Environment

A general view showing buildings shrouded by polluted air in Seoul on April 12, 2023.

Here's how NPR reporters around the world are dealing with air pollution

9:43am June 09, 2023

As Canada and parts of the U.S. confront declines in air quality due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, NPR reporters in Asia, Latin America and Africa share their experiences.

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Advice from the West Coast to the East Coast on staying safe under smoky skies

4:43pm June 08, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Mother Jones editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery about advice she's learned living under smoky skies after 22 years in San Francisco.

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A spectrum of colors: green, yellow, orange, red, purple, maroon.

Purple is the new red: How alert maps show when we are royally ... hued

3:58pm June 08, 2023

by Neda Ulaby

Everyone knows that red means danger, but how did purple become a cautionary color? At an EPA conference in the late 1990s, attendees nearly came to blows over color coding on the Air Quality Index.

India is number 1 in global population. This clock board outside the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai keeps track of the numbers. The photo is from June 2, 2023.

India is now the world's most populous nation. And that's not necessarily a bad thing

1:38pm June 08, 2023

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Population growth has long been a source of worry in India, which now has more people than China: 1.46 billion residents. But some experts are optimistic about the impact of this population boom.

A man talks on his phone as he looks through the haze at the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, N.J., on Wednesday.

How to stay safe from the smoke that's spreading from the Canadian wildfires

9:12am June 08, 2023

by Joe Hernandez

From particulate matter to the AQI, here's what you need to know to protect yourself as the smoky haze settles over much of the East Coast.

In this webcam image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, an eruption takes place on the summit of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, Wednesday morning, June 7, 2023.

Hawaii's Mount Kilauea volcano has erupted again. Watch it live

8:24am June 08, 2023

by Ayana Archie

Lava began erupting at the Halemaʻumaʻu crater and reached heights of 13 to 30 feet and covered an area of approximately 370 acres. The biggest threat to those in the area is volcanic gas.

A man stands before the smoky New York City skyline and East River in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

A haze is blanketing major swaths of the East Coast because of the Canadian wildfires

5:48pm June 07, 2023

by Joe Hernandez

Some of the worst air quality was recorded in the Great Lakes region and in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Record-breaking wildfires in Canada are impacting air quality in the U.S.

4:25pm June 07, 2023

by Emma Jacobs

The Canadian wildfire season has started early and already broken records, with toxic smoke drifting south to the U.S. and many air quality alerts in place.

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U.S. skies in the Northeast and the Midwest are hazy with smoke from Canada

4:25pm June 07, 2023

by Brian Mann

A good chunk of the United States is dealing with smoke following a series of wildfires in Canada. Winds have carried the smoke across the Northeast and parts of the Midwest.

High tides have destroyed roads and structures in Vietnam as rising sea levels threaten farmland in the country's Mekong River Delta.

Vietnam faces criticism for arresting climate activist as it closes clean energy deal

6:00am June 03, 2023

by Michael Copley

Hoang Hong, founder of the environmental group CHANGE VN, was arrested Wednesday on tax charges, the U.N. says. Human rights experts say Vietnamese officials use the law to target civil society.