Stephen Schmidt

Sci-fi motherhood.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the mom

Books

When it comes to the intricacies of pregnancy, sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.

Soldiers of the Puerto Rico National Guard and volunteers of the Puerto Rico State Guard clear a road at Punta Santiago in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Scenes of utter devastation were found throughout the island after Hurricane Maria hit last September.

Report: FEMA wasn’t ready for Hurricane Maria, destruction in Puerto Rico

Elkhorn coral is one of the main varieties of coral that workers on the northern coast of Puerto Rico have been able to restore following damage done by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Local NGOs repair Puerto Rico’s coral reefs in Maria’s aftermath

Science
Kenton Ganster, left, stands with his mother, Kathleen, with a drilling rig used for fracking visible in the background off of the Rachel Carson Trail north of Pittsburgh.

Drilling rigs used in fracking found along nature trail irk some hikers

Environment

Book tells story ‘most famous man most of us have never heard of’

Under a new carbon offset program that is gaining popularity in Congress, oil and gas companies — and other manufacturers of products involving — fossil fuel would have to pay $40 for every ton of carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

New carbon offset program may have the bipartisan support it needs on Capitol Hill

Politics

After years of having difficulty passing legislation relating to greenhouse gas emissions, a group consisting of both Democrats and Republicans believe they have a plan that can make their constituents happy.

Since 2002, scientific data pointed to a slower decline of CFC-11, one of several chemical substances banned by the Montreal Protocol in 1987. The amount of CFC-11 found in the atmosphere has actually gone up during that time, prompting the United Nations

Scientists detected a spike in ozone-depleting chemicals. They’ll use the Montreal Protocol to stop the pollution.

Environment

Those who have watched over the Montreal Protocol since its formation have never had to take significant measures to enforce it — until now.

Growing high tides have turned this photo — taken from Pompano Beach, Florida, after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 — into a regular occurrence along the U.S. coastlines.

New report forecasts a troubling picture of rising tides, frequent flooding on coasts

Climate Change

Some Americans think major flooding will not affect the country until decades from now. A recent report says major implications may be arriving much sooner.

french soccer players at the world cup

French national soccer players of immigrant ancestry face harsher critics at the World Cup

Sports

The synergy that has propelled the French national team to the title game in the most recent World Cup in Russia has been colorblind — but French citizens and fans have not.

The overall catch from lobstering in Maine was down 16.4 percent in 2017 from the year before. Those who catch lobsters for a living in the state are hoping that downfall does not continue in 2018.

The feast-or-famine life of lobstering in Maine

Jobs

The lobster industry has always been an up-and-down business, but a new book looks into how global warming is adding to that already uncertain rollercoaster.