In The News: School of Life Sciences
The Nevada deserts are an ideal place for solar farms.
Desert tortoises are roaming a 15 MW community solar farm owned by the Valley Electric Association in Nevada thanks to fence openings made by Bombard Renewable Energy.
With tortoise-sized openings at the bottom of the fence, and improved growth of plants vital to tortoise survival, a solar farm in Nevada can provide better habitat than the surrounding desert. First Solar found similar habitat gains in California.
When John Hiatt moved to southwest Las Vegas in 1976, the water level for his domestic well was 115 feet below the surface. A decade and a half later, it dropped to 140 feet.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) maintains a list of more than 500 species of trees and plants adapted to the region鈥檚 harsh desert climate. Drought tolerance, water use, growth rate and other qualities associated with each species are included on the list, helping municipalities and property owners make responsible landscape choices.
Las Vegas鈥 nearest island is hundreds of miles away. But a 鈥渟ky island鈥 can be found right in the city鈥檚 backyard. The Spring Mountains, particularly the area near Mount Charleston, are a hotbed of biodiversity, with an estimated 28 species of endemic plants, animals and insects, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
It鈥檚 officially an outbreak. There are more West Nile cases in Southern Nevada this year than ever before and mosquito season is far from over.
It鈥檚 officially an outbreak. There are more West Nile cases in Southern Nevada this year than ever before and mosquito season is far from over.
For generations, summer in Nevada has meant fire season. These days, it鈥檚 more accurate to call it a fire year.
The grasshopper invasion of the Las Vegas Valley is well underway.
A grasshopper swarm in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada has been so thick at times that the National Weather Service warned motorists it could impact visibility on area roads.
Grasshoppers are raging the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada (USA) so dense that sometimes they appear on the radar screen of the meteorological station, and it is expected that the grasshopper problem will last for several weeks.