Among the many pleasures December brings, I look forward to the Merriam-Webster annual announcement of the “word of the year,” the word most often looked up on the dictionary’s …

While every day seems to bring stories of technological advances as well as heroic efforts to heal the natural world, two captured my imagination in recent weeks.  In keeping with the season, …

I’d venture to guess that most of us have some friends or even family members who live in places that have experienced blistering heat, torrential rains or prolonged droughts recently—but …