroom Lighthouse Reports, along with several partners around the globe, found food compa�nies have sued more than 200 times in the past 15 years as governments have tried to rein in unhealthy ingredients in people’s diets."

"As the Louisiana town recovers, residents wrestle with the increasingly difficult task of shielding children from a polluted future."

"The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants to change a key step in the review process determining which research it funds, raising concerns about transparency and political interference."

"The Department of the Interior spent more than $150 million on administrative leave for employees working in the secretary’s office last year."

"Heat and drought have diminished harvests in some of the biggest wheat-producing countries, including the United States, which is expected to have its worst wheat harvest in a half-century, spiking prices. Poor countries that agreed to buy American wheat under the threat of Trump tariffs could be stuck paying abnormally high prices."

"August though it is, there’s still at least one good book left of summer. So this month’s post offers 12 possible choices for your final summer read: six non-fiction and six fiction."