Stories

Why a cookie recipe made this New Hampshire Girl Scout go rogue

March 14, 2023

Sophia Hammond, 11, has been a Girl Scout for more than half of her life. “I started when I was 5, so around six years, I guess,” she said, sitting at the kitchen table in her Plymouth home. That’s six years of camping trips, community service, and planting trees. And while she’s also busy with…

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With more electric cars on the road, training programs aim to get technicians up to speed

March 7, 2023

In the automotive technology wing of White Mountains Community College in New Hampshire, instructor Troy LaChance and his students lean over the steel frame of a half-built electric car. Two students start to pull a cable, colored bright orange to indicate high-voltage, through the car’s floor. They’re building this car from a kit, designed by…

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Maine woods could store more carbon at current harvest with ‘climate smart’ forestry, study finds

March 7, 2023

Maine forests already absorb about 70% of the state’s annual fossil fuel emissions. Now, a new study shows that Maine’s commercial forest landowners could increase annual carbon storage by at least 20% over the next 60 years while maintaining timber harvest levels. The findings are timely as the demand for carbon offset projects accelerates. The…

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Residents in one western Maine town look to curb Poland Spring’s appetite for water

March 4, 2023

In the small Maine town of Denmark, near the New Hampshire border, some residents are calling for more accountability from bottled water giant Poland Spring. The company extracts water from land it owns in Denmark and then sells it to consumers. The town isn’t compensated for what is withdrawn. And climate change is fueling concerns…

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Visitors rest at the Mount Aery Baptist Church Cooling Center Bridgeport, Connecticut July 20, 2022.

New England sees record heat in 2022, as nation faces $165 billion in annual climate disaster damage

January 25, 2023

Five of the six New England states saw record warm temperatures last year – part of a larger regional trend driven by climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said earlier this month Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire recorded their 10th warmest years, with Rhode Island and Massachusetts seeing their fifth and sixth warmest years,…

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A passive house in the town of Hope into which Patrick McCunney and Madeleine Mackell recently moved.

This Maine home can stay 70 degrees without a furnace, even when it’s freezing outside

January 25, 2023

What if you could design a house that on a cold day in January would stay at 70 degrees inside — without running the furnace? Or even having a furnace? It’s already being done. In fact, what’s known as the passive house concept came to the United States in 2006, and is being used to…

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Peconic Bay scallop die-offs are ‘a cautionary tale’ for New England

January 20, 2023

Once one of the largest fisheries on the East Coast, Peconic Bay scallops have faced near complete die-offs on Long Island since 2019. A study by Stony Brook University shows this could be a cautionary tale for New England. Christopher Gobler, a co-author and endowed chair of coastal ecology and conservation in the School of…

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Harold Davis stands on his snow plow truck, which he bought this fall.

‘You can’t plow a puddle’: How warmer winters are changing snowplowing

January 18, 2023

This winter, Harold Davis decided to get into the snow plow business for himself, after about a decade of working for other removal companies. He bought a shiny, canary yellow snowplow a few months ago. It’s still pretty spotless. “It’s depressing. This time of the season, there should be snow banks,” he said, looking out…

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Warm weather and rain bring tough snow season for NH skiers, snowshoers and others

January 9, 2023

Warm temperatures and rainy days have created difficult conditions this winter for Granite Staters who like to get out in the snow. With a snowstorm in mid-December, many local ski areas were able to establish a base coating on their slopes. At Pats Peak in Henniker, N.H., most trails have opened. But the recent conditions…

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Study: Improved forestry could boost carbon storage in New England by nearly half a billion tons

December 21, 2022

A new study published in an international forestry journal finds that better forest management could significantly grow New England’s carbon storage, improve wildlife habitat and provide a reliable timber supply. Published in the journal Forests, the study finds that improved forest practices including increased stocking of trees could bolster carbon storage by an estimated 488…

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