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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.
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The finicky plants are threatened by habitat loss and climate change, but as the Missouri Botanical Garden works to conserve them, scientists are learning the difficulties of growing native orchids in a lab.
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In Missouri, agriculture, urban development and man-made flood control measures have replaced 87% of the state’s original wetlands.
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Kansas City and several other cities worked with NOAA to map neighborhoods to find out how heat impacts neighborhoods. The data can help cities prepare and adapt to a warmer world.
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Indigenous grassland once dominated much of Kansas. A new program, backed by corporate beef buyers, is teaming up with ranchers to preserve what's left of the rare ecosystem. Plus: A Missouri representative is working on bipartisan legislation to expand the Child Tax Credit as well as business tax breaks.
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Nurseries or nursery dealers that buy, sell or propagate the plants would have their certificate suspended by the Department of Agriculture. Experts say the plants threaten Missouri’s native ecosystems because they can escape cultivation and don’t have natural competitors to slow their spread.