HPPR Environment

Last year shattered the record for the earth’s hottest year, according to a report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

As Scientific American reports, 2016 exceeded 2015 as the hottest year since reliable records began in the 19th century. Researchers found that last year was almost .4 degrees warmer on average than the previous year.

An unexpected sight appeared in the sky Monday morning

As CNET reports, an asteroid the size of a 10-story building passed half way between the Earth and the moon shortly after scientists at the Catalina Sky Survey first discovered it on Saturday.

Want to know what a green alternative to regular diesel is? Used vegetable oil.

EGE of Minneola, Kansas takes used cooking oil from over 200 restaurants in Kansas and parts of Oklahoma and converts it to biodiesel, the Dodge City Globe reports.

Wesley Orr, who works for EGE recently gave a small group from Pratt, Greensburg and Minneola a tour of the facility.

The federal government expected net farm income and farm profits to fall in 2016, the third-straight year of declines. That means farmers and ranchers are taking a closer look at their finances, and many aren’t very optimistic about their prospects for 2017.

Despite Republican efforts to bring back coal as a fuel source, a new report by the Brookings Institution says coal-fired power plants will continue to close despite the arrival of the Trump administration.

As The Rural Blog reports, climate-change deniers such as Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt--who has been tapped to head the EPA--have been vehemently opposed to the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. They’ve vowed to end what they call the “war on coal.”

Texas winegrowers are concerned that federal approval of new herbicides for some cotton crops will eradicate the wine industry in the Texas High Plains.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering organic producers and handlers federal reimbursement to cover the cost of organic certification.

While Earth is often thought of as a green- and blue-colored marble, there are plenty of natural wonders on the planet that come in an even wider variety of hues.

In the wake of the collapse in oil prices over the past several years, Texas and Oklahoma have seen a different kind of boom. In these states, there’s been a surge in abandoned oil drilling sites.

To make matters worse, the areas that generally have abandoned rigs generally don’t have the funds to clean the sites. As The Texas Tribune reports, wildcatters have been punching holes in the hard West Texas caliche for almost a century.

NASA announced last week that it is one step closer to its mission to “touch the sun.”

Aquifers around the world, including the High Plains, provide water for crops, but as National Geographic reports, a new study suggests that some of the biggest grain-producing regions could run dry in the next 50 to 100 years.

After the new year, the Kansas Geological Survey will be measuring groundwater levels in western Kansas to monitor the health and sustainability of the High Plains aquifer.

This week Oklahoma regulators released new regulations in hopes of further reducing the frequency of earthquakes in the Sooner State.

As The Oklahoman reports, this "fracking" plan is an expansion of previous responses to earthquakes linked to wastewater disposal wells. Recently the state has seen rapid development in the SCOOP and STACK formations in west central and south central Oklahoma. Almost half of Oklahoma’s 78 drilling rigs are in those two areas.

Those planning to travel for the Christmas holiday should expect severe weather in some areas of the central United States.

The arctic blast this weekend that dropped temperatures in much of the High Plains below the zero-degree mark may have damaged some of the winter wheat crop.

An arctic blast brought record-low temperatures to much of the High Plains region over the weekend.

Environmentalists, the EPA, and farm groups continue to battle over a whether animal farms should be exempted from reporting emissions to the federal government.

Currently, an Environmental Protection Agency rule exempts all but the largest animal feeding operations from reporting ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency this week released a report on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water.

As The Rural Blog reports, this will be the final EPA report during the Obama administration. The study struck out a controversial phrase that had appeared in last year’s report, which stated that researchers had found no evidence of widespread impacts to drinking water supplies.

When Donald Trump tapped former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the Department of Energy, environmental advocates cried foul.

Until recently, scientists believed there were about 9,000 species of birds on earth. Now, as Quartz.com reports, it looks like the number is closer to double that—around 18,000.

So, did researchers just discover a slew of birds hiding in the wild? No, they actually did a recount, using a more nuanced definition for a species.

Kansas Agland is taking a look at the agriculture economy from the perspective of farmers and farm implement dealers, who are finding ways to adapt.

An overabundant supply in wheat, corn and every other crop has pushed the prices of those commodities below what many farmers need to break even.

The condition of the winter wheat crop in Kansas is varied because of a lack of moisture.