Kansas News Service

Entomologist Mary Liz Jameson, right, shows Luz Horton which kinds of dung beetles likely live on the land where she and her husband, Jamin Horton, own a bison ranch.

Insects Don’t Get Love Like Other Animals. But Kansas Can’t Survive Without Them

Scientists are trying to figure out why insects are struggling, what it means for ecosystems and how it will ultimately affect people.

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Eastern red cedars are taking over grasslands in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. In most temperate grasslands around the world, gaining a tree canopy won't help cool the planet.

Trees are Spreading Across the Great Plains, Making Climate Change Worse

We often think trees are good for the environment. But in the Midwest and Great Plains, they’re worsening climate change as woodlands take over grasslands.

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An eastern red cedar catches fire. Controlled fires, such as this one on grassland managed by Kansas State University scientists, are needed to save prairies from becoming woodland and shrubland.

A ‘Green Glacier’ is Burying Prairies, Threatening Ranchers and Wildlife

A “Green Glacier” is grinding across the Great Plains, burying some of the most threatened habitat on the planet beneath dense junipers and shrubland.

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Corn piled outside of a grain elevator

Ethanol Plants Want to Bury CO2 in Kansas to Cut Carbon Footprints

Two companies in Kansas want to pump carbon dioxide emissions deep underground to combat climate change. But environmental groups and landowners are opposed.

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Trust Women officials say most of the clinic's patients are from nearby states.

Thousands More People are Now Traveling to Kansas for Abortions, Research Finds

In the first half of 2023, nearly two-thirds of people getting abortions in Kansas traveled from out-of-state, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.

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Evergy's Lawrence Energy Center.

Kansas Retirees Resist Evergy’s Bid to Hike Electricity Prices and Profits

Retirees living on fixed incomes, and their advocates, say Evergy’s plan to hike electricity prices in Kansas puts profits before people.

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A sign on the side of a building reads "Life is Fine in Humboldt."

Politicians Battle Rural Population Declines in Kansas, But Drop-off Continues

Rural parts of Kansas continue to see significant population declines. Some local and state officials are trying to staunch the seemingly endless bleeding.

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A Dorothy Gale impersonator who works at Dorothy's House in Liberal, Kansas, holds a pair of ruby slippers she wears while leading tours of the museum.

No Place Like Home? The Wizard of Oz Still Shapes the World’s View of Kansas for Better and Worse

The Wizard of Oz and Kansas have been inseparable since farm girl Dorothy Gale first skipped down the yellow brick road. But having an enduring image from the Dust Bowl 1930s might also hold Kansas back from what it wants to be today.

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Brownie Wilson of the Kansas Geological Survey uses a metal measuring tape to determine the depth of the aquifer's water level in western Kansas. Statewide aquifer levels dropped by nearly two feet over the past year — this third-largest decline since the 1990s.

With the Ogallala Aquifer Drying Up, Kansas Ponders Limits to Irrigation

Water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer continue to plummet. But after decades of inaction, Kansas’ approach to water conservation might be shifting.

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Haskell County farmer Travis Leonard stands next to his well that finally gave out this year. It's one of several that have run out of water on his farm in southwest Kansas in recent years as the Ogallala aquifer declines.

‘This is Do or Die’: Western Kansas Farmers Push to Save the Ogallala Aquifer Before it’s Too Late

After decades of irrigation, the aquifer that makes life possible in dry western Kansas is reaching a critical point. But a new plan could save more of what’s left.

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