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Articles on American Southwest

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The Rio Grande, viewed from the Zaragoza International Bridge between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Vianey Rueda

The Rio Grande isn’t just a border – it’s a river in crisis

When the Rio Grande figures in US news reports, it’s usually in relation to stories about immigration, drug trafficking or trade. But the river is also an important water source – and it’s shrinking.
A massive dust storm billows across the western desert of Iraq on April 26, 2005. Shannon Arledge/USMC via Getty Images

Desert dust storms carry human-made toxic pollutants, and the health risk extends indoors

Desert dust storms are increasingly picking up materials like sewage, herbicides and other human-made waste and transporting them on tiny particles that are easy to inhale.
McCarthy attends the 2009 premiere of the film adaptation of his novel ‘The Road.’ Evan Agostini/AP Photo

Cormac McCarthy’s fearless approach to writing

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author was always willing to experiment with his prose, pacing and narration, crafting an oeuvre that varied wildly in style and structure.
Sign at a boat ramp on Lake Mead, near Boulder City, Nevada, Aug. 13, 2021. The lake currently is roughly two-thirds empty. AP Photo/John Locher

As climate change parches the Southwest, here’s a better way to share water from the shrinking Colorado River

A Western scholar proposes allocating water from the Colorado River based on percentages of its actual flow instead of fixed amounts that exceed what’s there – and including tribes this time.
In some drought-stricken parts of the Southwest, water arrives by truck. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Avoiding water bankruptcy in the drought-troubled Southwest: What the US and Iran can learn from each other

Cities and farmers in the Southwest are resorting to unsustainable strategies to pull in more water. Iran has tried many of these strategies and shows how they can go wrong.
At the Navajo Nation town of Fort Defiance, Arizona, staff pack food boxes. The Navajo Nation now has the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate in the U.S. Getty Images / Mark Ralston

As Arizona coronavirus cases surge from early reopening, Indigenous nations suffer not only more COVID-19 but also the blame

Tribal lands are hot spots for COVID-19 infections and deaths. Racism is one of the reasons.
Smoke billows from the High Park wildfire west of Fort Collins, Colo., on June 11, 2012, a year of historic drought across much of the western United States. AP Photo/Ed Andrieski

Climate change is driving wildfires, and not just in California

Some observers have blamed recent wildfires on poor forest management, while others point to climate change. In fact, a climate scientist explains, reducing fire risks means tackling both issues.
A large dust storm, or haboob, sweeps across downtown Phoenix on July 21, 2012. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File

Increased deaths and illnesses from inhaling airborne dust: An understudied impact of climate change

New research projects that climate change could greatly increase airborne dust levels in the southwestern US, causing higher hospital admissions and premature deaths from heart and lung ailments.
Previous plans to adapt Blood Meridian had envisioned casting Vincent D'Onofrio as “judge Holden.” (You Tube)

The unfilmable ‘Blood Meridian’

Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy’s famous novel, may be unfilmable – not because of its gruesome violent tale of U.S. imperialism in the Southwest, but because its religious vision is terrifying.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks to law enforcement officers in St. Louis. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant

How crossing the US-Mexico border became a crime

Trump’s administration plans to ramp up prosecution of unauthorized border crossings. Here’s the story of how it became illegal in the first place.

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