The lingering presence of wildfire smoke has made for an unusual start to summer across the Midwest. It also comes during a near-record drought crisping fields across the Corn Belt and the threat of hotter summers to come.
Author Archives: Chloe Johnson / Minneapolis Star Tribune
Chloe Johnson covers the environment for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and is part of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a collaborative reporting network across the Basin. Previously, Johnson reported on the environment, climate change and the people adapting to a warmer planet for The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina. She started her career at The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and holds a journalism degree from American University. Her work has been recognized by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Society for Features Journalism, and she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Johnson is always looking for a good excuse to hop on a boat.
Posted inEnvironment
Wildfire smoke is new hazard in upper Midwest
Canadian wildfire smoke brought air quality alerts to the Midwest. Such episodes will grow more common as the earth warms, climate experts say.
Posted inEnvironment
Rail merger means more hazmat shipped along upper Mississippi
A recently completed merger between two of the country’s top-tier rail lines will send more trains along the upper Mississippi River — and in some areas, thousands more car loads of hazardous materials.
Posted inEnvironment
Are thousands of Americans being poisoned by PFAS in their tap water?
Comments by EPA Administrator Michael Regan last month indicate a growing consensus that ‘forever chemicals’ are taking a serious toll on Americans’ health.
Posted inEnvironment
The tech race to destroy PFAS is on. It could mean big business.
The state of Minnesota is partnering with an engineering firm to investigate ways to destroy ‘forever chemicals.’
Posted inEnvironment
Despite 3M’s phase-out, the global problem of cleaning up PFAS remains
‘The nightmare hasn’t really stopped,’ one expert says.
Posted inEnvironment
3M to end manufacture and use of harmful PFAS by 2025
By the end of 2025, 3M will stop making the “forever chemicals” that for decades have bedeviled the environment.
Posted inEnvironment
Minnesota tries new technologies to remove harmful PFAS from water
In efforts to address long-running ‘forever chemicals,’ the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is trying to suck the chemicals out of groundwater.
Posted inEnvironment
A wetter world is changing Midwest farming. Can growers adapt?
A changing climate is causing rain to fall in harder bursts that push back planting seasons and drown crops in the Mississippi River farm country.
Posted inEnvironment
How year-round crops could reduce farm pollution in the Mississippi River
“For years, Minnesota has struggled to reduce the farm pollution that runs into streams, lakes, the Mississippi River and eventually, the Gulf of Mexico. Crop breeders are working on 16 perennial and winter annual crops to suck up that nutrient pollution before it escapes.