Climate
Sharks on a Plane
Inside an insulated FedEx package, sloshing around in a sealed sack of seawater at 30,000 feet, four shark eggs traveled from the U.S. to Indonesia last month. Each leathery capsu…
California Officials Scrambled as Spring Wildfire Neared Former Nuclear Reactor Site, Emails Show
As a wildfire in May approached the site of one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in U.S. history, state and local officials scrambled to respond to the blaze and to establish proper…
Michigan Voters Just Sent a Resounding Message About Data Centers
Plans for a 26-megawatt data center that surfaced in Allen Park, Michigan, last year quickly ignited a groundswell of opposition from residents in the small, working-class Detroit…
With Federal Environmental Justice Programs Gutted, a Scholar Makes the Case for a More Confrontational Path
The tools the environmental justice movement spent decades building are being pulled apart. The Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative—meant to steer 40 percent of the benefi…
Making fun of the English is an Australian national pastime but the drought in Britain isn’t funny at all | First Dog on the Moon
38C is hot by anyone’s standardsSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog me…
Neighbors of Pipeline Leak Live in Fear and Regulatory Neglect in Trump Era of ‘Unleashed’ Energy
UPPER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa.— As their children ran in circles at the street corner on a clear morning, parents of Mount Eyre Manor kept watch, especially mindful of the white pi…
As Climate-Fueled Extreme Weather Spikes, Loneliness Can Be Life-Threatening
Amid heat waves, wildfire smoke warnings and sudden storms over the last few months, officials around the world have urged people to follow a fairly straightforward method for kee…
The Guardian view on wildfires: firefighters can’t handle this crisis alone | Editorial
The response to this summer’s record heat and drought should be led by ministers – not left to the emergency servicesThe wildfire that began on protected heathland in the New Fore…
Corpus Christi Seeks to Block Referendum on Industrial Water Charge
As Corpus Christi teetered on the edge of a water supply disaster earlier this year, community organizers circulated a petition to dramatically increase the price of water for the…
What Candidates Have Planned for Virginia’s Coast Could Decide a Key Congressional Race
With Virginia’s Aug. 4 primaries in the rearview mirror, the ballot is set in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional districts. In the state’s second congressional di…
Permian Basin Community Seeks Fix for Radium in Its Drinking Water
IMPERIAL, Texas—Many residents of this small town drive long distances to buy bottled water instead of opening up the tap. Pecos County Fresh Water, a county-operated utility, pro…
US Senate Committee Advances Bill Exempting Montana Coal Company From Environmental Standards
A U.S. Senate committee last week approved a complicated swap of underground coal resources supported by Montana’s Crow Tribe that would benefit Signal Peak Energy, a mining compa…
‘Unprecedented, dangerous territory’: US north-west reckons with a summer of historic wildfires
Extreme conditions in Washington and Oregon have fueled fast-moving fires, leaving the region draped in toxic plumes – and the danger isn’t overPiles of twisted metal and ashen de…
‘These are human fires, not wildfires’: Dunwich reflects on the devastation
As residents, nature wardens and experts consider the damage to the heathland and how to restore it, the climate crisis is foremost in their mindsA local community pulling togethe…
States are passing their own clear water laws to counter Trump admin rollbacks
A 2023 Supreme Court ruling removed Clean Water Act protections for wetlands. The Trump administration is moving to weaken remaining rules. Some states are passing their own clear…
EPA issues new rules for controversial herbicide, but opponents worry dangers remain
Controlling weeds is a perennial problem for farmers. The EPA issued rules earlier this year for one controversial herbicide that can be prone to drifting and harming some other c…
Some of the most pristine ecosystems in the U.S. are losing protections
Some of the most pristine ecosystems in the U.S. are in the Pacific Ocean. They're federally protected, but now, the Trump administration is rolling back some of those protections.
The largest human composting facility is coming to Maryland
The largest human composting facility in the nation is soon opening in Maryland, with capacity to handle 2,000 bodies a year. It's meeting a growing demand for eco-friendly interm…
What a federal plan to reallocate the Colorado River's water means for western states
NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Russ Schumacher, professor at Colorado State University, about a new government proposal to reallocate water from the Colorado River among Western st…
A new federal plan to manage the Colorado river faces a possible future of water cuts
Under a new federal plan out today to manage the Colorado river, Arizona, California and Nevada face potentially steep water cuts over the next decade. The plan by the Interior De…
50 years after landmark laws, some U.S. rivers are recovering but threats remain
Half a century ago, a series of landmark federal laws started reining in water pollution. As a result, some rivers across the country are bouncing back to life, but threats to cle…
Kill your lawn, plant native flowers
Traditional lawns may be green, but that doesn't mean they're good for the environment. The team at NPR's Life Kit podcast report on one lawn alternative that's gaining popularity.
A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — …
An Israeli paraglider tries to save migrating swifts that nest in the Western Wall
Swifts have nested in Jerusalem's Western Wall since biblical times. Now one Israeli paraglider is trying to save them.