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Kansas is the latest state to pass rules against selling ornamental pear trees that spread aggressively in natural areas. They are just one of many invasive species taking over Midwest communities. Plus: A centuries-old agricultural technique that reduces agricultural waste and improves soil is coming back around as a modern climate solution.
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Fifty-four years after the first annual Earth Day, many people are making environmental sustainability their business. KCUR's Up To Date spoke with Kansas Citians whose livelihood is saving the planet.
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Missouri is home to a host of reliable freshwater systems, but lawmakers worry that dryer states will look to it for supplies. A bill advancing through the Missouri House prohibits exporting water to other states without a permit.
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Native plant species are better adapted for our environment, great food for bees and butterflies, and available to purchase at nurseries and plant shops across the Kansas City region. Can you dig?
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Scientists have looked at decades of data on trees and other native Missouri plants blooming. As the region warms, plants like the dogwood are reacting by changing their bloom times.
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People in the agriculture industry are still looking for local solutions to save what is left of the Ogallala aquifer that supports western Kansas. But systemic challenges are making it a slow effort.
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Kansas grasslands provide a unique wildfire risk that’s heightened by increasingly warmer temperatures in all seasons. A rainy, overcast day can pivot to prime conditions for an active fire spread within 24 hours.
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This farmer's livelihood was ruined by PFAS-contaminated fertilizer that few Midwest states test forBiosolids — a type of treated sewage byproduct from wastewater treatment plants — are used as a nutrient-rich fertilizer on farms across the Midwest. But a group of toxic “forever chemicals” are slipping through the cracks and could be inadvertently contaminating millions of acres of farmland.
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Critics say the Missouri legislation debated this week could jeopardize the state’s groundwater and 136,000 miles of streams.
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Two major broods that show up on 13- and 17-year cycles will crawl out of the soil and head to treetops to sing and mate. It’s the first time these two broods have emerged at the same time in 221 years.
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A family-owned funeral home in Missouri purchased the 19th-century building and converted it into an operation for performing alkaline hydrolysis — a water-based alternative to traditional cremation.
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Elizabeth Kolbert, the Pulitzer-winning author of "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History" and a staff writer for The New Yorker, says there are no easy choices when it comes to dealing with water shortages in Kansas, but changes are necessary. Kolbert will speak at the Linda Hall library Tuesday, Feb. 13.