If March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, there’s a similar simile from the natural world to be made for April of this year, at least for those of us in the central and eastern United States.
This month came in with a stunning rare solar eclipse, and it will go out with a buzz from the emergence of trillions of periodic cicadas, another rare occurrence in which two broods will surface from under the ground at the same time. It’s an event we haven’t seen in 200 years, and here in the United States we won’t see another total solar eclipse again until 2044.
The infrequency of these two events, paired with the opportunities to observe them in one month in our lifetimes, is humbling. And, as kismet would have it, smack in the middle of all this natural phenomena is Earth Day. While it comes around every year, we at the INDY want to make sure to celebrate Earth Day in 2024 with this extra-special special edition of our paper.
This week, learn about said cicada emergence from Lena Geller’s Q&A with NC State entomology and plant pathology professor Clyde Sorenson, which we think you’ll find fascinating. The cicadas are already beginning to emerge in the western part of the Triangle. Similarly fascinating: find out what Durham does with its waste, and learn about the residents working to make the city less wasteful in a story from Justin Laidlaw. And take a deep dive with Chase Pellegrini de Paur into what Duke, powered by its $11.6 billion endowment, is doing to address climate change; it’s more than just talk, but we’ll let you be the judge of how much. Plus, we’ve got a bonus Q&A on the site today with Nyssa Collins, the artist behind the Chapel Hill art installation Rubbish the Raccoon.
April 20, or 4/20, may have passed but we still have some great 4/20-related stories. Writer Sam Overton profiles Hemp Generation, a local cannabis retailer that seeks to offer consumers a gentle experience with THC and CBD in the alternative medicine space despite a clear lack of regulation. And writer Michael Hewlett delves into that lack of regulation a bit more in a story we published with our partners at The Assembly.
The air is warming, the flowers are blooming, the pollening is almost past. The backdrop is perfect this week for settling in and spending some time with this Earth-focused special edition of the INDY.
Happy Earth Day, readers. Enjoy!
read all of our earth day stories
Follow Editor-in-Chief Jane Porter on Twitter or send an email to jporter@indyweek.com. Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com.
