
Justice

How Tearing Down a Highway Brought New Life to Milwaukee
Before the freeways came in, Bronzeville, on Milwaukee’s North Side, was a vibrant neighborhood known for its restaurants, bars and jazz scene. The area had been home to successive waves of immigrants

Greener Playgrounds Are an Overlooked Climate Solution
The new schoolyard at PS 184M Shuang Wen, a grade school in Manhattan’s Chinatown, features new play equipment, a yoga circle, a stage and basketball and tennis courts. It also has a

They Were Pregnant During a Climate Disaster. Do Their Children Carry the Scars?
When Superstorm Sandy hit in October 2012, Celia Sporer-Newman was about eight months pregnant and working full-time as a paramedic in Queens, New York. Sporer-Newman had worked through previous disasters, including Hurricane

‘We’re Basically Condemning Them to Unhealthy Pregnancies.’
When Jamika Jones was pregnant with her son earlier this year, her mother worried about her drinking water from the tap. Jones lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where more than a third of

Doulas Are Frontline Climate Workers
As Hurricane Ian approached southern Florida in late September, Tifanny Burks got a call from a recent client. A single mother of three, including an infant Burks had helped deliver, was facing

Mobile Homes Offer Low-Cost Living. Now, They’re Threatened by Climate Change.
Charlotte Bishop was standing at her kitchen window in January 2019 when she saw water streaming into her yard. A block of ice had clogged the brook that snakes around the mobile

Knowing Your Neighbors Could Save You From the Next Climate Disaster
When Winter Storm Uri hit Texas in February 2021, bringing single-digit temperatures and sheets of snow to Dallas, Susana Edith and a group of volunteers distributed lentil soup and winter gear to

Drying Up: Inside the Californian Communities Without Enough Water
California's Central Valley grows a large portion of America's food – and that requires a huge amount of water. But the region is experiencing a drought and drying up the surface water

Can Kelp Farming Bring Back Shinnecock Bay?
For most of the Shinnecock Nation’s history, the waters off the eastern end of Long Island were a place of abundance. Expert fishermen, whalers and farmers, the Shinnecock people lived for centuries

New Heat Regulations Could Save Hundreds of Workers’ Lives. Do Employers Care?
Extreme heat — a phenomenon that is increasing in severity and frequency as the planet warms — is the deadliest weather related disaster, killing more than 5,600 people each year, according to

Community Land Trusts Are Building Disaster-Resilient Neighborhoods
In late September, Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful and costly storms to make landfall in the U.S., tore through southwest Florida and caused an estimated $67 billion in property damage.

Young Farmers Can Help the US Meet Its Climate Goals. Is Washington Listening?
At Sanctuary Farms on Detroit’s East Side, Jøn Kent and a team of volunteers use cardboard and paper bags to starve invasive weedy plants instead of herbicides; they plant marigolds and lavender

Composting in Detroit Gets a Boost From the Philippines
On a recent Saturday morning, Pamela McGhee and several neighbors were busy at work in a community garden on Detroit’s East Side, weighing food scraps and assessing compost piles for compliance. Items

How One Neighborhood Is Rebuilding After a Highway Tore It Apart
Growing up in Rosemont, a once vibrant Black neighborhood on Baltimore’s West Side, Glenn Smith remembers “having everything you needed” — parks, markets and even a movie theater — within walking distance

Can Indigenous Cultural Burning Fix America’s Wildfire Crisis?
Before fire suppression policies were put in place at the turn of the 19th century, Indigenous communities across California relied upon regular brush clearings to access culturally important plants. Where dead twigs,

Ravaged by Hurricanes, a Historic Black Community Fights for Survival (VIDEO)
Ironton, a small incorporated community in Louisiana, was devastated by Hurricane Ida. But the destruction was not inevitable. Founded by freed people who were previously enslaved, Ironton residents had to fight for

Cities Are Tapping Residents to Study Climate Change Impacts
On very hot days, Victor Sanchez makes sure to leave his home in the afternoon. "The sun just pours in," he said of his top-floor, west-facing apartment in Harlem, where he has