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It’s been one year since drought-fueled wildfires tore across western and central Kansas. For the ranchers who lost so much, the rebuilding process is far from over.
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From deadly wildfires to choking dust storms to decimated crop harvests, this year’s drought has left its mark across the country. For the hardest hit areas, such as the Great Plains, recovering from the far-reaching impacts of this historically dry year won’t be easy.
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The ongoing drought in Kansas isn’t only parching crops and drinking water supplies. It’s also hurting wildlife as the Kansas wetlands that normally act as vital pit stops for migrating birds dry up.
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Thanks to decades of conservation efforts, Hays has become the California of Kansas — a place where thinking about your water use is a way of life. For now, it’s an outlier. But as climate change brings drier, hotter weather to Kansas, more cities may have to follow a similar path.
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As Kansans prepare to vote on the future of abortion, rural western Kansas offers a preview of what life with an abortion ban might eventually look like for the rest of the state.
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More than 2,000 cattle carcasses were put in landfill piles or pits after dying in the southwest Kansas heat. But that’s not a prohibited or uncommon method of livestock disposal.
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Temperatures topped 104 degrees in the state's top cattle county. In widely seen video footage, rows of carcasses are shown lined up along the edge of a field.
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Russia's war in Ukraine has disrupted global food supplies, driving up demand and prices for wheat. But after months of drought, many western Kansas farmers won’t have a crop to sell.
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For Kansans living in Liberal, Dodge City and Hays, there’s only one airline that flies to and from the local airport. So when that airline filed paperwork this spring to terminate services, it sent shockwaves through these remote towns.
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Cotton growing is on the rise in Kansas, but it still only accounts for a small fraction of the state’s farm production. Now, a combination of global warming, dwindling water and new infrastructure might set the stage for southwest Kansas to become cotton country.
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As hospital beds fill up in rural parts of the state and nearby cities, some doctors say southwestern Kansas is running out of options.
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Each person not counted in Kansas and Missouri could result in a potential loss of more than $1000 in funding for schools, health care and infrastructure. Advocates say a complete count would help racial justice efforts.