Environment

Science and Nature Series / 1 Season

News and features about our changing environment.

Watch Latest: S2019 E11

4m 48s

Beyond the Ice

S2019 E11 / 4m 48s

As temps cool across the Pacific Northwest, a passionate contingent of athletes turn their attention to hockey. Of the dozens of teams available to young boys, there exists only one all-girls organization. The Western Washington Female Hockey Association provides an outlet for young women not wishing to join a coed team, but the imbalance of opportunity is not lost on Mackenzie Demoors, 11.

The First Jump

S2019 E9 / 5m 1s

In the first few decades of the 20th Century, fighting remote wildfires meant loading packs and hiking for days into rugged terrain. But the U.S. Forest Service had an out-there idea: Could they improve their speed to suppress fires more quickly by training firefighters to jump out of planes? In 1939, in Winthrop, Washington, they decided to try — and smokejumping was born.

Deep-sea Cleanup

S2019 E8 / 3m 51s

Decades-old derelict fishing nets litter Puget Sound, where they harm habitat and trap marine life. But Washington state partnered with a specialized Army dive team to remove over 1,000 pounds of these underwater hazards. In exchange for valuable deep water training, this Army detachment performs environmental rehabilitation in one of the most challenging environments on earth.

Fighting noise pollution in Beacon Hill

S2019 E6 / 54s

The noise of airplanes flying over Beacon Hill is more than just a nuisance: Research connects it to depression, lower test scores and increased risk of heart disease. Lower income, majority nonwhite neighborhoods like Beacon Hill suffer the most, but reducing noise requires help from state and federal officials. As concerned neighbors gather data on their own, they hope someone will listen.

Game Overboard

S2019 E5 / 4m 35s

Last year, the World Health Organization officially recognized gaming disorder — but not all experts agree on treatment, or if it's even a disease. Watch as experts, therapists and gamers attempt to grapple with how technology affects mental health.

A Cure In Sight

S2019 E4 / 5m 55s

Tina Marie Coles could lose her sight to the degenerative eye disease Sorsby's fundus dystrophy. But UW's Dr. Jennifer Chao is leading the search for novel therapeutics to delay and eventually cure the disease. The study could also help researchers fight macular degeneration, which causes millions of people to lose their ability to see, read, and recognize faces as they age.

Flying Through the Amazon's Prehistoric Air

S2019 E3 / 3m 15s

The Amazon rainforest covers over 2 million square miles of the South American landmass. It absorbs so much carbon and produces so much oxygen that scientists call it “the lungs of the Earth.” Now, researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington have encountered a bank of air so pure it changes our understanding of how clean the atmosphere can be.

I Am Stem: Livingston Holder, Jr.

S2019 E2 / 6m 19s

Livingston L. Holder, Jr., chased his childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut to a spot in the USAF's Manned Spaceflight Program — but then the Challenger tragedy shattered his chances. Instead, it spun him into a successful career as an aeronautical engineer, where he continues to inspire kids who look like him to follow a path in science and engineering to the stars.

Mexican Dogsledders Trade Dirt for Washington Snow

S2019 E1 / 6m 39s

Cle Elum, Washington, is an international hub for mushers from around the world. It’s anchored by Larry Roxby of Flying Furs and the Northwest Dogsled Association, who believes the future of dogsledding lies in building bridges with mushers from different cultures.

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