NewsHour Weekend 2021: Best of climate, environment and nature

As 2021 draws to a close, the NewsHour Weekend team selected some of our favorite stories from this past year on nature and the environment.

Special Correspondent Karla Murthy reported on a potential climate change solution – planting trees. She went to Cleveland, a city once known as ‘The Forest City,’ to take a look at the efforts to restore its once-prolific tree canopy. New studies on green cities have shown planting trees can help purify the air and could even lower city temperatures, among other benefits. 

On the southern end of Lake Michigan, Indiana Dunes National Park has seen the water levels rise five feet since 2014, hastened by human-made structures and an increase in storms brought on by climate change. Higher watermarks mean more erosion to the sand dunes that have run through the area for thousands of years. Zachary Green reports on how the park is adapting to the new normal. 

For a year, Rich MacDonald cataloged every bird he saw in his home county of Hancock, Maine, which includes the famous Acadia National Park. He cataloged his findings in his book, “Little Big Year, Chasing Acadia’s Birds.” Hari Sreenivasan spoke to MacDonald on a visit to Maine this autumn.